Chapter 8 #3
Julia!” Paige had written. “It’s so awesome to hear from you! TBH I can’t wait for our hiatus to be over and for filming Patchwork Life Season 6 to begin! I’m visiting family in North Carolina at the moment but I’d be thrilled to talk with you anytime, day
or night!” She signed off with her phone number and the postscript, “Call me whenever!”
Julia glanced at the clock, added three hours, and mulled over whether it would be too late to call. Not for someone Paige’s
age, she decided, and certainly not after an invitation peppered with so many exclamation points.
Julia poured herself a glass of sparkling water, added a slice of lime, pulled up a stool at her kitchen island, and dialed
Paige’s number. She answered on the first ring. “Hello?” she said breathlessly, barely audible over a wild tumult of fiddle,
electric guitar, drums, and a cheering crowd.
“Hi, Paige. It’s Julia Merchaud,” she said, raising her voice. “Are you at a concert? We could chat another time.”
“No! No, I mean, I am at a concert but it’s no big deal.
Let me just—” There was some scraping and thudding as if the phone had been covered with a hand or tucked into a pocket.
Julia waited, and before long the music abruptly faded.
“There. Sorry about that. I’m outside now. My brother has a band.”
“They sound very good,” said Julia generously.
“Oh my gosh, I’ll tell him you said so. They’re the Smoky Mountain Shredders, Asheville’s most popular country bluegrass metal
band. They have a CD. I could bring you one.”
“That’s very kind,” said Julia. “Thank you. Listen, I’ll make this quick so you can get back to—”
“It’s fine, really. Take all the time you need. Did you want to discuss our characters? I can’t wait for Anabelle and Sadie
to meet. I really hope they like each other. I’m so tired of stories that pit women against each other, fighting over a guy,
you know what I mean?”
“Well, Sadie already has that sort of relationship with Charity, over Ben.”
“Oh my gosh, Miss Julia, I wasn’t thinking of that,” Paige blurted, mortified. “I didn’t mean to criticize.”
“No, that’s fine. I didn’t write it. To your point, though, I hope our characters have a cordial relationship. I don’t want
Sadie to be a stereotypical overbearing mother-in-law. Grandmother-in-law. Whatever. The fans would revolt.”
“Yes, a grandmother-granddaughter relationship would be wonderful,” said Paige warmly. “So refreshing. And it would be a dream
come true to have you as a scene partner in stories that celebrate supportive bonds between women.”
Julia decided that Paige would fit right in at Elm Creek Quilt Camp. “Let’s trust the writers. They almost always get it right.
If something feels off at the table read, we can bring it to Ellen. But that’s actually not why I wanted to chat.” Julia quickly
gave her the sales pitch for Elm Creek Quilt Camp, emphasizing what a wonderful opportunity it would be for Paige to get to
know some of the cast and crew better, and to improve her quilting skills before filming began.
“I already know how to quilt a bit,” Paige said.
“My mom’s a quilter, and so are both of my grammies.
They’ve been coaching me. They wanted to teach me when I was young, but I couldn’t sit still long enough to learn.
I always just wanted to be singing and dancing and putting on little plays for my family and the kids from the neighborhood, you know? ”
Julia smiled. “I can relate.”
“You can? Oh my gosh, that’s so awesome. I bet we have a lot in common.”
“Well, we could find out if we got better acquainted at quilt camp. Are you in?”
“I’ll have to check with my agent to make sure I’m free, but I’d love to come. To be honest it’s a little awkward to join
such a successful, long-running series so close to the end of its run, and I really want to make the most of the final season.”
“Season six might not be the final season.”
“Wait, what? My agent said it was, and at the meeting in August, Nigel and Ellen announced they were leaving, and Noah says
he’s going to college—”
“I think we have more stories to tell,” Julia broke in, “especially given the romance between your character and Noah’s. There’s
a lot to explore there.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying,” Paige exclaimed. “I mean, just to my mom. I wouldn’t, you know, complain in public where the
tabloids might pick it up and run with it.”
“That’s very sensible,” said Julia. “Keep that up.”
“I will, promise. Speaking of Noah,” Paige said, too casually, “do you know if he’s coming to quilt camp?”
“I haven’t asked him yet.”
“Oh. I was just wondering.”
Julia sensed an opportunity and plunged ahead. “But I’m sure when he finds out you’re coming, he’ll be more interested.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Of course,” said Julia, ignoring a tiny pang of conscience. “It seemed to me that you two really hit it off at the premiere party.”
Paige drew in a quick breath. “Just between us, I thought we had a moment, but I heard he has a girlfriend.”
“I could try to find out. As soon as we hang up, I could call him and say, ‘Hey, Noah, I was just chatting with Paige, and
she was wondering if—’ ”
“Don’t you dare,” Paige protested, laughing.
“Are you sure? It’s no trouble.”
“I’m very sure,” Paige said emphatically. “Okay, Miss Julia. I’m all in for quilt camp. If Noah signs up too, fantastic. I’ll
see him there. If not, he’ll be the one missing out.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Julia replied.
But the fact was that if she couldn’t recruit more campers soon, Julia herself had the most to lose.