A small smile curved Colt’s mouth. All of the Kings did go for adventure, thrived on adrenaline, he thought, as he finally began to let go of the cloak of guilt he’d been wrapped in for years. “You’re right. About Dad, I mean.”
Con applauded slowly, deliberately, and gave his twin a smile. “Well, at long last. And it only took ten years to convince you. I always said I was the smart one.”
“Funny.” Colt drew a breath and knew that it would take time to finally and completely let go of the past. But at least now he had a shot at it. “Look, I’m going out to Penny’s place. But I’ve got a few things to do first. One of which is to talk to you about an idea I had on the flight home.”
Curious, Con grinned. “I’m listening....”
* * *
Penny missed Colt more than she would have thought it possible to miss anyone. The twins did, too, she could tell. They weren’t as boisterous as usual and every once in a while, one or both of them would look around an empty room as if searching for their father. Though it broke her heart, she knew that soon, the babies would get past that sensation of something being gone from their lives. They’d go on and their memories would fade and one day, when Colt dropped back into their lives, they would look at him like a stranger.
She only wished it would be that easy for her, but she knew she would never get past this. She would long for him, dream of him for the rest of her life. In the middle of the night, she reached for him. She listened for the deep rumble of his voice as he read to the twins before bedtime. She even missed hearing him curse under his breath when he hit his head on the door frame.
That stupid man had left a giant hole in her life. And what she wouldn’t give to have him back.
“You’re just pitiful, that’s all there is to it,” she muttered, and picked up her digital camera. Turning it on, she pulled up the menu and then began flipping through the photos she’d taken during the time Colt was with them.
Colt bathing the twins, more water on him than in the tub. Colt holding a sleeping Riley, stacking blocks with Reid. Colt smiling up at Penny from the bed they’d shared too briefly. Her heart didn’t just ache—it throbbed. Pain was her new best friend, and she had a feeling it wasn’t going to get any easier any time soon.
Thankfully, just as she was ready to sink into the self-pity party of the year, the doorbell rang, which gave her an excuse to turn off the camera and get back to her life. With the twins asleep, she didn’t want to risk waking them by having that doorbell ring again. Hurrying, she opened the door to find a man with a clipboard standing on her porch.
“Penny Oaks?” He had a bald head, bushy gray eyebrows, a tanned-to-leather face and broad shoulders.
“Yes...”
“Got a delivery for you,” he said and thrust the clipboard at her. “Sign here.”
“Sign for what?” Automatically she glanced at the delivery receipt. A furniture store? “What’s this about?”
“Bring it all in, Tommy,” the guy on her porch shouted before turning back to her. “I don’t know what’s going on. Just sign it, lady, and let me go back to the high life, okay?”
She did and then stepped back in astonishment as two more men unloaded a chocolate-brown leather sofa and matching chair.
“I didn’t order that,” she argued.
“Somebody did.” The first guy just waved the paper at her. “We’ll haul your old stuff away. Come on guys, got a million stops to make still.”
“What’re you—” She broke off as the two younger men smiled, nodded and slipped past her into her house. Then they were leaving, carrying her faded, overstuffed couch and chair out to the truck and then bringing in the new leather replacements.
Before she could ask any more questions, the truck pulled away and she closed the door, staring at new furniture she hadn’t ordered.
“God, it smells as good as it looks,” she murmured, walking to it to stroke the butter-soft leather as she would a cat. “But who— Colt. It had to be Colt,” she assured herself. “He must have ordered it before he left. He probably forgot to tell me it was coming.”
She sighed, sat on the arm of the couch and frowned when she heard the roar of a lawn mower starting up. Staring through her front window, she saw a gardening crew working on her lawn. What was going on here?
Before she made it to the front door, she heard the babies wake up and groaned. Apparently the sounds of the mower and the edger were too loud to sleep through. So much for naptime. She detoured to pick up her kids, plopping each of them on a hip, then went out onto the front porch.
“Excuse me!” she shouted to one of the guys using a Weed Eater around the edge of her flower bed. “Who hired you?”
Reid wailed and screwed his eyes up, preparing to launch into a real scream, and once that happened, Penny knew Riley wouldn’t be far behind.
“Really,” she tried again, giving the hardworking man a hopeful smile. “I need to know...”
He waved and went back to work. At a loss for what to do next, Penny went back into the house, settled both kids on the floor near their toy box and then watched out the window while her yard was tidied.
“Your daddy’s behind this, too,” she whispered, feeling the sting of tears burn her eyes. “He won’t stay, but he’ll do this long-distance. Take care of my yard. Buy me new furniture. What’s next?”
The doorbell rang and Penny stiffened. She hadn’t actually expected an answer to that last question. Throwing a quick glance at the twins to make sure they were all right, she opened the front door to a man in a suit holding up a set of car keys.
“Who’re you?” she asked.
“I’m just the messenger, ma’am,” he said and handed the keys to her. “Enjoy!”
“Enjoy what?” Penny looked past him to see her fifteen-year-old reliable clunker being backed out of her driveway. “Hey! Wait!”
Panicking a little, she raced back to the living room, picked up the twins and then headed for the porch. The gardeners were already moving on to the backyard and there was a shiny red SUV parked in her driveway. From the corner of her eye, she saw her car making its slow, deliberate way down the street. “Wait! Come back!”
“I have come back,” Colt said, stepping out from behind the SUV. “If you’ll have me.”
All the air left her body. Her stomach did a pitch and roll, then settled for butterflies. Thousands of ’em. Stunned speechless, Penny could only stare at him as he walked closer. Her gaze locked with his and her heart tumbled in her chest. “You’re supposed to be on a volcano.”