Authentically izzy, p.15
Authentically, Izzy, page 15
You asked during our call last night about my hobbies, as if there are some other than reading. Since our call was cut short due to connectivity issues, I thought I could share a few through this means. As we’ve discussed before, I enjoy nature and walks. There are excellent places to explore near Skern but also all over the islands. Since taking on a co-owner role of Sutherland’s, I’ve found such pleasure in traveling. Visiting new places in books will always be a joy, but adding the other senses to the experience really brings those books to life like nothing else. Otherwise I live a fairly quiet existence, except for trying to find a pair of shoes each morning that don't have teeth marks on them. I can become quite vocal at those times. Argos doesn’t seem to be impressed whether my tirade is in Caedric or English. I’m also growing, very slowly, mind you, in my house repair skills. I’ve finally restored enough rooms in Waithcliff to reside here, but there are still so many things to do. However, I will content myself with my privacy, books, a fantastic view, and your virtual company.
In other news Fiona is attempting to convince me to sign up as her dance partner for lessons. My elder brother, Anders, will have nothing to do with it, so the task is left to me to look into her pleading face and say no. What a struggle between pride and the powerful force of a little sister. I have a feeling my pride will go before I fall . . . learning the quickstep.
There’s a lovely forest near here that I think you’d enjoy. You can see mountains, trees, a lake that spills into a river, and then the sea. To my mind it’s the best of every world rolled up into a two-mile walk. It’s an excellent place to conjure up fairy stories, if one had a gift for it.
How is your cousin doing with her pregnancy? I think you mentioned the doctor was threatening confinement? From the impression you’ve given of her, I feel her confinement may bring the house down. Would that be a proper inference?
I see you’ve already made Luke aware of my travel plans. He’s sent an email confirming your suggestion of a place to stay. He seems like a good chap, but is, as you’ve put it, very much like your older brother. This wouldn’t be a case of “keeping your friends close but your enemies closer,” would it? He’d find no enemy here. Only allies who want to become friends.
Affectionately,
Brodie
PS: I’m glad my visit is a pleasant surprise. I hope you’ll continue to think so. I’m a bit nervous myself. I’m much more interesting on paper than in real life, but hopefully you’ll overlook the blemishes and awkwardness. Just remember hobbits and Wodehouse and Yoda ears. If that’s not a remedy for awkwardness, I have no idea what is.
PPS: At the risk of sounding more awkward than usual, your new hairstyle is lovely.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Brodie Sutherland
Date: April 6
Subject: Waithcliff?
You have a house called Waithcliff? If you tell me it is set on a cliff, I may think our entire relationship is one long daydream. Waithcliff? Brodie! That is a very bookish sounding name. Is it an old house? Damaged by war or age? Are there ghosts in the shadows? Or wives in the attic?
You must tell more on our next video call, because I have a girlish addiction to manor houses. Don’t ask Luke about it! He may share too much information, especially in regard to my junior year of high school, a beach trip, and an unfortunate accident of breaking and entering.
Izzy
PS: I like to sing, but that doesn’t mean I’m good at it.
PPS: And let’s not discuss my drawing abilities.
From: Penelope Edgewood
To: Izzy Edgewood
Date: April 6
Subject: Brodie is CoMiNg!!!
Brodie is coming to visit!!! Sorry, I just saw your email. I’ve been in the throes of helping the community-theater kids perform Mary Poppins and even let them use my very own carpetbag purse as a prop. That should tell you how much I love them.
Oh my heart! Izzy, do you realize how much your life is like a movie? And all this time I thought you were more of a secondary character in a Hallmark show, when really . . . you’re the heroine! I can practically hear the perfectly placed “Christmas magic” chime in the background. You must take Brodie on the Parkway and to a Friday night bluegrass jam session. Can he dance? If you bring him to church, maybe you should choose the early service instead of the regular service in case Eli shows up. Plus the nosy church-lady group comes to the late service, so you can sneak out without an assault.
I feel certain all this is due in part to the new shade of lipstick I gave you for Christmas, your decision to update your wardrobe, and your new hairstyle. The photo you sent is fabulous. The new cut frames your face so wonderfully, yet still keeps its length. Men respond to those sorts of little things, you know? If you start using perfume, just think how many men you’ll have dueling over you.
Penelope
PS: In preparation for Brodie’s visit we’re going shopping when I come in two weeks. All I’m going to say is . . . ankles are everything.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Josephine Martin
Date: April 7
Subject: Decisions
Josephine,
I talked to Aunt Louisa today and told her how much I appreciate her faith in me, but I’m not certain I want my future to be at the library. You know I love it, but recently I’ve felt the need to expand upon a dream. I know the bookshop isn’t your favorite idea, and it might not end up being mine, but I need to try something new. And if it turns out to be a failure, then it’s mine to mourn and grow from on my own. I can't really explain it, but I feel as though I need to escape my own life. Or . . . start living it, maybe? Whatever that means, it begins with investigating and maybe trying to see beyond my current horizons. I don’t know that I’ve ever really been brave enough to step outside of what was expected of me.
I know as the eldest in our family you feel responsible for the hearts of so many, and despite my exhaustion at your attempts to manufacture my happiness, I know the sentiment comes from a loving desire. But Josephine, it’s okay for me not to know exactly what my plan is. And it’s okay for my not-knowing to be different than YOUR plans for my life.
It’s okay for me to find happiness in simple things like books and tea and children’s laughter. I don’t have to have all the answers right now, but for the first time I have this wonderful hope of a dream coming true. Whether that ends up being the bookshop or the library or something I can’t even fathom, it’s mine to decide. I want you to always be on my journey with me, just as I want to be on yours, but I’m still the one who has to live with the choices . . . so I need to be the one who makes them.
I love you bigger than the sky.
Izzy
PS: I have a friend coming to visit in a few weeks. I met him on Heart-to-Heart and he’s . . . well, not from our country. I thought I ought to prepare you.
PPS: He doesn’t look like Clark Gable, but he has a fantastic accent.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Luke Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: April 7
Subject: The transformation of Eli Montgomery
Interesting Eli development. I’m not sure what’s caused such a transformation, but the guy was . . . different today. He showed up to the library with a little bouquet of flowers, thanked me for being so generous with my time in helping with his book, took me to lunch . . . and didn’t talk about the book one time. Instead he asked me questions about ME. (Can a new hairstyle evoke that sort of change?) I didn’t realize how little he had gotten to know me until he started this new turn of questions. He wanted to know about my college experience. Asked about why I love the Book Parade so much. Wanted to know what some of my favorite stories were. Said my eyes looked like amber.
I’m sitting here at my computer a little shocked by his behavior. Sure, that sounds like a good conversation by anyone’s standards, but it’s just so . . . so . . . different.
What could have caused the sudden shift?
Izzy
PS: Blame my paranoia, but a sudden and unexpected change in behavior usually isn’t a good clue to me. I’m trying to figure it out. Time to pull out Agatha Christie.
PPS: Editing has never caused such a transformation before, unless you count the love letter I edited for Anne Logger. I feel certain it’s how Clint became her high school sweetheart and subsequent husband of a decade now. Oh good grief! They’ve been married for a decade? Why am I so old?!!
From: Penelope Edgewood
To: Izzy Edgewood, Luke Edgewood
Date: April 8
Subject: Re: The transformation of Eli Montgomery
Izzy,
Oh my word! What will you do? Two men vying for your heart. Are you writing these things down in a journal for your children to uncover in thirty years or so? Maybe you’ve wooed Eli’s heart so much it’s completely changed him into the hero he needed to be all along. (Possibly the best editing you could have ever accomplished!) What a thought! Of course, men could already come perfect, like Andrew is so far, but if they don’t first arrive that way, it’s nice to know a little inspiration can do the trick. Some men just need a nudge in the right direction. Maybe it’s the sweater-vests.
Penelope
PS: Hairstyles are powerful things. Just think about Kate Middleton or Miley Cyrus.
PPS: Maybe Eli’s sudden change in behavior is because he’s in LOVE with you!! (Can you hear my squeal from here?) Love can be quite sudden, I hear. I’ve never felt it, but I know my movies.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Luke Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: April 8
Subject: Re: The transformation of Eli Montgomery
Penelope, please never put the names Kate Middleton and Miley Cyrus in the same sentence again. There’s no comparison.
Izzy
From: Luke Edgewood
To: Izzy Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: April 8
Subject: Re: The transformation of Eli Montgomery
He said your eyes look like amber? Sudden change in behavior? I’d tread carefully. No perfume is that potent.
Luke
PS: I blame aliens.
Chapter 12
From: Josephine Martin
To: Izzy Edgewood
Date: April 9
Subject: Do you need help?
Izzy,
Are you going through some early midlife crisis? For heaven’s sake, did you really want the purple highlights that badly? Well I’d prefer purple highlights to whatever this dreaminess is. I don’t even know what to call it! How can you make a plan if you do not have a plan? That’s why I am a part of your life! It’s all very concerning.
And what on EARTH are you talking about? A man is coming to visit you who lives OUT OF THE COUNTRY?? Why are you pursuing him when you have a perfectly fine in-person specimen who already likes you? You can’t be serious about this stranger coming? And which country? The Internet can tell you many things about many places, so I hope you’ve completed a thorough search as you prepare for this madness.
You’d better make sure Luke or Patrick is with you at all times. Can you imagine? I’ve read about online relationships being a cover for more notorious behavior, and you know that those fraudulent emails are usually from foreigners. I’m sweating at the very thought. (And no, it has nothing to do with my hormones!) How much do you know about this “friend,” as you say? From a foreign country? Has he asked for money?
Is this why you’re making such a ridiculous decision not to take the lead librarian position? Izzy, it’s not like you to argue. I feel certain this “friend” is influencing you already.
I don’t like this at all. Where is he staying?
Josephine
PS: I am not going to tell Mother about this whole online situation. With the amount of mismanaged packages she receives from foreign places, just imagine what she’d think of a mail-ordered man! Oh no, it’s too much for her.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Josephine Edgewood
Date: April 9
Subject: Re: Do you need help?
Josie,
What did you think an online dating service was?
And he’s not being shipped to me. He’s coming by his own accord from a legitimate country. Don’t worry, you’ll like him.
Izzy
PS: Sometimes you’re really strange.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Penelope Edgewood, Luke Edgewood
Date: April 9
Subject: Re: The transformation of Eli Montgomery
Penelope,
Neither man is vying for my heart, or at least I wouldn’t consider a writer who needs to learn how to write real people and a bookshop owner who lives halfway around the world vying. Interested? Maybe. That’s still up in the air too. No one’s mentioned hearts or vying.
Your email made me think of something concerning Eli. I won’t share it right now. I need more time to work it out and have a few experiments. Then I’ll let you know for sure, but it had something to do with your statement about my wooing Eli’s heart so much it turned him into the hero he ought to be. I’ve tried to be the “savior” of too many men. I’m not sure I want to try that again. It’s never turned out well for me. It’s no wonder all the “saving” needs to be left to a much higher and better power than mine.
Besides, it might be nice to just be for a change instead of trying to rescue someone.
Izzy
PS: I’m glad Andrew is proving practically perfect in every way. You deserve to have all your Hallmark-ish dreams come true.
PPS: I’m not sure that love is ever “sudden.” It seems much too big to happen so fast.
From: Brodie Sutherland
To: Izzy Edgewood
Date: April 9
Subject: Clarification
Isabelle,
I wanted to send a brief note to clarify times for my visit. I’ll follow up with Luke as well. Please do not feel obligated to adjust your schedule. I’ll be happy to explore on my own when you are otherwise engaged. However, I want to be clear from the outset that I’m coming with the sole purpose of meeting you. Everything else will only serve as an additional pleasure.
To be perfectly candid, I am not someone who trifles with others’ emotions, nor do I make decisions rashly, so if this interest between us—this connection—is merely one-sided, I would beg you to tell me now and I will adjust my plans and correspondence accordingly. For my part I have hopes for something much more.
I have no set expectations, except to uncover how I can hold such a kinship with someone I’ve never met in person . . . and how that may strengthen when we are face-to-face. If you are willing to explore that possibility with me, I hope to arrive on May 2 in Mt. Airy, North Carolina. My flight-schedule options are attached.
Hopefully,
Brodie
PS: “You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte. “That in itself is a tremendous thing.” Charlotte’s Web (one of Fiona’s favorites).
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Penelope Edgewood, Luke Edgewood
Date: April 9
Subject: Um . . . remember that vying talk?
I take back my last email. One of them may have a certain interest in my heart. The other appears to enjoy my editing services with a little more enthusiasm than my conversation skills, but depending on the reason behind his sudden interest, we’ll see what that means.
I’m forwarding Brodie’s email because I feel certain it will make you all starry-eyed and smiley. (Not you, Luke. You’ll probably feel nauseous and irritable.) I’ll admit to feeling a little giddy with it myself. And then . . . a little nervous. Okay, in all honesty, a lot nervous.
Penelope, you know that scene in You’ve Got Mail when Joe Fox is outside the restaurant getting ready to meet the lady he’s been corresponding with for a while (aka Kathleen Kelly)? Of course you remember it, because you breathe and eat these movies!
Anyway, I feel like Joe when he looks at his friend and says, “Kevin, this woman is the most adorable creature I’ve ever been in contact with.” If he turns out to be exactly what he seems, I’d be crazy not to turn my life around and fall head over heels in love with him. I mean what guy says stuff like he does? Not referencing the accent, of course, but HIM.
But there is the crazy part. How can two people with totally different lives make something like this work for real? I have a life here. He has a life there. I have family here. He has family there. Creating a future seems perfectly impossible! But . . . I want him to come. I want to spend time walking with him and discovering bookshops together. I want to know if our conversations will flow as easily and sweetly in person as they do online. I want to believe after all the frustrations and heartache and false love I’ve experienced, that this . . . this is something real and lasting. That I’m worth real and lasting to someone. To him.
Dean and HWLMATA left me second-guessing myself and bitter against the idea that real-life romance still existed. In fact, this thing with Eli has been fine, but when I look back on my two previous major relationships, they fit the same description too. Fine. (At least at first, before I realized they were USING me.) I don’t want to settle for fine when there can be such a man as Brodie! Have I been blinded by fiction? Am I naive to hope? Is it ridiculous to not take what’s in front of me and close at hand while I can?
So sorry to wax dramatic. But there it is. My choice.
