AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Maddie grins and leans forward to pick up a donut hole. Gloria settles in next to Loretta, already chattering a mile a minute. I glance at Nica, then dart my eyes at Gina. Nica makes an “I don’t know” face.
Rob reaches behind his back to slide the screen door open and make his escape. “If you’ve got a ride home, I’m heading out. Nice to meet you all.”
“I think I’d better go, too.” Gina shakes hands with Nica, then turns to me. “Sorry to intrude. It’s been a pleasure not doing business with you. Best of luck.” She follows Rob into the house and slides the screen shut behind her.
Nica sighs and pushes me toward a chair. “Sit down. We’ve got about an hour before first call, and I need to eat one of these Berliners.”
* * *
An hour later, we park in the high school parking lot. After another long, sweet kiss, she slides her arm around my waist, and we walk down the hill beside the football stadium to the festplatz. As we stroll by the box office, she lifts her chin toward the Fighting Edelweiss over the gate. “That’s an… unusual mascot. What’s the story?”
I chuckle. “You’ll have to ask Rob or Dylan. It was their doing. We were the Highlanders when I was a kid. Angus could kick Eckhart the Edelweiss’s flowery leaves any day.”
“You know leaves aren’t flowery, right?” She squeezes my waist.
I revel in the teasing. The few days we weren’t really talking were some of the longest of my life, and I would have done anything to have this woman laugh at me again. I lean over to kiss her hair, and she snuggles against me.
The Sunday matinee—our last performance—runs like clockwork. Every actor hits their marks, the orchestra sounds fabulous, and we play to a sold-out house. Actually, every show has been sold out, thanks to Nica’s social media posting, but this one is standing room only. More people loiter on the sidewalk, watching and listening from a distance.
After the finale, thunderous applause rings through the audience. Nica waves to Andrew Washington, the conductor, and gets him to cut off in the middle of the curtain call. She invites Dame Edith on stage and introduces her to the crowd, engendering another round of applause. The child actors present flowers to the director, Nica, and me, and the music begins again. We take our final bows and hurry off the stage.
Dame Edith rounds us up to give a quick congratulatory speech, and everyone cheers. We change out of our costumes and return them to Pauline’s team of costume wranglers. Most of the actors are greeting their friends and family in the audience, but Nica and I sneak away to Subie Doo. We parked at the school hoping we could escape more easily. We’ll still have to drive past the festplatz on the way out, but by then, it will be too late.
She ducks below the window as we pass the venue, but no one is watching this direction. The crowd mills among the seats. I spot Boitano on the stage, looking behind a set piece. At the end of the road, we stop at the highway where a stream of cars pushes by at twenty miles per hour. When pedestrians step off the curb, I gun the gas to jump into the gap while traffic is blocked. “We’re clear.”
She sits up. “Can’t be too careful. That pesky paparazzo is still lurking around town.”
“Yeah, I saw him in the wings before the show.”
She turns to look out the back window. “He isn’t following us, is he?”
I shake my head but wave a hand at the cars in front of us. “Who can tell? The highway is crazy with tourists today.”
“Where are we going?” She adjusts her seatbelt and settles into her seat.
“You’ll see.”
We ride in silence for a while, then I turn off onto a dirt forest service road. A few bumpy miles later, I park in a wide spot and open my door. “Come on.”
“Where are we?”
I take her hand and push Subie’s door shut. “You’ll see.”
We follow a well-trod trail through the trees, then step out onto a rocky aerie. The hills fall away below us, then rise in the distance, layers of different hues of green stretching into infinity.
Nica gasps and tugs at my hand. “Is this where we—”
I move behind her, sliding my arms around her waist. “We came up here after the tour. I thought it would be a perfect way to finish the show. And start the next act in our lives.”
She turns in my arms. “That is so cheesy. But I guess cheese is my brand. And I want to spend every act with you as my leading man.”
I lean forward, stopping as our lips almost touch. “That’s the plan.”
* * *
