Free 1. That's What Friends Are For by Annette Broadrick Page B

couldn't think of anything to say. She glanced around the room, then back at him. "Has the doctor said when you're going to be able to get out of here?"
    "Hopefully tomorrow. He said I would have to take it easy for a few days, but since that was the way I'd intended to spend the week anyway, I'm not going to have much trouble following the doctor's orders."
    "Are you sorry you came back?" she asked quietly.
    He waited until her eyes met his. They stared at each other for an indeterminable length of time. "No, I'm not sorry. My only regret is that I didn't come back sooner."
    "Why do you say that?"
    "It doesn't matter. Now you're deliriously in love with your handsome lawyer and soon you'll be a blushing bride and will live happily ever after." He took her hand and held it between both of his. "You know, Penny, that's all I ever wanted, for you to be happy. I've enjoyed our time together this week—the visit to the park, the fun we had yesterday."
    "Some fun."
    "It was, most of it. Sharing those things with you, one last time, helped me to say goodbye to our shared past. I needed the transition time, a chance to be with you before you become the oh, so proper wife of the esteemed and honorable Gregory Duncan."
    "Now you're making fun of us."
    "Not at all. I'm trying like hell not to envy what the two of you have."
    "You'll find it for yourself, someday."
    He nodded. "Of course I will."
    She made a face. "And I'll hate her on sight," she admitted with a slight smile.
    His eyebrows arched slightly. "Without even knowing her?"
    "Without a doubt. You always had such lousy taste in women, you know."
    "Oh, really?" he said in a dangerous tone.
    "Yes, really! Have you forgotten dating Diana during our second year at college?"
    "How could I ever forget the lovely Diana? She was a knockout."
    "True. And she was also sleeping with every guy on the campus."
    "Yeah, well, no man's education is quite complete without a Diana in his life," he said with a grin.
    "What about Beth?"
    "What was wrong with Beth?" he asked with surprise. "I thought you liked her."
    "Liked her? I felt sorry for her. How she ever managed to get out of grade school, much less find her way into college, always remained a mystery to me."
    "So she wasn't the brightest person we've ever known. She was very sweet."
    "Yes. And she adored you."
    "Can't fault her taste."
    "Only her intelligence."
    They paused and grinned at each other.
    Brad squeezed the hand he still held. "God, I've missed you. Nobody has ever given me such a bad time, or led me in such intricate circles as you."
    "Moi?" she asked in mock surprise. "Surely not."
    "Why didn't you ever come to New York to see me, like I wrote and asked you to?"
    Penny gazed out the window, thinking back over the years. "Because I was still too angry with you."
    "Angry! What had I done?"
    "You left me here and went off to continue playing at life."
    "Is that what it seemed to you?"
    She nodded. "I guess I had always assumed you'd come back to Pay ton and go to work with your dad. It never occurred to me that your talk of New York was anything but the usual chatter we all had. About the time when we'd be discovered and cast in a starring role. Or being understudy one night, stopping the show as the lead the next."
    "You could still do that, you know."
    "Not me. I can't see Gregory content to have a wife living half a continent away."
    "There is that."
    Penny slipped from the bed and brushed the wrinkles from her skirt. "I don't want to keep you from your coloring, my dear. Maybe the nurse will help you if you get too tired to finish by yourself."
    Brad didn't smile but continued to look at her. His hand still grasped hers and he slowly loosened his hold. "I love you, Penny," he said, his voice so low she almost didn't hear him. "Thank you for being a part of my life."
    In all the years she had known him, he had never said those words to her before. Hearing them now did something strange to her. She wanted to laugh. She