Still, it had been a bit like coming upon a lion in the wild. Seeing it in its natural element was beautiful and also…terrifying. You wanted to run for your life, but you were afraid to move, or the predator would pounce.
I made sure to spend my day away from him, but by evening, I’d given up on work. I barely had any words and knew it wasn’t going to get any better. I stepped into the kitchen and thumbed through the mail. The house barely got anything, except spam. All the bills went to the city to be paid. I usually even forgot to check it. Penn must have gotten this yesterday.
I dumped the first couple of items in the trash and then stopped on a cream matte envelope with my name on it. What the hell? I hadn’t gotten any mail here. I hadn’t even given my parents this address. It made no sense.
With a bite of curiosity, I tore open the envelope and dug out what appeared to be a party invitation. My eyes bulged. Holy shit!
Without a second thought, I burst out of the kitchen and out to the back deck. I wasn’t surprised to find Penn there. I’d heard the door close and Totle’s distinctive jingle while I was working. I found him reclining on a chair with Totle curled up next to him, half under a blanket. He had a glass of bourbon in one hand and a pen in the other. His notebook was open on his lap, but he was staring off toward the ocean.
He glanced toward me as the door slammed behind me, and Totle’s head popped up. “What’s up?”
“Have you seen this?” I asked, thrusting the invitation in his face.
“Uh…” He glanced at it. “Oh, yeah, that’s the gala that Katherine mentioned. I see she sent you an invite.”
“I didn’t think she really would.”
“She follows through on her promises.”
“Well, I can’t go.” I sank into a seat across from him and pulled my knees up to my chest.
“Why not?”
“Do you really have to ask that? I would never fit into something like that. I showed up here with two suitcases for my entire worldly possessions. I don’t remember stuffing a ball gown in there.”
Penn cracked a smile and took a sip of his drink. “I’m sure that Katherine would help with that.”
“I don’t need charity,” I spat.
“Katherine would see it as fun, I assure you.”
“I’d never be able to afford it. Or pay her back.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“Well, I do worry about it! I wasn’t raised like that.”
“Money is not an object, Natalie,” Penn said evenly.
“Maybe for you.”
“Do you want to go?”
I stared down at the invitation. I did want to go. It sounded like a dream. Or a fairy tale. Something people did in the books I read religiously and in the movies I’d grown up on. But it sure didn’t sound like me.
“Yes,” I admitted.
“Then we’ll go.”
My head popped back up. “We?”
“Not together,” he replied hastily when he saw my scrutiny. “But I can drive you into the city and drop you off with Ren. She’ll handle it from there.”
“And the money?”
He shrugged. “Money doesn’t matter.”
“Spoken like someone who has it.”
“For someone who works for people with money, you sure seem to have a great disdain for it.”
I pursed my lips. “It’s not that. I just…I’ve never had money. You and your friends are the haves. I know how the have-nots live. Seeing the other side is magical and depressing. It’s something I’ll never have. No matter how hard I work.”
“That’s not the American Dream.”
“Yeah, as if pull yourself up by your bootstraps works for people like me,” I said sarcastically. “Most people are held down by the circumstances they were raised in. Few have real opportunity to jump classes, Penn. And, even when they do, they’re not really accepted.”
“That’s an incredibly jaded perception of our world.”
“Or an incredibly realistic one.”
Penn reached over and scratched Totle’s head. “Can I ask you a question?”
I shrugged. “You can stay.”
He grinned. “Well, that’s a relief. Though that wasn’t my question. I kind of already guessed that one based on the fact that you’re actually speaking to me right now.”
“Fine. I must be transparent.”
“Trust me. You’re not.”
I blushed at the look on his face that said he wanted to unravel my mystery. “What do you want to know?”
“What were you doing that first day on the beach?”