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?"
"No, I don't, but....can't you and Penny just have an affair and leave it at that? No one needs to know."
Penny felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment at the thought but the redness turned pale at her next words.
"Everyone already thinks the two of you are sleeping together anyway." Regan sat her coffee cup down hard on the desk in front of her. "I'm sorry if it upsets you Penny, but it's true."
Was that why Sam was marrying her, because everyone thought that they were having an affair and he felt bad and wanted to make it right?
"Stop it Penny!" he commanded, "Whatever you're thinking, just stop it."
"Regan, I have never been ashamed to be your brother but right this minute I am. Why I want to marry Penny is between me and Penny and it's none of your business, just as what happened in my first marriage is none of your business."
"Sam everyone knows what happened in your first marriage, you forget what a small town Savannah is sometimes."
"You were in high school when I married Celeste and you were away at college when we divorced, so you may think you know what happened but trust me you don't. I have never interfered in your love life or your marriage and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't interfere in mine," he hissed as Sentry let out another meow.
Sam looked as angry as he had that night he thought that Penny was trying to trick him as he rose and walked over to the door throwing it open, and Celeste was once again in the hallway. "What do you need Celeste, I am trying to have a private conversation with my sister and Penny and I would appreciate it you would stop eavesdropping!"
So much for him trying to stay on the woman's good side, it was evident that he had had more than enough. Penny remained silent in her corner, watching Regan simmer in her chair and listening to Celeste use her most charming voice to sooth Sam. A few minutes later Sam slammed the door behind him.
"Now, Penny has not accepted my proposal yet and if she does it will be between us, as will our marriage. Why are you so upset about this Regan? I thought you liked Penny?"
"I do," she looked over at Penny her eyes beseeching, "but I don't want to lose the house."
"Why would you lose the house Regan?" Penny asked, genuinely confused.
"If Sam marries it will be his wife's and his children's house."
"You weren't worried about that when I married Celeste?" Sam insisted.
"No I wasn't, I was younger and Father still owned the house then."
Sam and Regan silently regarded each other neither willing to budge on the subject.
"It will always be your house Regan," Penny said, "And your children's."
"So it's not Penny you object to, only the idea of me marrying and being happy because you want to keep the house. A house that I might not be able to keep anyway?" Sam leaned back in his chair watching Regan's reaction.
Penny felt her heart drop to her toes at the news.
"What do you mean you might not be able to keep it?" Regan asked, sitting up straight.
"You know that Father always found Celeste charming and he continued to do so even after our divorce. She wove a tale so tight that Father believed that our divorce was my fault. She even managed to convince him that if he left her half of the house it could be the thing that would reunite us. Thankfully he didn't have the same easy attitude with his money that he had with the house, so she didn't get any of that. Although, I'm sure that she tried her hardest to talk him out of some of it."
Sam gave them both a moment to let it all sink in. "I'm talking with my lawyer currently and we are trying to find a way out, but I'm not sure it will be possible, and if it's not Celeste and I will remain co-owners of the house until one or the other's death, or we can each buy the other one out of their share. I could easily afford her share if she asked a fair price but I doubt she'll ask a fair price, and I'm not sure I could handle sharing the house indefinitely with her, which might mean that I have to sell."
"So Regan, would you rather keep the house in the family or have your inheritance?" Sam asked, leaning back in his seat watching her as she absorbed the news.
"I hate her," she hissed standing up and starting to pace the minuscule room. "How did I not know about this? Why wasn't I told?"
"If you remember, you were happy to let me handle everything when Father died since you were still away at college. I had also hoped that it wouldn't be an issue, that she would eventually realize that it was not the ace up her sleeve that she thought it was and would offer to sell it to me just to get the money."
Sentry was curled in Penny's lap and she was thankful for her warm little body and comforting purr. Sam must have been more miserable than she had thought these last few weeks.
"If she's owned half of it for the last, what six years, then why hasn't she bothered to try to claim it before now?"
Regan had a good point and Penny looked at Sam as they waited for an answer.
"I have the suspicion that she has acquired some new debts that she needs to pay off quickly. Her first preference would be to marry money, that way her cash flow is less likely to dry up-,"
"And you're her primary target," Regan snorted, "does she really think that you're stupid enough to fall into that trap again?"
"I have learned that Celeste lives in her own little world that has very little to do with reality, especially a reality that is not in her favor. If she can't marry for it she may try to sell her half of the house. I have spent this last month attempting to make a deal, but she has convinced herself that we should be together again. Something I'm not even willing to consider at this point."
Penny had the sudden thought that if he could announce their marriage then that would make Celeste realize that they wouldn't ever be together again. Was that why Sam had asked her to marry him?
"Penny what do you think?"
"It has nothing to do with me Sam." Penny looked up meeting his eyes, her doubt in them must have been evident as she watched him frown at her.
"As my potential bride it has everything to do with you." Regan's presence in the room fell away as they looked at each other.
Regan, being a normally kind and thoughtful person, despite her recent display of selfishness, sensed that they needed a moment and excused herself into a, thankfully, empty hallway.
"I think that if you married me it would prove to Celeste that you have no interest in reuniting with her," Penny said honestly, "so yes Sam, I will marry you."
He stood up and walked over to her kneeling in front of her. "That's not why I want to marry you Penny." His voice was urgent.
"Then why do you want to marry me Sam? I would really like to know."
"I hate that your father filled you with so much self-doubt." He sighed as he deliberated something. "I want to marry you because I love you Penny." His voice broke on her name.
Penny closed her eyes as she heard the sweet words. He loved her. She wanted to cry as she realized that all of her dreams might actually come true.
"I want to raise our children in this house." He smiled before he took her lips with his in a gentle kiss. "But just because we marry isn't a guarantee that she will give up her share of the house."
She didn't want to ask the question but she had to. "What's the easiest way out of this mess Sam?"
He took her hands in his and looked at them not answering.
"Sam?"
"If I were to remarry her. If we remarried, and then eventually divorced, there is a strong likelihood that I would get the house."
The thought of him married to Celeste was like a knife to the heart.
"All we can do is hope that something comes along between now and then to make her lose interest, and that she only wants me to pay fair market value for her share."
Penny nodded knowing that fair market value for only half the house was probably well over a million dollars. She knew Sam was rich but she had no idea that he was that rich.
"If we get married-" he stopped, thinking better about what he was going to say, but Penny had no problem finishing his thought.
"If we get married she might realize that there is no hope of you marrying her and she might decide to sell and at least get something." Penny smiled her self-protective smile nodding as she repeated her earlier comment.
She got it she really did. The kitten meowed.
"That's not why-,"
Penny nodded. "I know, you love me." He had said it, but all of her father's words suddenly came back to haunt her and she was having a hard time believing it, especially when Sam had another, obvious, reason for marrying her.
There was a knock on the door. "Sam, do you have a minute?" Celeste asked.
Penny really wanted to know how she knew when the perfect time to interrupt was. She was certain that Sam was about to say something important but as he let loose with a sting of curse words the moment was lost.
"Its fine Sam, we'll talk about it more after the party tomorrow. The first thing to do is get through that. I'm not going anywhere." She picked up the kitten and moved towards the door looking at him over her shoulder. He looked so handsome with a lock of hair across his forehead and a frown on his face. How wonderful it would be if he really did love her?
She couldn't resist as she ran across the room and gave him a swift and hard kiss. "I'm not going anywhere and I'm used to the likes of Celeste. She really is a lot like my father. I bet her heart isn't very healthy either."
Sam held her fast. "I promise you that as soon as this is all settled I will do my best to make sure that you are never unhappy again." He rested his forehead against hers. "But I want to give you this house."
Penny nodded as tears filled her eyes, she would rather that he gave her his heart and meant it.
Celeste knocked again and Penny slowly moved away from him and towards the door, not looking up at Celeste as she opened it.
"You still have that cat I see," her voice dripped disapproval as the kitten meowed.
"It's O.K. Sentry, I can see her this time," she whispered as she moved past Celeste and towards the stairs. Sam could deal with her, she was going to bed.