Page 23 of Cozy Girl Fall
“Maybe,” she murmured, playing with a loose thread of the floral fabric arm of the sofa. She couldn’t help feeling like her dad was simplifying things a little too much, mainly because shedidcare about what Tasha would think and feel. Besides, if she was being honest, she’d tried not to dwell on what Ethan had said to her. Like if she didn’t think about it, she could pretend the words weren’t there, spoken into reality and haunting her dreams when she let her guard down. “I don’t want to make things complicated with him.” Philip nodded and she continued in a smaller voice. “I don’t want to hurt him again.”
Her dad reached over and squeezed her hand. “Maybe that’s for him to decide.”
She nodded but was still unconvinced even as she felt ready to move on from the maudlin conversation. Even her hot chocolate wasn’t enough to lift her mood. “Where’s Mom?”
Philip waved a hand and crossed one leg over the other as he unfolded his newspaper, the smell of ink oddly comforting. “Well, normally she sees her gal-pals on a Wednesday for brunch but one of them, Karen I think, couldn’t make it so they rescheduled brunch for today.”
“You didn’t want to join them?” she teased and laughed when he gave a mock shudder.
“I’m just fine with my crossword, thank you.” He glanced up at Penny and eyed her over the top of his glasses. “But I wouldn’t say no to a sandwich. If you’re making one.”
Laughter left her easily as she stood and made her way to the kitchen on the other side of the cottage’s ground floor. “Fine, but I’m not cutting off the crusts.”
“That’s OK, honey. I need more curly hair on my chest anyway.”
She rolled her eyes, glad her Mom wasn’t there to see her do it and give her a scolding. The bread in the bread box was thick and fluffy, making her mouth water as she looked at it. She hadn’t really done any cooking since she’d left her job in San Fran, not beyond pouring milk onto cereal and assembling the odd sandwich, and for the first time since she’d arrived in Magnolia Springs she realized that she missed it.
The floorboards creaked under her socked feet as she poked her head around the doorway to the lounge. “Do you think Mom would mind if I made us dinner tonight?”
Her dad’s eyes lit up as he smiled. “Not at all.”
She nodded, a little hesitant, and repeated the motion with more confidence. “OK, great.”
What would it be like to cook without the pressure of a head chef screaming at you that the entrees were late? Or overdone when they weren’t? Working underher old boss had made her good at ducking flying plates, but she couldn’t say whether it had actually made her a better chef. She missed cooking for the joy of it, trying something new, experimenting with a new flavor or dish …
The contents of the fridge were a little uninspiring so she grabbed her keys and her dad’s sandwich, handing it over to him before slipping on her shoes. If she was going to cook dinner, she was going to do it right. And that meant doing the one, dreaded thing she’d managed to avoid since she’d arrived back home: going to the grocery store.
In Magnolia Springs, there was only one general superstore to choose from, though there was also a local market just outside of town, as well as a few artisanal shops. Pennyhatedthe grocery store. It was loud and busy and they moved everything around a dozen times a month, making the experience wholly frustrating.
Thankfully, she’d picked a rare quiet moment to come in and get out with the short list of groceries she needed to make chicken parm. It was one of her favorite dishes and she hadn’t made it in literally years because she’d had no time to cook for herself while working at the restaurant in San Francisco. It should be a crime for achefto have to live off microwaveable meals.
It was more than a little strange to be walking around the town’s grocery store as an adult, though.Everything seemed smaller than she remembered and, all told, she was actually on the verge of enjoying herself when she pushed her cart around the corner of the next aisle to grab some herbs. Instead, she immediately stopped in her tracks and backed up to remain unseen.
Running into Ethan at the grocery store wouldn’t have been ideal to begin with, but to see him there with hisex-fiancée? Penny grimaced, hoping they hadn’t seen her before she’d backed away. Enduring small talk with the two of them when everything was so confusing between her and Ethan right now might be more than Penny could handle.
So, like the scaredy cat she was, she waited in front of the aisle end where bags of chips had been stacked on the plinth and shamelessly eavesdropped.
Ethan’s low chuckle made her heart beat faster even as her stomach dropped to the floor at Shelby’s answering giggle.What could be so funny?
“We always did have a good time together,” Shelby was saying, and Penny dared a glimpse around the corner. Her hands curled into fists at their proximity, the way Shelby overtly leant into Ethan and batted her eyes at him was ridiculous. The consolation Penny had was that Ethan didn’t seem to be reciprocating.
“I know, Shel. I just think going for drinks would be a bad idea. I don’t want to blur the lines.” Ethan’s voice was smooth, gentle, and Penny held her breath to listen more closely. “Besides, I thought you were dating someone now?”
Shelby scoffed. “Nothing serious. Not like us.”
Us?Penny bit her lip and forced herself to remain still. It was bad enough that she was snooping on their conversation, let alone if she went charging in to—
To do what? You’re just friends.
Her shoulders sagged and her cart wobbled as she leant her weight into the handles. God, what was she doing? Decision made, she’d started to leave when the sound of her own name made her pause.
“Is this becausePenny’sback in town?”
“I don’t know what you—”
“I’m not stupid, Ethan. I’ve seen the way you look at her.”
There was a tense beat of silence that had Penny’s hands tightening on the handles of her cart as she waited to hear what they would say next.
