Page 52 of Positively, Penelope

“She told Evelyn?” How had his voice become so high-pitched?

“No, Evelyn saw the two of you. Someone had phoned for you and she went to find you, walked into the theater, and there you were, center stage, spotlight shining, arm in arm—”

“I get the point,” he growled and resumed his walk, at a much more agitated pace than before.

“Do you... do you fancy her?”

“Fancy her?” The words burst out loud enough to garner a look from a passerby. He quickly lowered his voice. “Of course not. I like her well enough. She’s... certainly a benefit to us at the theater and a... pleasant personality, for the most part.”

“Pleasant enough to dance with, it seems.”

“I don’t know what happened.” He shook his head. “One minute I was giving her tips on tap dancing, and the next minute I asked her to waltz.”

“A perfectly reasonable segue, of course.”

The sarcastic response did nothing to clear his head. “It was like I had no control over my brain any longer. The pixie!”

A snort came from the other end of the phone, only rallying his defenses even more. “I tell you, it was magic. She put a spell on me with that smile and those eyes and her ever-present ability to convince people of things. It’s probably what she’s done to Grandfather. She would be the sort.”

A series of halted breaths greeted him from the other end of the phone.

“Stop laughing. You haven’t been around her enough to have a full understanding.” His feet slowed to another stop. Even trying to explain it sounded preposterous. “She’s... she’s not like anyone I’ve ever met before. She sort of attaches herself to people and then convinces them of things they don’t realize they’re going to agree to until it’s too late. You saw what happened with Grandfather. He was on the news!”

“And it was amazing and exactly what he needed.” Gwynn’s voice still held tinges of humor. “It seemed to open up some sort of door for him to enter back into life. As if he didn’t even know what he was capable of until he tried something completely new. He’s even planning to come to the festival. Do you realize how long it’s been since he’s done that?”

“That’s what I mean!” He huffed, remembering the way they glided across the stage, the steps in perfect synchrony, her sweet scent wrapping round him. He blinked. He still couldn’t understand his own behavior. “It’s like she bewitched me, perhaps without even meaning to.”

“Has she bewitched you, body and soul?” came the strained question.

“What?”

“Never mind.” A choking sound ensued. “And bewitching people for the good seems like a rather benevolent undertaking, if you ask me.”

“Dancing is for my good, is it?” But even as he spoke, he knew the answer. Somehow pinning a better memory with dancing—withPenelope instead of Deirdre—lessened the ache of dancing altogether. In fact, healmostwanted to do it again.

“You know the answer to that question.” Truth sobered her tone.

His heart wrestled against the desire for—well, he wasn’t even certain, and he cleared his throat. “Listen, I need to run. I’m meeting Dani Lawrence for lunch.”

“Dani? The volunteer-liaison-with-the-community-theater Dani?”

Praise be, he’d gotten her distracted from the dancing topic.

“Yes, the same. I’m going to speak to him about coming on staff as a liaison for the community theater actors. A salaried position.”

“That’s a brilliant idea, Matt.”

“I got it from the pixie.” His frown deepened. “Heaven help me, she’s everywhere.”

“And she’s very smart. Just because she’s... unusual, sometimes, doesn’t mean she isn’t quite capable. We’ve seen that.”

“Which is why I can even broach the subject of hiring Dani. Our sales numbers for this production are double what they were for last season. And I’ve been able to secure two additional donors who weren’t as interested in giving, but after reviewing our new website and the history section, they’ve changed their minds. It’s almost as if she bewitched the website too!”

Gwynn’s laugh burst out just as the restaurant came into view. Perfect timing.

“I’ve got to go.”

“The conversation’s getting too poignant for you, is it, brother?”

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