Page 6 of Persuading Penny
Again, I nodded, making mental notes of the new money coming in. “That’ll be nice, and if I’m working for you on top of that, we should be able to get our head above water again.”
“Good. Now that that’s settled, let’s talk business. We can start with your salary.”
TWO
The news of these newtenants was met with mixed emotions. My mother, while reluctant to leave her beloved home, knew that it was the wisest thing to do. It was either leave her home temporarily or lose it permanently.
But my father; no matter how I tried to reason with him, he took the news as an affront.
“Leave my home?”he’d bellowed. “Why should I leave my home?”
“Would you prefer to lose your home, Boris?”my mother said.
“You’re happy about this move because you view it as a vacation of sorts,” he shot back. “Oh,” he went on in a mocking feminine tone. “Let us go to the country for the summer. Oh, let us move to a quaint cottage for the summer.” He glared at her. “I’ll tell you now, Molly.This will not be a vacation.”
She looked at me then rolled her eyes all the way around and back again. “No, dear. I know quite well that there will be no vacation at all. Not for a single moment.”
“I will not be reduced to having to leave this house...not by force...not this way. It’s been in the Copperfield family for generations.”
“You should have thought of that before you went on that spending spree three weeks before losing your job, Boris.”
“You mean three weeks before that damn pandemic hit,” he shot back. “Were it not for that, we wouldn’t be in this bind.”
She went to him and gently patted his arm. “Boris, dear husband, love of my life...You are letting your misplaced pride get the better of you.”
“Mum is right, Dad,” I said. “These Americans will be more than pleased with the experience of living in a house like this. You should be proud of that.”
He waved my comment away.
I stifled a laugh. “My personal items are already packed and ready to go. Do you need any help packing, Dad?”
My father shot me a scathing glare. “What do you propose, Penny? That you should pack my socks and underwear?” He waved me away. “Let me be. I’ll have my personal item packed soon enough.”
Mum and I headed down the stairs where the last of our luggage sat by the door. The larger suitcases had already been brought to their car as well as my own.
“I’ll confess, Penny,” Mum said quietly. “There’s something a little disconcerting about having strangers here in my home. I mean, strangers will eat off my dishes, cook in my pots and pans, and slip my forks and spoons into their mouths...perhaps even lick a knife. They will sleep in my linen. Will they also dry off with my towels? Will they read my books?” She shook her head. “I really don’t like any of that.”
