One Size Fits All (The Classy ‘n’ Sassy Series Book 3) (23 page)

CHAPTER
Thirty-Four

F
inally it
was Thursday night, and as Thor walked into the Red Brick, he held on to a small shred of hope that Penny would show up.

“Is she here?” he asked Seth when he walked in.

“No, man.” Seth shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

Thor had poured his heart out to his friend, and begged for his advice. Unfortunately, he had none to give. “Did she call?”

“No.”

“So you think there’s a chance she’ll show up?”

“I guess.”

Shelly walked by, a tray of dirty dishes piled high, and answered his question before he could even ask it. “I haven’t heard from her, either.”

He took up his spot, wishing the door would open and Penny would breeze in. Instead it was a men’s soccer team celebrating their latest win, and the usual football crowd coming in to watch the Thursday night matchup on the big screen.

As the bar filled, it was harder for him to keep an eye out for Penny. But when the crowd parted for a mere second, a flash of black and red passed by. The classic Red Brick uniform. Could it be her? He got up from his stool and maneuvered around. The ponytail gave her away.

He moved quickly toward her, hands clammy, heart racing, no clue what to say when he reached her. She stood behind the bar entering an order into the computer. “You’re here” was all he could manage.

“I’d never leave Seth and Shelly hanging like that.” She kept her back to him. “But I did give my two-weeks’ notice.”

“Oh.” He shouldn’t have been surprised.

She ran the customer’s credit card. Ripping the receipt from the printer, she turned to head back to her table, but he stepped into her path. “Excuse me.”

“Um . . . I need to . . . Can we . . . ”

“I can’t do this right now. I have tables waiting for me.”

“Later then?”

She looked up at him, an obvious debate raging in her head. “I guess.”

He’d take it. Moving aside, she walked past him, her sweet scent making him dizzy.

Thor got back to his post, feeling optimistic for the first time in days, but nervous as hell, too. This might be his one and only chance to fix everything and win back the woman he loved. No pressure.

But, of course, the bar was crazy busy that night. She had unending tables to wait on and he had to break up several fights, as well as help Seth clean up a major bar mess. Finally it calmed down once the game ended.

“You mind if I take a break?” he asked Seth.

“Go ahead. And you might be interested to know I saw Penny head out back a minute ago.”

“Thanks.”

Thor’s head was a mess of words and emotions, and none of it was forming the perfect way to tell her how he felt. He pushed open the back door, his heart pounding, his breathing shallow. She stood there, the moonlight illuminating her face, more gorgeous than ever.

“Hi,” he managed.

She turned her head toward him. “Hey.”

“Can we talk now?”

“I guess.”

He stepped to her, still no clue where to start. Apologize? Explain? Vow to do anything she asked for the rest of his life? “I love you.” That seemed like the best place to start.

Her gaze dropped to her feet. “Please don’t.”

“I have to. You’re everything to me.”

“If that were true, we never would’ve been in this position.”

“I know I fucked up, but I can be better.”

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I’m so over all the drama. I just want to relax and have a normal life.”

“We can have that. I know we can.” His phone rang in his pocket, but he ignored it. “Please let me try.”

His text message alert sounded.

He stepped in front of her, and tilted her chin so he could look in her eyes when he spoke. “I love you and I know you love me.”

His phone rang again.

“You should probably get it. It might be that kid’s mom again.”

“No one’s more important than you.” She stared at him. Maybe she finally believed him. Actions spoke louder than words and he was finally learning that lesson. “And I will prove that to you every single day for the rest of my life.”

He cupped her cheek, his finger rubbing over her lips, as they stood there in silence. He didn’t know what else to say, what other way to convince her he was committed to her, and only her.

The back door opened and Seth popped his head out. “Bryn just called. She wouldn’t wait for me to get you, but she needs you to call her. Immediately. She sounded pretty frazzled.” He pulled his head back inside.

The moonlight reflected off Penny’s eyes, the moisture there. She turned away from him. “I can’t deal with this right now.”

She yanked on the door and headed back inside. Thor followed her. He had more to say, more promises to make.

“Hey,” Seth said, stopping both of them in the back hallway, worry across his face. “We need to be on high alert for the rest of the night.” He gave Thor a pointed stare. “Keep your guard up.”

“What’s going on?” Penny asked.

“There was a fight at a club a few miles away. A guy and an undercover cop got shot.”

Thor turned to Penny. “Bryn.”

Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my God.”

Thor pulled out his cell phone and dialed Bryn’s number, hitting the button for speakerphone. She answered on the first ring, but it was a jumble of words and sobs. “Bryn. Calm down. I can’t understand you.”

“I don’t know where Mia is and I’m here all by myself and no one will tell me anything.”

“Where are you?”

“Newford General. In the ER. I told him not to do that stupid security job. Why didn’t he fucking listen to me?”

Her sobs sawed through the air around them. Thor looked at Penny. He didn’t know what to do, what to say.

“Let’s go,” she said, and turned back toward the employee entrance.

He met Seth’s gaze. “Go, man. We’ll be fine.”

Thor ran after Penny, already halfway to his truck. They said nothing as they hopped in and he tore out of the lot.

---------

PENNY’S HEART
raced as Theo drove toward the hospital, thinking of Bryn and Eli and how scared she must be. She remembered the day they found out about Johnny. How badly she ached for her friend. She couldn’t bear the thought of Bryn losing another husband.

She dialed Oliver’s number, Mia’s fiancé.

“Penny? It’s late. What’s going on?”

“Is Mia with you?”

“Of course. Here.”

A sleepy Mia said, “Hullo?”

“Eli’s in the ER. He was shot.”

“What?” Mia was definitely awake now. “Where’s Bryn?”

“Newford Gen. Theo and I are on our way.”

“I’ll see you there.”

Theo pulled into the ER parking lot and they jogged toward the entrance. Bryn sat on a plastic chair, her elbows on her knees, head in her hands. She looked up, her face a mess of tears, and ran to them. They took her into their arms as she wept.

When she calmed down, they sat. Penny handed her a cup of water and Theo asked if they’d told her anything.

“Just that they had to rush him into surgery.” She sipped the water. “To remove a bullet. I can’t believe my husband has a fucking bullet inside him.”

Penny put her arm around Bryn. “They’re going to get it out. He’s going to be fine.”

The automatic sliding glass doors into the ER opened and Mia ran in, followed by Oliver. She pulled Bryn into her arms. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know my phone died.” She pulled back. “How is he?”

“I don’t know. And it could be hours before I do.”

They sat back down, all of then in a row, Bryn’s head resting on Mia’s shoulder. The TV above played a rerun of some seventies sitcom. It ended and another episode started. Maybe another after that. She wasn’t sure. They blended together.

“Mrs. Augustine?” A nurse appeared wearing blue scrubs. “They’re almost done. Everything looks good.”

“Thank God,” Mia said, and cradled Bryn, who was crying again, but they seemed to be happy tears.

“Thank you,” she managed.

The nurse nodded and disappeared behind a door. For the first time in hours, Penny relaxed. They all seemed to relax.

Penny stood and stretched, overcome with desire to breathe fresh air. “I’m heading outside for a few minutes,” she said to no one in particular, and walked toward the door. She stepped out into the cold of night and shivered, but it felt good.

The automatic door opened behind her and she turned.

“Can we talk some more?” Theo asked.

Penny was done talking. Couldn’t he just leave her alone? “I’d rather not.”

“But I need to fix this.”

“There is no fixing it.” Maybe bluntness would work. “I need to move on with my life. Alone.”

“Why?”

She turned away from him. “Because relationships suck. It’s all just too hard.”

“You know what? You’re acting like an immature little girl.”

What? How dare he say that to her.

Theo continued before she could respond. “Life gets tough, and instead of fighting, you run away. Jack did a really shitty thing to you, but you can’t punish me for that. I don’t deserve that.”

That made her face him. “I didn’t deserve to be cheated on, but it happened anyway.”

“Yeah, it did. And he’s a dick for doing it to you. I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but you need to stop letting him have that control over you. You need to let it go and get over it.”

“Don’t tell me what I need to do! I can’t just get over it. I’ve tried.” She wasn’t cold anymore. Her rage had warmed her right up. “And you’re an asshole for saying that. You don’t know what it’s like to be me.”

“I don’t, but I also know that running away isn’t the answer.”

She breathed deep, hoping to calm herself. “I can’t do it anymore. I’m done with the drama. And I’m done with you.”

“You’re the one who created all the drama. We could’ve had a great life together but you were too damn scared and paranoid and you didn’t even try to get over your past. You never trusted me, even when I gave you every reason to.” He ran his fingers through his hair, squeezing his skull. “I can’t believe you right now. I thought I could fix us. But I can’t. Not if you’d prefer to delude yourself into believing that being alone is the answer to your problems.”

Penny was too stunned to respond.

“I’m going back in there. You go do whatever the fuck you want. I don’t care anymore.”

---------

PENNY SANK
to the curb, arms wrapped around her knees. Why were relationships so freaking complicated? The simplicity of Jack’s offer sounded pretty damn good right about now.

“Hey.” Mia stood behind her. “Eli’s out of surgery. They took Bryn to see him.”

“Is he okay?”

“We think so. We’ll know more when she comes out.” Mia sat down next to her. “Can we talk about you and Thor?”

“No.” Penny stood. Same old Mia. Same old judgment. “I don’t want to talk to you about it.” She stepped toward the building.

“I’m worried about you.”

Maybe it was the tone, but Penny stopped. Maybe this wasn’t the same old Mia. She turned. “You don’t need to be.”

“Well, too bad.” She stood. “Things may be shitty between us right now, but I do care about you. You deserve to be happy. And I think he’s the one who can give that to you.”

Penny didn’t know anything. She was so damn confused. So she ignored Mia and the cacophony in her brain and reclaimed her plastic chair to wait with everyone.

An hour passed with no word from Bryn, and Penny began to feel her eyelids droop. Mia and Oliver were already asleep, somehow managing to lean on each other without falling over.

She hadn’t looked at Theo since she’d come back in. She glanced at him now. His head lay against the wall, eyes open, staring at the ceiling. He looked exhausted. She wanted to comfort him, pull him to her, let him rest his head on her.

She still cared about him.

Penny heard footsteps and looked up. Bryn came toward them, a huge smile. Penny elbowed Mia and she and Oliver jolted awake.

“He’s going to be okay,” Bryn said, tears spilling from her eyes. Mia and Penny jumped up and pulled her into a group hug, tears trailing down Penny’s own cheeks, too. “I got to hold him and kiss him and tell him I love him.”

Bryn and Mia pulled back, all of them with moist cheeks and wide smiles. “I’m so glad you guys are here. I love you both so much.”

“I love you, too,” Penny said, the words barely making it out. She was overcome with emotion. They say tragedy can bring people together, and maybe that was true. Maybe it made people realize how short life is and how stupid it is to let unimportant things dictate how you live it.

Bryn pulled away and stepped to Theo, her arms around him for a hug. “Thank you for being here.”

“That’s what friends are for,” he said as he returned her embrace.

“Excuse me. Mrs. Augustine?”

“Yes?”

“We’ll be moving your husband to a private room soon and we’ll set up a cot, as you requested.”

“Thank you.”

The nurse left and Bryn turned back to them. She shrugged her shoulders, a smile bowing her lips. “At least there’s one perk of being a police officer’s wife. First-class service at the ER.”

“And hopefully this is the only time you’ll need it,” Mia said.

Bryn nodded. “Definitely. I’m going to head back to the recovery room.”

“Of course.” Mia gave her another hug. “We’ll check in with you in the morning, okay?”

Bryn nodded and moved on to Penny. “It means so much to me that you’re here.”

Penny couldn’t speak. She just nodded against Bryn’s shoulder.

Bryn pulled back and looked Penny in the eyes. “We’ll talk soon, okay?”

Penny nodded again.

Bryn headed through a set of double doors and Mia and Oliver said a weary good-bye. Penny was alone with Theo. She couldn’t bear to look at him.

“Let’s go,” he said, and she followed.

They got into his pickup and he pulled out of the hospital’s lot. He didn’t say a word and she sat there trying her best not to melt into a puddle of misery.

Theo pulled into the Red Brick’s lot, long after Seth had closed up for the night. He came to a stop behind her Mercedes, not even putting the truck in park. She opened the door, taking the hint. He said nothing as she stepped out, but stayed there until she got into her car. It wasn’t until he drove away that she let her tears fall.