Twenty
Zach muscled past his brother. Or tried anyway. Chase, despite his suit and community standing, pushed back.
He banded an arm around Zach, which might look like he was consoling his younger brother, but felt more like he was attempting to crush Zach’s ribs until they audibly snapped.
Through his teeth, Chase said, “Hold it together,” as he shut the door to the balcony behind them. “We’re outside having a brotherly chat.”
Chase released him and pulled his shoulders back and Zach mirrored his stance. Inside family and friends dashed concerned looks to the balcony and then in the direction Penelope had left.
“You have thirty seconds. I’m not going to stand out here when I should be going after her.”
“Stefanie went after her. Didn’t you see?” Chase replied calmly. Years of experience in the public eye had made him adept at handling a crisis situation with ease. “If Pen wanted to talk to you, she’d still be standing on this balcony. Everyone inside is waiting for an announcement. Granted, they got one, but it wasn’t the one they were expecting.”
Zach thrust his hand into his hair. Of course it hadn’t been what they were expecting. Pen’s reaction to his proposal hadn’t been what he was expecting.
“Your options,” Chase continued, “are to either leave and let the gossip begin. Or stay and offer a generic explanation.”
“Like what?”
“If it were me? I’d apologize with no more explanation than a ‘my fault.’” Chase demonstrated with his hands in surrender pose.
“My fault,” Zach growled. “My fault? It’s my fault for asking Penelope to marry me? For asking the woman carrying my baby to stay with me the rest of our lives?”
“Lower your voice.”
“You’re as bad as the rest of them, Chase. I don’t give a fuck about public opinion or what anyone in that room needs.”
“Yes, that’s clear.” Chase reprimanded in an irritatingly calm tone. “You only care about one person. You.”
That was it. He’d had it. Had it with trying to do the right thing and being crucified for it.
“You know what?” Zach shouldered by Chase and gripped the handle to the door. “Tell them whatever the hell you want.”
* * *
“Penelope! Wait.”
Pen paused on the sidewalk, surprised that Stefanie had followed her down. Stef had been clear upstairs that she didn’t appreciate being left in the dark.
“Where are you going?” the younger woman called as she clipped to a stop next to Pen.
“You were right in there. You deserved to know. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I couldn’t.”
“You should be. I’m mad at you and my idiot brother for keeping a secret this huge from me. I kept your pregnancy to myself! I could’ve kept this quiet, too.” Stefanie stepped closer, kindness in her eyes. “But no matter how mad I am, I’d still give you a ride home.”
Pen folded her arms over her middle, the reality of her situation settling in. She didn’t have a home...only the home she shared with Zach. “I don’t want to go home.”
Not tonight. Maybe never again. This was as good of a break as any. Her leaving had always been inevitable. From the first time she spotted Zach in Chicago, to the jazz club, to the morning he kissed her goodbye, some part of her knew that holding on to him would be like trying to hold on to the wind.
Maybe getting it over with would allow her to heal quickly.
She hoped.
“I won’t ask you to choose between me and your brother,” Pen told Stef, because she refused to be unfair.
“I’m not choosing.” Stefanie dug through her clutch. “I’m helping out a friend. If that makes Zach mad, so be it.”
Stefanie approached the valet with her ticket. “We’re in a hurry.”