Kennedy reached down to hold the ice in place. “Who did you think I was?”
“A murderer,” Penny said at the same time I said, “no one.”
Kennedy glanced back and forth between us. “I’m so sorry. I haven’t even introduced myself to your wife. I’m Kennedy.” She held her free hand out to Penny.
Penny looked at me and laughed. “Matt’s not my husband.”
It’s not that funny.
“We’re just friends,” Penny clarified. “Matt practically grew up with my husband, James.”
“James Hunter?” Kennedy’s eyebrows both raised.
I knew what she was thinking. James hadn’t exactly been the kind of guy to settle down in high school. He was high or drunk more than half the time.
“Mhm,” Penny said. “Do you know him too?”
“Um, yeah. I mean, I used to in high school,” Kennedy said.
“Wait, you all went to high school together?”
“Yeah, we were all friends because Brooklyn…”
“We used to hang out in Brooklyn,” I quickly corrected. I didn’t mean for it to sound so dirty though.
Kennedy opened her mouth, probably to call me out on my bullshit, but I cut her off.
“Penny, could you grab some more ice?” I asked. “We definitely need more. I think there’s another pack somewhere in the back of the freezer.” It was a total lie. But sending Penny on a wild goose chase was the only way I could think to buy time to bring Kennedy up to speed on everything.
“Sure thing,” she said and stood up. As soon as Penny was out of earshot, I started talking.
“Penny doesn’t know about Brooklyn. Please don’t tell her. She’s one of the only people in my life who doesn’t stare at me like I’m broken. Kind of like you are right now.”
Kennedy put her hand to her chest like it hurt. Maybe it did. Because mine physically ached. “I’ve never looked at you like you were broken. I looked at you like you were grieving.” She searched my face. “You’re still grieving.” She didn’t ask it like a question. She said it like a statement. Like I was that easy to read. Was I really that transparent?
“Matt!” Penny called from the kitchen. “I can’t find it. Where did you say it was?”
“I’ll be right back.” I left Kennedy alone and joined Penny in the kitchen. “Sorry, Penny, I must only have the one.”
She kept the freezer door open and leaned in a little closer to me. “She’s pretty,” Penny said. “And I didn’t see a ring on her finger.”
I glanced back toward the living room. “Yeah.”
“Maybe it’s just me, but I can practically feel the chemistry between you two. And now she’s hurt and has to spend the night?” Penny shrugged her shoulders. “Seems like fate to me.”
“Would you stop being a nosy matchmaker for five seconds? She’s not going to spend the night.”
“Why not? You’re always spending the night with random women.”
Exactly. Random women. Not women like Kennedy. She deserved more than that. And I couldn’t give that to her. I glanced back into the other room.
“I should probably get going,” Penny said loudly enough for Kennedy to hear. “I don’t want to be late for dinner.” She winked at me. “Ask her out.” She left me alone in the kitchen and went back into the living room. “Need anything else before I head out?” Penny asked. “Do you want me to call a doctor?”
“No, I think the ice is enough,” Kennedy said. She reached down to readjust it.
“It was really nice meeting you. Hopefully I’ll see you around again soon.” Penny turned to me. “Don’t forget to call James.” She patted my chest and was out the door before I could even say goodbye.
The door closed behind her and the silence settling around me was unnerving. The last time I’d been alone with Kennedy was at Brooklyn’s gravesite. It had been right before we both went off to college. And we didn’t know how to say goodbye to the person that couldn’t come with us.
We promised we’d keep coming back to visit Brooklyn. I’d kept my promise. But I didn’t think Kennedy had. Not that I blamed her. I was the only one who seemed keen on staying stuck in the past. Losing a best friend was hard. But losing the love of your life? There was no healing from that.
And as much as I wished Kennedy understood what I was going through, she didn’t. I glanced up the stairs. And it was a good thing that I was here. Because I couldn’t let Kennedy see the paintings upstairs during her picture taking. She’d think I’d completely lost it.
Chapter 27
Tuesday
“Penny seems nice,” Kennedy said as I made my way back into the family room.
“Yeah. She is.” Even if she is a dirty little meddler. I sat down next to Kennedy on the couch. I thought the silence stretching between us would feel awkward. But it didn’t.
“I’m glad James remarried. When I heard he tied the knot with Isabella?” She shook her head. “What was he thinking?”
“He wasn’t.” I didn’t need to elaborate. Kennedy knew what James had been like when he was a teenager. He was rarely sober enough to think anything through.
“You know, sound really carries in this house,” Kennedy said. “So do you often spend the night with random women? Don’t tell me you’ve become Mason?”
I laughed. “You’ll be happy to know that Mason has settled down. Rob too.”
Kennedy smiled. “The woman married to Rob must have all the patience in the world.”
“She does. They somehow balance each other out perfectly.” Daphne also somehow never got mad when Rob was a flirtatious fool.
“So all the Untouchables are hitched? Except you.”
I laughed. “No one calls us that anymore.” I looked over at the TV and wished it was on to distract us. The last thing I needed was anyone else obsessed with my love life. Or lack of one. “Penny’s been trying to set me up. She has a whole dating profile for me and everything.”
“Wow, I cannot imagine you on a dating app. Any matches yet?”
I thought about Ash throwing a ball of fire at my dick. “No, not yet.”
“I’m really surprised you’re the only one who hasn’t settled down. I mean, you were ready to all the way back in high school.”
We were both quiet for a minute.
She rested her chin in her hand as she stared at me. “It’s been 16 years, Matt. I kind of just figured…”
“Brooklyn was endgame for me, Kennedy.”
It looked like Kennedy wanted to cry. “I miss her too,” Kennedy said. “You expect that hole to fill up with something, anything. But she left a damn big hole.”
“She really did.”
Kennedy pressed her lips together. “All those things you said at her funeral. They were supposed to be your vows. Not promises to someone whose life was cut short.”
“Kennedy…”
“You can’t just go through the rest of your life missing her. Keeping her a secret from one of your good friends? Pretending she didn’t exist, yet letting her death dictate everything you do? Matt, that’s not living.”