Page 51 of One Breath After Another

Katya’s gaze drifted from the photo Penny had just been looking at to the other one on the desk that had clearly been moved a couple of inches as well. “Do you like my son?”

Penny wasn’t sure what she expected the woman to say, but that wasn’t it. At least, not so brazenly. It certainly didn’t help with the blush in her cheeks.

“It doesn’t matter,” Penny mumbled, stepping away from the desk and heading for the doorway. “He doesn’t know I exist. Not like I know he does, anyway. Not like that.”

He didn’t look at Penny and get confused. He didn’t see her and think ... God, that’s the most beautiful face I’ve ever seen. She didn’t give him butterflies or silly, stupid thoughts the way he did for her.

And why should he?

Penny was ... mousey.

Small.

She faded away more than she stood out.

“And he shouldn’t know,” Penny added, attempting to step past Katya.

The woman didn’t move. “You’re right ... you’re a bit too young for him right now.”

“And a mess.”

Katya tipped her head to the side, eyeing Penny. “But not unworthy. We already talked about that, remember? Being who you are—going through the things you did—none of it makes you unworthy of finding someone to love. Or someone who loves you.”

That said, Katya stepped to the side, finally letting Penny pass. As she did so, the older woman added, “And even if something isn’t in the cards right now because of circumstance doesn’t mean that will always be the case. Everything takes time, Penny. It’s just one breath after another until it starts to feel normal. Try to keep it in mind.”

She just kept walking.

And hoping.

Hoping maybe Katya was right.

Even if that terrified her.

• • •

PENNY DID HER BEST to avoid staring at the home in front of Luca’s parked vehicle because the weight of her actions had finally settled on her shoulders. The man in the driver’s seat said nothing as she fidgeted with the gold chain that hung from the rearview mirror. Luca didn’t even hint that it was time for her to get out of the car and head inside to see Naz and Roz.

No, he just waited her out.

“I probably made a bigger problem with the caseworker today,” Penny muttered. “And the school, right?”

Luca tilted his head her way. “Likely.”

Penny rolled her eyes. “Naz and Roz will tell me it’s fine. They’ll handle it like they always do.”

“But that doesn’t help, does it?”

Her gaze snapped to his.

He only clarified with, “The guilt, Penny. It doesn’t help with the guilt.”

Air slipped past her lips in a harsh woosh when she admitted, “No, it doesn’t help.”

“That should tell you something.”

Should it?

“What, then?”