Most of the happy had left Penny’s day.
When the party was over, Susan had no objections to letting Penny help clean up and put things away. Not much later, a van arrived and a uniformed man installed their new satellite internet. Afterward, they all seemed content to continue the afternoon’s silence while watching a movie that had been on Penny’s wish list for weeks. A phone call from Zoe’s grandmother broke the trio up before the movie ended. She’d changed her mind about Zoe spending a second night at Penny’s, and Zoe mumbled moodily under her breath while she hurriedly packed to leave.
Penny paused the movie while Susan drove Zoe home, taking advantage of the unexpected alone time to reacquaint herself with The Aikido Student Handbook, remembering her old lessons and exercises, a
