Page 47 of Cozy Girl Fall
“Positive,” Penny said, smiling as she popped a piece of chicken into her mouth reassuringly. The skin on the chicken could have been crispier if the power hadn’t turned off the oven, but the meat itself was tender and juicy, so she was counting it as a win in general.
They were half-way through the main course when Keith spoke up again. “So, exactly how serious is all this then?” He gestured between Penny and Ethan withhis fork as everyone in the room tensed up, waiting to hear what more he would say. “Do you have a plan?
“A plan?” Ethan had both brows raised and a warning look on his face that made Penny feel light with relief. He was on her side; it would all be OK.
“Yes, you know how women sometimes have them.” He waved a hand airily as he speared a piece of chicken, oblivious to the glares he was receiving from all thewomenin the room. “Married in a year, kids in two, that sort of thing. Do you plan to marry?”
Penny inhaled so violently she choked and Tasha thumped her on the back from her left.
Ethan rolled his eyes. “Are you trying to scare her off?”
“Scares easy, does she?” Keith laughed but nobody else joined in and he glanced around, finally sensing the displeasure coming at him from all sides. “I just think it’s wise to think about these things, is all. Obviously it will be difficult for you to pursue a career while you’re raising the children, Penny, but then again you’ll have us nearby to help with that sort of thing.”
Penny didn’t know what to say. “Children?” she rasped and her dad set his silverware down delicately before pinning Ethan’s dad with a fierce look Penny wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of.
“Keith, this isn’t the fifties. My daughter’s career is just as important as your son’s.”
Penny started to smile, grateful that he was standing up for her, but then her mom chipped in.
“Besides, you think we’re not going to be involved with our own grandchildren? As if we’d let you take the lead in teaching them that kind of misogynist nonsense.”
Penny looked at Tasha with wide eyes, begging her to stop this and do something.
“Well, all right, I think that’s enough wine for everyone—”
Ethan’s dad puffed up, glaring at Philip even as his wife patted his hand in a way that was both warning and conciliatory. “I am certainlynota misogynist. My own wife is a woman.”
Unsure whether to laugh or scream at what Keith was saying, Penny stood abruptly and gathered the mostly empty plates. “Well, I’ll just go and grab the dessert,” she muttered, avoiding eye contact with anyone around the table. And then she fled to the kitchen.
Ethan followed, looking a little unsettled as they stared into the fridge together at the mini mousses she’d prepared the day before. “I’m not sure what just happened.”
“Me either.”
A beat of silence passed and then, before she could stop it, a bubble of laughter worked its way out of her. Before she knew it, they were laughing, clutching at each other as the flashlights shook in time with their bodies. All of a sudden, the lights came back on, jolting Penny so hard she nearly fell, Ethan’s form behind her the only thing that kept her upright. She took a few steadying breaths, her smile still spread across her face.
“I’ll turn off the oven,” Ethan said, breathless from laughter as Penny wiped moisture from her eyes.
“I’ll get the mousse.”
All in all, the dinner party was turning out to be just as bad as she’d expected, and in some ways delightfully worse, but she wouldn’t have changed anything for the world. Not when she had Ethan working alongside her and a warmth running in her veins that only appeared when he was around.
“Shall we?” he murmured, gesturing ahead of him and she grinned when he swatted her playfully on the ass as they left the kitchen.
18
The weekend after the fateful dinner party was full of Halloween Orchard Fest prep. Penny sat at the kitchen table with her dad, her legs up and crossed in the chair and her sweatshirt’s hood up over her head to shield her eyes from the sunlight spilling into the room. It was possible she’d overindulged on wine on Friday after everyone had left and it was just her and Ethan.
Thankfully, the ache in her eyes seemed to be the worst of the side effects and she worked slowly and methodically, looping colorful paper strips together to make the garlands they would be hanging in the trees for the festival. Her dad was moving a little quicker but had the added task of making patterns on the paper with felt-tip pens and glitter. She didn’t envy him. The glitter goteverywhere.
Her stomach grumbled and she sighed, looking up hopefully to where her mom was puttering about in the kitchen. Three pies sat on the cooling racks, the fragrant steam filling the room with the scent of apples, cinnamon, and honey. There had been one year that her mom hadn’t won the apple pie competition theyhosted during Orchard Fest, but she’d never let it go. Each year, she recreated her signature winning pie, and experimented with at least two other flavors. The upside? There would be a constant supply of pies in the house in the run up to the festival as her mom tried to perfect her recipes. The downside? There was no choice whether or not to partake in pie-tasting, though generally Penny didn’t mind too much. Because,pie.
“Is it cool yet?” she whined and Angie chuckled.
“Fine, fine. Heathen.” She cut a slice of each pie and placed them on one plate each before setting them down between Penny and her dad. “Wait! You need a fork, and I need to add the cinnamon sugar sprinkle on top.”
Penny restrained herself just barely, eyes fixed on the golden deliciousness in front of her. “Love you,” she muttered and Angie snorted.
“I don’t know if you’re talking to me or the pie.”
