Read A Penny for Your Thoughts for Free Online

tables and counter seating surrounding the open grill. Matt held the door open, and she stepped in.
    One lone, tired-looking woman who appeared to be in her forties seated them in a booth in the otherwise empty restaurant. She poured coffee for Matt and brought Penny a glass of water. Acutely aware of the garish overhead fluorescent lights which probably mercilessly enhanced every wrinkle and line in her face, Penny leaned her elbows on the table and casually covered the lower half of her face with her hands.
    The waitress who apparently also doubled as the cook returned to take their orders.
    “So, what’ll it be folks?”
    “Waffles for me,” Matt said handing her his menu.
    “The same,” Penny said, momentarily incapable of concentrating on a piece of plastic with writing.
    “Coming up.” The dark-haired woman moved away, and Penny was left with the man of her dreams.
    She turned to look out of the window at the lights of the hotels across the street. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Matt raise his coffee cup to his lips. His hand shook slightly when he set it back down. He leaned back against his seat. Penny swore she could hear him breathe, so alert was she to him.
    “I can’t believe it’s really you,” Matt said quietly. “Where have you been?”
    Penny’s cheeks flamed momentarily, and she let out a deep sigh. She turned to face Matt and opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Her mind went completely blank. Where had she been? Without him... That’s where she’d been. Did it matter? She blinked and met Matt’s steady green gaze.
    She managed a careless shrug. “Oh, up north in Michigan. You might remember the town. We stayed there once on that road trip. Traverse City?” Penny bit her lip. She wished she hadn’t brought up that night. An overnight stop on the road back from New Orleans, a passionate night in the motel by the bay.
    She grabbed her ice water and gulped. Matt’s tanned cheeks bronzed, and he reached for his coffee.
    “I remember,” he nodded. He took a deep swallow. “How did you end up there? Did you have family there? I don’t remember.”
    Penny shook her head, and then nodded. “No. Well, yes, I do now. No, not really.” She cleared her throat. “That is...no, I didn’t have family there before. And yes, Travis has been living with me, but he’s gone off to college in Los Angeles now...so...no, I guess I don’t have family there.” She took another swallow of water, hoping her shaking hands didn’t expose her agitation.
    Matt laughed, bringing a merry crinkle to the corners of his dark-lashed eyes.
    “I see...I think. Why Traverse City? What are you doing now?”
    Penny shrugged. “Oh, you know, you have to live somewhere, and it’s a nice town. I’m not sure what I’ll do now that Travis is out of the house.” As she spoke, Penny remembered her excitement at finding a position open in the little town that once held special memories for her. 
    “Are you still counseling?”
    “Yes...no...well, yes. Actually, I’m on sabbatical.”
    Matt eyed her curiously. “That was a complicated answer. I thought you’d never give up teaching.”
    Penny shrugged again, unable to articulate her thoughts, chaotic and jumbled as they were.
    “I did. But after those three years teaching in Belgium, I decided I wanted to do something different so I went back to school.”
    Matt dropped his eyes to his coffee and rotated his cup back and forth.
    “Yeah, Belgium,” he said quietly. He raised his eyes to her face for an instant. “I’m sorry I never wrote you back, Penny.” He dropped his gaze once again.
    Penny gritted her teeth against a flood of grief and fixed her eyes on his cup.
    “Oh, that’s okay,” she mumbled. “You know...I was going to be gone for three years. No point in hanging onto the past.”
    “I got your letters.”
    Penny’s heart ached. She wanted to rub the sore spot near her heart but didn’t dare.
    “Oh, I’m glad,” she tried