Page 46 of Cozy Girl Fall
It felt like the whole room froze in time for a few seconds before Penny answered, voice tight. “I, uh, I didn’t. I chose to learn on the job instead.”
Her parents sent her twin looks of pride and she relaxed a miniscule amount.
“Ah. Yes. Well, how … practical.”
Penny was sure her answering smile must have looked more like a grimace and silence descended. The clink of spoons and the crunch of the bread took over the room as they dug in and Penny discreetly checked the timer set on her phone when she was done. The chicken and peppers had about twenty minutes left.
Clearly trying to make up for the tension her husband had created, Terri sipped her wine delicately and asked, “How did you get into the restaurant world, Penny?”
She blew out a breath, relieved that this question was a little easier to answer. “I got a job straight out of high school—”
“Yes, we remember you rushing out of town,” Keith muttered and Ethan’s silverware clanged as he dropped it, eyes wide.
“Dad,” Tasha protested and Penny shook her head.
“It’s OK. Yes, I left abruptly. I’d been applying for internships and junior roles, and after a few interviews I had a conditional offer from one restaurant in San Francisco to work under their head chef twice a week and as a pot-wash the other five days. It was an amazing opportunity for someone with my level of experience.” She looked directly at Keith and didn’t flinch from the suspicion in his gaze. “I knew what I wanted, and I went after it. So I won’t apologize forthat—butI could have handled things better when I left. I’ve already apologized to Tasha and Ethan for that, but if you feel like you need an apology too—”
“That’s not necessary—” Terri said kindly at the same moment that her husband spoke up.
“I’d say so. You were gone, we were the ones who had to listen to Coldplay on repeat blasting from Ethan’s bedroom.”
“Dad,” Ethan growled, pink spots high on his cheeks, and Keith had the grace to look chagrined.
“That does sound like an ordeal,” Penny said, lips twitching, and was relieved when chuckles rang out, dissipating a large part of the tension in the room. “It’s understandable that you’d have reservations about me, but I’m not here to repeat my mistakes.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Keith said gruffly and Penny took a large gulp of wine in response.
“Let’s not pretend you didn’t make your fair share of mistakes when you were wooing Terri, Keith,” Angie said sharply and Penny glanced over to find her dad placing a soothing hand on her mom’s back. Penny’s gratitude toward her mom in that moment was balanced only by her curiosity about what ‘mistakes’ she was referring to, and even though she was dying to ask for more details, she decided that now wasn’t the time.
Keith flushed red but raised his glass in acknowledgement.
Maybe this evening would be salvageable after all.
Of course, that was when the power went out.
Plunged into darkness, Penny swore colorfully and Tasha giggled in the ensuing silence. “The chicken still has ten more minutes,” she groaned and Ethan squeezed her hand from his place beside her as he turned on his phone flashlight.
“I think I’ve got some candles in here somewhere,” Ethan muttered as he stood and began rummaging through the sideboard by the light of his phone. “Aha,” he said triumphantly a few moments later, pulling three white candles in holders and a box of matches from a drawer. Quickly placing them along the middle of the table, he lit the candles so the room was bathed in a warm orange glow. In different circumstances, Penny thought, it might almost be quite romantic.
“I’ll go and check the breaker, in the meantime you guys can enjoy some wine and ambience,” he added, heading toward the door. His smile had returned, relaxed and easy. Penny hated him just a little in that moment for being so unflappable when she couldn’t have been further fromcalmif she’d tried.
She gulped down the remaining wine in her glass and raised a brow at her mom when she frowned disapprovingly.
“OK,” Ethan said, walking back into the room a few minutes later with his flashlight still lit. “The bad news is that the power is out for the whole block.”
“And the good news?” Tasha asked, glancing over at Penny like she thought this might be the final blow to her sanity.
“I had a quick look and I think the chicken might be just about done.”
Penny stood and blew out a breath before straightening her spine and nodding sharply. “I’ll take a look. Hopefully it’s ready.”
Ethan followed her into the kitchen, a warm hand at her back rubbing between her shoulder blades soothingly. He kept the flashlight on and held aloft so she could see into the oven as she prodded the chicken with her meat thermometer. The juices ran clear and relief made her sag when the thermometer beeped to confirm the chicken was hot all the way through.
“Thank fuck.”
Ethan chuckled and she pulled the bird and peppers out of the oven and set about carving and plating up. Thankfully, she’d kept the rest of the dish relatively simple with pre-done new potatoes and flavored rice accompanying the mains.
Back at the table in the flickering candlelight, Terri hesitantly lifted her fork to her mouth. “You’re sure it’s cooked?”
