Playing at Forever - By Michelle Brewer Page 0,22
telling herself this would never happen.
“Okay, that’s enough—you kids better go wash up. That means you too, Tommy.” Amy ordered and Tommy chuckled, his eyes bright and happy as he swept a girl up in each arm, following their directions to the bathroom.
The cheerful mood carried on all throughout dinner and longer, until the girls were sent to bed. “Thanks for having dinner with us, Tommy,” Darla told him. “Will you come again?”
“Well, I’d be a fool to pass up an invitation to have dinner with the four prettiest ladies in Ravenside, wouldn’t I?”
“And next time, we can play some more!” Amber added excitedly.
“Okay, girls, come on—let’s go to bed.”
“You’re going too?” Penny asked. Amy faked a yawn, nodding her head.
“Oh, I’m beat.” But Penny knew her friend was only faking it. “You two go on, have a good night.”
“Good night, Amy,” Tommy rose to his feet, pulling Amy into a hug. “It was great seeing you again.”
“The same goes for you, Tommy. I’ll see you later on, Pen.”
“Good night,”
As the three headed toward the stairs, Amber stopped, hurrying back to wrap her arms around Tommy’s legs. “Good night, Tommy. Thanks for coming over.”
And just as quickly as she’d hurried over, she turned around and ran back to the stairs, where her mom was waiting for her. Penny met Amy’s eyes briefly, the moment touching them both.
The room was suddenly very quiet without the excitement of the girls. Penny sighed softly, glancing up at Tommy to find him already staring down at her. “You’re good with them.”
“I like kids.”
“I can see that,” she smiled. After a moment, he held out his hand to her. “Want to take a walk?”
“Sure,” she agreed without even thinking about it, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet.
It was quiet outside, except for the occasional dog bark here and there. The chill in the air was more than she expected and she immediately regretted not grabbing a jacket of some sort. “You cold?”
“I’ll be okay,”
“Don’t be silly,” he shrugged off the worn leather jacket he’d worn into town and rested it on her shoulders. She could tell it had belonged to him for a long time, the leather worn in just perfectly to match his movements. When she breathed in, she could smell the familiar soapy smell she attributed to him. “That was fun.”
“It really was,” Penny agreed, nodding her head. She hadn’t had that much fun in a long time—and it had been so easy. She hadn’t once thought about Kevin or Gina or even The Seaside.
Until now.
As if reading her mind, Tommy started talking. “So I was thinking earlier, about the situation with Kevin.”
“I’ve been trying not to think about it.”
“Well, I think I’ve come up with a solution.”
“Oh?” Penny was intrigued.
“Why don’t I help you? I have money, Pen.” She was immediately touched by his generosity. But she knew she couldn’t take his help.
“That’s really nice of you to offer, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.”
“Why not?” he stopped, taking her hand so that she stopped too. “I have the money, Penny. I don’t mind loaning it out to you—hell, I wouldn’t even mind giving it to you—”
“Absolutely out of the question.” She had gotten into this mess by relying on somebody else. No, she couldn’t do that again.
Even if it was Tommy.
Especially if it was Tommy.
“Please, Penny. I don’t want you to lose the place. I know how much it means to you.”
“Tommy, I—”
“Look, at least just think about it. Consider your options. See what you can come up with.”
“I’m not going to take your money. I have nothing to even offer you in return.”
“Well, if you believe Graham, that’s not entirely true.” She narrowed her eyes at the mention of the man. Had he made some sort of an insinuation about her?
“I’m not for sale, if that’s what you’re getting at.”
Tommy chuckled, shaking his head. “No, he didn’t mean it like that—he just… he seems to think that my image is in need of a change. He thinks if I settled down with a nice, wholesome girl…people might start to change their minds about me a little bit.”
“Is that why you came here?”
“To settle down with a nice wholesome girl?” Penny laughed, shaking her head.
“No, I mean—well, to get away from all of it?”
“Things haven’t been going well, I’ll just say that. The scripts aren’t coming in anymore. The money…”
If Penny had even been thinking about taking him up on his offer, that alone would