Something's Gotta Give

Chapter 18

The chimney had been inspected and given the all clear. There was nothing wrong with it, just as there had been nothing wrong with it the previous fall. They couldn't explain what had happened and they wouldn't even try to make a guess.

Penny and Regan worked side by side and had the majority of the ash and dust up by dinner.  They had decided to let the rest settle and tackle it again in the morning. Regan and Sam insisted on having dinner in the kitchen with Penny and Celeste had the choice to either eat alone in a very dusty dining room or join them.  She decided to join them and spent the entire meal doing her best to charm Regan but Regan was having none of it.

Regan joined Penny on the back porch after dinner that evening to listen to the ghost story about her house. She sat through two different tour guides as they drove by and was able to hear the nice love story as well as the roasting alive horror story.

She turned a stunned expression to Penny as the last bus drove away.

"Sam looked the same way you do now after he had heard the story." Penny smiled, remembering the first time he had joined her on the porch. Had that only been a little over a month ago? It felt like it had been forever.

They talked a little more about their different experiences growing up in Savannah until Sam joined them a little later and asked Penny to bring a tray of coffee up to his office. He wanted to talk to her and Regan.

She nodded as he and Regan went into the house together. She took her time doing as he asked, a little miffed that he and Regan hadn't helped her prepare it. She was so upset thinking about it that she was caught off guard when Sam's warm lips landed on the back of her neck just under her ear. It was a good thing that she was leaning against the counter because it caught her when her knees buckled.

"Soon, Penny," He promised then he was gone leaving her even more frustrated than before. Why had he snuck back to the kitchen just to give her a kiss, didn't he know what he was doing to her?

Penny had been keeping a close eye on Sentry ever since Celeste had found out about her and she scooped her into a pocket, which she only half fit in, and carried her and the coffee tray upstairs.

"Come in Penny and close the door," he said as she joined them.

"Why is Penny here?" Regan asked as she reached for a cup of coffee and a cookie.

Sentry gave a meow and Sam rose and went to the office door, opening it and finding Celeste standing outside it.

"Was there something you needed Celeste?" Sam asked politely. Penny couldn't hear what she said but Sam only nodded and said goodnight, closing the door again. Then he grabbed a stick next to the door and closed the transom that was above the door for good measure.

"Penny is here because I've asked her to marry me and that means that what I have to say involves her as well." He looked over at Penny with a tender smile that made her heart melt, before he looked back at his sister who was staring at Penny.

"You said you weren't having an affair," she hissed softly, aware that they all needed to keep their voices down despite her anger.

"Penny and I are not, and never have had an affair Regan."

"Then why would you ask her to marry you?" she asked in disbelief. "After what happened with Celeste I would have thought that you would have had enough of marriage and the potential pitfalls, especially for someone like you.

Sam stared hard at his sister and eventually Regan had the good grace to look ashamed at her comments.

"So you think that I should remain alone and lonely for the rest of my life?"