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I stare into the yellow liquid in my cup. “Yes, I am.” Everyone knows not to mix business with pleasure. And I overstepped my own boundaries by getting involved with Linc. While not directly my subject, he’s close enough to it that I should know better. “I should’ve learned from Tripp.”
“That wasn’t your fault,” Emily says, resting a hand on my arm. “He’s a lying, cheating, jerk. That’s not on you.”
“And Linc believes every word in Maisie’s article.”
“Which doesn’t say much about his intelligence if he believes everything written online.” Emily gives me a pointed look.
I sigh. Since my fallout with Linc, I haven’t been back to Clarissa’s. I’m not game, in case he’s there. Is there any point trying to explain myself when his mind is already made up? He’s not completely wrong in his accusations. I am a homewrecker by default. But I didn’t get together with Tripp to advance my career. I’m not the type of person to do that. There are plenty of women in my industry who aren’t afraid to compromise on their morals to make a name for themselves, but I’m not one of them. No way. I’ve worked so hard for my career. Everything I’ve achieved has been on my merit. I am certainly not one to target a married man or schmooze my way into a relationship just to make a name for myself.
“You need to tell him,” Emily asserts as the opening scene forThe Notebookfills the screen. We’re so cliché. Two single women commiserating over a tearjerker while offloading our woes about men. We spent many nights doing this when Emily’s marriage broke up. It’s cathartic. It’s corny. But it always feels good to have a good cry. And now it’s my turn. Although, it’s not so much a breakup as it is hurt feelings and disappointment that I’ve lost someone I’ve developed feelings for.
“It won’t do anything.” I sigh. “You should’ve seen his face. It was as though I was doggy-do and he couldn’t wait to scrape me off the bottom of his shoe.” The look on Linc’s face was gut wrenchingly painful. And while we weren’t officially ‘anything’, he made me feel something I haven’t in a very long time.
“Since when have you been afraid to do something?” Emily glances away from Ryan Gosling, and faces me, an eyebrow raised.
“All the time.” I live my life within the lines. I’m a checklist type of gal. Live life with a plan. I’m not a risk taker at all.
“Um, no,” she replies with a shake of her head. “You, Penelope Reilly, are one of the most inspirational people I know. How many people leave their family and comfort zone to chase a dream in a new city? How many people have a successful career and write inspirational articles that have won awards? And not only have you ditched a doozy of an excuse for a man, but you held your head high and have continued to shine.”
Tears well in my eyes at my best friend’s words. “You’re only saying that because you have to.”
“If I had to say it, I probably wouldn’t,” Emily quips before taking a sip of her wine. “You know me. I’m not easy with the compliments. But I always call things how I see them.”
That makes me chuckle. She’s right. She’s always been a sharpshooter. But I’m also surprised at what she said about me. Perhaps I’m not so self-aware after all.
“You’re amazing, Pen,” she says, her voice softening. “I’m honored to call you my friend. And my heart breaks for you that you’ve had this experience with Tripp and now all the lies written about you. I know you say it doesn’t matter what Linc thinks, but I beg to differ.”
My eyes fix on the screen where Ryan Gosling’s character, Noah, is hanging from a Ferris wheel. This movie never gets old. I’ll be a blubbering mess by the end, but it will be a good catharsis for everything I’m feeling right now.
“I haven’t seen you so happy in a long time.” Emily turns toward me. “You’ve got an air of delight around you, and I want some.”
“Maybe you should’ve been a writer, because you’re certainly coming out with some creative phrases tonight. Besides, where is this delight you speak of?”
Emily ignores my question. “Linc makes you happy. Why give up on something full of promise so soon?”
“I’m not the one giving up.” My throat clogs with emotion as Linc’s harsh words and fiery gaze flit through my mind.
“So, don’t.” Emily folds her arms and shifts her gaze to the screen, as if it’s just that easy to pick up where me and Linc left off.
How can I possibly tell him the truth when he can’t even look at me without disdain? What we had was wonderful. Unexpected, but wonderful just the same. But they say all good things must end. Perhaps this thing with Linc was only meant to be for a season. A very short one at that.
Linc
“You did what?” Gran whacks me on the back of the head as she walks into the kitchen.
“Ouch!” I rub the spot to ease the sting. For someone her age and build, she’s sure got a lot of strength. Perhaps it’s from the pilates classes she attends three times a week. Maybe she’s even taking some kickboxing lessons that I don’t know about.
“I told Penny to leave. Well, not in so many words. She left on her own accord.” With a good dosing of help from me. I may as well have rolled out a red carpet and held the door open. My outburst was a culmination of reading the article about her and that sleazy reporter, then finding her reading my book. My laptop was open, and I only hope she didn’t go snooping around when no one was home. I couldn’t deal with the onslaught of confusion, and reacted in the least mature way possible.
Gran turns and folds her hands on the counter, leaning her slight frame toward me. I flinch at the steely gaze in her eyes. How she can still make me quiver in my boots as a grown man is beyond me. She terrified me when I was younger, if I arrived home after the street lights turned on. She’d wait on the front porch, her gaze piercing through the darkness. I’d slink into the garage, knowing I’d have a week of extra chores on my vacation as punishment. But after a good talking to, Gran always followed up with a hug. Tough love, she called it. And in hindsight, I appreciate she cared enough to dish it out. She has an enormous heart. She might seem all stoic and no-nonsense on the outside, but she’s as soft as a marshmallow underneath. Relationship before rules is her speciality, and that’s what earns respect from everyone who knows her.
“Lincoln McArthur,” she chirps. “Are you even my grandson?”
“She was being nosy,” I mumble like a petulant child, running my fingers over a crack in the formica countertop.
Gran’s pencil-thin eyebrows disappear under her silver curls, and I shift on the stool as sweat beads at my temples. This feels like an interrogation and Gran won’t let up until she gets what she wants to hear.
“Okay. I don’t think she was snooping. She was flicking through one of my books. Gushing about it.” Heat rises up my neck with the memory of Penny’s face, glowing with delight as she held Lucy Landon’s book in her hands.Mywords had done that to her. But the knowledge that she had an affair with a married man and broke apart a family ruins the memory.
