“Don’t worry about it.” His composed voice lowered her blood pressure better than hypertension pills.
She pulled air to the bottom of her lungs. Let it out slowly.
“What can I do to help?” he asked.
“Would you be willing to contact Theo’s other friends and ask them to pray?”
“Of course. Anything else?”
“Not that I can think of right now. I’m believing that she’s going to be completely fine.”
“I’m believing that, too.”
A momentary pause. “Your voice is as warm and calm as a throw blanket fresh out of the dryer.” She came to a stop in the sun next to Madeline’s baby swing. “When you fly fighter planes for a living, I’m guessing that nothing rattles you.”
“Not true.”
“Really?”
“You rattle me.”
She let his words drift and spin within her. “You fly missions over Syria, butIrattle you?”
“Yes.”
“I’m harmless.”
“No. All the women I met before you were harmless. You’re the opposite of harmless.”
Funny, because ever since she’d become acquainted with Eli she’d been convinced thathewas the dangerous one.
Even after they hung up, the line between her heart and his remained in place, like a golden strand of silk.
•••
Penelope’s Vans felt three times as heavy as usual as she climbed the stairs to her apartment that night.
The doctors had determined that Aubrey had no internal bleeding.Praise the Lord, praise the Lord.They’d adjusted her medications in hopes of mitigating the dizziness and the drop in blood pressure she’d experienced. Then they’d sent her home.
Penelope hadn’t been able to shake her regret about her lack of vigilance. As soon as Aubrey and Theo returned, she’d blurted out more apologies. Theo and Aubrey had taken her by the shoulders and assured her that they didn’t blame her. That she’d done a great job, even.
Still, remorse and fear took a lot out of a person. Penelope was good for absolutely nothing at this point except a quick shower and a freefall onto her mattress.
Her key made its familiar sound as it turned in the lock. On the floor just inside her apartment, the foyer light revealed a folded piece of white paper.
Strange. Had someone pushed this under her door? She scooped it up and opened it.
You are everything.
I think a lot about how
wonderful you are.
—Eli
She lifted a hand to cover her mouth and read it again. Then three more times.
In a bid to win her attention, Roy leapt onto a high shelf of a bookcase, sliding wildly and shoving a few paperbacks off the edge.
