Page 9 of Cozy Girl Fall
Angie huffed but repeated herself. “His engagement. It’s been a little while since the town had a local wedding, so we—”
“Wait, what do you mean engagement? Engagement towho?” An uncomfortable silence grew and Penny forced herself to smile, to ease the scrunched-up tension in her shoulders. “I just hadn’t heard about it before,” she added lightly and her mom nodded, unconvinced.
“You remember Shelby Patterson, don’t you? Oh, they made such a lovely couple. They would have had beautiful babies,” Angie said wistfully, swirling the red wine in her glass and shrugging when Penny and Philip stared at her. “What? Oh, well, you know I always liked you two together, honey, but it was good that he moved on after you left. And anyway, things didn’t work out for Ethan and Shelby, so what does it matter?”
“Who broke it off?” Honestly, she wasn’t sure why she cared. It was none of her business who Ethan had dated—or nearly married—since they broke up. It wasn’t like Penny had been celibate while she’d been in San Fran. And Ethan was nice. Tall. Funny. And had clearly been channeling his singledom into working out, judging by the size of his muscled thighs. Anyone would be lucky to date him. She shook her head free of the reminder of those legs in her direct line of sight while she’d been on her knees in front of him.
But Shelby Patterson? No wonder she’d been sizing Penny up the other day as though they were in competition with one another. The thought made Penny shudder. It felt a little like falling into an alternate dimension, it just seemed sowrong.They’d never hung out in high school, and Shelby had always been … particular. She wouldn’t be caught dead in an off-brand outfit, and she had been appalled by the pie-eating contest they’d held at the Halloween Orchard Fest one year—and even more disgusted that Tasha and Penny had taken part. Penny just couldn’t imagine Shelby being Ethan’s type—then again, she didn’t know this new version of him, the one who’d grown up. Not really, anyway. Maybe designer brands were now his go-to and he’d cringe if he saw the way she could put away an apple-and-pecan pie.
Angie pursed her lips. “I’m not sure. I mean, there are rumors, of course.”
“Of course,” Penny muttered, pushing up and away from the table and then gathering the dirty plates and silverware together.
“Maybe you could ask Tasha,” Angie said thoughtfully. “Report back.”
“Definitely not.” Tasha had been clear enough on where she stood when it came to Penny and Ethan. If Penny showed up with a bunch of questions about him it would raise one too many red flags.
… Even if shewascurious.
Hot water poured into the butler sink and Pennyadded soap before dumping the plates into the near-scalding water and scrubbing at them with an intensity that made her parents give each other another one of those unsubtle looks.
“What?” she barked and they looked away.
“Nothing,” her dad said, eyes a little too wide to be honest and Penny sighed, washing the plates a little more gently.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped. It’s just weird being back here, talking about Tasha and Ethan like no time’s passed and I’m still in high school.”
Angie picked up a dish towel and began to dry the plates as Penny stacked them before pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. “You’re handling it well, sweetie.”
Penny wasn’t sure if she’d agree, but smiled anyway. “So, what else have I missed since I’ve been gone?”
Her mom chatted on as they worked together until the tableware was clean and dried and Penny’s eyes were heavy. It had been a long time since she’d done physical labor quite like apple picking and she couldn’t say it wasn’t affecting her.
“Why don’t you go on up?” Her mom said softly, wrapping her in a quick but warm hug and squeezing briefly. “Have yourself a hot bath to ease your muscles.”
“That actually sounds perfect,” she admitted. “Night.”
“Goodnight, pumpkin,” her dad called after her and she blew him a kiss as she headed up the stairs and set the bath running with a healthy dollop of bubble bath.
The bathroom was one of the more modern rooms in the cottage, with a large claw-foot tub that was freestanding against the wall opposite the doorway and a walk-in shower to her right. The sink and toilet were hidden behind a paisley blue screen in the far left corner that matched the blue tiles in the shower and the feet of the tub. The small pops of color made Penny smile as she locked the door and stripped off before turning on the heated towel-rail so that her fluffy towel would be toasty when she got out of the bath.
Warmth cascaded over her body as she submerged herself amidst the bubbles and reached up to turn off the faucets before the bath could overflow. She could practically feel her muscles unknotting as the heat soothed her overworked arms and shoulders.
She was used to being on her feet for long periods of time from working in a restaurant kitchen in San Fran, but picking apples for five-plus hours was a little more intense. It wasn’t just the repetitive motions of reaching and plucking and then hauling her load down from the tree into the bigger bucket, it was the way the cold weather made her muscles tense and brace against the wind, and climbing the steps of the stool several times like it was a StairMaster.
At least she’d be in great shape in time to overindulge at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The manual labor was nice, though. Something different, yet easy as breathing from her time working at the orchard as a teenager. The only downside so farwas seeing Ethan and her embarrassing reaction to him.
It had been a long time since she’d seen him, and it felt like almost as long since she’d had a boyfriend or even a casual hook-up. It was the only reason she could think of for her body’s reaction to him in that moment, and even a day later her cheeks still pinked at the memory of his large hands on her shoulders, lifting her like she weighed nothing. If she wanted to keep her cool around her high-school sweetheart, then she definitely needed to get that itch scratched.
Note to self: get laid before you see Ethan again.
Not by Ethan, she quickly amended to herself and grimaced.
Not by anyone in this town.Unless she wanted her parents, and the rest of Magnolia Springs, to know exactly what she was doing and with whom, then a trip out of town to the closest city might be in order. Ideally before she ran into Ethan again and was forced to be faced with his strong jaw and stubbled cheeks and the large palms with gentle calluses that had pressed against her mouth and—
Penny shut her eyes and shook her head.Off limits.
