“Tempting,” he replied. “But I’ll never finish my big breakfast if I have half of your pancakes.”
She glanced at his plate. “Well, you could share your bacon and hash brown and you’d have more room.”
He chuckled. “I’m on to you.” He passed her a hash brown and a piece of bacon. “The best of both worlds.”
“Only if you don’t mind. Gerard never liked to share.”
“He sounds like a douche.”
She screwed up her nose, but smiled. “I wasn’t the best person to be around after the accident.”
“Doesn’t mean you should be given up on.” He thought about Sherlock. “My friend was the only reason I didn’t want to leave Perth.” He sipped his coffee. “I visited him daily at the hospital even though he stopped talking and some days he refused to look at me. He got out on Friday.” Sam sighed. “I have to believe I’ll get through to him, but I don’t know how. The army was his life.”
“Then he needs another goal, something else to focus on.” She shifted in her seat. “After Emelia’s death, I was focused on doing things right. If I had followed the rules, done all the proper checks, she’d be alive now.”
Sam shook his head. “No way her death was your fault,” he said. “You said so yourself. She went in after the sea snake without doing the checks. She broke the rules, not you.”
“But I was the one who prepared the equipment.”
“Still her job to check it. You said you hadn’t finished.”
Her eyes widened as if surprised.
“You can’t take responsibility for others’ actions,” he said. “You just have to do the best with what you’ve got.”
“The same goes for your friend,” Penelope said. “You can’t help him if he doesn’t want to be helped.”
Sam’s smile was sad. “I know. It’s hard.”
Penelope squeezed his hand. “You’ll work something out, I’m sure of it.”
Her confidence was nice, if a little misplaced. “Do you want to try diving again?”
Her fingers tightened on his. “At some stage.”
Sam wouldn’t push it. He didn’t want to scare her off. He ate the last of his brunch, saving the pancake to the end. “I can’t believe it’s not even midday.”
“I know. It feels as if we’ve been through enough for several days.”
“Want to head back to my place? We can chill there for the afternoon.” He wasn’t ready to say goodbye, and he wanted somewhere more private.
Penelope smiled, but before she could answer, her phone rang. She frowned. “Sorry, it’s work.” She answered. After a pause, she said, “What do you need me to do?” She nodded. “All right. I’ll head out in half an hour.”
She hung up. “I’m sorry. I’ve been called in. Can I take a rain check on the chilling?”
Disappointment filled him, but he smiled. “Where do you need me to drop you?”
“Home. I’ll have to get a few things.”
Sam insisted on paying and then drove her back to her place. Before she jumped out of the car, he placed a hand on her arm. “Will you call me when you’re done?”
Her smile was sweet. “All right.” She kissed him far too briefly and then hurried inside.
Sam waited until the door closed behind her before he backed out of her drive. He really hoped Sherlock had done a thorough job on his investigation, because Sam had it bad for the prickly redhead, who was all sweetness underneath.
Chapter 14
Penelope couldn’t decide whether Karen had the worst or the best timing. She’d been on the verge of going to Sam’s place for the afternoon, which might have been an amazing decision, or a foolish one. Now she’d never know.
