Page 68 of Positively, Penelope

Something in the way he spoke, the edge in his voice, caught her attention. Pain. She studied him more closely. Sometimes grief had a way of haunting places and either drawing you to the spot or causing you to recoil. She had embraced her own memories, but not everyone grieved in the same way.

“You must understand, princess.” His gaze held hers. “False hope leads to monstrous and unnecessary heartache when everything falls apart.”

“What if it’s not false?” She gentled her approach. “Have you actually seen the numbers lately? Between selling the box seats and restoring the smaller theater, I think we really have a chance.”

“You’re opening the smaller theater?”

“If you’d been in on the last meeting, you’d know a lot more and maybe feel encouraged.” She pattedhishand now. “And Matt’s worked so hard to draw in donors. Your grandfather’s interview really stirred up sentiment like nothing else. I think people just needed to see that Lorianna Gray’s husband still held a passion for the place and was willing to be a voice for the theater.”

“Well, that is good news.” His smile returned after a moment of working through a few other emotions, as if he wasn’t quite sure which one to land on. “Very good.” He leaned forward, staring at her across the table. “You really do bring your own magic, don’t you?”

“I’m afraid, despite my love of fairy tales, magic has very little to do with it, but I do care about The Darling House and the people who love it.”

He wrapped his hand around hers, drawing it up to place a kiss against it. “I think, MissEdgewood, you’ve helped me find a reason to fight for the theater too.”

She warmed a little at his subtle compliment combined with the touch of his warm lips on her skin. The candlelight and overall ambience probably helped a little too.

***

She stared at Alec’s car until it disappeared behind the blind of trees separating her cottage from the main house. Rain began a gentle sprinkle, adding a natural rhythm to a few of the other night sounds. An owl made his addition to the symphony, calling her to linger a little longer in the night air.

She wiped a hand across her lips as if to remove the memory of Alec’s good-night kiss. She probably should have told him she wasn’t interested in another dinner date before the kiss, but he swooped in without any warning, and then she’d had to gently say “thanks, butno thanks” to any more of those rather . . . desperate kisses. He didn’t seem to know how to respond, except he looked a little offended, returned to his car, and then drove off.

Yet again, a hopeful Prince Charming had proven he was not the man for her. Why did she always seem to guess wrong? She searched the sky as the rain misted her face. Surely she’d grown out of the knight-in-shining-armor idea. She shrugged.Mostly.

If she had been playing the lead in a musical, this would be the perfect moment for a song about longing for love. She chuckled to herself and gave a little twirl as she neared the porch. What she wanted was someone who would take her seriously.

Yes. That’s what she wanted. Someone who would take her seriously and love her wildly. Someone to laugh and cry with. And she didn’t mind the idea of him thinking she was deliriously beautiful. She knew she wasn’t deliriously beautiful, but the idea of her one true love seeing her that way certainly seemed a wonderful idea.

She tugged the silver headband from its place within her curls. And she was pretty sure she never wanted to be calledprincessagain.

Alec hadn’t been mean, but so many pieces of the evening confirmed she’d jumped to conclusions yet again. After their dinner, they’d gone for a walk on the beach by moonlight and he’d invited her on his boat, which she politely refused. Though she couldn’t deny that the family boathouse reminded her of an adorable cottage fromInto the Woods. When she’d refused a moonlit boat ride, Alec had attempted to talk her out of her “childish” fear of sea monsters, the condescension showing back up with a curled lip in tow. He hadn’t even been willing to listen to her irrational reasons, and she had a great deal of irrational reasons.

No, Alec Gray still had some growing up to do, especially about the things that mattered most. Maybe some more healing to do too.

Besides, it never impressed her to hear someone speak badly about their own family. And even without the additional vulture looks to lovely ladies they’d passed, something just didn’t fit.

Oh well, it wasn’t like her heart was invested or anything yet. Just her silly hopes.

She took the steps up the porch and came to a stop. Resting at the foot of the door sat a little silver box, wrapped rather... adventurously, and topped with a pink bow much too large for the container. An envelope was taped to the bottom, so she pulled it off and removed the card.

A child’s handwriting scrawled across the page.

Thank you for the cookies.

I wanted to make you some thank you cookies.

Daddy helped me make them. He let me use the pink sprinkles.

Daddy said you would like the heart cookies best. I ate the others.

Daddy said you’d even like the silly shaped ones because they were from me.

Love,

Iris Gray

Penelope opened up the box and inside waited about a half dozen heart-shaped sugar cookies, some more recognizable than others, and all with an abundance of pink sprinkles. A drop landed on the paper and Penelope looked up. She was still standing under the protection of the porch. And then she reached up to touch her cheek. Damp. A sniffle shook her shoulders as she took a bite of one of the silliest-shaped heart cookies. Sprinkles crumbled from the cookie and fell to the porch. Penelope followed their direction and slipped onto a nearby chair.

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