Page 23 of Positively, Penelope

Izzy:Oh! That makes sense now. You met him while scuba diving and he rescued you by sharing air with you when you got trapped beneath a sunken ship. I thought you were just going to see a lake. Do ships sink in lakes? And aren’t you afraid of sea monsters?

Penelope:What? No! That was my dream when I was in tenth grade. Biology class was very influential.

Izzy:Or the biology teacher, as I recall. You couldn’t have met Mr.Right at the Colosseum in Rome. You haven’t had time to get there and back, so... did you meet him onstage? But why is he drying your clothes?

Penelope:No, no! Those dreams were from ninth grade and my senior year, respectively. I met him while out in a storm and he rescued me. Well, he didn’t really rescue me, because I wasn’t afraid. I was singing “Someday My Prince Will Come” and then... he rode up on a white stallion just like my very own prince. Ack! You have to stop distracting me. I’m losing focus on being devoted.

Text from Penelope to Luke:I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m okay.

Luke:I’m just glad I don’t have to kill anybody now. I have other people’s houses to build.

From: Josephine Martin

To: Penelope Edgewood, Luke Edgewood, Izzy Edgewood

Date: September8

Subject: Re: Babies and secret plans

Penelope,

You already purchased Noah a derby, but it’s a twelve-month size, which means you’ll be back home in time to see him wear it. Though he does seem to have a large head for his age, but the doctor said he’s not too concerned. Besides, I have high hopes Noah will take after his darling father. Patrick’s head is large and look how smart he is.

I’ll plan to call every Friday evening so you can see the babies. Ican’t imagine you having much to do on Friday evenings anyway. Building a romantic attachment in Skymar could only lead to heartache for too many people. I’m still adjusting to the idea of Izzy moving all the way across the world to most likely marry Brodie and work at a little bookshop in the middle of a country where people still have a tendency to wear kilts on occasion. There’s something very unsettling about that thought.

You should certainly take photos of your float and send them to Jackie Crenshaw. It will keep you fresh in her mind.

Josephine

PS: Do keep your phone with you while you adventure, Penelope. And the pepper spray I sent. You never know who could be lurking in foreign places.

From: Penelope Edgewood

To: Luke Edgewood, Izzy Edgewood, Josephine Martin

Date: September8

Subject: Today my prince came!

The story! Oh, you will not believe it! It’s too perfect.

As I told you, I went for my walk just beyond the forest near my cottage to find the lake I could see from my window. The forest was unlike any I’d ever seen before. So enchanted and beautiful, and even when the sun disappeared behind clouds, everything was so pretty. I’m attaching photos of the lake with the mountains behind it. Doesn’t it remind you a little of home? And our Blue Ridge Mountains? I got a little homesick at the sight.

Anyway, it started raining. Not a hard rain like in that scene fromThe Notebook. At one point I slipped on some moss and fell and am not too ashamed to say I started laughing at my own ridiculousness. But then I heard a sound like thunder, just as the sky was clearing a little... and looked beyond the forest to a lovely green field that was glistening from fresh rain. You will NEVER believe it!

Down the hill rode a beautiful man on a white horse. A. WHITE. HORSE!!

He came up to me, dismounted, and shot me this dazzling smile before saying, “I’ve always wanted to rescue a damsel in distress, but I never realized one would be so lovely in the rain.”

Heaven HELP ME! Who says stuff like that? Only Skymarian men who ride on white horses in the rain????

I wasn’t REALLY a damsel in distress, since I was just enjoying the rain. And he didn’t start singing with me when he found me, but... he’s absolutely perfect. When he took my hand to help me mount the horse, it was like... magic. Hmm... where have I heard that before? Was it from that old movie you like, Izzy, with Tom Hanks? The one where they never KISS! That was disappointing.

Anyway, my future husband was none other than Alec Gray, the other Gray brother! And he looks even more like Chris Pine in person! Except his hair is a bit lighter and his eyes are hazel-green instead of that piercing and somewhat distracting blue. But in all other particulars, mostly he’s Chris Pine-y. (It’s strange how both his brother, Matt, and sister, Gwynn, have the blue-gray eyes, though.)

Since I was soaked to the skin, Alec suggested I get out of the rain, so he took me to the very manor house I could see from my window!! AND! What else? It’s the GRAY House! Grandpa Graylives there with Matt and Iris. Alec sleeps there sometimes, when he’s not staying in his townhouse in Mountcaster or traveling, and Gwynn lives there when she isn’t at college. (Apparently Alec used to be heavily involved in the theater and has connections all over Europe! That’s crazy.)

So I got to meet Grandpa Gray (which sounds so much more inviting than Lewis Clarkson Gray)andsurprised Matt and Iris by being there having tea with Alec and Grandpa. Iris was much more excited to find me there than Matt. He sort of loomed in the shadows with his arms crossed, and his expressive eyebrows were equally unwelcoming. He made sure to get my clothes as soon as they were dry and offered to drive me home. I assured him I could walk. Alec didn’t seem to be in a hurry for me to leave at all.

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