I love you.

She opened her mouth to say it, but faltered when he took another step backward.

“Don’t, Penelope.”

“Cole—”

He turned away. “See you around, Pope.”

Penelope stood rooted to the spot as she watched his lean figure head back into the hospital.

See you around, Pope.

Was he for real?

See you around, Pope.

Suddenly she was so very glad she hadn’t uttered the words she’d been about to say.

Chapter 27

“I can’t believe you guys came all the way from Chicago,” Penelope said around a mouthful of Cool Ranch Doritos.

“Oh, sweetie. We’re your family.” As if punctuating this point, her mother snatched the chip bag away and replaced it with a bowl of carrots.

Penelope ignored the carrots, opting instead to pull a pillow over her chest and flop back against the couch.

Her sister came out of the kitchen and handed her a beer before sitting on the coffee table so she could study Penelope.

It had been like this for two days, Penelope going through the motions of life as her mother and sister alternated between feeding her beer and carrots and watching her like she might shatter at any moment.

And she might shatter. She just might.

“Thanks for coming,” she said quietly.

“Please,” Janie said, reaching across to squeeze Penelope’s arm. “You think we wouldn’t both jump on a plane the second you called us? You think we didn’t have to practically handcuff Dad to his La-Z-Boy to prevent him from going after Cole with a shotgun?”

Penelope gave a small smile at the thought of her gentle father even swatting a fly. He hadn’t been able to come with her mom and sister because of work, but he’d called her twice a day, trying to distract her with every possible bit of sports trivia on the planet. She knew every fact before he said it, of course, but the distraction was welcome all the same.

Anything to keep from crying again.

Penelope had made it all the way home from the hospital on Sunday without shedding a tear.

But once inside the safety of her apartment? Waterworks. The tears had come hot and furious, and hadn’t stopped until sometime around 4:00 A.M. on Monday, at which point she texted her sister.

By Monday night, her mother and sister had descended upon New York in full mother hen/warrior mode.

It was now Wednesday evening, and the tears had grown more intermittent, although she’d had a breakdown in the women’s restroom at work today. Jo, Oxford’s sweet receptionist, had patiently stroked her hair before rigging up an awkward ice pack for Penelope’s puffy eyes.

It hadn’t worked. Penelope was pretty sure Lincoln and Jake were on to her. Cassidy too.

As for Cole…

She hadn’t seen him. Not since his See you around, Pope send-off.

He’d taken the week off to get Bobby settled, but he’d be back on Monday. Penelope was counting the days, half in dread, half in hopes that he’d show up and it would be like their fight had never happened.

“No word from him?” Janie asked, pulling Penelope’s beer out of her hand and taking a sip.

She shook her head. “No. Do you think I should call him?”

“Absolutely not,” her mother said. “The ball’s in his court. He’s the utter fool here.”

Janie nodded. “I’m not saying he doesn’t get a little bit of a free pass because of what happened with his brother, but he still owes you an apology. And he needs to initiate it.”

Penelope stared blindly at the fishbowl, where Edgar swam in aimless circles. “That would be all fine and good if we didn’t work together. What am I supposed to do when he shows up on Monday?”

“Well, one thing’s for certain, you have to look fabulous,” her mother said. “Which reminds me, I want to take you shopping. Your closet is eighty percent sports outfits.”

Sports outfits?

Penelope and Janie exchanged a tired look. Their mother wasn’t superficial—not quite. But Lydia Pope was definitely of the mind-set that a nice fuchsia lipstick could solve most of the world’s problems.

“I’m pretty sure Cole cares about a lot more than Penelope’s looks,” Janie said gently.

“Well, of course he does,” Lydia said, indignant. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t show off her legs. Maybe get a nice push-up bra…remind him of exactly what he kicked out of his bed.”

“Mom, eeew,” Janie said.

“Do you have a better idea?” Lydia asked.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” Janie said, handing Penelope her beer back. “You’re going to act like nothing happened.”

“Can’t,” Penelope said glumly. “I’m a horrible actress.”

“Well, that’s true, dear. Which reminds me, would you mind if I put up a video of that time you played the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz and then chased your tail because you thought it was on fire?”

“Mother,” Janie and Penelope said at the same time.

“What? It’s cute! And you two have banned me from naked pictures. I need something to post on Facebook. My fans are counting on me.”

“You know they’re friends, right. Not fans?”

“Mine are both,” Lydia said stubbornly. “I have a following. They rely on me for entertainment.”

“Did I say I was glad you came out to New York?” Penelope asked jokingly. “Because I changed my mind.”

“Well, it’s either the lion video, or I could do the fourth-grade talent show, where you—”

Penelope was saved from having to hear her mother recount a disastrous performance of Leader of the Pack by the buzzing of her intercom.

“Yikes,” Janie said, glancing at the ancient-looking box making the noise. “They still make those?”

“It’s an old building,” Penelope said, dragging herself off the couch. “I hope that’s the pizza.”

Her mother made a dismayed noise. “Pizza. I thought we agreed that I’d make a lovely salad—”

“Mom, I’m a vegetarian, and even I know salad’s not comfort food,” Janie said. “We ordered a pizza while you were in the bathroom curling your hair. Again.”

“Hello?” Penelope asked, punching the button.

“Penelope, sweetheart. How are you?”

She frowned at the familiar voice. “Lincoln?”

“Indeed. Can I come up?”

“Who’s Lincoln?” Lydia asked Janie.

“Dunno,” Janie said. “I hope we’re about to find out. He sounds sexy.”

“You’re married,” Penelope shot over her shoulder to her sister. “Although, if you think he sounds sexy, watch this….”

“Come on up,” she told Lincoln, buzzing him in.

“Watch what?” Janie asked.

“Wait for it,” Penelope said, going to the front door and standing on her toes to look through the peephole.

She smiled in anticipation when she saw Lincoln’s painfully handsome face appear on the other side of the door. Why couldn’t she have fallen in love with this one? Handsome, and unlikely to bid farewell to a woman with a See you around, Pope.

Penelope opened the door before he could knock, then stepped back to let her mother and sister take in the full impact of Lincoln Mathis’s good looks.

“Wow,” Janie said.

“Oh my,” their mother breathed.

Penelope grinned. “Lincoln, meet my sister, Janie, and mother, Lydia.”

Lincoln’s eyebrows lifted. “I would have thought them both your sisters.”

Penelope rolled her eyes at the overused line, but Lydia put a hand over her chest and made a tittering, tinkling laugh that Penelope hadn’t heard…ever.

“I didn’t realize you had family in town,” Lincoln said, going to shake both women’s hands. “Badly done of me to intrude like this.”

“Oh, you’re not intruding,” Janie said in a breathy little voice.