Page 37 of Cozy Girl Fall

The following evening, Penny lay in her bed alone for the second night in a row.

Up until he’d asked for space, she’d spent almost every night at Ethan’s since the Halloween Orchard Fest. Now her bed felt too small and too empty at the same time.

Her sheets were freshly laundered, the familiar smell of her mom’s detergent making her well up before she firmly brushed the tears away.

She’d told her parents about her plan to stay in Magnolia Springs and open the restaurant that morning over breakfast. Just like Tasha, they’d been delighted that she was staying in town (she was sure that she’d seen a tear in her dad’s eye) and since then they hadn’t stopped telling her how proud they were that she was trying something new at every chance they got.

She’d been so touched by how immediately supportive they were, and she loved them all the more for it.

There was even a small part of her that felt relieved, knowing that they were going to be close by again.

When they’d asked if she’d told Ethan her plans yet, Penny had awkwardly explained their miscom munication and how he’d asked for some space.

Her parents had clearly been able to hear the hurt behind her words, because Angie had offered her a consoling smile while Philip had gently patted her hand, reassuring her that these things always had a way of working themselves out.

To try and stay busy, she’d already been hard at work drafting potential menus with her mom’s input which was exciting but also incredibly draining.

All the decisions fell to her, something she’d never experienced in her time working in San Francisco.

It was a little overwhelming but also empowering in a way, and more than anything she was really feeling the emphasis on the learning element of the process.

More than anything, though, it made her think of Ethan.

She wanted to ask his opinion of her meal choices, maybe to cook some of the dishes for him to get his feedback, but she knew that no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn’t.

He’d asked for space and she was trying to give him that.

She rolled onto her stomach, burying her head into the pillow as she resisted the urge to reach for her phone to see if Ethan had called or texted. She knew he wouldn’t have in the five minutes since she’d last checked, but the hope brought her some comfort at least.

She still hadn’t heard anything from him since he’d sent her Nicky’s contact info the previous evening.

It had only been a day without him, but his sudden absence from her life was painful, overshadowed by how amazing the last month with him had been.

She was doing her best not to torture herself by worrying that keeping her plans a secret was actually going to drive them apart.

Deep down, she knew she was doing the right thing.

And even if Ethan decided he wanted their break to be permanent, she would still be staying in Magnolia Springs.

At some point over the last couple of months the town had become home to her again.

When she’d first got back, the ease she felt in the community had surprised her, but now she was going to be an active part of it with her restaurant.

She still couldn’t really believe it. Maybe she’d even have her own stall at next year’s annual bonfire.

The buzz of her phone broke her chain of thought, immediately making her heart beat faster. Ethan?

Her heart dropped when she didn’t find his name on her screen, but the sting was eased by the message she did find.

Nicky: Hey, Penny! Any friend of Ethan’s is a friend of mine. I can be in town tomorrow afternoon if that works for you?

She read the message three times before it sank in.

When she’d reached out to Nicky asking for his help, she’d only been expecting some advice, maybe a phone call at most. But he wanted to actually come here?

Penny’s mind immediately went into overdrive, worrying that she had nothing to show Nicky and he’d tell her she was too inexperienced to be running her own place.

But she took a deep breath to calm herself, stopping the stream of worries as she took a moment to think.

The beginnings of a plan formed in her mind as she typed out an enthusiastic reply to Nicky and then headed to the internet to look up Ethan’s company website and hit the button for inquire .

Nicky was coming to Magnolia Springs. She wouldn’t be alone to make all of these big decisions. And, most importantly, she was going to fight to keep her man.

Penny fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Nicolo didn’t look like she expected. She’d seen his face on his socials, but he was a lot taller than she’d thought he’d be for some reason. As soon as he spotted her inside Coffee Affair, his face lit up with a smile that was nearly as wide as his entire face.

She stood and held out a hand that was crushed as he swept her into an embrace.

“Sorry.” He laughed. “I’m a hugger. Plus I’ve heard a lot about you from Ethan. He basically wouldn’t shut up about you when we were at college.”

“You have?” The idea struck her dumb as she fumbled for the seat behind her and Nicky sat down opposite her.

Hearing Ethan’s name and knowing he’d talked about her, even years ago, soothed something inside of her.

This space and time apart was temporary, she knew that.

She was determined to respect Ethan’s wishes, even if she had to fight the urge to text him at least five times a day.

But she could give him another week. Especially if it meant they’d have forever.

“Of course. The famous one who got away.”

She could feel her cheeks reddening and hid her face behind her coffee cup. “Right.”

“So you’re opening a space here? Cafe? Restaurant? Bistro?”

“I, um …” She stuttered and bit her lip. “I’m still deciding. That’s part of what I wanted your help with.”

He nodded. “Well, it’s really something only you can decide.

What do you like to cook? What do you like to see in other food establishments?

What feeling do you want to capture in your own place?

Those will be your starting points.” He held up a hand, chuckling at the wide-eyed look she was wearing.

“You don’t need to have answers to those questions right now.

They’re just helpful things to keep in mind as you begin the process. Do you want to show me the space?”

“Oh, yeah, of course, it’s not too far from here.

Just to warn you, though, it’s nowhere near finished, I just got the keys this morning.

” Was she rambling? She stood too quickly and got an immediate head rush that made her sway even as she waved off Nicky’s concern.

“I’m fine. Sorry, just stressed.” Penny headed for the door, leading Nicky out of the coffee shop and onto the sidewalk that led to her restaurant.

Her restaurant . The idea was still too immense for her to process.

“Is Ethan meeting us there?” Nicky asked as they walked alongside one another.

Penny couldn’t ignore the pang in her chest at the mention of Ethan, at the fact that he was still hurting after their conversation a few days ago.

But she pushed through it, certain that he would understand when he saw what she had been planning.

“No, I’m hoping to surprise him at the end of the week. ”

To her relief, Nicky’s eyes lit up. “I love surprises.” When Penny halted in front of the large window, Nicky ran an assessing eye over the outside of the restaurant.

She found herself waiting nervously for his judgment of the storefront.

“Well, this looks promising. Let’s open her up and see what we’re working with. ”

It was Wednesday afternoon as Penny rushed back to the restaurant— her restaurant, she reminded herself—clutching three coffees in her hands.

The weather had turned foul in the last couple of days, but Penny had been so busy cooped up in the store trying to get it ready for Friday that she’d hardly noticed.

That was, until she’d stepped outside twenty minutes ago and been immediately drenched by the sheets of rain that were falling, while an icy wind had chased her all the way to, and back from, Coffee Affair.

The door slammed behind her, caught by a gust, and Tasha’s head swiveled round in surprise from where she’d been on her hands and knees in the middle of the floor. If Penny wasn’t mistaken, she was buffing the same patch of hardwood she’d been working on when Penny had left.

“Either you’re really set on making that one spot shine, Tash, or you’ve been on your phone for the last twenty minutes while I was braving the weather, and you’re now trying to play it off,” Penny teased, as Tasha stood somewhat stiffly and gratefully accepted the cappuccino that Penny was offering her.

Tasha placed her hand over her chest in mock outrage.

“Penny Larkin, I’m here helping you tidy this place up so you can win my brother back out of the goodness of my own heart , and all you can do is accuse me of slacking off?

” Tasha retorted, her eyes sparkling with humor.

“Nice to know you’re appreciative of all my hard work. ”

The two of them dissolved into giggles as Nicky appeared at the back of the store, wiping his hands on his jeans.

“Oh, Penny, you superstar!” he said, beaming as he took his coffee from her.

He took a long sip, before saying “I think I’ve finally managed to figure out what was wrong with that burner on the stove that wasn’t working, but it might take me a bit longer to fix it.

These are chef’s hands, not engineer’s, after all. ”

“Thank you so much, Nicky, I honestly wouldn’t even know where to start with all of the electrics back there.”

Penny had hardly known Nicky for four days and yet she could already tell that they were going to stay close for a long time after he headed back to New York.

His can-do attitude had been invaluable as the three of them had worked tirelessly to clean the restaurant space up enough to make it presentable.

“No problem at all, Pen. Although, you might want to get a mop or broom under there when you get a chance.” Penny looked up at Nicky, noticing a few bits of dust and dirt had caught in his hair. “Whoever was responsible for cleaning back there yesterday was clearly doing a rush job.”

Both Penny and Nicky’s eyes fell to Tasha, who held up her hands defensively.

“Hey, don’t look at me! These are librarian’s hands, not cleaner’s hands,” she retorted, and all three of them broke into laughter again before falling silent, savoring their coffees and the break from their hard work.

The rain pattering against the windows was the only sound as Penny took in the space.

It had already undergone a huge transformation since they’d started work on Sunday.

Pretty much all of the dust that had coated every surface had been swept away, the cobwebs had been vacuumed up, the floors had been scrubbed and were now being polished, and every counter in the kitchen had been wiped down at least three times over.

Now all they had left to do was give the walls a preliminary coat of paint, fix the burner in the back and—the one job that Penny was dreading the most—clean the industrial-sized oven that had clearly been left untouched when the old tenants had moved out.

But even with a fairly long list left to check off by Friday morning, Penny was feeling hopeful.

The only thing she wasn’t sure about was Ethan.

The physical work of tidying up the restaurant had been effective at taking her mind off of him, but whenever she stopped for more than five minutes he quickly became her every other thought again.

She missed him, the richness of his laugh and the gentle warmth that his eyes held as he looked at her, the safety she felt whenever he was around.

Penny honestly couldn’t tell whether he’d appreciate the gesture and understand why she’d kept the whole thing a secret anymore.

As his silence had stretched on she’d become more and more uncertain of her decision to try to surprise him with her plans.

What if she’d taken it all a step too far?

What if he felt like he really couldn’t trust her again, after this?

They were the same questions she’d been torturing herself with for days, but she was still no closer to answering them.

As she looked around her, quietly sipping her pumpkin spice latte, she couldn’t ignore the worry that gnawed at her insides.

“Hey, it’ll be OK,” Tasha said, gently resting her free hand on Penny’s arm, having obviously noticed the concern on Penny’s face.

“If I know one thing about my brother, it’s that he loves you more than life itself, Pen.

There’s no way he’s going to want to end things, especially once he sees how much work you’ve put in here. ”

“Yeah, Tasha’s right, Penny. Ethan would have to be an absolute idiot to not want to stay with you after he realizes why you were asking for my number,” Nicky chimed in, and Penny was filled with a wave of gratitude for the two of them.

“And if he still wants to end things, I’ll drive right over to his place and make it abundantly clear that he’s making the wrong decision,” Tasha added, grinning at Penny as she jokingly nudged her with her shoulder.

Penny couldn’t help but chuckle at Tasha’s threat, only half-certain her best friend was joking. “I just hope you guys are right.”