Page 28 of Persuading Penny
“A Banoffee Pie,” Richard said, “is a concoction of bananas, cream, and toffee all spread over a biscuit base.”
“Sounds...questionable,” Cliff said.
Richard set his piedish down.
“Ooh,” Cliff said with a grimace. “Looks even more questionable.”
We all smiled as we looked at the slightly soggy whipped cream.
Richard looked at his dessert. “I guess it does look a little wonky.”
“Did you make your own toffee?”Keely said.
“Yes. And I think that might be part of the problem.”
“I told him to use the store-bought stuff, but he was adamant; he wanted to make it from scratch.”
“I’m sure it’ll taste great,” Keely said. “I had this at a friend’s house once. It was delicious.”
“Great,” Richard groaned. “You’ll have something to compare this disaster to.”
He served us all a slice and we dipped our dessert forks in it.
“I think a spoon might be more efficient,” Cliff said.
I stifled a laugh.
Keely took a bite. “It tastes great, Richard. All the flavor is there. It’s just a little...”She held her fork up to let the dessert drip off her fork.
“I think I might have undercooked the toffee and under-whipped the cream,” Richard said.
“The graham cracker crust is nice,” Reagan offered.
“Mommy, I don’t want this. Can I go play in my room?”Georgina said as she pushed her dessert away.
“All right,” Reagan said. “Bring your little brother with you.”
Tommy took a few quick bites of his dessert then jumped off his chair to join his sister, racing to be the first one at the first step of the stairs. They scuffled slightly, elbowing for that first position.
“Stop fighting,” Richard called to them.
They calmed down and stomped their way up the stairs.
“They really seem to be enjoying the house,” Keely said. She looked at me. “It must be a little strange to be in your house.”
I nodded and tried to ignore Cliff’s hard gaze. “It is, but we’re enjoying our time at the cottage.”
Cliff’s lips parted as if to ask a question, but he clammed up and said nothing. He fidgeted slightly and I sensed a degree of discomfort.
“My mum loves it out there,” I went on. “But I think she’ll be eager to return to Copperfield Corner when the time comes.” I looked to Richard and Reagan. “But my father is actually quite pleased with the arrangement, even though he complains constantly about the cottage.”
Cliff muttered something unintelligible, but as Richard asked what he’d said, we heard a chilling cry from upstairs.
Without hesitation, I pushed my chair back and ran to the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. On reaching the second floor, I realized it wasn’t my place to take charge of the situation, but the familiarity of Copperfield House made me forget about all that.
I reached Tommy’s room with Reagan and Richard coming up behind me a moment later.
“Mommy!”Georgina cried as she rushed into her mother’s arms. “I didn’t know he was going to open the window. I didn’t know it would fall.”
