Something's Gotta Give

Chapter 21

Penny and Regan worked for the rest of the morning, getting the dust cleaned up and the furniture moved. They were serving the food on the porches and the dining table was disassembled so that there would be space for dancing. It was a lot of hard work and, not surprisingly, there was no sign of Celeste. Sam had had an emergency at the hospital so he was absent from the preparations as well.

Regan disappeared after lunch to take a nap and prepare for the party but Penny was not going to get a break. She was thankful for Regan's help though, it had helped her make up time. They hadn't discussed anything from the night before and whatever Regan's thoughts on the matter were she was keeping them to herself, but to her credit she treated Penny with the same friendliness that she always had.

Penny was in the kitchen reviewing everything with the caterers when Celeste walked into the room looking like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. She waited patiently while Penny finished her conversation with the caterer before she pulled her away.

"It'll take only a minute Penny, it was such a surprise and, after hearing the story, I really had to take the time to reunite the two of you."

Penny froze in the hallway that Celeste was pulling her down. What did she mean reunite, it wasn't Jason was it? It couldn't be, she wasn't that stupid, was she?

"Come on silly," Celeste said sweetly, and in that moment Penny got how charming the woman really could be when she had a mind to. Celeste had never wanted to, nor seen the need to be charming to the hired help, so she had never tried, but now she directed it at Penny and it was perfect.

Her smile looked sincere and her, 'come on silly' had the exact touch of playfulness and sincerity in it that could make Penny believe that she had only the best intentions.

Fortunately, Penny knew the woman already so she wasn't going to fall for it, but it did give her pause. Celeste sensed her hesitancy and moved in for the kill.

"It's a good thing, I promise," she said, linking her arm through Penny's and pulling her the rest of the way down the hall and towards the living room.

When Penny was pushed into the room she saw her father looking at the photos on the mantle and she froze in her tracks, her heart falling to her feet. This was something that she had hoped to never see, her father in this house, her safe place.

"I have no wish to see this man." She turned to leave but Celeste blocked her way.

"Nonsense, your father was telling me that he needs you to come home and take care of him since his heart attack but that you refuse. I told him that after tomorrow you will no longer have a job here so it will be the perfect time for you to return home."

"No," Penny said turning to leave, she would knock Celeste down if she had to, but she hadn't taken two steps towards the door leading into the dining room before her father reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Yes Penny, you will come home now." He started to physically drag her towards the door.

Penny noted that Celeste frowned. "That wasn't the agreement!" she hissed at her father.

"I don't care about the agreement! She's coming home now." He turned to Penny with a grin because he thought he was winning. "You couldn't even do this job right could you? She's already told me that she won't give you a reference, so finding another job might be difficult at your age."

"She stays until tomorrow." Celeste reached out for her arm and started pulling her away from her father.

If Penny hadn't of been so scared she would have laughed at what must look like a very funny scene. Her fear was very real though, if her father got his away then who knew what he would do to keep her. She shuddered at the thought.