Page 50 of One Breath After Another

Mostly.

“Thanks again.” Penny shrugged in response to Katya’s raised brow, adding, “For everything ... today, I guess.”

“I think you should thank someone else for that, huh? I was just here cooking stew.”

Yeah, Luca.

Couldn’t forget about him.

Even if she tried.

Before the two could say anything more, a phone rang somewhere outside the piano room. Katya shot Penny an apologetic smile before standing from the chair, her tea still firmly in her grip as she said, “Let me grab that—you okay to be by yourself for a bit?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Maybe I’ll take a look around.”

Despite joining the Puzzas for dinner on occasion, she wasn’t actually familiar with their home. Katya didn’t seem bothered by the idea.

“I’ll find you when I’m done,” the woman replied.

“Okay.”

When the phone call lasted more than five minutes, Penny decided to head out of the piano room to see what was down the hall. She passed a bathroom on the way, but it was what she found at the far end of the hallway that interested her the most.

The bedroom looked like it belonged to a typical teenage boy. Right down to the black and gray sheets on the double bed, and the posters of bands and women on the walls. She couldn’t help but wonder why Katya and her husband hadn’t changed the room or even, done something different with it.

Instead, it kind of seemed like a tribute to their son. Or who he used to be before he grew up, anyway. Despite that, the space still felt welcoming. If that made any sense. She was comfortable in the room.

In the corner of the room, three guitars sat in stands looking like they hadn’t been played in a while ... which was a shame. The desk and chair closer to the door caught Penny’s attention and drew her near to look at the framed pictures on the top.

Picking up the first, she couldn’t help but smile at the boys who grinned back from the photograph. They hadn’t changed that much—not in their looks, anyway. Naz and Luca stood arm in arm, dripping wet in swim shorts with a pool behind them. They had to be, maybe, her age or younger in the photo.

Always friends, she thought.

She couldn’t imagine what that was like—to have one single person who remained something akin to her for most of her life. It was a strange concept, but not one that scared her. It just seemed unreal because that had been so far from her reality. Before she was shoved from one private school to the next to get her out of her parents’ lives, her social interactions were limited to the people approved by her mother and father.

People who didn’t know.

Or even ... people who wouldn’t tell.

Penny shook those thoughts away as she replaced the photo to the desk and grabbed a second. This one was just Luca—dressed in a three-piece suit with a red vest and tie, he didn’t look any older in this photo than the other. Maybe it was a prom or a formal dance.

And then she wondered ...

What might have happened if she met him under different circumstances? If they were the same age, would things be different—would she know what to do with the silly crush that still kept her heart in a tight grip every time he was within breathing distance?

What would it be like if she wasn’t ... broken?

“Find something interesting?”

The familiar voice behind Penny damn near made her drop the framed photograph straight to the desk. Somehow, she managed to keep a hold of it and set it down without incident. Not even able to pretend like she wasn’t embarrassed about being caught in the bedroom, she tried to smile it off.

“Sorry, I was just—”

Katya didn’t look bothered when she interjected, “It’s fine. We leave the door open. Luca doesn’t even use this room when he stays the night ... which is basically never now.”

Her cheeks were still red.

She could feel the heat.