A Penny for Your Thoughts by Bess McBride Page A

sound of her name on his lips made her blink. “Oh, nothing,” she grinned.
    “Point taken, ma’am.” He turned back toward the sea. “So, who is it you know that you were behind the police lines?”
    Penny cleared her throat. How embarrassing. “The Chief of Police.”
    Kevin’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh really? Well now.” He leaned toward her conspiratorially. “So, what’s the inside scoop on the robbery? What happened down there? The paper didn’t really have much information.”
    Penny shrugged. “I doubt if I know much more than you do. Just that it was robbed, that’s all.”
    “Do they know who did it? Any leads? Surely the bank had a camera.”
    “I’m sure they had a camera. I don’t think they have any leads. I don’t really know.” Penny hesitated to release any information to a stranger. 
    “Ahhh.” He nodded. The transition to his next comment was silky smooth...and unexpected. “So, are you married, Penny?”
    Penny blushed. “No, I’m not. Are you, Kevin?”
    He poked his chest with his thumb. “Me? Oh, no. I’m just waiting for the right woman to come along. That’s me.”
    Penny refused to fall for the charming twinkle in his eye. “And what do you do when you’re not visiting your grandparents, Kevin?”
    “Well, I’m a personal investment banker in Kansas City.”
    Penny’s eyebrows shot up as she eyed the young man in a gray nondescript T-shirt and cargo pants.
    “Really?”
    Kevin looked down at his clothes and laughed. “I’m on vacation. Time to leave the suit and tie behind. I look young, huh? I’m not that young.”
    “Really?” she repeated herself.
    Kevin nodded. “Really. I’m thirty.”
    Penny gasped. He didn’t look a day over twenty-two. She really was getting old.
    “I can’t believe it.”
    Kevin laughed and nodded. “Yup, I know. I look a lot younger.” He ran a hand through the waves of his ash brown hair.
    “You sure do.”
    “So, see, I’m not as young as you think.”
    “Uh...no, you’re not. You still remind me of my son, Travis.”
    Kevin laughed again, his bright white teeth bringing a smile to Penny’s face.
    “You’re a cruel woman, Penny. I can’t possibly be near your son’s age.”
    She shook her head. “No, I guess not, but you sure look it.”
    Her phone rang, and she retrieved it from her beach bag.
    “Excuse me.” The body shop called to report that her car was finished. She made arrangements for the courtesy driver to pick her up in twenty minutes at her condominium. She rose.
    “Well, I have to get going, Kevin.” She held out her hand. “It was nice meeting you. I hope you enjoy your stay.”
    “It was nice meeting you, too, Penny. I’ll be seeing you again. I’m sure of that.” He held her hand a little longer than necessary before he released it.
    With a shake of her head at his antics, Penny gathered her things and turned away to head back to her condominium. She wasn’t sure she wanted him to know where she lived, but she was too tired to take a different route back to her building. She threw a last look over her shoulder to see him silhouetted against the sun, his hands jammed in his pockets, staring out to sea.
    ****
    He pulled out into traffic, keeping his distance from the body shop’s car ahead of him. He followed them discretely until they pulled into the body shop, then he turned down a side street adjacent to the shop, made a U-turn, and parked. She came out of the shop within minutes and walked over to her car in the parking lot, a sparkling new passenger window in place. She pulled out, and he waited a moment before following her. Where was she headed now? He followed her east on the Gulf Beach Highway. She turned left up Highway 59, away from the beach. He sped up to make the light behind her, but he’d fallen behind too far behind. The light turned red, and he slammed on the brakes. He craned his neck to watch her drive north on the highway, and he tapped the steering wheel impatiently