Playing at Forever Read Online Free PDF Page B

then, don’t you think?”  Tommy looked up, meeting her eyes, and Penny smiled. 
    Maybe she had been wrong last night, when she said that they would never be friends again.
    Because there, in that moment, Penny couldn’t think of anything she would like more. 
     
    Tommy sat across from Penny, the ocean to their right, the meal between them freshly delivered, the clouds above them threatening rain.  He had been to hundreds of restaurants over the last several years, a majority of them run by gourmet chefs and situated in the most breathtaking setting possible.  He’d sat across from Hollywood starlets and supermodels. 
    Yet he’d never once felt as calm, relaxed, or even happy as he did sitting right there. 
    Strange, the effect returning home could have on a person. 
    This last thought surprised him, as Tommy had never really considered Ravenside home.  Actually, he’d never really considered any of the cities or towns he’d lived in as ‘home’.  But now that he thought about it, it was the closest thing he’d ever had to such a dream. 
    “So tell me about everything I’ve missed,”   he asked of her, really only to hear her voice.  “How are your parents?  And Amy—what is she up to?” 
    “My parents are good.  They retired to Florida.  Sold the business.”   Penny shrugged her shoulders and Tommy thought about the people who had raised the girl sitting across from him.  He had always thought the Langs were the perfect family.  They always seemed so happy. 
    “They sold the movie store?”  Tommy thought back to the many memories that had been created there in that tiny little rental store.  He and Penny had spent countless amounts of hours there, arguing over what movie to take home for the evening.  Sometimes, he would even spend her shift with her, the two of them watching movies in between customers. 
    “Yeah, with internet rentals being so popular these days, and the bigger chains moving closer to town…”  Penny shrugged her shoulders again and he could tell it bothered her to think about it.  He wondered if she was thinking about the same thing as he was—remembering all of the memories they had made there, sitting on that couch toward the back of the store, passing time.  “They sold it.  It’s a candle store now, I think.” 
    “Well, I guess everyone needs candles.”  Tommy took a bite of the food, enjoying the home cooked flavor. 
    “And Amy has been doing well.  She’s married now, with two daughters.”  Penny averted her eyes then, staring down at the plate in front of her.  He wondered if she too was married—he couldn’t imagine that she would still be single, after all these years.  Not his Penny Lane.  Not if she’d given anyone a chance. 
    But when he glanced down at her hand, he saw no ring there. 
    For the briefest moment, though, he thought he noticed a tan line where a ring might have once been. 
    This was the kind of thing Tommy had grown accustomed to looking for.  He had been caught in enough scandals by now to have learned to look for the signs.  Just because a woman said she was single didn’t mean she really was. 
    He didn’t let himself believe for even the briefest moment though that Penny was that kind of a woman. 
    “What about you, Pen?  How have you been?”  It was a risky question, one he wasn’t sure he was prepared to hear the answer to.  He knew that it shouldn’t matter to him if she was married.  That wasn’t why he was there.
    No, Tommy had never wanted anything more than friendship with Penny.
    For just an instant, though, he thought about the last time he’d seen her.  The way she’d kissed him, bringing to life an entire fantasy of a reality he’d had no idea he’d even been contemplating.  
    But that was then, and this was now.  He wouldn’t let anything ruin the friendship they had—the friendship he was trying so hard to get back.  He didn’t deserve even that much, but it was