Playing at Forever - By Michelle Brewer Page 0,11

averted her eyes then, staring down at the plate in front of her. He wondered if she too was married—he couldn’t imagine that she would still be single, after all these years. Not his Penny Lane. Not if she’d given anyone a chance.

But when he glanced down at her hand, he saw no ring there.

For the briefest moment, though, he thought he noticed a tan line where a ring might have once been.

This was the kind of thing Tommy had grown accustomed to looking for. He had been caught in enough scandals by now to have learned to look for the signs. Just because a woman said she was single didn’t mean she really was.

He didn’t let himself believe for even the briefest moment though that Penny was that kind of a woman.

“What about you, Pen? How have you been?” It was a risky question, one he wasn’t sure he was prepared to hear the answer to. He knew that it shouldn’t matter to him if she was married. That wasn’t why he was there.

No, Tommy had never wanted anything more than friendship with Penny.

For just an instant, though, he thought about the last time he’d seen her. The way she’d kissed him, bringing to life an entire fantasy of a reality he’d had no idea he’d even been contemplating.

But that was then, and this was now. He wouldn’t let anything ruin the friendship they had—the friendship he was trying so hard to get back. He didn’t deserve even that much, but it was still something worth trying for.

“I’ve been…busy.” She looked around the empty patio, smiling sadly. “It takes a lot of work, making a dream a reality. Haven’t had much time for anything else.” He noticed that she avoided looking him directly in the eye and Tommy couldn’t help but be curious. Was she hiding something? Or was it simply the passage of time, building a wall between the two that neither would be able to overcome?

“Well, it’s amazing, Pen. I mean, what I’ve seen of it anyway.”

“Do you want a tour?” she could have been offering him a trip to a battlefield and he would have gone, if only to be with her.

“Well, of course I do,” he slid back in his chair, waiting for her to do the same, before he followed her back inside. It really was beautiful, very simple yet still elegant. He could see a great deal of Penny in the place.

A few framed photos hung on the walls—pictures of Ravenside, old and new. Paintings of the ocean.

And then Tommy stopped suddenly, his eyes coming to rest on a very familiar photo. There was a section toward the back of the restaurant, just off the side of the bar, which featured a different kind of framed photo.

“I didn’t want to let them go to waste. Besides, most of the people in town know me as Elliot and Marion’s daughter.”

“That’s me, Penny.”

“Of course it is. I couldn’t have a wall of movie posters and not include you on it.” Penny shrugged. “Dad handed the posters out the day the movie was released. Ran a ‘We-knew-him-when’ special.”

“I had no idea.”

“I know you didn’t. That’s what happens when you run away, Tommy. You lose contact with the people who cared about you most.”

He stepped forward finally, looking around at the various movie posters. Most of them were classics—films he and Penny had loved. Three of them were from his movies.

Not for the first time, Tommy wished he could take it all back.

He reached out for Penny’s hand, surprised to find that she took it. “But I’m here now, Pen.”

“That’s right. You’re here now. But who’s to say how long that’s going to last, Tommy?” There was just the vaguest hint of a tremor in her voice and Tommy clenched his jaw. How could he have hurt her? It was a wound much too deep for a simple apology. But what more could he offer? He had nothing she wanted. Nothing she needed.

No way of making it up to her.

He looked down at her, a strange pain in his chest.

“I’ll stay as long as you’ll have me, Penny Lane. I promise.” Penny said nothing for several long moments.

“So I guess we’re on for dinner then, aren’t we?” Tommy chuckled quietly.

“And, if I recall correctly, I think dessert was included in that proposition.” Penny finally looked up to meet his eyes.

“Don’t push your luck, Mr. Davidson. Or should I call you Mr. Davis?” She teased, her eyebrow raised.