Lone Star Lovers

by Jessica Lemmon

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Paula shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. “I wish I could share a story so I could relate, but the truth is I was lucky to find your father when I was young.”

  Penelope’s parents were high school sweethearts who married and built a business and had a baby because they were ready. Not because, in the midst of finding companionship, the birth control hadn’t worked. But she didn’t begrudge them their happiness.

  “I’m glad you can’t relate,” she told her mother with a smile.

  “Regardless, life is not without its struggles.” Paula palmed her daughter’s cheeks and returned her smile.

  “I’ll be fine. I’ve picked myself up and dusted myself off more times than I can count.” Pen felt like bawling, but she was going to have to buck up. She wanted her daughter to be as proud of her as Pen was of her own mother.

  Pen had done the unthinkable—she’d fallen for a guy who was unwilling to share his heart. His world, his money, yes. But not his heart. And in the end, that was all she’d wanted.

  “I have something for you.” Paula went to her purse and came out with an envelope. A very flat envelope. “We had an unexpected windfall after that last house flip—”

  “Mom, no.” Pen backed away like her mother held a live spider by the leg rather than an envelope by the corner.

  “Your dad and I want you to have this. We’re going to be grandparents. We want to start our spoiling early.” She shook the envelope. “I mean it.”

  Pen accepted it with a murmured “Thank you.”

  Paula rubbed her hands together. “I can’t wait to go shopping for this baby!”

  Pen thought of the Love & Tumble boutique, of the photographer she’d hired and the Dallas Duchess blog. She’d avoided much of the handling of her own potential PR nightmare for the last week-plus. She didn’t care about her reputation—none of it was career-altering—but there were elements to handle that affected the Fergusons.

  The mayor.

  Stefanie.

  Zach.

  Penelope resolved to handle them as soon as possible.

  “I don’t know what to say,” Pen said, holding the envelope in both hands. Blank on the outside, and who knew how much money on the inside. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that her parents were supportive of her decision to raise her child apart from Zach, and that they loved her no matter what.

  Anything beyond that involved items on Pen’s own to-do list. Items like shared custody and drop-offs. Announcing the sex of the baby as well as confirming the breakup for the public.

  “I’m going to run to work, if that’s okay?” She phrased it like a question but knew her mother’s response before she gave it.

  “That a girl.” Paula smiled proudly.

  In her downtown office, Pen sat at her desk and jotted a quick list of phone calls to make, pausing to mourn the space. She’d have to abandon her office to work at home. Start having meetings in coffee shops and her clients’ offices again. She could no longer afford both Brand Consulting’s shingle and her daughter.

  Hand on her tummy, she closed her eyes and reminded herself of what was important.

  Then she picked up her desk phone and called the mayor of Dallas.

  * * *

  Chase showed up in Zach’s office five minutes before five o’clock, a shadow of the same hour decorating his jaw.

  “You look like shit,” Zach offered. “Rough day?”

  Chase held his gaze but didn’t cop to the status of his day, instead returning, “I’d talk. You look like your rough days had friends who came by to beat the hell out of you at night.”

  “Wonder why that is.” Zach blinked tired eyes. He hadn’t been sleeping well. Or eating well. Or thinking well, either. Suffering from a breakup would do that. And he did mean suffering.

  “Penelope called me this afternoon,” Chase said.

  That snapped Zach awake. “You? Why?”

  “She let me know she was announcing your amicable breakup via a blogger. Duchess something. Pen asked me to pass it on. In person.”

  “That was bold.” No one told the mayor of Dallas what to do. “And you agreed.”

  “I came to tell you that and one more thing.”

  “Which is?” Zach asked as he typed in the URL for the Dallas Duchess. No news about himself was on the front page, but an ad for Love & Tumble caught his eye and snagged his heart.

  “Penelope misses you.”

  Zach tore his eyes from the screen. “Did she say that?”

  “She didn’t have to. She sounded...sad.” Chase’s eyes skated over Zach’s rumpled shirt. “I wonder if she looks as bad as you do. I doubt it. She’s a helluva lot prettier.”

  No arguing that finer point.

  “I can’t go by your gut, Chase.” But even as he said it, Zach’s mind was turning. He’d been racking his brain all week for ways to win her back.

  His eyes on the blog in front of him, he considered a new possibility. Maybe he could out-PR the PR maven.

  “I’m not giving up,” Zach told his brother.

  “It’s hard to know when to give up and when to dig in.” Chase’s tone was contemplative. He sucked in a breath and expelled such a personal comment, Zach stared at him in shock. “Like when Mimi and I unraveled. Mom and Dad were right. She wasn’t a good fit for a political partner, but at the time, I struggled. I didn’t know my future. I didn’t know if I’d actually make it to mayor when she left. But I knew if I did, I’d be better off without her.”

  Despite Chase’s assuredness as he recited the tale of the decay of his past relationship, Zach had been there when it happened. He remembered his older brother’s state when he lost Mimi. He’d been devastated for months. Then again, devastation on Chase looked different than it did on other people. Chase had dug his heels in and honed his focus on world domination.

  He’d fallen just short of the world, but he’d landed Dallas. Zach wasn’t sure if his stiff-lipped older brother was a good template with which to map out his own future or not.

  “The point is you need to figure out what you want your life to look like in five, ten, twenty years,” Chase said. “What role does Penelope play? She’s the mother of your child, but is marrying her really what’s best for you? Or is the best thing for you to back away from her and let the future fall into place?”

  As Chase spoke, Zach rose from his chair.

  “Are you kidding me right now? This is the advice you’re offering? You don’t know what Pen and I were like together. When she was in my house. In my life.” When she was settled across from him in a restaurant, laughing over her wine. Or in the doctor’s office, with tears of joy shining in her eyes. Or when she’d moved out of his house with such resolve, that Zach questioned whether or not he’d imagined her every reaction beforehand.

  “Simple question,” Chase said in his typical ubercalm state. “She misses you. Do you miss her?”

  More than anyone knew.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you love her?” Since the inflection and volume of Chase’s voice hadn’t changed even a little, Zach had to let that question settle into the pit of his gut.

  His churning, uncertain, fear-filled gut.

  “There’s your answer,” Chase said. “Let her go, Zach. Love, even when it’s real and lasting, isn’t a sure thing. But when it’s not there, you’re betting on a loss. The longer you let a loveless relationship go on, the bigger that loss is.”

  On that note, Chase gave him a curt nod and left the office.

  Twenty-Two

  Pen stepped into her building and the woman positioned at the front desk waved her over. “This came for you, Ms. Brand.”

  Oh, no. Not again.

  Penelope pasted a smile on her face and accepted a padded envelope...and then another one.

 
“One more,” the woman said, handing over a small box. She eyed Pen’s rounded tummy. “I can carry these up if it’s too much for you.”

  “No, I have them.” The packages were awkward, especially while juggling her purse and working the elevator, but they weren’t heavy.

  Upstairs she dropped everything on a chair in her living room and stared at the packages in contemplation.

  The return address was Love & Tumble. She’d received packages from there every day—several of them. So far, they’d been the items she’d had Zach’s assistant return to the store right after they’d purchased them. Zach had tried to talk her into keeping them but of course, she hadn’t. Now, one by one, or in this case three by three, those same items they’d returned had been showing up on her doorstep.

  She opened the envelopes. One held a onesie, the other a baby blanket. The smaller box required scissors to cut the tape, so Penelope took the box to the countertop and grabbed her kitchen shears.

  Inside the box, wrapped in Love & Tumble’s signature shimmer-green tissue paper, was a pair of shoes. But not just any pair of shoes. Blinged out, faux fur, rhinestone encrusted high-top tennies for a girl.

  Pen batted her lashes, fighting tears. This wasn’t something she’d purchased prior. She and Zach had looked at this pair in the store and she’d mentioned if she had a girl, she’d never buy her six-hundred-dollar shoes. He’d argued that if they learned they were having a girl, those would be the first pair he’d buy her.

  And he had.

  A tear streaked Pen’s cheek as she thumbed the tiny soles. Zach had been trying to buy back her affection since she left with the movers. He was being very sweet. Very thoughtful.

  As the father of her child, she couldn’t have picked a better man to love her baby more.

  But he still didn’t love her.

  She hated how right she’d been in saying no to his proposal. He’d proposed to keep their budding family together, which was honorable, and for some women might have been enough. Still, when she imagined Zach or her marrying other people, Pen’s heart ached with loss.

  A swift knock at the door jolted her out of her thoughts. One glance at the clock reminded her what she already knew. This morning Stefanie had texted to ask if she could swing by tonight. Pen had texted back yes, then phoned the front desk telling them to send her up when she arrived.

  She swiped the hollows of her eyes and shook off her somber attitude, then rushed to open the door. Stef stood at the entry, her bright smile fading as soon as she got one look at Pen.

  “Oh, my gosh. What happened now?” Zach’s sister pushed her way into the apartment, her hands wrapping around Pen’s shoulders.

  Rather than explain, Pen gestured around the apartment. At the pile of boxes she’d been meaning to break down for recycling. At another pile of their contents: baby clothes and toys and blankets, taking up the length of the sofa. She lost her battle holding back tears. “Your brother mails me gifts every day.”

  “That jerk,” Stefanie said.

  Pen let out a startled laugh, but Stef didn’t laugh with her.

  “Has he come to see you?”

  Pen shook her head. “No, but I wouldn’t want him to.”

  “Has he called you?”

  Pen shook her head again.

  “Texted?” Stef asked, her voice small.

  Pen confirmed with another head shake.

  Stef clucked her tongue and proffered an envelope. “This came for you, and Zach handed it to me when I barged in on him at the office.”

  Pen took the envelope. Her name was on the front in fanciful calligraphy, addressed to the house Zach had purchased.

  “How...is he?” Pen hated herself for asking, but she couldn’t not ask.

  “Stressed. He looks tired. Heartbroken. About like you do.” At Pen’s wan smile, Stef tapped the envelope. “Expensive card stock. What do you think it is?”

  Pen flipped over the envelope where there was a return address in black block letters, but no name.

  “Not sure.” Pen tore open the back and pulled out a sturdy white square with a vellum overlay. In gold lettering, two names stood out. Ashton Weaver and Serena Fern. “It’s a wedding invitation.”

  Stef snatched it back and read the invite. “The actors?”

  “Yep.”

  “Wow. I don’t get starstruck often, but wow.”

  “They’ll probably make it.” Pen, shoulders rounded in defeat, trudged to the couch, shoved the baby stuff aside and collapsed onto a cushion. “And then I’ll have to go to their twenty-fifth anniversary party knowing that two unlikely souls made it at the same time my engagement ended.”

  She pulled a pillow onto her lap and squeezed. Stef made room for herself and joined Pen on the couch. Pen had decided not to wallow. She’d decided to move on and pick up the pieces and focus on being the best mom ever. Her wounded heart had delayed those plans.

  “I didn’t mean to,” Pen admitted around a sob.

  “You didn’t mean to what?” Stef’s voice softened. She rubbed Pen’s back and Pen realized abruptly how badly she’d needed a girlfriend to confide in. Stefanie was the exact wrong person to lean on. As Zach’s sister, she shouldn’t be forced to choose sides.

  And yet, when Pen opened her mouth to say “Never mind,” she said, “I fell in love with your stupid brother,” instead.

  “Chase?”

  Pen let out a surprised bleat. Stef smirked.

  “Chase is stupid. Zach is the idiot.” But Stef’s smile was one of concern when she continued rubbing Pen’s back. “You love Zach. You’re having my niece. He proposed. What’s the problem?”

  “Oh, you know. Just that he doesn’t love me.” Pen swiped her cheeks and sniffed. “He loves the idea of a family and us being together. We’re super-compatible in bed.” She sniffed. “Sorry if that’s too much information,” she mumbled when Stef wrinkled her nose in disgust.

  “I’m trying to absorb it. I am.” Stef sighed. “How can he not love you? I love you.” After a brief pause, she added, “Do you want to marry me?”

  Pen let out a watery laugh. “I’ll be fine. No, I’ll be great. It’s hormones, you know? And there have been a lot of big changes lately. I’m sure it’ll all shake out.”

  Pen gave Stef a reassuring nod, but when Zach’s sister nodded back, it was obvious the youngest Ferguson was placating her. Pen could take the placation. What she couldn’t take another second of were the tears of regret.

  “Enough of that.” Pen slapped her hands to her thighs. “Do you want to help me take the tags off my daughter’s clothes and sort them for the laundry?”

  Stef’s face brightened. “That, I can gladly do.” With a quick clap of her hands, she leaped off the couch, baby clothes in hand.

  Laundry was a lot better than wallowing.

  * * *

  The baby clothes weren’t working.

  Zach sent package after package from Love & Tumble, and had yet to hear anything from Penelope. He’d have to move on to something else.

  Something bigger.

  He’d fill her apartment with flowers. Hire a skywriter. Buy an island...

  He didn’t own an island yet.

  iPad on his lap, he typed islands for sale into the search engine as a red sports car growled to a stop at the front of his house. Yeah, the house. He’d sworn he’d move back into his bachelor-pad apartment, but after Pen put the final nail in the coffin of their us status, leaving felt like giving up.

  He wasn’t about to give up.

  His sister stepped out of the car into morning sunshine and Zach met her at the door.

  “You’re up early.”

  A large pair of sunglasses suggested she was out late. She propped them on top of her head as she came into the house, but her eyes were clear and alert.

  “I was up late,
” she confirmed, “but pregnant ladies don’t drink, so Penelope and I indulged in cookies and tea instead.” She shrugged her mouth. “Not a bad way to spend a Friday night, actually.”

  She was at Penelope’s apartment?

  “How is she?” he asked without hesitation.

  “Funny, she asked the same question about you.” Stefanie offered a Ferguson-family smirk. “Do you have coffee?”

  “I’m working my way through a pot now.” He followed Stefanie into the kitchen where she poured herself a mug and offered him a refill. He set the iPad aside and retrieved his mug. When he walked back into the kitchen, Stef was frowning down at the tablet.

  “You are not going to buy an island.”

  “Why not?” He refilled his mug.

  “Are you moving there?”

  “No.” Although if Pen kept ignoring him, an island would be the ideal place to live. “Maybe. I don’t know. I was going to buy it for Penelope.”

  Stefanie scowled. “Seriously, Zach.”

  “Seriously, Stef.” He opened his mouth to argue until it belatedly occurred to him that his sister was a woman.

  He didn’t have a lot of women at his disposal. He had yet to poll a woman about how to move forward with Mission: Get Pen Back. And God knew Chase hadn’t been a lot of help.

  “Is skywriting a better idea?”

  “Man. This is bad.” Stef gave him a pitying shake of her head.

  “I can buy out every flower shop downtown. Hell, I can buy every flower shop downtown. Is that...a better idea?” He palmed the back of his neck and leaned a hip on the counter. He was completely out of his element. “She didn’t respond to the baby clothes.”

  “I’m not sure this is a situation you can buy yourself out of, Zach. If you didn’t have billions in the bank, what would you do?”

  He drank his coffee. Partially to buy time and partially because the caffeine might help him think.

  “If you couldn’t name a planet after her, what would you do?”

  “A planet. Hand me that iPad.”

  Stef narrowed her eyes in warning.

  “I’m kidding. I feel like you’re dancing around a point.”