Page 126 of Positively, Penelope

He paused in his walk toward the Carrington stage doors. Free for what?

His heart thrummed with a possibility he’d only dreamed about since Penelope’s departure. But could it be a real possibility?

Matt secured the stage doors and passed by the museum on his way to the Gray stage. He’d underestimated how much he’d miss Penelope on a daily basis. Her ridiculous singing in the mornings—well, actually any time of the day.

Her happy talking.

The way she brightened any room she entered.

Her love for his little girl.

He couldn’t seem to go anywhere without missing her.

It was ludicrous, really. He should be able to master the feelings and counsel himself with the same words he’d given her. But he ached for her.

Video calls were at least something. Three times a week and texting or phone calls in between. But it teased him, like the photograph of a place once visited. A paper replica without scent or touch or vista.

His smile spread despite the ache. But he’d rather have her in his life in video-call form than in no form at all, so he’d take what he could get for now.

A faint light shone from beneath the door of the Gray stage and Matt slipped quietly through the door. One lone light shone down on the empty stage, tossing a faint glow out into the house seats. Matt’s attention caught on a single person sitting among the seats near the front of the theater.

Was it Gwynn?

He squinted into the dimness. Alec?

Matt moved down the center aisle and paused at the end of the row where his brother sat, waiting for an invitation to join the pensive moment.

“My business had been failing for a long time.” Alec’s voice came softly toward him. “And I... I wanted to work here, be a part of the Darling like I always had, but I just couldn’t. It hurt too much.”

Matt moved through the row to take the seat beside his brother.

“When Niles approached me one day with the idea of trying to buy this place, I thought,Thatwould fix everything for me, wouldn’t it?I would have money and wouldn’t have to face this place every day.” His voice broke.

Matt rested his palm on Alec’s shoulder and Alec shook his head.

“But the problem wasn’t the theater. It was me.” He looked over. “First Mum, then Gran. I felt like I couldn’t breathe inside these walls. Their absence took up every space.”

“I felt it too.”

“I don’t think I had the words to describe what I was feeling before now.” He cleared his throat. “The counseling has helped me understand, but before, I was just... angry. Angry that those two beautiful people were taken from us.”

Matt nodded, his eyes squeezing closed from the hurt still close to the surface. “It didn’t seem fair or right, and we were expected to go on with our lives as if this catastrophic thing hadn’t happened.”

“But you did go on.” Alec turned his head toward Matt. “Why couldn’t I?”

“We all grieved in our own ways, Alec.” Matt blew out a long, slow breath. “Mine didn’t cause the difficulties yours did, but it was still there. Closing off my world. Reframing my thinking. I gave up dancing and laughing because I was so buried in my grief.” He shrugged. “But I think you felt you lost this place—this magical world—and you love it as much as Gwynn.”

“And that made me angry too. Angry that a place I’d loved so much would now become like a tomb to me.”

“So you fought like a drowning man.”

Alec nodded, his face tense from trying to control his emotions. “I’m sorry for all the pain I caused. For not seeing that this place wasn’t to blame. My family wasn’t to blame. That I needed to understand my own pain, my own loss.”

“I don’t know that I would have come out of my pain like I did if it hadn’t been for Penelope.” He held Alec’s gaze. “But I think we’re all better for where we are now, don’t you?”

Alec leaned forward, hands braided before him.

“Don’t waste time, Matt.” A small smile softened Alec’s features. “I’m learning the value of a second chance. You have one now. With Penelope. You should take it.”

---