AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Savannah, this is my sister Eden. Eden, Savannah. She’s working as Cole’s temporary assistant.”
Eden guffaws. “Poor you! Cole is the bossiest man I know. And that includes my father, who made his fortune buying up small companies, firing the staff, and leveraging the remaining assets. Dad’s a cuddly teddy bear compared to Cole. Dad has a more pleasing demeanor, at least.”
Lucy elbows her. “Be nice.”
“I’m just trying to tell the woman that I totally get her point of view.” Eden sighs dramatically and collapses back into her seat.
“She didn’t complain about Cole yet. Let Savannah say her piece.” Lucy puts her hand on Eden’s arm.
“He’s not that bad to work for so far.” I smile at her. “But if I need to vent, I know where to go.”
“That’s right.” Eden looks pleased. “I do love me some gossip.”
I turn my head, looking at the kids on stage. Charlie is grinning so wide his face might split while he says a line fed to him by Meg.
“I’m a Munchin!” he shouts. “I’m--.”
Meg feeds him the next bit. “A member of the Lollipop guild.”
Charlie tilts his head back and shouts. “Lopilops!!”
I try my best to smother a snicker. “He’s a born actor. I knew it from the moment I met him last weekend. The kid’s a star.”
Charlie shoots to his feet and proceeds to dance, starting and stopping while he makes animal sounds. The whole auditorium fills with whoops of laughter.
“I don’t think I’ve seen Charlie so happy since his mom left,” Lucy comments.
“Like I said before, thanks for bringing him. It only took about two minutes of knowing Charlie to predict that he would love being on stage.”
Eden tilts her head at me. “You put this all together for Charlie?”
“Well… I’m in charge of watching Dex this week when Birdie is busy working shifts at Savage Pizza. So, I thought that Dex would like it. I wanted to showcase the community center for Cole, to show that it’s worth saving. And then I thought of how much Charlie would love the stage… that pretty much settled me on doing the play.”
Lucy leans over to me and whispers in my ear. “This is a great idea. Good job.”
I start to reply when I hear the creaky old door hinges whine as someone strides through them. My stomach falls when I see that not only is it Cole, but he looks furious.
And right now? He’s directing that anger at me.
Lucy curses softly when she sees her brother. She starts to get up, but I wave her down.
“It’s okay. Can you watch the stage for me? I’ll just be a minute.”
Eden turns her head, takes in her brother, and blanches. She sinks down an inch in her seat.
“Crap. He looks mad,” she whispers.
I rush toward Cole, who is wearing a pair of dark Dockers under his black overcoat. If he were part of the cast, his expression would make him a shoo-in for the Wicked Witch of the West.
I bring a finger to my lips before he can say anything, then point back out the door he just came through.
“Shhh. Let’s talk in the hallway.”
Cole gives me a particularly nasty and forbidding look, then sniffs. He turns around and stomps out of the auditorium. Lucy follows me.
I follow more slowly, worrying my lip with my teeth. Cole is in the hallway, scowling at the hole in the wall where a painting used to hang. He looks from the obviously damaged wall to me.
“What is my kid doing here, Savannah? Why did you make my sister bring him?”
