Page 209 of Cinder
Love.
I hold her gaze for a second before lifting the heel slightly between us.
“Think this belongs to you.”
So does my heart.
A breath leaves her that sounds halfway to a laugh. “Oh my god.”
“Yeah, I’ve spent the last hour carrying a broken silver heel around Maplewood. Fletch is never letting me live this down.”
That shaky little smile appears for real this time, fragile but there. “I didn’t even realize I dropped it.”
“I know.”
The words come out gentle, because that’s the thing—I do know. I know she wasn’t thinking straight when she left. I know her brain gets loud when she’s overwhelmed. I know she runs toward quiet when the world starts hurting too much.
I rake a hand over my jaw and stare out across the lake for a second before looking back at her.
“I woke up, and you weren’t there.” My voice roughens. “So I went to Flora’s first.”
Her eyes soften immediately.
“Then Neverland. The park. I even wondered if I should check the damn grocery store in case you’d decided you needed bananas or some shit.”
That earns me a small, watery laugh—a real one.
I swallow. “I found your journal after that.”
Her fingers still against the pebble she’s turning over in her fingers.
“It was open,” I say. “I saw my name before I knew what I was looking at. The page about lake breaths and pebbles. And a penguin.”
“Oh my god.” Color creeps slowly into her cheeks. “You weren’t supposed to read that.”
“I know, and I’m sorry I did.” My throat tightens briefly as my eyes lock with hers. “But I’m also really glad I did.”
Silence settles around us again, and Penny looks back toward the water, still turning the pebble between her fingers.
“I wasn’t trying to hide or run away.” Her voice catches for a second before she steadies it. “I just… Everything got really loud in my head this morning.”
The breeze pushes loose strands of hair across her cheek, and she tucks them back absently.
“You were asleep, and your arm was stretched across the bed like you were reaching for me, and it completely ruined me.” She laughs weakly at herself. “Then I kept thinking about Colt, and Stacey, and Elle almost losing you, and me almost losing you, and—”
Her breath shakes.
“I couldn’t breathe in the house anymore.”
I move closer before I even consciously decide to. “You could’ve woken me up.”
“I know.” Her glassy eyes finally meet mine again. “But you looked so peaceful, Evan. I didn’t want to ruin that, too.”
God, this woman.
My hand finds hers in the grass and threads our fingers together around the pebble she’s still holding.
“I got halfway to Toronto mentally before I even left the driveway,” I admit softly.
