Page 89 of Positively, Penelope

“And I suppose you’re aware that Penelope has no ideayouare GK or that GK ismyaccount?”

“I didn’t know it was her until a few weeks ago, and then I... well, I didn’t know what to say.”

He skimmed over the last few emails. “And you decided to play matchmaker, from what I see.”

“If the sparks are flying, far be it from me to douse a flame.” She chuckled. “And don’t deny it. Other people wouldn’t notice, but I’m your sister. She’s good for you and you are for her.”

“Since you’re so excellent at noticing details, have you realized that someone else is possibly reading your emails to Penelope? Unless you’re the one feeding Emblem Studios information?”

“Feeding Emblem information? Are you mad?” came her rather passionate response. “I’d never do anything to jeopardize my theater.”

Matt nodded to himself. Of course she wouldn’t. The fact that the theater had been passed down to the women in the family, in contrast to the men, made the theater even more precious to Gwynn. An idea first devised by their great-grandfather to ensure his wife had financial security during a time when estates went to men.

He skimmed through more of the email exchanges, grinning at some of Penelope’s messages. “Can you come home this week?”

“I can leave after my last class on Thursday and be home before tea.”

“Excellent. We need to go through the list of things Penelope believes has been taken from our ideas and see if we can put the pieces together. In the meantime, I’ll try to find a way to discover who else has been logging into my account besides you, because if we can sort that out, we’ll likely find our culprit.”

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From: Penelope Edgewood

To: Izzy Edgewood, Luke Edgewood

Date: October15

Subject: The curious case of the theater spy

I’ve been so busy with the Narnia production, museum, marketing, and helping Grandpa Gray work through the ball plans that I’ve not had a lot of time to write, so I’m sending a quick update.

I sent my email to JMC accepting the job at The Ashby Theater. It seemed silly to wait any longer when I knew my answer. I texted Josephine after I sent the email. She called me right away and proceeded to both scream and cry for thirty minutes. It’s clear she needs someone nearby to show the twins some excitement without the... Josephine-ness to it. JMC said she’d send me paperwork and plans within the next few weeks, and I’m glad, because right now I don’t have the time to focus on that.

Next week, the whole team (Matthias, Gwynn, Grandpa Gray, Alec, Evelyn, and Dani) is getting together to discuss the strange goings-on with Emblem. (I just love writing the phrase “goings-on.” It sounds very classic.)

Now more than ever, I’m determined to keep the museum a secret until I absolutely have to share about it, so Grandpa Gray ordered the locks changed on the entrance doors to the museum so only he and I would have the keys. There are irreplaceable artifacts in there, and it promises to bring in more donations to the theater. And though I can try to hide news about the museum, there’s no way to hide it if we get a touring company to come. We HAVE to get the news out ASAP, though I’ve not gotten any hits yet. Lots of very nice rejections, but . . . rejection is rejection, even if it’s very nice.

Even though Emblem stole my musical recipes idea, I’m still going to forge ahead. I’ve actually MADE the recipes. The recipe they put up after Romanov Fudge is inedible! That’s what they get for cheating!! So I’ve added a few other things like “If you like ___, then watch this movie!” That’s for Fun Fridays. I’ll take any of your book recommendations, Izzy. I won’t take Luke’s movie recommendations, though. They’ll involve war. Or death. Or people who speak in a Russian accent.

Anyway, I’ve got to run. Edmund Pevensie just fell over Mr.Tumnus, and evidently I’m still the only one with bandages, tweezers, or socks. Really, those should be staples for any theater person, especially the socks. You can stuff those into anything for additional umph. At least Dani is always prepared with batteries for mic packs.

Penelope

PS: Do you remember when Grandpa Edgewood told us to keep our expectations low so we wouldn’t be disappointed? Well, I read a quote fromAnne of Green Gablesonce (be impressed, Izzy) that said, “Mrs. Lynde says, ‘Blessed are they who expect nothing,for they shall not be disappointed.’ But I think it would be worse to expect nothing than to be disappointed.” And I agree. I’m going to keep expecting magical things to happen, and I’ll just deal with the disappointment. If we don’t try, then we’re definitely going to be disappointed.

From: Luke Edgewood

To: Penelope Edgewood, Izzy Edgewood

Date: October15

Subject: Re: The curious case of the theater spy

I’m sure Edmund blames Tumnus for all the trouble anyway.

And you say you like classic movies? My tastes are purely classic. Originals. I can practically hear the theme fromSupermanplaying in my mind right now. And there is no war in that one.

PS: I’d keep an eye on Grandpa Gray for this whole spy business. Any guy who has classic shoes and a mustache should be on your radar.

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