“That’s what I thought. You’re very forgiving. You just want to see your mom up there, enjoying herself and doing a good job, but also having fun. Right?”
“I guess,” Maryellen said softly.
“That’s what everybody wants for you. There is no one who is going to be angry or upset if you don’t remember your lines.”
Roland wasn’t entirely sure that her family wouldn’t be angry if she didn’t remember her lines. But her mom seemed like a reasonable person, and he was casual friends with her dad, who was pretty easygoing.
Maybe they were harsh behind closed doors, but…without specific knowledge, he couldn’t say. He was just trying to ease her mind.
“I guess you’re right,” she said, thinking about it.
He was relieved when she apparently decided he was right.
Just then, a particularly fierce gust of wind shook the church building, and the lights flickered.
If the lights went out, it was going to get interesting.
He told Maryellen her lines, and as she repeated them back to him, he lifted his eyes and met Nelly’s gaze across the room, where she gently moved a boy about six inches to get him into position before kneeling down and putting a piece of tape on the floor where he should stand.
Her expression said that she too was concerned that they wouldn’t get their full practice in, and maybe they should send the kids home.
But that would involve calling all their parents, and by the time they got that done, it would be time for the kids to leave anyway.
He had worked for another five minutes with Maryellen and had pulled Joseph aside to check on his lines when the building shook from the howling wind, and the lights flickered againand then went out.
Some of the children immediately screamed, and others started to cry.
“Hey, guys, hey,” he said, waiting until everyone was listening. “It’s okay. We’re good. If you notice, there’s still enough light that we can see each other, because it’s not quite dark out yet.”
It was getting dark earlier and earlier, but since practice was directly after school, there was still some dusky light coming in through the clouds and the snow.
“I love candles. They’re my favorite thing ever. Sometimes when I have a particularly hard day,” Nelly said as she moved around, grabbing some things from under the pew before she stood, “I light candles to relax. Don’t you guys like candles?”
“Sometimes we eat dinner by candlelight. Mom says it’s romantic!” Maryellen said.
That made Roland smile. Only a woman would think candlelight was romantic. Or a bad cook. He supposed it would be harder to see the food if the lights were dim.
His mom had wanted him to date Maryellen’s mother. Perhaps that comment hinted that he’d dodged a bullet.
“Exactly. Candlelight is romantic. And it makes a common, ordinary dinner super special.”
That was Nelly, and he bit his lip. She thought candlelight was romantic?
She had just said that she enjoyed candles.
And then he realized that what she had grabbed from under the pew was a box of candles, and now she began setting them around and lighting them.
“And candles can make Christmas pageant practice fun and special too,” she said cheerfully.
He thought that her words had effectively banished any lingering fear or concern the children had. And now, they watched with smiles as she walked around the sanctuary, setting candles down in strategic spots and lighting them all while explainingabout fire safety.
He was impressed that she had been able to turn the atmosphere of the entire room so quickly from fear to eager anticipation.
He walked over, grabbing some candles out of the box and picking up the other lighter. He noted the pattern she was using to set the candles down on the windows along the other side, and he began setting them on the opposite side, lighting them as he went.
“It will probably be dark the day that we do the play, so this is actually really good practice for us. I’m so glad this happened.”
“But I don’t like the dark,” one of the littlest girls said, sounding perilously close to tears.
