Page 85 of Positively, Penelope

“What do you say, Iris?” He held Penelope’s gaze as he turned his head toward the back seat. “Pizza and Penelope?”

“Yes, yes!” Iris had already unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door.

And the perfection continued with laughter and flour andPenelope’s special care for Iris. He saw what his lifecouldbe. A family. A future. But the possibility of thousands of long miles hung between reality and hope.

“I made a fifth try of Chocolate Strawberry Dream.” Penelope winked at him.

“Ah, I see the way of it.” He nudged her with his shoulder as he kneaded the pizza dough. “You only wanted us to stay for this favor of yours.”

“No.” Her eyes grew wide and then she smiled. “The favor is the bonus. Having you both here is just... well, right.” She shrugged. “But I won’t ask the favor until dessert so I can sweeten you up and secure a yes.”

He chuckled. “You’re a very poor negotiator, you know? Laying all your cards out for everyone to see.”

“It’s true. I’m not very good at subtle.” She finished grating the cheese into a bowl while Iris worked the dough for her own little pizza. “I’d much rather be honest. It makes everything less complicated.”

Yet another reason to love her.

“You mentioned during our picnic at the Vandermeer that you’d worked in theater since you were very young. Was it at this Ashby Theater you mentioned?”

“Mm-hmm.” She nodded, tossing a little extra flour on Iris’s mat to keep the dough from sticking. “Mom started me there to help me get over my shyness, and it worked a little better than she’d hoped, I think.” She laughed, her eyes dancing. “I fell in love with the place, the magic, and Mr. and Mrs.Crenshaw. They became like an extra set of grandparents to me.”

“The owners?”

“Yes, and theater fit so well that soon I was working there during high school and teaching acting camps during summer breaks. I worked full-time as an assistant to Mrs.Crenshaw during my gap year too.”

He spread out the dough on the pan while Penelope helped Iris with hers. “Was there a reason you took a gap year?”

Her palm went to her shoulder almost as if it were second nature and then she turned to Iris. “All right, Iris, I grated enough cheese to make these the cheesiest pizzas ever known in the history of Skymar. Dip your hand into that bowl and sprinkle all the cheese you want.”

She moved closer to Matt, bringing the homemade sauce with her, and began spreading it across the dough. “My friend Erin.” She’d lowered her voice for his ears only. “She was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor our senior year of high school. The doctors gave her a year, so... well, I decided college could wait but time with her couldn’t.” Her eyes took on a glossy sheen, the familiar appearance of grief. “Her mother was on her own and the medical demands could be pretty tough, so I helped take care of her.”

She cleared her throat and kept spreading the sauce. “Erin made it through the spring production ofAlice in Wonderlandand then”—her whisper shook, but her smile bloomed in a captivating way—“she moved on to the very best wonderland of them all.”

Air lodged in his throat at the new revelation about this beautiful woman. Yes, she knew grief. Wounds. The gaping scar of a missing life. And yet her grief held an inner glow of acceptance and even joy. A true understanding of the greater wonderland, indeed.

His palm rested on her back. “I’m so sorry, luv.”

She smiled her gratitude at his comfort. “But that year taught me so much, not just about life and grief and hope but about the business and inner workings of the theater, and it only secured my course of study when I started college.” She pushed the cheese bowl in front of him with a little sniffle, smile still intact. “As much cheese as you can stand, Mr.Gray.”

He held her gaze. Did she realize what a unique and beautiful person she was? His parched heart swelled beneath her... joy.

He tipped his head toward the bowl, brow raised, his throat tightening a little. “The cheesiest in the whole history of Skymar?”

She gestured toward the mound of cheese topping Iris’s pizza. “Probably second cheesiest.”

His chuckle broke free, and he made the decision right then that he’d do whatever he could to pursue a relationship with Penelope Edgewood, because he was certain neither he nor Iris could find anyone more positively perfect for them than her.

Penelope put the pizzas in the oven and then turned toward them, her hands together, a light in her eyes that he was beginning to see as a possible warning of ideas to come.

“Now, as a birthday rule”—she raised a finger—“while the pizzas bake, we take a dance break.”

His “What?” sounded at the same time as Iris’s “Yay!” Without waiting, Penelope turned toward her phone, and immediately “’S Wonderful” by Tony Bennett sounded through the room. She raised her brows and danced in his direction, but stopped just before she reached him. His pulse vaulted into a hip-hop. Dancing and romance? Was he ready for it all?

Before reaching him, she turned to Iris and pulled her into a little dance, shooting a wink in his direction. He tipped his head, his grin slowly growing wider.

Baiting him? Very clever.

She had no idea he was already hers. Hook, line, and sinker.

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