The Price of Penny

by T. C. Rybicki

  “So what you’re both saying is it’s all my fault?”

  “No, of course not. It is what it is. You’re a great big brother and role model except for that accident remark earlier. I swear you can be so childish.”

  Mom asked what she was talking about and Penny tattled on me without hesitation. She was getting it later for that.

  “Nothing could be further from the truth. I thought I was done, but was overcome with one final bout of baby fever when you were almost ten. He was definitely planned and a welcomed addition to the family.”

  “Mom, kidding. Can’t you take a joke?”

  Penny changed the subject and asked about some special rose and a few other questions about sunlight and soil. I’d zoned out tossing the frisbee to Pepper. She loved this wide open space. Mom’s backyard had a lot more room for her than Penny’s tiny outdoor space.

  Finally, something about gardening jumped out at me, “I’m not sure, dear. I’m not a soil expert, but I’m sure this would grow in England. I can do some research for you online.”

  England? Penny said stuff about her childhood home and her grandparents fairly often, but asking Mom about growing roses in England struck me as strange.

  “You want to send your Nan roses?”

  Penny and Mom stopped talking and both looked at me. Penny wasn’t the one that answered. “Penny said she wanted to expand one of the gardens close to her grandmother’s home. We were brainstorming.”

  “When’s this?”

  Something wasn’t right. My mother looked away. “Um, maybe I’ll take Pepper in for some water. Her tongue’s hanging out.”

  “Chet . . .” she only said my name and I already knew it was bad news.

  “Why are you both acting shifty about a simple question?”

  “I asked Sheila some gardening questions because I’m going to inherit the Cotswold place. You know I’m a planner, no biggie or reason to worry about it just yet, we’re talking years off.”

  “No biggie, huh? If you’re such a planner, then when did you plan on telling me you’re moving to England?”

  “I don’t like your tone.”

  “I don’t like fucking secrets.”

  “Chester.” Mom grabbed my arm. I didn’t normally talk that way in front of Mom and she rarely called me my given name.

  “I never said I was moving there. I’m talking about the gardens.”

  “Okay, so you’re not moving, then why are you acting so weird?”

  “You’re being a jerk.”

  Mom gave me a few dirty looks, but called for the dog. She left us in the backyard to talk. I wasn’t trying to be a jerk. Up until this very moment, I was in the best of moods. I’d been anticipating seeing Penny again the whole time we played golf. I actually sucked the entire morning because I couldn’t concentrate. This whole fucking where to plant my roses scenario sent off blaring sirens in my head.

  “What’s your deal? You live here, you work here, most of your family’s in California.”

  Penny’s grandparents were in excellent health, but one day she knew they wouldn’t be able to take care of themselves, a cottage and the grounds. The land had been in the family three generations and no one wanted to see it sold off. It was very valuable, but more sentimental than anything. She and Maggie were promised the place a long time ago, but Maggie immediately relinquished her share. “She was probably ten years old when she stated, ‘you can have it, Poppy’ and she never changed her mind. I love that place. It’s always been my second home.”

  “But you’ve been in America since you were a kid.”

  “I know that, but this was always the plan in the back of my mind.” I took a few steps backward. “Chet, I don’t mean this minute.”

  “When?”

  “Five years, maybe. That depends on my grandparents.”

  Penny had only known me a short time. Obviously, this had been her dream since she was a girl. I was being selfish and irrational. She still should have mentioned it one damn time. I thought we talked about everything; I guessed wrong. I shared more shit with her in four months than anyone has ever gotten out of me.

  I walked off. It was the only reaction I had left.

  We drove back to Penny’s with barely a word between us, even the dog was quiet. We were supposed to have a late lunch with my parents, but I packed our stuff up when I went inside. She didn’t argue with me. I kinda wished that she had. Mom pulled me aside while Penny got Pepper ready to go.

  “Work this out. It’s a new relationship. You can’t possibly have it all sorted out from the beginning. I think she’s a great person and I can tell how much she means to you.” I knew she thought I was acting like Dad. Silence wasn’t always a bad way of handling things in my opinion. I didn’t want to say shit I couldn’t take back.

  But Penny had enough finally, “Look, I get it. You’re in shock, but as usual, you’re over-reacting.”

  “I’m over-reacting? That’s your specialty, not mine. Admit it, you’re the big chicken this time.”

  “Okay, yes. I admit that. I just didn’t know how to say it. I love my grandparents and our family home. It has been a dream since I was a little girl and I’m not giving it up.” I started to interrupt but she wouldn’t let me. “That being said, I never imagined meeting you and falling in love. I don’t regret us for a second. This is the best time of my life so far. Why can’t we take one day at a time? I can’t predict the future but if you’re expecting me to say I’ll never move back to England, then we might as well end it now because I refuse to say that. I don’t know, okay. For the first time ever, I don’t know.”

  “I have to stay here for my career.”

  “Don’t you think I know that? I wouldn’t dream of asking you to change one thing for me.”

  “Yeah, well, I only have one more thing to say then. Maybe you should.”

  I checked my phone one more time. Chet surprised me holding out so long without contact. He could be so bratty. I told him just that when he got in a rush to leave his parents’ house. He didn’t like my assessment one bit. I tried my best to make him understand, but he had no intentions of talking about it any further.

  He brought in my things and made his way to the door to leave. At least when I followed him, he stopped, gave me a hug and told me he loved me. He needed some alone time to think. I was happy to have a distraction today or else I’d obsess over our argument. I told Pepper goodbye and to be a good girl. I was shocked to see Chet putting his key in the lock when I opened the backdoor.

  I didn’t get a word out. He smashed his hungry mouth against mine and literally swept me off my feet. I did the only thing that felt right; I kissed him back. I missed him like crazy. I hated when we were angry with each other.

  When I finally broke free to breathe, I told him I was happy he came back. “I couldn’t stay away any longer. I’m sorry I was such an ass. It finally hit me this morning. I’m fucking rich. I’ll never spend all this money up. We can make it work. I’ll buy a second home in England, we’ll both fly back and forth. I don’t care what it takes, just promise me we’re still together and will continue to be five years from now or forever. I don’t ask for much, but I need to hear you say that.”

  “Okay, we will be. Together.”

  “Forever.”

  “Together, forever. I agree wholeheartedly, we’ll find a way to make it work. I’m sorry too. I bash you for withholding important information too long. I did the same thing. You must think I’m a wretched hypocrite.” He touched my lips with his finger and shook his head. I was determined not to cry and mess my face up, but he made that difficult, plus he kept smacking kisses all over my face. “I missed our goodnight talk.” I relished hearing his voice each night as I fell asleep. I couldn’t remember the last time I had to fall asleep without him in my ear.

  “Me too. I didn’t sleep a damn wink last night.” I could tell. He looked a bit rough. He raised his eyebrows up and down a few times, “Take a nap with me.”


  “I would but I can’t. I have church and work.”

  “I don’t mean to be sacrilegious, but can’t you skip? You’re a good girl, Jesus will understand and who are you kidding? You don’t work on Sundays.”

  I told him I agreed to help one of the worship leader’s son with summer tutoring. I planned on his session being yesterday, but rescheduled because of our visit to see his parents.

  “Maggie and Keats are meeting me, they just got back. You should come. Maybe while I’m tutoring, you three could go grocery shopping and we’ll cookout this afternoon and we can hear all about the PG parts of their honeymoon.”

  “I look like shit, I’m not fit to be seen in public.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, you kinda do.” I kissed him again and told him he could take a nap.

  “In your bed?”

  “Sure, if you want? I bet Pepper would like to join you.”

  “That isn’t exactly the companion I envisioned.”

  I couldn’t believe I’d convinced Mags to leave Keats long enough for girls’ night, but she joined Heather and I for dinner. We were now at my place trying to agree on something to watch. I was in charge of dessert while Heather prepared our adult beverages. We opted for a quiet night at my place instead of a crowded bar or club. This was our second girls’ night with Heather. I was happy she and my sister got along so well. Maggie could be a bit jealous with some of my other girlfriends, but Chet’s sister obviously was different to her. They weren’t in any sort of competition.

  I told her to stop on something. Maggie was scanning every film on Netflix. “I thought we decided on a comedy.”

  Heather added, “Romantic comedy, chick flick. Let’s be basic bitches while no one’s watching or judging us.”

  Maggie said she was fine with that but she was looking for something with a little heat as well.

  “Jesus, woman. You’ve been honeymooning it up. Can’t you give it a rest for sister night?”

  Heather smiled because she knew I was including her as my sister. “Maybe we should just drink and let Mags tell us stories about that hottie she married. I’ve been seeing this doctor on the DL, maybe I’ll tell a story or two as well after my second drink though. I’m shy. I need to loosen up first. Oh wait, no offense, Penny, but I don’t want to hear your stories, cuz ewww. That’s my brother.”

  Maggie dropped the remote. “You mean, you don’t know?”

  “Know what? Seriously, I’m in a hospital most of my days and nights. I know nothing.”

  I rolled my eyes and shook my head at Maggie like that did any good. She was determined to spill all my boring love life details. Well, I wasn’t nearly as boring as I used to be, but I definitely wouldn’t have the stories they had to tell. Heather was right. I wouldn’t discuss Chet in front of her.

  “I’m looking for hot and spicy to give my dear Poppy a push. She is still cruising the virgin seas.”

  “What? Are you serious? You’re a . . . you mean . . . you and my brother are not? Sorry, I’ve had half a glass of this sangria and I can’t finish a damn sentence. I mean, that’s perfectly fine. Kudos to you for waiting. I assume it’s a personal choice. You’re waiting for marriage?”

  “It’s a long story and maybe that was the idea in the beginning. Although, marriage was probably not in my thoughts, more like old spinster with only a dog for my lifelong companion. I’m thinking about things a little differently now, so waiting too much longer probably won’t be the case with us. I love him and I want to be with him, but we’re not rushing.”

  Heather stuck her lip out. She made that same puppy face her brother always made. “That’s so sweet and romantic. I can’t believe my idiot brother found a woman like you. Oh my gosh. My whole family adores you, Penny. You know that, don’t you?”

  I shrugged. I hoped they liked me. I liked them.

  “I’m serious, he hasn’t spent time with any twit I’d want to know five minutes. I could hang out with you anytime. I know we don’t get to see each other much because of our schedules, but I’m on your team.”

  Mags told her there was a #teamPenny tag on the Internet and we all had a good laugh. I had gotten better about staying far away from that social media nonsense. Heather took my side and told Maggie a sexy film wasn’t in order. I shouldn’t feel pressured.

  “When it’s right, she’ll know. I have such high hopes for you guys. I’m thinking we might be official sisters sooner than anyone imagined.”

  Maggie tossed the remote, “Spill Heather. Do you know something? Is he proposing? Did he buy a ring? Oh my God! He did, didn’t he? Poppy!”

  “Stop it, of course not. We haven’t even dated five months.”

  Heather had no idea, but she’d heard Chet talking to their mum about a few things that led her to believe marriage was being discussed.

  “Not with me.” I set them straight, but felt my heart flutter within my chest. I was flush and tingly and hadn’t even sipped the sangria yet. Heather also eavesdropped on a conversation with Gage and heard the “E” word. I made a face. Why did he need to talk to his manager about things like that? I assured them we were not engaged.

  “Chet runs everything by Gage and his team. It’s annoying, but it’s a habit, since he’s been with some of these people since he was a kid. I’m sure they are telling him to slow down. They’ve always preferred him single for the releases of these movies. It’s not any of their damn business.”

  “Can we watch the film please?” I went for the ice cream. I was so edgy, I might eat mine out of the carton, but we were supposed to make brownie sundaes.

  He and I were hanging out with Wayne tomorrow. The rest of this evening, I would be with Heather and Maggie, but one day soon, I needed to get my nerve up to ask what was up. Was Chet actually telling people he and I were about to get engaged? The bigger question, was he about to ask me? And even bigger than that, would I say yes?

  “Finally, Mom’s done monopolizing your time. Help, I need your opinion.”

  Wayne got hyper frequently or often experienced an emergency that actually wasn’t. I stayed back in the kitchen to help his mum clean up the dishes. The guys scattered after lunch. I tried to stop them but Ruth said to let them go. She learned a lesson a long time ago they made a bigger mess instead of actually helping. I was onto them and thought they did it on purpose. I enjoyed getting to know Ruth a little better. She had to be quite the woman to deal with a unique son like Wayne.

  The guys were sitting at the desk with the computer open. Wayne rarely did anything without an electronic device connected to wifi in front of him. “Get over here, Penny. I want you to see these pictures of Aubrey.”

  I looked over Chet’s shoulder to see a vast array of photos of an attractive blonde girl that never appeared to face the direction of the photographer. I felt a little strange seeing them on his laptop. “Where’d you get all those?”

  He looked a little sheepish when I called him out on the photographs, “Um, here and there. She’s so pretty, isn’t she?”

  Chet turned his head and looked back at me with some apprehension. He agreed with me, this was a bit much and extremely creepy. “Wayne, stop taking pictures of her without her knowledge. That’s very invasive and . . .”

  “Fucking creepy,” Chet finished my sentence but I wasn’t going to say something so blunt.

  “Oh yeah, nice bro. Fairly hypocritical of you, don’t you think? You had me break a couple of international laws to dig up private info on the woman standing behind you.”

  I leaned in and kissed my love’s cheek. “He’s got you there, babe. You’re equally a creep.” Chet got up, lifted me off the ground and carried me to the sofa. He whispered a few things about how I didn’t act like he creeped me out when were all alone. His breath tickled my neck and I giggled fits of laughter. He knew all my ticklish spots.

  Wayne was put out with us. “Could we get back to the issue at hand? Let Penny breathe for once. I want her opinion, yours is useless.”

  I liberated
myself from Chet’s embrace and had a seat next to Wayne. “What do you want to know?”

  “She’s a vision, isn’t she?”

  “Yes, she’s lovely.”

  “And she resembles Suzanne?”

  Oh gosh, that Suzanne obsession. It was odd, but so was Wayne. I tried to see what he saw. Other than blonde hair, I wasn’t convinced, but I went along with him, “I guess so, but maybe you should keep that to yourself. I’m not sure if this is so healthy for you, hun. Doesn’t Aubrey still have a boyfriend?”

  He said that was the big news. After weeks of rumored problems, he overheard her crying to a friend toward the end of the day, Thursday. Declan and Aubrey were history. Wayne thought it was his chance. “I have her number, what if I call her and invite her for coffee? You and Chet can go with me so I don’t do anything stupid or embarrassing.”

  Chet was so mean, “Oh, that’s a given. You’re going to make an ass of yourself whether we’re there or not.”

  I gave him a stern look. I was willing to do this for Wayne. He seemed so smitten. Then Chet asked how he had Aubrey’s number. I should’ve known. Just like the pictures, he didn’t have her express consent. He obtained her number with his covert methods.

  I axed the plan. “You can’t call her with no legitimate reason for having her number. Plus, she’s fresh off a breakup. Give her a little more time. I suggest you actually make some small talk at work and maybe ask her face to face, then we can all go out together. Be friendly and casual, not pushy.”

  Chet said it wasn’t possible that all the rest of our days were planned out alone since filming started in a month. He wanted every spare second with me and no one else. I knew that wasn’t possible, but it sounded like an amazing idea.

  Wayne told him what he thought. These guys never held back and I loved their friendship. “You’ve become sickening, you know that right? Literally, an embarrassment to men everywhere. Penny, could you please return my buddy’s balls before his voice changes?”