Page 23 of Persuading Penny (Jane Austen Association #4)

H e’s leaving later today. How much later today? Tonight? This evening? After dinner? After lunch? When?

A wave of panic swept over me, and I was suddenly blind as I stood in search of what I should do.

Go to him. Yes. That’s what I had to do. Go to him.

Where? Was he in town with Bridget? Yes. Bridget! What had happened to Bridget? What about the rumors that he was to propose to her? Had she rejected him? Was that the reason for this sudden declaration of love for me?

Damn. Was I just his consolation prize?

No. Cliff wouldn’t do that.

Would he?

Either way, I had to know. I had to see it in his eyes. I had to see for myself if he really loved me or if he was just toying with my heart.

As my mind raced, I wondered if he could be at Tillsbury Estate with the rest of the cast.

No. No. I was suddenly certain that he was at Copperfield Corner. Yes. That’s where he must be. Surely, he wanted to say his goodbyes to his brother and sister-in-law, his nephew and niece.

I rushed to the house to change. I’d gotten up so early and had thrown on a shapeless beige shift dress. I had to find something more... suitable.

“So?” Dad said as I entered the house. “What does the Seagram boy have to say?”

“I have to go change, Dad. I’ll tell you all about the letter later.”

“Ah. That’s my girl. Go make yourself presentable and go meet with the boy. Tell him how your father fully approves.”

I glanced at Aunt Sally. What had she told him exactly? Had she not mentioned the rumor of a Seagram who wanted to take advantage of a young woman?

Standing behind my father, she looked at me, a knowing smile on her lips. She winked and I had the sense from her that everything was going to be all right.

Not trusting myself to say more, I rushed up the stairs and headed to my room. Jeans were always suitable for any occasion.

Yes. Jeans would have to do. I pulled the shift dress over my head, stepped into my jeans then threw on a green blouse with frilled sleeves. Cliff would always say how green really made my eyes pop.

After putting my shoes back on, I ran down the stairs.

“Hey. Hey. Where’s the fire?” Dad called over his shoulder from where he sat in his recliner. “Honey, if you run to that man with this degree of desperation, you’re likely to scare the man to death. Calm down. You want to saunter up to the man, not spring to him.”

“You heard it straight from Romeo’s mouth,” Aunt Sally said. Seated on the sofa beside my mother, the two women looked at one another, clearly amused by my father’s view of romance.

“Never mind him,” Mum said. “Go out and have fun.”

I rushed to the two most important women in my life and gave them a kiss, then went to my father and kissed his balding head. “I love you, Dad.” I looked back at my mother and Aunt Sally. “I won’t be late. Before dinner. I love you all.”

With a quick wave, I ran out of the house to my car.

Please be there, I muttered as I started my car and drove off. Again and again, I pleaded to the heavens that I should find Cliff at my childhood home.

I drove a little faster than I should but remained cautious in my haste. Finally, I turned the final bend in the road and came to the familiar home.

My heart fell. His brother’s car was there in front of the house, but Cliff’s Rover was nowhere to be seen. For a moment, I considered turning the car around to go into town, but Georgina spotted me and ran up to the car.

I carefully pulled up next to her father’s car and got out.

“Hi, Georgina,” I said, my gaze darting all over the place looking for any sign of Cliff.

“I’ve been swinging on the swing for over an hour,” she announced. “I want to practice so that I can break a world record.”

I smiled. “Are your parents at home?”

“Of course they are. They wouldn’t leave me alone... not alone with Tommy. We’re having a picnic in the back yard. Daddy made his famous chickpea salad.” She grimaced. “But I don’t really like it.”

Reagan came around the corner from the backyard. “Penny,” she said, genuinely surprised. “How nice to see you. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I’m sorry to just drop in unannounced. I... I...”

“We’re all out back having a light lunch. Why don’t you join us.”

“Oh. Oh, no,” I said, rather flustered. This was going all wrong, so desperately wrong. “I...” I looked toward my car. I had to find Cliff before he left for London. Should I tell her I was looking for him. Perhaps she knew where he was.

Reagan hooked her arm in mine. “Come. Please. You’re pale. Have you eaten this morning?”

No. I guess I haven’t.

I followed her for sheer lack of strength to fight her. Before turning the corner of the house, Tommy came running to us.

“Hawo!” he shouted on seeing me. “Are you coming to play on the swing?”

“Maybe after we finish eating, Tommy,” Reagan said.

On the patio, at the back of the house, Richard sat at the table where big bowls of salad, a platter of sandwiches and an assortment of marinades were spread across a white linen tablecloth.

But as we approached, as we got closer, I saw that Richard wasn’t alone at the table. Seated beside him was Cliff.

My knees buckled and I’m certain the blood drained from my face.

He looked up and saw me, instantly setting his fork down. He stood and came around the table. “Penny,” he whispered.

Reagan looked at us, an unspoken question in her eyes.

“I got...” I said. “My father gave me that letter...”

Cliff glanced at Reagan and looked back to Richard. “If you’ll excuse us. There’s something we need to discuss.”

He gently set his hand on the small of my back and guided me away from the table.

“Uncle Cliffy. Uncle Cliffy,” Tommy shouted, holding up a toy truck. “Are you coming to play?”

“In a minute, Tommy. I just need to tell Penny something.”

“What?” The little boy looked up at us with open curiosity.

Cliff ruffled the boy’s hair. “I’ll tell you after I’ve told Penny, okay.”

“Then you’ll play with me?”

“Sure.”

Satisfied with that answer, Tommy ran to the swings to play with his sister.

“I didn’t know where to find you,” I said as we resumed walking.

“And yet your instincts brought you here.”

I shrugged. “I figured you’d want to say goodbye to your family before leaving.”

He chuckled softly. “You figured right.”

“Um... is... are you... I mean...” The words wouldn’t come, but I had to know. “Is Bridget here with you?” I finally asked, afraid she’d suddenly storm out of the house.

“No. Bridget isn’t here. Her head is in the stars... far beyond the man I am.”

“You must be heartbroken,” I said, trying to gauge his sentiments.

He chuckled. “Not at all. She’s a fine actress and it’s been a pleasure working with her, but... I guess you could say that she was a distraction.”

We stopped walking as we reached the edge of the forest.

“I tried to forget you, Penny.” He took my hands in his, his fingers gently running over mine. “I tried to dive into my work, to ignore the fact that you were right there within reach.”

“Yes. I noticed that.”

“I tried to turn to someone else, thinking it would help me forget you. I concentrated on Bridget to better ignore you. But it didn’t work, and Bridget saw right through me.

As attentive as I tried to be to her needs and wants, she saw right from the start how my gaze always managed to find you. ”

“But all the rumors. Everyone said you were planning to propose; that you’d bought a ring.”

He laughed. “Yeah. I heard about that. I don’t know how that rumor started, but it was just that; a rumor. I never had any intention of proposing to her... to anyone.”

Squeezing my hands, he pressed his lips as if reluctant to say more. “And you,” he finally said. “You and Steve. You two were quite handsome together at the poetry reading. He seems very interested in you.”

It was my turn to laugh. “Yes. He’s very interested in everything you see around you.

” I pulled my hands away from his to gesture at the property around us.

“Turns out that Copperfield Corner has always been his true aim. You even mentioned this plot of his in your letter. How embarrassing that you should know of this plot while I naively believed him to find some interest in me. Oh, I admit, I found his proposal a little pre-mature, but... I was just a tool to get to what he wanted. And the only reason he wanted this property at all was to prove his maturity and business acumen so he could inherit his father’s fortune.

I was just a fool to believe he could be interested in me; an absolute fool. ”

He snorted. “You’re no fool, Penny.”

I resumed walking, heading back to the front of the house. “Can you believe that he wanted to turn all this into some sort of mall? Destroy a beautiful home, mow down this forest, level up a property that is larger than Tillsbury Estate, and all for another spot to go shopping.”

He stopped me before I reached my car. “You came out here to see me. Did you want to say anything before I left for London?”

I faced him, tears in my eyes. “It wasn’t my decision, Cliff.

I barely had any choice in the words that I had to write in that letter.

The adults around me convinced me that it was the best thing to do, that I would forget you, that I would move on and meet someone more.

.. well, as far as my father is concerned. .. more appropriate, better suited.”

He nodded.

“You have to believe me, Cliff. I never wanted this separation. You say as much in your letter, that you’d begun to suspect that I hadn’t written that letter of my own accord. That I’d been persuaded to...”

“Yes. I know,” he said, a faint smile on his lips as he looked into my eyes.

“I believe you. I realized it the moment I saw you, that look in your eyes. I knew then that our breakup wasn’t your idea.

But I guess I was still too stubborn to accept what I saw.

I was too angry with you, too hurt to see beyond my own pain. ”

“I was angry with myself.” I paused. “I never wanted to hurt you, Cliff.”

“Penny,” he said, coming closer. “I meant every word of that letter. I love you. I’ve never stopped loving you. Seeing you with Steve almost killed me. And before I leave for London, I had to let you know how I really feel.”

I leaned closer to him. For all these days of seeing him at a distance, of barely getting close enough to smell him, I suddenly had a need to touch him, to be in his arms.

“Marry me, Penny,” he whispered.

Stunned, I looked up at him. “Cliff, what are you saying?”

He laughed. “Isn’t it plain enough? I don’t want to lose you again. Marry me.”

I nodded as I fell into his arms.

“Marry me.” He wrapped his arms tightly around me, kissing me as he did years ago. I kissed him back, feeling so right in his arms. Yes, Cliff and I could not give up this second chance at love. Never again would I be persuaded to give the man I was meant to be with up.

“Yes! Yes!” I cried, tears falling down my cheeks. “I’ll marry you.” I had never felt better in my life.