Christmas at Lilac Cottage - Holly Martin Page 0,89
for that. ‘I won’t let you speak to Penny like that.’
‘It’s OK,’ Penny said. ‘I know how it looks, neither of us expected it to happen. But we have something really special.’
‘Please! This isn’t serious for Henry, this is all about his inability to keep it in his pants. He has never been in love, never had a girlfriend that lasted longer than a few months. You’ll be no different. Why do you think he hasn’t told Daisy yet? Because he knows that it’s not going to last.’
‘This is serious.’ He could feel himself getting really angry and Penny’s hand squeezed his, probably to try to get him to calm down. God, the last thing he wanted was for Anna to give Penny reason to doubt their relationship. ‘I am very serious about Penny. I adore her and Daisy does too. I’m not keeping it a secret from Daisy because I don’t think it will last. I just didn’t want to upset her.’
‘Then why do it at all? You promised me and her that you wouldn’t be getting involved with anyone ever again.’
‘That was a rash statement and you know that. You can’t expect me to not have a relationship ever again because I made one terrible mistake with Emily.’
‘I can expect you not to get involved with the type of person who lets you shag them across the breakfast table in the middle of the day.’
Penny let out a bark of a laugh and Henry looked down at her in confusion.
‘I’m sorry, but I’m not worthy enough for him because we were about to have sex on the kitchen table? In my own home? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You have no idea what kind of relationship me and Henry have—’
‘I don’t care about what kind of relationship you and my brother have. I care about Daisy and how this will affect her.’
‘I care about her too,’ Penny said indignantly.
If Henry had thought that Penny was going to be shy when she met Anna for the first time, he had clearly been mistaken. He tried to suppress a smile; he liked this fiery side to her. He hadn’t seen it very often but she certainly knew how to stand up for herself.
‘Bullshit. You’re clearly using her to get to Henry. She adores you, you’re all she’s spoken about for the last week, and when all this comes to an end, which it undoubtedly will, you will drop her like a hot potato. Do you have any idea how much that will hurt her?’
‘I have no intention of ever doing anything to hurt Daisy. I really like her and if this thing between me and Henry comes to an end, that absolutely won’t affect my relationship with her. If Henry moves out and never wants to speak to me again, she can still come up here every day and practise her ice carving. I like working with her, she’s brilliant and funny and I thought that long before I was involved with Henry. I’ve already offered her a job, I have way too many carving jobs for me to do alone and she shows a real talent for this kind of thing.’
‘What sort of person befriends a sixteen-year-old girl?’
Penny went very still next to him. ‘What are you suggesting, that I’m some kind of pervert?’
Anna quickly back-pedalled. ‘No, I didn’t mean that, I just meant that it’s a bit weird.’
‘Why is it weird?’ Henry said, angrily.
‘Well…’
‘You’ve made a snap judgement based on the fact that you saw me and Henry about to have sex and you’ve come into my house and accused me of the most disgusting things. How dare you, you don’t even know me. Now I suggest you get out of my house now because you’re certainly not welcome any more.’
‘Legally darling, you don’t have a leg to stand on there. You can’t dictate which visitors Henry has in his home.’
‘Penny’s right,’ Henry said. ‘I would never presume to tell you how to live your life and I don’t expect you to come in here and try to tell me how to live mine. Get out and don’t come back here unless you’re ready to apologise to Penny.’
Anna stared at him in shock for a moment, before she turned and grabbed her bag and stormed out.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Penny said, after she had gone.
‘What? No, you have nothing to be sorry for. She is very over-protective of Daisy, we both are, and she’s seen it