“Usually,” she murmured, stunned by his confession. “This time I would have accepted being wrong.” She hesitated, then asked. “If that’s how you felt, why did you marry me?”

“I wanted to be wrong.”

“But you weren’t. I did leave.”

“You left to get my attention. I’m the one who let you go. I had a good thing with you, Penny,” he said. “When you left, I lost something I’ll never be able to replace.”

“Thank you for saying that. I always wondered if you’d even noticed I was gone.”

“I noticed.”

“Just not enough to come after me.”

He glanced at her. “You’re still mad about Lindsey.”

“Mad doesn’t cover it, Cal. It’s not like you were hiding a tattoo. You kept a huge part of your life separate from me. Not just that you had a daughter, but that you loved her so much, you couldn’t love anyone else.”

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Penny, you were my wife. I wanted…”

“What? To stay together forever? To have a family?”

“I wanted us to make it.”

“I don’t believe you. I think you wanted to be alone with your guilt. At least your lack of interest wasn’t about me specifically. You would have done this to anyone.”

His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “You’re not going to give me a break, are you?”

“Do you deserve one? You fundamentally changed everything about our past. I’m still dealing.”

“Are you going to be able to work with me?”

“Offering to leave?” she asked.

“If it helps.”

Would it? “I meant what I said. I don’t hate you.”

“Will we ever be friends again?”

Friends? They’d been married before. They now worked together and just about a week ago, they’d been lovers. She wasn’t sure they’d ever been friends.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’m not sure it’s…”

Suddenly she felt a fluttering in her stomach. Her breath caught.

“What?” he asked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m great. It’s the baby. It’s moving.”

He smiled at her. “Yeah? What does it feel like?”

Anger and hurt battled with a need to share the wonder. She hesitated a second, then pulled up her sweater and placed his hand on her bare stomach.

“Can you feel it?” she asked. “It’s right there.”

He glanced at her, his eyes wide, his mouth parted in amazement. “I can feel it. Not a kick. More of a brushing.”

“Yes. That’s it.”

They smiled at each other, then he turned his attention back to the road. Still, he kept his hand on her stomach and she kept her hand on top of his. The moment seemed to stretch on endlessly. Despite everything, they were connected.

He’d been so much a part of her past and now he was in her present. She wanted to hate him and couldn’t.

At least she no longer loved him. Only a fool would want her heart broken by the same man twice.

CAL CHECKED over the figures from the previous night. He glanced up as his office door opened and Dani stepped inside.

“Hi,” he said before he realized she was crying. He stood and walked around to hug her. “What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering, her tears turned into sobs. Her whole body shook as he held her. He felt her pain, even if he didn’t know what caused it, and he was more than willing to go do battle on her behalf.

“Whose ass do I have to kick?” he asked, as he rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head.

“I w-wish it was that simple,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest. She straightened and looked into his eyes. “It’s Hugh.”

Cal grimaced. He wasn’t comfortable picking a fight with a guy in a wheelchair, but if necessary…“What did he do?”

“He left me.”

“What?” Cal had expected to hear anything from a major disagreement to the unlikely statement of an affair. But not this.

“He left me,” she repeated.

“Not possible. He loves you.” What he was really thinking was that Hugh owed her. After his accident, she’d been the one to stand by him, to insist that they were still getting married, even if he was never going to walk again. She’d loved him and bullied him when necessary, all with the goal of making him want to live, despite being paralyzed from the waist down. She’d stayed at Burger Heaven to keep their insurance so he could continue with his physical therapy.

She’d succeeded. Hugh had slowly returned to the land of the living and he’d carved out a good life for himself.

“Maybe you misunderstood him.”

She gave a strangled laugh and walked to one of the chairs by his desk. He took the other, then leaned toward her and grabbed her hand.

“I don’t get it,” he said.

“That makes two of us.” She wiped her cheeks with her free hand, then fished in her coat pocket for a tissue. “I told him I wanted to talk about in vitro fertilization. We were going to need some help to get pregnant and I thought this was a good time. Okay, I was a little selfish because I knew I wasn’t going anywhere at Burger Heaven and I thought maybe this would distract me. Being a mom and all.” She sniffed. “It’s not that I didn’t want kids, it’s just that I thought I’d have my career together first.”

He tucked her short hair behind her ears. “So what happened when you mentioned getting pregnant?”

“He said he didn’t want to.” The waterworks started up again. “At first I thought it was about money, because the procedure is really expensive, but it wasn’t. He said that he wanted a divorce. He said he’d outgrown m-me.”

He shifted his chair closer, then pulled her close. She rested her forehead on his shoulder.

“He said he’s been growing and changing and I haven’t. He’s on the tenure track and I’m just the manager of Burger Heaven.” She looked at him. “He threw that in my face. As if I haven’t been trying to move up in the company. As if I hadn’t stayed there for him. I work damn hard. Harder than anyone has in that job.”

He cupped her head and kissed her nose. “That’s true. Even than me. You’ve been great and Gloria has never noticed.”

“That’s what I said. Hugh told me I was getting bitter and he didn’t want to live with someone like that. He didn’t want to live with me anymore.”

She stood up and shrugged off her jacket. “I can’t believe it. How dare he? I was there for him. I’ve always been there for him. He got really depressed after the accident. I don’t blame him, but he wasn’t very fun to be around. And I was there. Even more than his parents. But does he appreciate that? Does it matter now? No. He’s grown. La de da. He’s so sanctimonious. I really hate him.”

Cal thought about pointing out that hating Hugh would make the divorce easier, but something in his male brain told him to keep quiet.

“We’re short nearly five pounds of—” Penny looked up from the clipboard she held. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you had company.” She paused, then frowned. “Dani, are you all right?”

Dani sucked in a breath. “Hugh wants a divorce.”

“Oh, honey.” Penny dropped the clipboard onto the bookcase and held out her arms. Dani walked into them.

“He says he’s outgrown me,” his sister said.

“Men are such bastards.”

Cal wanted to protest, but he kept quiet. This was not the time to defend his gender.

“I was there for him. I loved him. I still love him,” Dani said.

Penny stroked her hair. “So do you want to try to work things out?”

“No. If he doesn’t want me, then that’s fine. I won’t be married to him. I don’t need him.” She started to cry again. “It just hurts. I loved him and he doesn’t love me back.”

Cal felt his sister’s pain and a good-sized serving of guilt. Was this what Penny had gone through when she’d left him and he hadn’t come after her?

“What do you want?” Penny asked. “Do you want him to suffer?”

“Yes. Big time. Cal offered to beat him up.”

Penny looked at him and smiled. “Your brother is a very good man. But, and no offense, Cal, I think Walker would do a better job.”

Dani straightened. “Oh, you’re right. The military training.”

She was as close to smiling as he’d seen all morning. He rose and moved next to her.

“What do you really want?” he asked.

“A good lawyer.”

“I can help you find one.”

“Okay.” She glanced at both of them and then the tears flowed again. “He wants me to file. Can you believe it? He said he was busy with finals coming up and would I please take care of the paperwork.”

He and Penny hugged her. Dani sighed. “I’d tell Walker to break his legs, but that would be redundant, wouldn’t it?”

He hugged tighter. Dani clung to him. “What is Gloria going to say? I don’t want to tell her.”

“Then don’t,” Penny said.

Dani looked at her. “But I have to.”

“Why? She’s just your grandmother, not the local oracle. She doesn’t see all and know all. Frankly, as mean as she’s been to you, I wouldn’t say a word. Why give her the satisfaction?”

Dani actually smiled. “I want to be just like you when I grow up.”

PENNY HAD JUST FINISHED the tasting for the afternoon, allowing the staff to sample the specials, when Gloria walked in.

“At least she missed Dani by a couple of hours,” Penny murmured to Naomi as Gloria walked toward her. Luckily Cal had gone back to The Daily Grind for a big meeting.

“Want a meat cleaver?”

Penny grinned. “Don’t tempt me.”

She forced herself to smile as the older woman shrugged out of her fur-trimmed coat and slung it over her arm.

“Good afternoon, Penny.”

“Gloria. How nice to see you. I’m surprised to see you back here in the kitchen.”

Gloria raised her perfectly plucked eyebrows. “You and Cal might think you’re in charge, but I still am the majority stockholder in the corporation.”

A fact which probably explained the lack of a bonus system.

“So you’re here officially?” Penny asked. “Let’s adjourn to my office.”

While she didn’t want to be with Gloria under any circumstances, let alone in the close confines of her office, she wasn’t willing to take her on in public. Given what the old bat had dropped the last time she’d been here, who knew what havoc she wanted to wreak today?

“Cal can’t join us,” Penny said. “He’s not here. Should we reschedule?” Unlikely, but a girl had to have dreams.

“No. You’re the one I came to see.” Gloria paused and looked around at the large space. “Cal’s office is much smaller than this.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Shouldn’t he have had the larger office?”

“Nope.”

“Are you going to offer me something to drink?”

“Do you want something?”

“Not really.”

“Then, no. I’m not.” Penny smiled. “Any other questions?”

Gloria frowned. “I’m here because I’ve received several complaints about the food.”

“Really? I’m surprised. We haven’t had any.”

Which wasn’t precisely the truth. There were the usual number of people wanting their fish to taste like something it wasn’t or insisting on impossibly overcooked meals that were then not as good as they should have been. But nothing out of the ordinary.

“You seem very proud of your fish and chips and yet I’ve been told the dish is very substandard. It’s really not the sort of thing we should be serving at a restaurant this elegant.”

Penny was pretty happy with herself for continuing to see the humor in the situation.

“Interesting point,” she said, “but here’s the thing. While you might be the major stockholder of the corporation, I don’t actually work for you. And even if I did, I have a funky little contract that contains a clause saying that I determine what’s served to our customers. Just me. I try to be open-minded and accept other people’s input, but it’s my name on the top of the menu.”

Gloria glared at her. “I don’t know why Cal agreed to let you have that much control. It’s ridiculous.”

“Maybe, but there we are. Now if you’re receiving complaints, that worries me. Why don’t you give me the names of the people who are unhappy and their phone numbers? I would love to talk to them personally and then invite them back for a free dinner.”

She waited, fairly sure that Gloria couldn’t give her the information as the complaints weren’t real.

Gloria leaned back in her chair. “He’s not going to marry you, you know. I don’t know if you thought you could appeal to him by being pregnant, but you can’t. You already left him once. Callister isn’t likely to be fooled again.”

Penny bit down on her lower lip. It took all her moral character and inner strength not to tell the old woman that she and Cal had had sex. Not just once, but for a whole night. Over and over again. Like rabbits.