Penelope sinks onto the couch. Her shoulders shake once, the last tremor of shock she’s been holding in. I sit beside her. Gideon kneels in front of her, thumb brushing a tear I’m sure she doesn’t realize escaped.
“You’re not alone,” he says softly. “She can’t do anything to you without hitting all of us first.”
“I know,” she whispers. “I just… didn’t expect her to show up there.”
“She won’t catch you off guard again,” I tell her. “Not with me next to you.”
She nods. Breathes. The worst of the tremble leaves her fingers.
Then her phone buzzes.
“It’s my dad,” she says. “He never calls this late.”
“Answer it,” I tell her. “Put him on speaker.”
She takes a breath, swipes to accept, and lifts the phone.
“Hey, Dad,” she says, voice only a little unsteady.
“Penelope.” Chad’s voice comes through the speaker, warm and tired. “We need to talk.”
Her fingers tighten around the phone. “About what?”
“About a few things,” he says. “Abi just got home and said she ran into you. She’s upset. I’d rather not do this over the phone. Can you come to the house tomorrow?”
Every muscle in her body tenses.
“No,” she says. “I’m not going to the house.”
There is a pause on the line. “Pen…”
“I’ll meet you somewhere else,” she says quickly. “The park near the house. By the pond. Two o’clock.”
Another pause. Then, quietly, “Alright. Two o’clock. We’ll talk then.”
“Okay,” she says. “Love you.”
“Love you too, kiddo,” he says, and hangs up.
Penelope sets the phone down and presses the heels of her hands to her eyes.
Gideon rests a hand on her knee. “You’re not walking into that alone.”
“I know,” she says. “I don’t want to.”
“You won’t,” I promise.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
PENELOPE
I blinkawake on the couch with a blanket around my shoulders and Silas’s sweatshirt under my cheek. Someone tucked my legs in. Someone else set a glass of water on the table in front of me.
Morning light spills across the room in soft gold stripes, warming my skin. My joints protest as I sit up, stretch, and rub sleep from my eyes. I smell coffee.
I turn my head.
Minxy is already awake.
