His eyes were flat, his expression betraying nothing. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”

Penelope ignored that. “Also, for what it’s worth, you’re not all Bobby has either. He loves you like crazy, Cole, but honestly, I wonder if he’s not better adjusted than you are, because he seems pretty okay with the fact that you two can be brothers and have your own lives.”

This time his eyes did flicker to life, and when they locked on hers they were full of anger. “Hey, here’s an idea, Penelope. You’ve got a sister, right? How about we wait until she’s in the hospital, and then we can have this little chat. Better yet, make sure that she’s entirely financially reliant on you, and that her well-being sits on your shoulders, and then come find me.”

This was not going well.

“Do you want me to leave?” she asked.

He didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

It was no less than she’d expected, given his current mood, but ouch.

“Okay,” she said. “If you need anything, I—”

“I won’t.”

She met his eyes steadily. “Tell me you’re not actually doing this, Cole. Tell me you’re not that guy who goes all Jekyll-and-Hyde when something unexpected happens.”

His face crumpled for a moment before he put a hand over it, covering most of his features as he took a long breath. “I’m sorry, Penelope. I am.”

She stepped forward, putting her arms around him, the embrace slightly awkward because she was still wearing her Yankees hat.

He stiffened, and though he didn’t push her away, he didn’t exactly return her embrace.

“I should get back,” he said gruffly.

Penelope retreated a little, letting her arms fall back to her sides and trying not to feel humiliated by the one-sided hug.

“Okay.”

He started to turn away and then paused, hesitating before he met her eyes. “Believe it or not, I do get that I’m acting like an ass. I just…I can’t do this right now. It’s only ever just been me and Bobby, even when my parents were alive, and I don’t know what I’d do without him. Or him without me. He has to come first.”

“I see.” She managed to keep her voice steady. “You’re just realizing this now?”

He hesitated. “I’ve always known it, but lately…you made it easy to forget, Penelope.”

The statement would have warmed her heart if it hadn’t been uttered as he geared up to walk away from her.

She tried one more time. “Your heart’s bigger than you think, Cole. There’s room for me and Bobby. And Cole, you have to know that…”

I love you.

She opened her mouth to say it, but faltered when he took another step backward.

“Don’t, Penelope.”

“Cole—”

He turned away. “See you around, Pope.”

Penelope stood rooted to the spot as she watched his lean figure head back into the hospital.

See you around, Pope.

Was he for real?

See you around, Pope.

Suddenly she was so very glad she hadn’t uttered the words she’d been about to say.

Chapter 27

“I can’t believe you guys came all the way from Chicago,” Penelope said around a mouthful of Cool Ranch Doritos.

“Oh, sweetie. We’re your family.” As if punctuating this point, her mother snatched the chip bag away and replaced it with a bowl of carrots.

Penelope ignored the carrots, opting instead to pull a pillow over her chest and flop back against the couch.

Her sister came out of the kitchen and handed her a beer before sitting on the coffee table so she could study Penelope.

It had been like this for two days, Penelope going through the motions of life as her mother and sister alternated between feeding her beer and carrots and watching her like she might shatter at any moment.

And she might shatter. She just might.

“Thanks for coming,” she said quietly.

“Please,” Janie said, reaching across to squeeze Penelope’s arm. “You think we wouldn’t both jump on a plane the second you called us? You think we didn’t have to practically handcuff Dad to his La-Z-Boy to prevent him from going after Cole with a shotgun?”

Penelope gave a small smile at the thought of her gentle father even swatting a fly. He hadn’t been able to come with her mom and sister because of work, but he’d called her twice a day, trying to distract her with every possible bit of sports trivia on the planet. She knew every fact before he said it, of course, but the distraction was welcome all the same.

Anything to keep from crying again.

Penelope had made it all the way home from the hospital on Sunday without shedding a tear.

But once inside the safety of her apartment? Waterworks. The tears had come hot and furious, and hadn’t stopped until sometime around 4:00 A.M. on Monday, at which point she texted her sister.

By Monday night, her mother and sister had descended upon New York in full mother hen/warrior mode.

It was now Wednesday evening, and the tears had grown more intermittent, although she’d had a breakdown in the women’s restroom at work today. Jo, Oxford’s sweet receptionist, had patiently stroked her hair before rigging up an awkward ice pack for Penelope’s puffy eyes.

It hadn’t worked. Penelope was pretty sure Lincoln and Jake were on to her. Cassidy too.

As for Cole…

She hadn’t seen him. Not since his See you around, Pope send-off.