Chapter 4
“Hey, who’s that new guy sitting with Tucker?”
From stage left, Piper followed Tyler’s gaze to the card table set up center stage for a reading of the scene in Novello’s, where the Haynes sisters first meet Wallace and Davis. The prospective Bob was a bit leaner than Tucker, but just as tall. Brown hair a couple of shades darker than her own flopped endearingly into his eyes, giving him an appealing look that was saved from being too boyish by the clean angles of his jaw. “I don’t know, but he’s cute!”
“Don’t get any ideas,” Tyler groused.
As if she’d be stupid enough to try to match-make Tyler with some strange guy. She had her limits. “Not for you. For me.”
“He’s not one of my customers. Maybe he’s new or from one of the surrounding towns?”
New or nearby were both completely acceptable options in Piper’s mind. In a town of five thousand, the dating pool tended to be shallow, so the arrival of new eligible bachelors merited checking out. Which was terribly Austenesque, but such was the reality of dating in a small town. “Well, I guess we’ll find out in a bit.”
They waited for their cue to join the boys.
Piper snaked her hand out to grab Tyler’s and squeezed. “I’m glad you came out tonight.”
Tyler tipped her head to Piper’s shoulder and sighed softly. “Me too. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be.”
Thank God. Piper had been terrified that she’d made a mistake forcing Tyler into this. “Good. I want to save the Madrigal, but not at the expense of legitimately hurting you.”
“I’m not that breakable anymore.”
Piper had her doubts about that.
“That’s our cue,” Tyler said.
Saved by the script.
Piper slid into character as they approached the table, adding a layer of restrained propriety to her usual manner as she introduced herself and her “sister,” before taking a seat.
Unlike the others, she and Tyler didn’t have scripts in their hands. Given Nate had pulled the dialogue straight from the movie, they didn’t need any. Bob didn’t seem to need to check his often, and his aggrieved expression toward Tucker as Phil suggested he had a solid familiarity with the source material himself.
Points for him.
As Tucker-Phil and Tyler-Judy got up to go dance, Piper fixed an earnest expression on her face, prepared to come clean.
“You know, I was so surprised to get that letter from Benny,” Bob said.
“Mr. Wallace, I’m afraid you’ve been brought here under false pretenses.”
Bob watched her as she went through the explanation, outlining Judy’s deception. His eyes—which were a lovely shade of caramel brown, fringed by those long lashes so often wasted on guys—fired in challenge and amusement as they verbally sparred, scooting their chairs closer together. They were completely in sync, fixed in the roles, which was the best kind of stage chemistry to have. It made the role less like acting and more like just living under really bright lights.
“Mr. Wallace, since the chances of our seeing each other again is extremely remote, I don’t think it’s important to go on arguing.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Bob laid his hand over hers.
Piper felt the zing all the way down to her toes. Maybe not just stage chemistry.
“Good!” Nate’s praise from the auditorium floor shattered the moment, making it too weird to flip her hand over to lace with his, which she could’ve blamed on the part if the director hadn’t spoken.
Bob let her go and rose as she did, while the next quartet got set up to read. He followed Piper into the wings.
“That was well done,” she told him. “Are you a White Christmas fan?”
“It’s my sister’s favorite Christmas movie, so it’s been part of the holiday rotation forever. I’m Myles by the way.” He smiled at her, and Piper felt a pleasant flutter in her belly.
Nerves? This guy was making her nervous? Holy crap, when was the last time that had happened?
“Piper.”
“So are you new or part of the Old Guard?” Myles asked. At her questioning look, he said, “I was chatting with Charlotte earlier. She mentioned a lot of the people coming out tonight were long-running players in WCT productions.”
“Oh, well, yes. I grew up in this theater. I’ve been acting since elementary school.”
“Not surprised. I figure you’re a shoe-in for Betty.”
Piper was inclined to agree, but it wasn’t the kind of thing you said out loud. It was both rude and bad luck. “What about you? I know you’re new in town.”
His brows lifted. “Do I have a sign?”
She grinned. “You’re either new in town or you have the best immune system this side of Jackson.”
“Huh?”
“I’m a nurse. If you’d lived in Wishful any real length of time, you’d have eventually rotated through my clinic. Everyone does.”
“Oh.” He gave a self-deprecatory laugh. “Yeah, guilty as charged. I’ve only been here about two-and-a-half weeks. Still finding my footing in the community.”
There’d been no ring on his finger during the reading, but some people might’ve taken it off to stay in character. She wasn’t about to come right out and ask.
“Are you new to theater?”
“I am. This is actually my first audition, ever.”
Piper felt a pang of disappointment. He’d done well, no question, but for this show they needed the absolute best of the best, and that meant an actor with more experience.
Too bad. She’d have enjoyed playing Betty to his Bob.
As the second quartet finished the reading, Nate hollered for her to come back out as part of a new group. She shot Myles a flirtatious smile. “Duty calls. Welcome to Wishful, Myles. I hope to see you around.”
He grinned. “Count on it.”
She held in the instinctive fist pump and took her place on stage.