Page 26 of Penn

“Yeah, she does. And I hate the way she chews her gum.”

“It’s like watching a horse chomp on hay, isn’t it?” I ask with a chuckle.

“Thank you!” she says with a giggle. “Doesn’t mean she’s wrong, though. Is that what happened? Were you hurt, Penn?”

Damn you, Lainey. “Yeah, Dixie. I was.”

“But you don’t want to talk about it?”

“I wish it never happened. It was the biggest betrayal of my life, and it cost me everything. Shook my faith in people. As in, I didn’t have any.”

Reaching out, she takes my hand. “You don’t have to tell me, but if you do, I promise it stays with me.”

If only I could truly believe that. The only people I fully trust are my brothers, and I don’t share everything with them, either. “Thanks, Dixie. You should get some sleep. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You mean you didn’t mean to be a creep and sit in the darkness watching me sleep?”

“Oh, I totally meant to do that,” I say, standing and pushing the chair back under the desk. “But I didn’t mean to wake you.”

She giggles and nods. “Be honest with me.”

“Always.”

Her eyes narrow. “Did you really buy a pregnancy book?”

Making an X over my heart and holding my hand up like a Boy Scout, I nod. “Three, actually. And I read them all.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, ma’am. I wanted to be prepared. And prepared I am.”

She rolls her eyes and turns off the bedside lamp. “Goodnight, Penn.”

“Goodnight, Dixie.”

Shutting the door behind me, I lean against it and let out a long breath. Dixie’s a dangerous woman to have in my house, but I can’t imagine her anywhere else. Letting her go would crush me.

Which shows just how much power she has to hurt me. She has the power to completely destroy me, and it should send me running. But she’s in the guest room, not my bedroom. No matter how much I wish she was.

Maybe one day. Not today, but one day.

Chapter 11

Dixie

The fire investigation finally got me the insurance money for my home. Renter’s insurance. I never thought I’d need it, and I almost canceled it, but damn, I’m glad I didn’t.

I wasn’t a fan of being questioned by the sheriff’s department, though. It was determined to be arson, and the deputy asked me if there was anyone who might want to do something like that. Anyone with a grudge. A jealous ex, maybe.

I just sat there, my hands on my belly, hoping they’d get the hint. If they asked who the father of my baby was, just to investigate him, I would have given them Stephen’s name. Chances are, he covered his bases and wouldn’t have been linked, but at least someone would be looking. But the deputy didn’t care. Hell, he only looked at the cleavage of my growing chest rather than at the swell of my belly.

Keeping my mouth shut feels like the right move. If this was to stop me from going after Stephen, he succeeded. An investigation I pointed in his direction would likely out his affair with me to his wife. And I can only imagine her response.

I highly doubt they have an open marriage. That she accepts Stephen having other women to keep company with in bed and promise the world to. And I really don’t think she’d be too happy knowing he’s having a baby with one of them. After he gets investigated for trying to kill his pregnant mistress.

Yeah, that would go over like a lead balloon.

Not to mention his poor kids. The last thing they need is to be carrying his dirt around if an investigation turned up anything. That’s not their fault.