“Okay, fine. Yes, you’re right.” Penny pulled the hem of her T-shirt from Riley’s mouth. “I still love him since apparently I don’t learn from my own mistakes.”
“And what’re you going to do about it?”
“Suffer,” Penny muttered. “I’m going to watch him walk away. Again. And then I’m going to ask Robert if they’ve got an anti-love virus inoculation.”
Maria laughed. “Pitiful. Really.”
“Easy for you to say,” Penny whispered. “Robert’s crazy about you.”
“I know.” Maria sighed happily. “I really love that about him. But as for you—why are you so willing to let him walk away again?”
“What am I supposed to do?” Penny asked. “Tie him to the bed?”
“Not an entirely bad idea.”
“True. But eventually, he’d work his way free and then he’d leave anyway.” She plucked a rock from Riley’s fingers and tossed it into the closest flower bed. “Besides, if he’s that anxious to get away from me and his children, why should I try to make him stay?”
“Love.”
“One-sided love? Not a good time.”
“You could fight for him,” Maria suggested.
“No.” Shaking her head, Penny said, “What would be the point? If I fight and lose, none of it mattered.”
“And if you fight and win?”
“I still lose,” Penny told her solemnly. “It’s no use, Maria. Colt lives for risk. He likes the rush. He likes the danger. I have a feeling that he’s not going to be satisfied until he’s cheated death so often that he finally catches up to it.” She shivered at the thought, then looked at her babies and shook her head again. “I won’t watch him do that, Maria. I won’t watch him chase death. I can’t. And I won’t let my kids watch it, either.”
A Spanish language radio station blared music into the quiet neighborhood. The men on the roof spreading a green-striped tarp shouted to one another and laughed while they worked.
“So that’s it?” Maria watched her. “It’s just over now?”
Penny smoothed her palm over Riley’s head, loving the feel of her soft curls. “No. It’s not over now. It was over almost two years ago. It was over right after it began.”
* * *
The hospital cafeteria wasn’t exactly filled with ambiance. But they’d done what they could with the place. Dozens of tables and chairs dotted the gleaming linoleum floor. Windows on the walls allowed bright shafts of daylight into the room and there was a patio through a set of French doors that boasted dappled shade and neatly tended flower beds.
Still, not a place Colt would have chosen to have a lunch meeting. But when you were meeting a busy doctor with limited time, it served its purpose.
Colt looked at the man opposite him. “You did the right thing telling me about the twins.”
Robert took a bite of his chicken sandwich, chewed and said, “You had a right to know. But more importantly,” he added, waving his sandwich for emphasis, “Penny’s been struggling long enough on her own.”
“Yeah, she has.” Irritation swelled. Remembering what he’d discovered when he went through her bills, her business records, Colt felt another sharp stab of guilt. Though why the hell he should feel guilty, he didn’t know. He hadn’t known about the twins, had he? No one had told him a damn thing. Not until Robert had come to him.
Disgusted, Colt took a bite of his chicken enchilada. Immediately sorry he had, Colt frowned, dropped his fork onto the bright orange food tray and reluctantly swallowed. “How can you eat this stuff?”
Robert shrugged and took another healthy bite. “It’s here. I’m hungry. Case closed.”
Okay, he could see that. One glance around the crowded cafeteria assured him that the hospital had a captive audience here. Most of the customers were nurses and doctors, with a handful of civilians thrown in just for good measure.
“So,” Robert said as he dipped a spoon into a bowl of vegetable soup, “I’ve only got a half hour for lunch. What did you want to talk about?”
“Right.” Colt nodded, pushed his food tray to one side and folded his arms on the table in front of him. “I understand family loyalty,” he began. “So I get why you kept quiet for so long. And I know what it cost you to go against Penny’s wishes to tell me the truth.”
Robert sat back and pushed one hand through his hair. “It wasn’t easy. Penny and I’ve been through a lot together. She’s always been there for me and I owe her everything. But I was tired of watching her live hand to mouth.”
There was something more that Robert wasn’t saying. It was there in the man’s eyes. He owed his sister everything? Why? What had he and Penny been through together?
“I’m not saying anything else that would betray her confidence,” Robert told him. “If you want more answers, you’ll have to ask her yourself. Telling you about the twins was different. You’re their father. You had a right to know.”
“Yeah, I did.” Colt nodded tightly. He didn’t like knowing that Penny had felt she couldn’t come to him. Didn’t like thinking about her having such a hard time. Worrying. Alone with the responsibility of raising two children.
Scrubbing one hand across the back of his neck, he pushed those thoughts aside. “Look, I came here to tell you that I’ll continue to be a part of the twins’ lives.”
Surprise flickered across Robert’s features. “Is that right? So, you’re staying?”
“No,” he said, the word blurting from him instinctively.
Hell, he hadn’t even had to think about it. He didn’t stay. Colt didn’t do permanent. He always had one foot out the door because it was safer that way. Not just for him but for whoever was in his life.
“I won’t be staying, but I’ll be around and I’ll keep in touch,” Colt said flatly. “And I will see to it that your sister doesn’t have to worry about money anymore.”
“Uh-huh. Good to know.” Robert reached for his coffee and took a long sip. “So what’re you going to do about the fact that she’s still in love with you?”
Colt just glared at the other man. He wasn’t even going to address that statement. Mainly because he didn’t know how to address it. He’d been avoiding even thinking about it because there was no easy answer. He knew damn well that Penny loved him. It was in her eyes every time she looked at him. And it was just another reason for him to get the hell out of her life before it was too late.