Chapter 27
PENNY
Aweek had passed with no further contact from Royce.
Penny was miserable.
And she had only herself to blame.
For all intents and purposes, she’d become a shut-in. She went to work, ate what little she could manage, slept, then started over again the next day.
She didn’t know what she expected to happen after Royce left following their final date. That he’d find the paperwork and come storming back to her side and refuse? He’d told her he wouldn’t do that.
Penny couldn’t expect him to sign the documents the next day and drop them off either. He had a right to contact his lawyer and make sure everything was on the up and up.
Over the last couple of weeks, Daytona had seemed to notice that Penny needed more comfort. Her cat wasn’t known for being a cuddler and more often than not was hard to find when Penny came home from work. She liked to hide beneath the bed or the couch.
But today seemed to be different.
Daytona had actually jumped up onto her lap. She curled herself into a warm little ball and purred when Penny lightly ran her fingers through her fur. The low rumbling sound was nearly enough to lull her to sleep if the knock at the door hadn’t startled her out of her quiet reverie.
She glanced toward the door with fresh unease.
There were only a handful of people who would bother to come pay her a visit.
Her brothers. Their significant others. Her mother.
And Royce.
Penny considered not answering the door.
At this point, she wasn’t interested in seeing any of those people.
She didn’t have the heart or the energy to speak to her family regarding her poor life choices.
And she definitely didn’t feel up to getting the divorce paperwork back from Royce.
Just seeing both of their names on that document might be enough to send her over the edge.
Another knock sounded, and Penny groaned.
She’d never been very good at avoiding the inevitable anyway.
That was one of the reasons she’d left the folder in Royce’s truck.
She headed for the door, then pulled it open without checking who it was first, only to be stunned into silence.
Her cousin stood on the doorstep, but it wasn’t the fact that Rose was visiting that turned Penny’s life upside down.
It was the person standing next to her.
Morgan gave a little wave that didn’t match her overly bright smile at all. “Hey, Penny.” Her smile faltered as her gaze swept over Penny from head to toe. She frowned and stepped over the threshold. “Oh, Penny. Are you sick?”
That question was enough to put Penny in gear. She lifted her hand to her messy bun, then let her fingertips trail down the side of her makeup-free face. She probably looked a wreck, but sick?
Her grimace must have said more than she was capable of verbalizing because Rose rushed to place a hand on Morgan’s forearm.
“What she means is that you look like you could use a little TLC.” Rose smiled, but there was definite worry in her eyes. “Has your nausea been acting up again?”
She turned to Morgan. “She gets this thing when she’s stressed. It’s a whole situation.”
Morgan’s eyes softened with understanding. “That’s rough. And I bet it doesn’t help… everything that’s been going on.” She gnawed on her lower lip. “Royce is worried about you.”
Penny straightened at the mention of his name. “Did he move back home?”
Morgan gave her a cocked brow. “Think about that for a moment, then tell me why you think he’d ever want to live under the same roof as our dad and Lincoln right now.” She shifted her weight from foot to foot, then peered inside. “Would it be okay if we came in? We could chat. Catch up.”
As if realizing they probably shouldn’t be seen in a group, Rose glanced over her shoulder down the hall to the other apartments.
Penny would have laughed if it wasn’t so heartbreakingly understandable.
These two showing up together had to mean something. She just wasn’t sure what.
Stepping aside, Penny ushered them in. She tugged at her wrinkled T-shirt, then gave up caring if she looked presentable. If anyone could grasp the utter despair she was dealing with, it would be these two.
She settled on the couch, not surprised to find that Daytona had skittered off somewhere in the apartment.
So much for wanting cuddles.
Rose and Morgan stared at her expectantly. It was unnerving the way they were watching her, and she nearly blurted that she’d changed her mind and didn’t need company.
Then Rose broke the uncomfortable silence.
“I know Dad told you about what happened with his grandmother. How that betrayal started this whole thing. Neither side is guilt-free in any of this. Over the years…” She grimaced, then smiled sheepishly.
“Over the years, we haven’t exactly been the best at helping the prior generation get over themselves. ”
Morgan snorted. “Says the girl who pushes my brother’s buttons just because she can.”
Rose pointed at her friend. “Hey. Lincoln is a jerk sometimes. You should have heard what he said about Royce and Penny. He deserves to be pestered.”
Morgan rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Penny. “The biggest grudge is the one between our great-grandparents. After that, it’s been more or less minor. Squabbles over property lines. Trying to one-up the other when it comes to harvest season.”
She shot a pointed look at Rose, who laughed and held up her hands.
“Last year was not my fault.”
“You let the goats all over our property, and they practically demolished half our carrot crop.”
“I didn’t let them do anything,” Rose insisted.
“Maybe not, but you didn’t help the situation. And you let that stupid goat onto our property at least once a month just to make Lincoln mad.”
Rose snickered, and by the way Morgan was fighting a smile, it was clear she wasn’t too put out by it all. It must not have hurt their overall numbers.
“Anyway,” Morgan continued, “what I’m trying to say is that it’s about time this grudge is buried.
Rose and I met in college. We both had big plans for our future, and to a degree, we use what we learned to help with the finances of our farms. But the reason we came back here to help was to end this feud. We just haven’t figured out how.”
Penny swung her gaze from Morgan to Rose. “You realize it’d be a lot easier if you didn’t go out of your way to make Lincoln mad, right?”
Her cousin laughed her off with a wave of her hand. “Lincoln is an idiot. And he’s the one exception to this rule. If he’s going to be a jerk, then he deserves what I dish out.”
Morgan rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh. Penny could tell she understood that Lincoln had the most sway with her family, and since he couldn’t stand Rose, it wasn’t going to be easy to persuade him to drop any fight he had with their neighbors.
Penny offered her an empathetic smile.
If she hadn’t been a member of the Taylor family, she might have had a shot at getting these two families to see that they would be so much happier just dropping all the baggage of the past that weighed them down.
Out of nowhere, Penny’s stomach swirled. She could feel the blood drain from her face as she fought the urge to lose everything she’d eaten for lunch that day.
Rose got to her feet, quickly realizing what was happening. “Can I get you something? A bowl? A drink?”
Morgan inched to the edge of her seat. “Are you okay?”
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Penny closed her eyes and focused on the cool air that whooshed through her airways. Sometimes it was enough just to feel the lowered temperature.
In and out.
When she finally settled herself, she found two concerned women watching her.
No, not concerned.
It was something else.
They glanced at each other for a moment, then back to Penny.
“What?” Penny demanded.
“What were you thinking about just now?” Rose asked.
Penny shrugged. “That I wish I could mediate this issue between your households.”
Rose’s eyes narrowed. “You love your job.”
“Yeah…” she drawled. “So?”
“Have you ever had an episode when you’re working? Helping people through anything? Even the hard cases?”
She had to think about that for a long moment. “No, I can’t say that I have.”
Once again, the two women exchanged curious glances.
“When did you get married again?” Morgan asked.
“A month and a half ago. I think.” Penny made a face. “I guess it could have been two months? Or less than that? I don’t really know. It happened so fast, and I haven’t exactly been in the best headspace.”
She blushed.
What woman couldn’t remember the exact day she got married?
She could figure it out if she really wanted to, but it didn’t seem like there was much point in doing so right now.
Rose settled back on her seat and leaned forward, her forearms bracing on her thighs. “Penny, I need to ask you something, and I don’t want you to panic.”
This was not what Penny had expected at all for today.
Not her cousin and Royce’s sister showing up unannounced.
Not for the two of them to share the opinion that the feud needed to end, even though Rose seemed to get a kick out of messing with Lincoln.
And certainly not for Rose to suddenly put her on high alert.
“You’re scaring me, if I’m honest,” Penny whispered.
Rose nodded and reached for Penny’s hand. “Have you had a period since…”
The room spun as realization hit.
Her vision blurred.
Normally, she was so good about keeping track of her cycle. But the last couple of weeks had been hard. Occasionally, stress made her late, which was probably why she hadn’t thought much of it.
Penny pressed her fingers to her temples.
Not good.
So not good.
Then it hit her.
The day of their impromptu wedding, she’d been on edge. She’d been so nervous that she’d thrown up more than a couple times. She hadn’t been thinking clearly about anything that night—not the timing, not the possibility, not what could happen afterward.
She gasped, then lifted her head to stare at the two women seated across from her.
There was a nervous energy in the room now, and it was too late for her to brush off the question.
They all knew it was a possibility.
Penny might be pregnant.
She might be carrying Royce’s child.
Two families at war with each other, linked by an innocent life growing inside her.
Morgan got to her feet. “I’ll go get you a test.”
“What? No, you don’t have to do that—” Penny could hear the pleading in her voice. She wasn’t ready for this. Sure, she wanted children, but not this way.
It’s too late for that, a quiet voice murmured in the stillness of her mind.
Morgan paused at the door and looked back. “I’m not trying to push you. But you need to know, Penny.”
And she did. There was no getting around that fact.
Morgan headed for the door. “Rose, you stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Time seemed to slow after that. Rose did her best to calm her with words that didn’t register. She followed Penny as she paced the kitchen. The whole time, Penny couldn’t stop thinking about how she’d signed that paperwork and how it was likely already too late to go back.
There was a good chance Royce had sent it to his lawyer.
Why wouldn’t he?
She wouldn’t blame him if he never wanted to see her again.
When Morgan returned, she had three different kinds of tests.
Her face was beet red as she shoved the bag in Penny’s direction.
“I expect each of you to defend me if you hear even a whisper that I’m a harlot.
Because we all know how fast gossip spreads.
I’m certain I was caught by two of the biggest town gossips when I went through checkout. ”
Her words sounded more like an obnoxious buzzing as Penny fingered the plastic bag that held the tests.
She wasn’t ready for this, and yet somehow, she knew the women wouldn’t leave without confirmation.
Not only that, but she was fairly certain Rose’s assumptions were right.
What was she going to do?
Seven minutes later, she stared at the first test.
Two distinct pink lines stared right back.
There wasn’t any way to claim the test had given her a false positive or that they’d read it wrong.
She lifted her eyes to the women as she exited the bathroom, tears in her eyes.
Rose was the first to approach, and when she glanced down at the test, she didn’t even react.
Everyone had already known.
Without thinking it through, Penny clutched at Morgan’s arm. “You can’t tell him.”
Morgan’s expression hardened. “He has to know, Penny. That’s his child too.”
Penny’s blood chilled. “That’s not… I didn’t mean…” She closed her eyes, and a sob broke free of her throat. “Just… please. Let me be the one to tell him.”
When she forced herself to meet Morgan’s gaze once again, she couldn’t say she’d ever seen anyone fiercer.
Morgan looked like a warrior. Arms crossed with a strong stance. She studied Penny for a moment, and only when Rose whispered her name did she soften a fraction.
“Fine. When?”
Swallowing hard, Penny shook her head.
“I’m not going to let you keep this from him for long. He deserves to know.”
“I know. I get it, I do. I just…” Penny pressed a hand to her stomach, still too stunned to fully understand what was happening. “I need some time to wrap my head around this.”
Morgan huffed. Suddenly, it didn’t feel like she was Team Penny anymore. “I need a timeline. He’s miserable. And if he finds out that I kept something like this from him…” She shook her head. “I don’t want to be in that position either.”
Penny nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks. “I know.”
“I don’t understand why you’re not picking up that phone right now.”
And that was when the tears flowed harder. “What if…” Penny choked on her words. “Everything is such a mess.”
“Yeah, it is.” Morgan’s voice softened, but it stayed firm.
“But now you have a bigger responsibility. That little life growing inside you needs two parents who will stop at nothing to protect it. Even if that means protecting it from a decades-long feud. I don’t care what you have to do.
Talk to my brother and figure this out. Move away if that’s what you need to do to make it work. ”
Move?
That was the last thing she wanted.
And yet that quiet voice in her head seemed willing to consider it.
“A week,” she whispered.
“No,” Morgan said, shaking her head.
“Morgan, it’s not your—”
“That is my niece or nephew in there.” She pointed toward Penny’s midsection, then immediately dropped her hand, as if realizing how intense she sounded.
“I’m sorry. I know this is your news. I know this is your marriage.
But Royce is my brother, and he deserves to know before this goes any further. ”
Penny looked at Rose.
Rose’s expression was gentler, but she nodded. “She’s right. You should be the one to tell him. But soon.”
Morgan closed the distance to Penny. “By Monday morning. If he doesn’t know, I’m going to tell him. You have the weekend.”
Penny nodded.
Because what else could she do?
She had the weekend.