Lucky Penny by L A Cotton

out.”
    “And how’s that going?” I lifted my head slowly to meet his intense gaze.
    Blake’s lips drew into a thin line, and he released a slow breath. “It’s complicated.”
    Exhausted by his cryptic responses—and unsure if I was ready to hear the truth—I changed the subject. “Do you speak to anyone else from back then?”
    “I found Bennett after I left. Well, more like he found me. We still keep in touch.”
    I nodded. If I had bet on one relationship withstanding the test of time, it would have been theirs. Blake looked up to him like a brother, and Bennett always held a soft spot for his younger foster sibling.
    “How is he?”
    “Good. Life turned out real good for him. He won’t believe this when I tell him.”
    Ignoring another cryptic statement, I simply replied, “That’s good.”
    We sat enjoying the peace of our surrounds. The water lapped at the shore at one end of the lake, and the trees surrounding the area swayed gently in the breeze. The sound soothed me. Everything about this place was healing, and I could see why Troy and Tina picked it to do the work they did.
    After a few minutes, Blake shifted again. “Penny, what happened after I left?”
    I let out a small groan. “Geez, Blake. Talk about turning all serious on me.” I tried to follow with a smile, but I was too tense. I knew if I looked in the mirror, I’d be grimacing.
    Frustrated with myself… Blake… our whole predicament, I glanced back at the fire needing a few seconds to center myself. The others were goofing around, making the most of our downtime before the last group arrived tomorrow. Marissa cozied up in front of the fire next to Liam who, despite her best efforts, still looked more interested in the fire than in her. She sat so her body angled toward us, making me smile. Marissa had become a really good friend. I was going to miss her.
    “I’m sorry.” Blake sighed. “I just feel like we’re losing time, and there’s still so much I want to know. There’s not enough time.”
    You don’t want to know , I whispered silently to myself.
    “I don’t want to walk away from here in two weeks and regret things. More things.”
    He was making up lost time or, at least, trying to. I got that. I did. But opening up didn’t come easy for me. I was used to bottling things up until I was like a pop bottle ready to explode, and even then, I could only give so much. Only things that felt safe to reveal.
    “After you left, things were okay for a while. Derek and Marie even managed to be nice to us occasionally. I hate to say it, Blake, but it was almost like they were glad to see you go.”
    Blake tried to look offended but ending up laughing. “Doesn’t surprise me. Derek hated me.”
    Those three words changed the energy around us. The silence no longer felt comfortable but strained.
    It was like no matter what we talked about, however hard we tried to avoid it, everything always led back to the one thing too painful to talk about.
    This was our legacy.
    “Not as much as he hated Chris. Those two really went at it.”
    “Someone finally stood up to him?” Blake sounded surprised, but I also heard a tinge of regret in his voice.
    My eyes dropped from his face and swept down his frame. Blake had clenched his fists at his sides, and his whole body had tensed. He played a good game of seeming as if he was in control, but I saw the truth. Blake was standing on the precipice about to fall over at any second.
    Some things never change.
    “You could say that.” Wanting to bring Blake back to me, I added, “Remember when Bennett aged out? I’ll never forget the look on Marie’s face as he strolled up the path yelling at the top of his lungs ‘so long, fuckers.’”
    Blake’s jaw relaxed a little, and he tilted his head at me. “Yeah, I remember. It wasn’t all bad in there. I earned your first kiss, if I remember correctly?”
    The playfulness I had become accustomed to watching whenever Blake interacted with