Page 33 of Petting Penelope
“Shitty is right,” said Bex. “That woman was…” She shuddered. “Just not a great person. But now look at her.” She nodded toward the pool.
Penelope was swimming up to the side closest to them, followed closely by Tay and Sadie. “I think we need to beat a tactical retreat,” Rachel heard her say. “I’m not sure that deliberately splashing everyone was the best of ideas.”
“We could splash Guilia,” suggested Tay, and then caught Guilia’s eye and hurriedly muttered a very unrepentant, “Sorry, Daddy.”
“I might get out,” Penny said. “I’m pretty hungry and I haven’t eaten anything yet.”
“Oh, Chef Connor’s manning the barbecue!” said Sadie. “And it’sproperbarbecue. It’ll blow your British minds.”
“I’m sure it will,” said Penelope, and then pulled herself out of the pool.
Water dripped from her hair, running in rivulets down her curves and Rachel had to force herself to close her mouth.
Apparently she hadn’t done so quickly enough though because Penny waggled her eyebrows at her as she grabbed a towel. “You okay there, Rach?”
Rach was a new nickname from Penelope, but she liked it. “Just peachy,” she said. “And speaking of peaches,” she tugged Penny’s towel until she fell onto Rachel’s lap.
“Rach! I’m going to get you all wet!”
“That sounds terrible,” said Bex dryly, and Penelope turned around and flipped her the bird.
“Come on, Rach, let’s go grab some food.”
The barbecue was immense, spread out across multiple tables and with so many options that Rachel’s head spun.
“What would you like?” asked the heavyset man behind the grill.
“It all looks great,” said Rachel. “But I’m not sure I’d know where to begin.”
“British?”
She nodded.
“And your girlfriend?”
Rachel looked anxiously at Penelope, but Penny took it completely in her stride. “Yeah, I’m British too!”
“How about I put together some plates for you?”
“That’d be amazing,” they said simultaneously, and laughed.
He talked them through it as he plated up. “You’ve got to have some fresh cornbread with honey-butter. Collard greens, of course. And then the main event! Perhaps ribs, burnt ends and brisket? And finish off with corn and a side of mac and cheese.”
Rachel stared in wonder as more and more food was piled atop the plate. “I think I’m in heaven,” she said. “This is heaven.”
Chef Connor nodded his pleasure. “I hope you enjoy it.”
“Oh, we will,” said Penelope enthusiastically. They made their way carefully back to the loungers where they’d set up and sat down to eat.
“That looksgood,” said Faith. “I love good barbecue.”
“Chef Connor is indeed an excellent cook,” said Guilia.
“High praise indeed from our other head chef,” said Tay, pressing a kiss to their partner’s lips. “I’m gonna grab some ribs; want anything, Daddy?”
“Cornbread,” said Guilia. “His cornbread isbueno.”
Guilia was right, the cornbread—and indeed everything else on Rachel’s plate—was absolutely delicious. She mmmmed her way through the entire mountain that had been piled up and then leaned back on the lounger and sighed in satisfaction.
