Penny nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
_____
After laughing until their cheeks hurt through the three-course dinner, Andrea pulled all the siblings up to the front while the staff placed dessert on the tables. She pulled an elegant cream-coloured envelope from her purse and tapped it on her palm as she waited for the manager to get the microphone working. When he handed it to her, Andrea cleared her throat.
“Hello, everyone. I’m sorry to interrupt your meal, but we wanted to do something quickly if you’ll bear with us.” Andrea turned to their parents, who were sitting front and center. “You know none of us are capable of giving a speech without breaking down, so I’m just going to hand this to you. Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad. From all of us.”
Penny’s heart pounded a staccato rhythm against her ribs. Their parents exchanged curious glances, then their dad took the envelope and pulled at the tab. Everyone laughed when he finally gave up on saving the delicate paper and tore it open.
All five siblings held hands, waiting for their reaction. When they pulled out the boarding passes and trip itinerary, both their parents’ jaws went slack. "Oh, my babies. Oh, my—” Their mother started to cry again. Their dad pulled her close and kissed her temple, then looked up at them with tears in his eyes.
He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
Theo reached out and took the mic from Andrea. “A trip to Greece!” he announced, and the room erupted into applause. Love and grief, longing and regret, hope and gratitude all washed over Penny, and she reached out for the table next to her to steady herself. They did it. They pulled this off.
Andrea wrapped her arm around Penny’s shoulder. “Thanks for your help, Pens.”
She shook her head. “You did this.”
“I kind of did, didn’t I?”
Penny laughed. “All it took was six months of planning, working alone with a travel agent, endless text messages to hound your flaky siblings.”
“Hashtag worth it.”
Penny squeezed her sister’s waist. “I love you.”
Andrea turned and wrapped her in a hug. “I love you too, and you’re going to figure this all out. You know that right?”
Penny’s eyes stung. She nodded, even though she wasn’t sure she did.
Andrea pulled back. “Remember in the car when we were talking about that Sharpie family portrait?”
Penny laughed, searching for a napkin to wipe her nose. “You mean when you were embarrassing me in front of Brett?”
“Not embarrassing, making you more charming and relatable,” she argued, and Penny laughed. “No, but do you know what I remember about it?” Penny shook her head. “I looked at that picture and noticed that everyone else was big and you were the smallest one, even though you weren’t the smallest kid in real life. But there you were, right in the middle, looking up at everyone.” Andrea swiped a napkin from the closest table, and Penny blew her nose. “I’ve thought about that, you know? You might see yourself as small, but it’s because of you that everyone else feels big, Penny.”
A lump formed in her throat as Andrea gave her one last hug, then turned to go back to her table. Andrea’s words looped through her head. She’d always seen herself that way—the least successful, the least powerful. But maybe that was her gift, to lift other people up. If only she could choose therightpeople, she—
Penny froze as movement at the back of the room caught her eye. She looked up, and her heart stopped beating. The applause, the sound of her dad’s laughter, the candlelight—everything faded into nothingness as she stared at the man leaning against the door frame near the entrance to the kitchen.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Someone puta hand on her lower back. “Well don’t just stand there.”
Penny glanced back at Andrea who was grinning from ear to ear. “Did you—?”
“I hadnothingto do withthis.” Her grin somehow widened. “Besides maybe texting him the address.”
Penny’s head snapped back to Brett in his crisp white shirt and dark suit.He was here? Brett was here? At her parents’ anniversary party?Penny walked in a daze back to her table and grabbed her handbag then made her way as inconspicuously as possible to the back of the room.
She stopped in front of him, her cheeks flushed, and her throat so tight she could barely suck in a breath. Brett’s eyes travelled the length of her dress, then skimmed back up to meet her eyes.
“That dress should be illegal.”
“Thank you.”Thank you? What kind of a response was that?“You look . . .” She’d never seen him dressed up, and the way the suit hugged his frame made her mouth go dry.
“Thank you.” The corner of Brett’s mouth twitched. “Can we . . . ?” He pointed to the door behind them leading out to the gardens. Penny nodded, wishing she’d brought her glass of water.
