27. Gavin
TWENTY-SEVEN
GAVIN
I had to agree with Josie. Standing in my kitchen, dishing up cake and ice cream while Penny and my daughter sat at the island, giggling in their cone-shaped happy birthday hats they’d settled on their heads, might have made this night the best day ever.
Not only because it celebrated the most precious thing to ever enter my life, but because now Penny was a part of it.
Josie was so excited when I told her that Penny and I were more than friends and that I liked her a lot, I could hardly tell her anything else before she declared Penny had to come eat with us.
Who was I to argue with the birthday girl?
Now, she was chatting away with Penny about all the fun things we could do together. She hadn’t stopped since they sat down.
“And Christmas, Miss Pesco!” she screeched. “You can come have Christmas with us if you want, and if Maize is here, she can come too !”
I chuckled and scooped out an extra helping of ice cream for the birthday girl.
“Oh,” Penny said, “well, that’s very nice, and I’ll think about that for sure. I don’t know Maize’s plans yet, and maybe you should ask Grandma first.”
“I know what she’ll say,” Josie boldly declared. “She’ll say the more the merrier and that of course you can come.”
I slid two bowls in their direction and nodded. “She will say that, won’t she, Josie?”
Penny shook her head, delight and exasperation making her eyes sparkle as she rolled her eyes at both of us. “Okay then, I’ll consider it, but can we do something else first?”
“Sure!”
She leaned in close to Josie, smiling softly down at my daughter in a way that made my heart burst out of my chest. I wanted my daughter to have a woman look at her like that every day for the rest of her entire life. And more, I had the sudden urge to want to give Penny her own child to give that look to.
It wasn’t only stunningly beautiful, it was full of grace and kindness. It was the kind of smile she’d deserved to have. It was a gift, and there was nothing better than Josie watching Penny with childlike wonder and awe.
“How about, when we’re outside of school, and when I’m with your dad especially, you just call me Penny like he does?”
“I can?” Josie breathed in the question on a massive inhale. “Really? Daddy never lets me call people by their first name.”
She glanced at me, needing permission.
“Penny’s different,” I told her.
And while I hoped my daughter understood what that meant, I hoped Penny knew it more.
Based on the blush on her cheeks as she looked away from me, I’d made it clear.
“I should go,” Penny said, where we were curled together on my couch.
Tonight, Josie gave Penny the honor of reading her a bedtime story, and Penny didn’t hesitate to be involved. While I listened to their soft giggles and laughter escape Josie’s bedroom, I cleaned up the kitchen and made Josie’s school lunch for the next day.
By the time Penny was done reading and giggling with my daughter, she returned to the living room, where I was sitting, and didn’t hesitate to curl up next to me.
“I feel like you keep giving me all these amazing things and moments, and I don’t know how to thank you for them.”
“Keep looking at me with that smile on your face when you receive them and it’s the only thanks I need.” I leaned down and kissed her, but since Josie wasn’t asleep, we didn’t push it further than that. Besides, we’d have more time, and the first time she spent the night I wanted us to have that time alone, not with Josie down the hall.
“Avery told Josie today that her birthday present to her is a sleepover, so if you’re up for company tomorrow night, want me to come over?”
“Like the whole night?”
“The whole night.”
“A sleepover of our very own,” Penny said and brushed her hand down my cheek.
She was right. And so very wrong. “I doubt there’ll be a lot of sleeping going on.”
I kissed away her laughter, kept kissing her until I needed more. And when I let her go, she sighed softly against my mouth. “I like you a lot, Gavin Kelley, and I hope you know that.”
“Trust me, Penelope Pesco. I feel the exact same way.”
But I wasn’t sure it was like I was feeling anymore.
It was starting to feel a whole more like love.
I was on the jobsite the next day, supervising the installation of air ducts when my phone rang.
Cameron’s name flashed on the screen, and I stepped away from the noise so I could answer it.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Gavin, it’s Cam.”
I hadn’t heard from him since he and Ava headed back to Denver. “Hey, man. How’s everything going? How’s the leg?”
“Leg’s good. Right now it’s a hassle and getting up the stairs is a pain in the ass.”
I figured as much. Cameron’s home was a four-thousand-square-foot-plus home and there wasn’t a bedroom downstairs.
“And Ava?” I asked and glanced around to make sure workers weren’t nearby.
“Struggling,” he admitted and cleared his throat. “Jimmy’s been moved to the district court jail, behind bars and denied bail, so that’s good.”
“Seriously? That’s good.” The news had moved on to other stories, so I hadn’t been able to follow what was going on as closely as I liked. “Right?”
“Yeah, except the reason it happened is because a whole bunch more women have come forward to press charges. For harassment and assault.”
“Shit.” Goddamn that asshole. My hand curled into a fist on instinct, which it did every time I thought of how he’d hurt Ava weeks ago. “Hopefully, that means many more years of torture for him in prison.”
If he got what was coming to him according to prison justice, I wouldn’t be pissed. Although every man I knew wanted a chance to castrate him and teach him a lesson outside the courts.
“Yeah, well, Ava’s not taking that well at all. She started seeing a therapist this week, though.”
“That’s good, Cameron. You know that.”
“I know. And she’s doing okay, all things considered. I have to be careful not to reach for her and shit like that, but she’s at least sleeping next to me again. Hell, I almost cried the other night when she came and gave me a hug.”
He laughed, but it was sad and frustrated, and I knew none of that was directed toward Ava, but the man who put them in that position. Who hurt the woman he loved.
“I wish I could help.”
“You can actually.”
“How in the hell can I do that?”
“Give me all the details about this teacher-friend of yours. Emily and Lydia both told Ava she’s adorably cute and beautiful and good with Josie. And Caleb says she’ll cool. Fill me in.”
My eyes widened and I took in the bare room I was in, nothing but framing and air ducts and electrical wiring to be seen, and still, I couldn’t believe I’d heard what I did. “You called me to gossip about the woman I’m dating?”
“So we’re dating now, not just friends. This is good. Ava will want to know that.”
“You’re an ass.” I laughed. “Are you serious?”
“Cut me some slack. I’ve had a shitty month and will probably never play ball again. Give me something good happening in the world with people I care about, and yeah, Ava will want to know all the dirt so she feels like she’s not missing out.”
“Come back home for Christmas and you’ll meet her then.” It didn’t say much, but it said it all. There was no way I’d bring a fling around my daughter or my family, and especially not to a holiday.
“Dammmnnn,” he drew out the word. “Spending the holidays together, huh? Must be serious.”
All humor fled, and I let him know it in my tone. “It is. It’s new, and God knows I fought it, but it’s good. She’s perfect.”
For me. For Josie. For the life I wanted to build, and she fit into my family like a missing puzzle piece.
“Seems to me like you’re falling victim to the Kelley curse.”
“Excuse me?”
“The Kelley curse. Dad proposed to Mom on their second date, Caleb and I both fell in weeks, and Meredith predicted the guy she’d marry the second she saw him.”
“Yeah, but Mere’s crazy and we all know it.”
Although she was killing it in Nashville with her matchmaking business.
“Don’t let her know you think that,” Cameron teased, “but I am serious. What did Dad always say when he talked about meeting Mom and then getting married in a few months?”
Oh, that I knew well. “Why would I waste my time waiting for my life to start, when I could spend my time living the life I want?”
“Truer words, man. All this bullshit aside, Ava and I will make it through this, but during it, there isn’t anyone else I’d want at my side. You feel that way about a woman and you know it almost immediately.”
He wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t exactly right. “You and Ava knew each other for years, and Caleb and Emily weren’t exactly strangers when she walked into his life.”
“Yeah, but you want me to tell you how much I regret, especially now, waiting so long to be ready for Ava and not going for what I wanted back in high school? That shit sucks, man. Don’t let it happen to you.”
“I’m not denying anything, Cameron. I’m saying it’s new. And there’s Josie to consider.”
“Bite me,” he snapped back. “Josie loves her and you do too.”
“Fine, I’ll propose to her tonight. Happy?”
“I’ll kick your ass if you do it before Christmas. Ava wants to meet her, but she’s not quite ready to be back there, so wait for me, would you?”
“So now I have to waste time waiting before I start living?”
He let loose a growl, but we both laughed.
“I’m in no hurry, Cam. You two focus on your shit and I’ll take care of Penny. Just don’t be an ass when you meet her.”
“Please,” he scoffed. “When am I ever an ass?”
“How many examples do you need?”
“Point made. But tell me about her. Family loves her, but outside of her being a teacher and being pretty, I want to know.”
My brother was having a shitty month and had a long road ahead of him, for him physically, and both him and Ava emotionally. So I told him everything. I gave him all the details about Penny and her sister. I talked to him for another half an hour and by the time we got off the phone, I learned two things.
Big brothers were smart and right even when you thought they were jackasses.
My dad was wise, and I needed to spend more time listening to what he had to say.
And most important of all, I was without a doubt falling in love with Penny.
A week and a half flew by where Penny and I spent almost every night together, either alone or with Josie. We alternated between dinners at my house and Penny’s, and occasionally, Josie chose to go home with Penny after school instead of taking the bus to my parents. I’d spent weeks fighting Penny’s pull, and now it all seemed so ridiculous when she slid so seamlessly into my life. We’d only been together for weeks, and yet it felt like years.
We’d had more than one night alone together, and yet, while we were having fun exploring each other, and while I’d taught her a lot and we’d learned together, we hadn’t yet gone all the way. Penny wanted it. She made that clear.
I was so desperate for her it was all I could think about.
But whenever that deciding moment came, I pulled back. She told me late in the dark when we were talking on one of the few nights we had alone and were at her house, she’d never intended to stay a virgin. I figured she wanted me to know she wasn’t waiting for marriage or anything like that, but then she’d gone on to say that with how she was raised, she decided when she was a teenager that she wanted to know the man would stick around after. She needed that commitment first.
I was that man, most definitely. But until I felt it was the right moment to declare my love for her, until I was certain Penny felt the same way I did, I wanted to wait. She might not need a ring on her finger or a legal certificate, but the least I could do was wait until the time was right, and we weren’t rushing anything.
It was killing us both, and while I sat in her bed, listening to the shower run as she got ready for the day, I figured tonight was the time.
Josie was at my parents’ house until Christmas Eve. My mom declared she needed her help getting things ready for the large Christmas Eve dinner we shared together.
Like hell, it took her three days to plan and put everything together, but I didn’t argue when she suggested it to Josie.
I’d spent last night at Penny’s house, and tonight was going to be important. It was our first official date night in town.
Tonight, I was going to tell her I loved her. Then after, I’d bring her back here, where she felt safest, and hopefully, she was on board with the rest of my plans.
We’d slept in, so it was after ten in the morning, and I was far behind on my plans for the day, but I couldn’t bring myself to get up and get moving.
Not when I knew any moment, Penny was going to step out of her bathroom, wrapped in nothing but a towel and the length of her golden hair.
No way was I missing that opportunity before I kissed her goodbye and headed to my own home to get ready for work.
I was scrolling through my phone, checking my email and the schedule for the day, when Penny’s phone on her nightstand rang.
I flinched at the harsh tone and reached for it, assuming it’d be Maize and she needed her sister.
Maize decided not to come back here for Christmas, insisting she wanted the break to work extra shifts.
It’d be the first Christmas they weren’t together, and I knew there was no way Maize would have done that if she wasn’t sure Penny was well taken care of.
Still, Penny was sad about the news, so she’d want any chance to talk to her sister.
However, it wasn’t Maize’s name on the screen, but it was Maize’s voice I heard in my memory.
Mom calls. Not a lot. But she always asks for money and Penny gives it.
Anger spiked. It was Christmas. Or at least was almost Christmas considering Christmas Eve was tomorrow. And this woman had the nerve to call now ?
I considered letting it go to voice mail and deleting both from Penny’s call log, but before I could, Penny stepped out of the bathroom.
“Is that my phone ringing?”
“Yeah.” I handed out her phone. “It’s your mom.”
“Oh!” She answered the call and grinned, and that pissed me off too.
Like she had some hope in her eyes. A young girl’s excitement at seeing her mom that from what I understood, the woman didn’t deserve.
“Mom? Hi! How are you? Merry Christmas!”
I couldn’t hear the woman on the other end, but in a blink, Penny’s excitement vanished, and sadness replaced her features.
“Oh. I mean, yeah. But…” There was more talking from the phone, more quickly snapped words based on the sounds I heard coming through it, and with every one of them, Penny’s expression worsened. Her chin quivered and her eyes closed. At one point, she flinched. “Yeah, Mom. I’ll do that. Okay. Is that all?”
Two seconds later, she was staring at her phone, saddened, but not entirely surprised.
It took everything in me not to grab her phone and smash it to pieces. To take away any opportunity to give that a chance to hurt Penny again.
I reached for her, wrapped my hands around her hips, and pulled her to me.
She blinked and shook her head like she was surprised I was there.
“You okay?”
“She didn’t even wish me a Merry Christmas or anything.”
“What happened?” I brushed my hand up and down her hip, trying to soothe her when everything inside of me was rippling with fury.
Her mom hurt her. Kept doing it. She didn’t care.
“No,” Penny said and scrambled into my lap. Her tears came hard and fast, so forcefully from her that her entire body shook with the waves of them. There was nothing I could do but hold her, which was exactly what I did. She’d fallen on me at an angle, so I grabbed her legs and draped them over her lap.
“She at least talks to me,” she admitted. “Asks me about my day or how I’m doing or whatever, but she didn’t even do that.” She hiccupped over her words. “Just the money. She needs money again.”
I hugged her tighter, kissing her temple while she worked through her tears. Her cries quieted and her body relaxed, but my own rage was still simmering.
This woman had no idea the beauty she brought into the world, and if I had my way, she’d never be able to hurt her again.
My job was to protect Penny, even if it hurt in the short term.
“Give me your phone, Pen.”
“Why?”
My lips pressed to her temple. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course.” She tilted her head back and I reached out to wipe away tears that stained her freshly washed face. I gritted my teeth at her swollen, bloodshot eyes. All because of this damn woman.
“Why do you give her money?”
She shrugged and felt so small in my arms. So fragile. “I keep hoping she’ll change.”
Not surprising in the least. Penny had a way of seeing and thinking the best of everyone. She’d seen it in me, when I was still being an ass.
“Give me your phone.”
Two tiny lines dug into the space between her brows, but she handed over her phone. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m taking care of you. The way you should have been taken care of your entire life.” She unlocked the phone, and I went to her recent calls. I hit the speakerphone button and dialed her mom’s number.
“Gavin,” Penny whispered, but I kissed her. “Trust me, Penny. Even if this hurts, just hold on to me.”
Because I was about ready to stab her in her gut, but this way, she’d know for sure. I’d be there to pick up the pieces, and I had no doubt Maize would understand.
Hell, she’d probably show up to not only check on Penny, but celebrate.
“You better be calling because you sent the money.”
Her mom’s voice was cruel, scratchy, and slurred even though it was barely after ten in the morning. She was drunk. Mean. And she was going to lose the best thing that ever happened to her.
“This isn’t Penny, it’s Gavin, her boyfriend.”
Her mom scoffed, and Penny flinched in my hold but stayed silent. “She doesn’t have boyfriends. She’s probably one of those damn lesbians or something. Always too afraid to let a man get near her.”
My jaw gritted and my mouth filled with words for this hateful shrew. I hadn’t anticipated her being this bad or this cruel. Penny had given the picture of a thoughtless woman, but not cruel.
“Well, she has one now and I don’t like it much when my woman gets off a phone call and falls apart in tears because her own mother doesn’t give a shit about her.”
“And?”
Jesus. She didn’t even argue the point. More tears fell down Penny’s cheeks as she silently cried in my arms.
“I’ll give you fifteen grand to never contact her again. Or Maize.”
There was a beat. No more than one before she said, “Deal. Little shits ruined my life. What do I need them for?”
Penny gasped and a sob broke free.
“You’ll have it by the end of the day.” I ended the call and tossed her phone.
Penny broke down again.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry I did that, but she doesn’t have the right to hurt you, Penny. People who care about someone don’t do that and you deserve to not only feel nothing but love every day of your life, you deserve to have someone stand up for you and protect you.”
“She never said she hated us.” She sobbed against my chest as I kept apologizing.
I moved us, stretched out in her bed, and pulled her against me.
Screw work.
Screw the date if we needed to.
I’d lie in this bed all day and night long with her if I had to.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” she said.
I knew I shouldn’t have. Knew she’d want to keep hoping, but there were times to stay hopeful and times to have the blinders pulled from your eyes to see the truth.
“I’m sorry that hurt,” I told her. “But I can’t stand back and watch anyone hurt you.”
“I don’t mean that,” she finally said. She sniffed and pushed up to her elbows on my chest. They dug in, but I didn’t move. Didn’t flinch from the quick bite of pain. “That’s too much money.”
“It’s fine. I have it and I would have given her double if she needed it.”
Penny glanced at her phone, then back at me.
Her eyes went blank. “She didn’t argue or negotiate. She didn’t say anything at all, just took it.”
“I know.” I slipped my hand into her hair, pushing it off her cheeks. It stuck to her tears, and I wiped those away, too.
She glanced at her phone again. “She doesn’t love us. She never did.” Realization swept over her as she closed her eyes and sighed. “I can’t believe I never saw it, even when Maize did.”
“You’re a woman who loves deeply and sees the best in people. That’s not on you, it’s on her for not taking care of it, but I swear to you, I will always protect that softness inside of you.”
She chuckled, an empty husk of a sound. “I feel like I should be mad at you for that, for calling her like that, but maybe I’m also a bit grateful? Like I never would have seen the truth otherwise.”
Thank goodness she saw it that way.
Screw tonight and waiting for perfect moments. There was a time to wait, and like my dad said, a time to live.
“I love you, Penny. Think I’ve been falling in love with you from the moment I first saw you. And I promise again, I will always protect you, always take care of you, even from people you love.”
Her eyes widened, gorgeous blues glimmered and blinked away the tears. “What?”
“You heard me.” I grinned. “I love you. Never thought I’d give that to another woman, but you’re irresistible and I can’t help it.”
“Can’t help it, huh?” she teased and reached out, running her finger across my jaw, over the seam of my lips. I snapped at her and she jerked back her finger, laughing.
“You know I love you too, right? With my whole heart.”
I settled my hand at her chest, exposed above the loosening towel. “Then I’m the luckiest man in the world to have earned the love of a woman with a heart this large.”
She sniffed and her chin quivered.
I leaned up and kissed her before the tears started falling.