Page 107 of Positively, Penelope

And then some buildings came into view. Brightly colored ones, row upon row in stairsteps along the water’s edge. Her smile spread at the idyllic scene. Port Quinnick. Online photos didn’t do the real thing justice. The town was even cuter in person and a little more expansive than she’d expected.

Shops lined the streets—a quaint mixture of old and new. She spotted two charity shops and an antique store.

“How much time do we have before the party?”

He pulled to a park along the street and checked his phone. “About two hours.” He grinned, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Plenty of time to explore Skree before the party.”

Why did something seem weird with him? “I do love exploring.”

“I’m sure Matt will enjoy taking you through the village after the party, but we’ll want to visit Skree first to make use of our daylight. The place is filled with Skymarian history about the three monk brothers and their quest to build churches worthy of their worship.”

“Really?”

His smile softened, looking more authentic. “The ruins of the other two brothers’ churches are farther inland, but the youngest chose the most unique spot of all, and legend has it his choice saved hundreds of lives when the Vikings raided Skymar.”

“Oh!” Penelope unbuckled her seat belt and tugged her cloche hattighter against her head. “I think I read about him online. Something about hiding the villagers within the rocks on Skree?”

“Yes, his rock church on Skree. It’s fascinating, truly.”

“Well, I’m excited to see it.” She pushed open the car door. “Are you ready?”

He didn’t answer but stepped from the car, staring down at his phone as he rounded to her side. “Could I catch up with you?” He raised his phone. “I’ve had three business calls from the same number and I need to take this.” His expression turned apologetic. “It may be a little while, so you could go ahead and get a start. I’ve seen it plenty.”

“All right.” She looked back down the lane toward the water.

“Just follow the lane.” He gestured in front of her. “You’ll see the Kirk of Skree signs. Look for the Skree dock and that will lead you to the land bridge.”

“Land bridge. Got it.” She nodded, tugging her purse over her shoulder and moving in the direction he’d pointed. Right. Why wouldn’t there be a land bridge? Skree was a small island off the mainland of Port Quinnick. You had to get to it somehow, and she preferred land to water. Definitely.

Her pace slowed a bit and she looked back the way she’d come. Alec sat in his car, his darkened profile angled down toward his phone. An unsettling agitation swirled in her stomach. Was Matthias planning to meet her at the bridge? Or on the other side?

She shuddered with the pure delight of the idea. That would be a very romantic thing to do, and she felt that if Matthias Grayreallycared for a woman, he’d have all sorts of wonderfully romantic notions. Then it would make sense for Alec to “pretend” to have a business call so she’d make the walk on her own!

How exciting!

She increased her pace, adding a little hop to her step.

A direct walk to the path for Skree proved difficult. Well, not physically difficult, but around almost every corner, charming shopswith nooks of temptation slowed Penelope’s descent toward the sea. An actual millinery on one corner. A vintage clothing store on the other. But the notion of romantic moments with Matthias helped her shun the temptation and forge ahead.

Skree cleared in her view as she neared the coastline, bigger than she’d expected, its rocky mountains jutting up in the distance like teeth. And then there was the land bridge, which stretched long and a little narrower than she’d expected. What a strange sight to see this slip of earth pressed with the ocean on both sides, like Moses parting the Red Sea.

She drew in a deep breath for courage and thought about kisses.

And at least she didn’t have to take a boat, because not even the idea of Matthias’s kisses could get her to the island then.

She paused. Well, maybethatparticular motivation could overcome the idea of sea monsters. Kisses were powerful in fairy tales for a reason.

A small building clung to the edge of the shore, a few boats—some with motors and others powered by oars—docked nearby with the words “Kirk of Skree” in bold blue alongside the likeness of a strange sort of sea creature. Her feet faltered. She stared up at the menacing likeness as she passed below the sign and entered through a bright-blue door into a small shop. A guttural roar exploded through the room as the door opened, some sort of recorded monster sound instead of a welcome bell. She drew a step back toward the threshold as if some enormous dog waited in a corner of the room ready to devour her.

What was this place?

The small building featured a few bookshelves, a counter, and a massive replica of a greenish-gray sea creature hanging from the ceiling behind the counter, its large mouth framed by pointy piranha teeth. Red eyes bulged from the sockets in an unnerving stare toward anyone entering the shop.

Penelope froze on the spot, held captive by the red-eyed creature, her worst nightmare staring back at her, unmoving.

“Diadhuit,” came a deep voice from her left.

She blinked out of her catatonic state and scanned past two boat-shaped bookshelves, which held merchandise including miniature boats, some stone-church replicas, and varied sets of toy sea creatures. She flinched.

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