Page 39 of Persuading Penny
I nodded my agreement, and he turned to go to his car.
I stood there for what I’m sure was a full minute. Passers-by must have thought I was lost. But I was simply soaking it all in. What a wonderful, wonderful afternoon. Such a pleasant day. Such a pleasant man.
I could hardly believe it. Steve Seagram would be moving to Bath. Would we meet again? We hadn’t exchanged numbers. While Bath was relatively small, it could still be impossible to simply bump into someone.
No matter. I got into my car and drove home, eager to tell my mother about my day with Steve. She’d been thrilled the previous day when I’d told her I’d met a nice young man.
“It’s about time,” she’d said.
“Please don’t tell Dad,” I’d told her. “You know how he can be sometimes.”
But when I arrived home this time, I didn’t care if my father knew about Steve or not. After all, he couldn’t forever keep me from finding a man I might care deeply about.
“Is that you, Penny?”
“Yes, Mum.” I hurried to the kitchen to find her, quickly coming up behind her to plant a kiss on her cheek.
“I suppose that means you had a nice day,” she said, stirring the mashed potatoes in the pot she’d cooked them in.
“I did. Very nice. Today, Bath seemed brighter than it’s ever been. It’s funny how we come to take certain things for granted...we just don’t see them anymore. They’re just there and we pass by without taking notice.”
“Yes, dear.” Smiling, she glanced at me as she poured gravy into a gravy boat.
“I can’t remember the last time I walked through Prior Park, and yet it’s right there for anyone and everyone to go to.”
“It certainly is.” She handed me the gravy. “Bring that to the table, dear.”
I brought the gravy to the dinner table, then returned to her.
“Do you know of any homes for sale along Prior Park...or anywhere else?”
“Dear, I haven’t a clue.”
“A nice, large home...an estate, really.”
“Hand me the oven mitts, would you, dear,” she said as she opened the oven door to pull the roast out.
I grabbed the mitts off the hook and handed them to her, then dipped my finger in the Eton Mess sitting on the counter. As I licked the meringue and whipped cream off my finger, Mum glared at me.
“Penny. That’s for dessert.” She put the finishing touches to her roast, then shouted, “Boris! Dinner’s ready!”
I followed her to the dining room just as my father arrived from the living room.
“Something sure smells good,” he said as he took his seat at the head of the table.
We settled in to eat.
“What’s this I hear about you giving some young man a tour of the city?”Dad said through bites of his roast. “Did you lose your job on that movie? You know we need that money.”
“No, Dad. I did not lose my job, and don’t worry. The money will keep coming in. I just had a few days off and chose to spend them with a nice young man who is new to Bath and wished to know more about it.”
“What young man?”
“A young man I met in Southampton. He’s also a fan of Jane Austen.”
He grimaced in annoyance. “I don’t care about that. Who is he? Where’s he from? What does he do? How much does he do?”
“Oh, Dad. Really. You’re incorrigible. If you must know, he’s from London, from a banking family and his name is Steve Seagram. Is the interrogation over now?”
