Page 25 of Persuading Penny
Stunned, I stopped. “Tomorrow? Dinner? You mean, like at my house?”
Ugh.
EIGHT
As I drove to my oldhouse, my childhood home, I tried to come up with a good reason not to go at all. Part of me was curious to hear the Healy’s appreciation of the house. Keely had mentioned how they loved it, and I was intrigued by what in particular they liked.
But, then again, a part of me found it a little bittersweet to go back to my home, all while not really being inmyhome.
I turned down the familiar lane, passed by the Humphreys, the Sutherlands and the Pattersons, then came to the final bend in the road that brought me to Copperfield Corner.
A smile instantly came to my lips. I hadn’t fully realized just how much I missed the place. Oh, our little country cottage was fine, and we lacked nothing, but this...It was a beautiful home, though modest by some standards.
I pulled into the drive, leaving my car beside the Healy’s, while noting that Keely and Hugh hadn’t yet arrived.
The door to the house burst open and Georgina came running out as I stepped out of the car.
“Come see my room,” she shouted with glee. “Come see how we did my room. It is so, so pretty.”
She grabbed my fingers with her small, delicate hand and pulled me toward the door.
“We put up a rainbow curtain, a new comforter and a bunch of pillows and cushions,” she went on. “Pink ones, and green ones, and yellow ones. I have a cushion in the shape of a unicorn and one in the shape of a pink heart.”
Reagan met us at the door. “I see she’s already giving you her room’s inventory.”
“She’s a delight,” I said as I entered, though I couldn’t hide my concern for the changes that had been made.
“Don’t worry about the new décor,” Reagan quickly said. “No major changes. I mean, we didn’t paint the room or anything...not that Georgina didn’t try to convince us that we should.”
The little girl looked up at me. “I wanted to paint those dull green walls bright yellow, like the sun. I told Mom we’d be doing you a favor.”
I smiled, actually pleased with the idea of changing the color. “That might well be.Houses of this type do tend to have dull washed-out colors on the walls.”
“Does that mean we can paint them?”she said, excited.
“That’s enough of that, Georgina,” Reagan said. “Your room looks fine the way it is. Instead of complaining about the wall color, you should be thanking Penny for allowing us to stay in her beautiful home.”
