We finished our dinner and then listened to his mother in her element. She was an excellent speaker. It was clear why she had been elected time and time again. She had this fire that I frequently saw in her son when he was speaking about philosophy. Not that his mother would ever equate the two.
“We’re going to have to stop to say something to her,” Penn said when her speech had concluded.
“Okay. Are you going to be all right?” I asked him as we stood.
He placed his hand on the small of my back, guiding me through the tables toward his mother at the front of the room, as if he were going to his own execution. “I can handle my mother. For your lesson around this, it’s best to get that mask in place now. No concern for me. No concern for anything. You belong here. You own this room. Nothing she says to you or me can affect you in the least.”
“Do you think she’s going to be rude in front of other people?” I asked in disbelief.
“Mask,” he instructed. “Now.”
I schooled my features into a semblance of what I’d seen Katherine do. Not blank like Penn’s, but almost bored, the world at my feet, silver spoon in my mouth. I straightened my spine and felt a stillness take over my limbs even though I was still walking.
“Better,” Penn conceded on a sigh. “Terrifying. My mother won’t say anything purposely inflammatory, but you never know. It’s better to be on guard.”
We stepped around a crowd congratulating the mayor on the speech and offering larger donations to the organizer. Leslie’s eyes lifted from the short, balding man who she was speaking to. They widened a fraction in surprise when she saw her son. It wasn’t much, but even I noticed that she hadn’t expected him to be here either. I hoped that was a good thing for us.
“Penn,” Leslie said with a politician’s smile. One who was as likely to shake hands and kiss babies as stab you in the back. “I didn’t know that you would be here, darling.”
She didn’t embrace him or reach out or show joy at his presence. Penn’s life must have had so little love. My heart ached. Not that I allowed it to show on my face. This new Natalie didn’t feel those sorts of things. At least, not in public.
“Mother,” he said crisply. He gestured to me. “You remember Natalie.”
Leslie barely glanced at me. “Ah, yes, of course. How could I forget?”
Penn tensed as if he were about to defend me even though he had been the one who said not to give any reaction.
“We met at the Percy–Van Pelt wedding. You’re friends with Jane and a bestselling author, correct?”
“That’s right,” I agreed easily. I knew that she remembered how we’d first met. When she’d thrown me out of her Hamptons mansion and stopped me from working as a vacation home watcher ever again. “Pleasure to see you again.”
“Likewise. Are you who I have to thank for getting my son back out into society?”
Penn’s grip on me tightened until it was nearly painful. There were so few things that riled Penn up this much.
“Someone has to keep him from becoming a recluse,” I said.
“Now, if we could only get that philosophy nonsense out of his head, we’d all be better off,” she said with a laugh as if she hadn’t just insulted his entire profession.
I opened my mouth, ready to tell the mayor exactly what I thought about her son’s philosophy nonsense, but Penn cut in, as if he could see that I hadn’t quite mastered my temper, “It seems nonsense was bred into my head, Mother.” He said with a lazy smile, “Must have always been there. Did I get that from you or Dad?”
“Mayor Kensington!” a voice cut in before the mayor could respond. Which was probably good.
I didn’t want to hear what might have come out of his mother’s mouth. She truly did not understand her son at all.
“We’ll leave you to it,” Penn said before taking me by the elbow and leaving his mother to deal with her constituency.
We were a safe distance away from the mayor before either of us spoke.
“Maybe we should go?” I offered.
Penn closed his eyes for a few seconds and then shook his head. When his eyes met mine again, I could still see the anger and turmoil trapped in their orbs. I knew that he suffered deeply from complications with his mother even if he never talked about it.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I won’t let her ruin this. Believe it or not, I’m actually enjoying myself.”
I gasped mockingly. “Penn Kensington enjoying himself at a boring charity function? Are you ill?”
He grinned at me wickedly. “All I needed was your company it seems. It’s much more pleasant to be here with you than alone. And teaching is my profession.”