"Almost two years last March," Xavier said.
"She's okay; she's still alive. She's got a chance," I whispered.
Penn looked down and eased his weight off my shoulder.
I refused to unhook my arms from his waist. "None of that matters now. Just help her find her best chance at surviving it," I said.
Xavier stepped closer and reached out a hand, but Penn didn't see. He kept his dark brown eyes pinned on me. "I'm so glad you're here. I'm sorry you're here."
I held his look, even as tears swam in my eyes. "I'm glad I'm here, too."
Xavier checked his watch, and Penn pounced on the gesture. "Somewhere else you need to be?" he snapped.
"I still want to talk to you, Penn, but that's a different conversation," Xavier said. "For now, all I can say is I'm sorry. I'll send you all the details. You should really call your mother."
The two men measured each other with a long look. I released my arms from around Penn's waist and tried to slip away. His large hand flexed on my shoulder to hold me in place. I studied the polished hardwood floor, not sure I could stand the pain I was seeing in both their eyes. Whomever Penn's mother was, she was very important to them both.
"I'll call her, but you know she won't listen to me." Penn's voice was graveled with pain.
Xavier slashed a hand through the empty air. "Her and her voodoo, new-age bullshit."
"It's more than that and you know it," Penn snapped. "You never understood her or even tried to hear her point of view. Not everyone in the world bows down to your technology."
"Are you saying you want her to continue to refuse the best care money and technology can provide?"
"No," Penn said. "I want her to beat this by any means necessary. Wait. You've been talking to her for almost two years?"
"And in all that time, I couldn't get her to see reason." Xavier brushed a hand over his perfectly gelled hair. "I couldn't even convince her to tell you."
Penn scoffed. "This is all a lie. She wouldn't reach out to you. You, of all people, don't deserve to be a part of her life."
A flash of pain brightened Xavier's dark eyes. "She reached out to me, and I am doing the best I can."
"Well, you don't need to do anymore." Penn stiffened as Xavier's phone began to buzz. "Go ahead, take it. This conversation is over anyway."
"Are you sure?" I asked as Penn spun away. He left me stumbling for balance before I followed him across the room to the wall of windows. "Don't you think he can help?"
"I think he can go to hell," Penn spat out.
His vehemence stopped me in my tracks. I had far overstepped my bounds. I should have left as soon as I heard the private nature of the conversation. My heart bled for Penn, but it was a private matter, so I turned to leave.
Penn ground his teeth. "I know, I know. I need to work with him on this. It's just not that easy. I'm sorry you got stuck in the middle of this."
I looked back and found myself at his side again. "I know how hard it is to hear a family member has cancer. You just have to hold out hope. Some people really do beat it."
"You don't know my mother." Penn gave a strangled laugh before continuing, "Then again, if anyone could beat cancer on their own, it would be my mother."
"She's really opposed to modern medicine?" I couldn't help but ask after what I had overheard, even as I inched towards the door.
"And very stubborn." Penn caught up to me in one stride. "Wait, please don't go. I meant what I said about you staying here rent-free this summer. You'll have the place to yourself. It's the least I can do for putting you through this whole drama."
I shook my head. "I can be stubborn, too, and I have got to say no. You have a lot going on and the last thing you need is a stranger in your way."
Penn smiled and caught my hand. "But you're not a stranger, remember? You're my girlfriend."
My stomach did a dizzy flip as I shook my head again. "If I was your girlfriend, I'd be more of a comfort and less of a distraction."
He took my hand and pulled it around his waist until I was tucked under his arm again. Then, he brushed back my hair and whispered, "But you are a comfort. And, there's lots to be said for distractions during a time of duress. Please, please distract me."
His pleading ignited my insides, and I found myself pressing tighter against his body. We fit together seamlessly from my thighs to where my breasts gave against the hard muscles of his chest. When I arched my back to look up into his face, Penn's lips dipped down. The kiss was gentle, exploring, but it set off an explosion of desire.
He must have felt it, too, because he pierced me with a fierce look before he swept down and claimed me in another searing kiss. Then, he groaned. "Please stay, just one more night?"
I knew instantly that I would regret it, but I nodded anyway. "I'll stay tonight," I whispered.
Xavier finished his phone call and cleared his throat. Penn and I drew back from each other, but he kept me tight against his side. "I need you here so I don't kill him," Penn muttered.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, I berated myself. Penn was in the midst of a crisis. I couldn't be getting all fluttery or weak in the knees over anything he said to me. He probably had no idea what he was saying and when everything settled, he would wonder why I was still hanging around.
I need to get out of here, I thought.
As if Ginny read my mind, she appeared in the doorway of the apartment. "Hello? Sorry to interrupt, but I was just dropping off Corsica's stuff."
"Stuff?" Xavier Templeton asked.
Ginny noticed him and lost the ability to speak.
"My luggage," I said. "Apparently she approves of my change of plans."
Xavier nodded and took my old leather duffel from Ginny. "Good, then you're already packed. We'll leave for Monterey shortly after one o-clock and be there to catch Alice at dinner."
"Alice? Dinner? Monterey?" I stammered.
Penn let go of me and glared at Xavier. "And where exactly do you plan to stay in Monterey?" Then Penn turned to me and explained. "My mother's name is Alice Brightwater, she lives a short drive from Monterey."
CHAPTER SIX
Penn - 6
"This is the apartment you were talking about?" Ginny asked. Corsica's friend wandered past my father and over to the view. "I mean, I should have known when I saw the gates. Oh, by the way, your gates are open and there's some kid with major attitude in your garage."
Xavier shot a look at me. "You're still employing that delinquent?"
"Good thing, too, since we need to get to Monterey quick," I snapped.
My father straightened his cuff links. "We'll take the helicopter."
"Are they for real?" Ginny asked Corsica.
I felt the hairs at the back of my neck stand up. Corsica's eyes were wide and kept flashing towards the door. She was trying to flag down her friend's attention so they could make a swift getaway. The thought of her leaving unraveled the last of my sanity.