Every Heart Sings (Serenity Island Series) (13 page)

He rubbed his hands together. “So, Tony, my boy, where were we?”

“Just finished the inventory. Here’s the list of items we need.”

“Great.” Josh looked at his watch. “Is Jordan downstairs yet? She’s usually here by eight.”

“Not today. It’s her day off.”

“Damn. I need to talk with her about a contractor. Do you have her cell number?”

“Yeah, but it won’t do you any good. She won’t answer it this morning. She has a standing engagement on Tuesdays.”

“Oh?” Josh studied Tony. His chest tightened to think of Jordan with another guy.

“Yeah, she volunteers at the pediatric program on the island for kids who have cancer, it’s called PIC-U WINGS.”

“Really? I didn’t realize she had healthcare experience.”

“Oh, J.D. doesn’t. That’s my mom. My mom’s a registered nurse. J.D. does what she does best. She takes some kids from the local high school theater group to put on performances at the hospital for the kids.”

“That’s really nice.” Josh pulled on his ear. “And forgive me for saying so, because she is your aunt, it’s just a little bit surprising to me. She seems so jaded. It doesn’t sound like it would be her thing.”

“Yeah. I thought it was surprising at first, too. But I’ve gotten to know J.D. a little better over the past few weeks, since my Mom and I moved here. While she comes across tough as nails, she’s got a soft spot bigger than any sink hole you’ve ever seen or heard about.”

Josh chuckled at the image. “Interesting.” He paced in front of the window. “What time’s the performance?”

“We have to be there at eleven.”

“We?” Josh asked.

Tony hung his head and traced the toe of his shoe along the wooden floorboard. “Yeah. She roped me into playing a part. She’s short on guys.” He mumbled something else Josh couldn’t hear.

“What’s that?”

“I’m Prince Charming in this month’s performance of Sleeping Beauty.” He rolled his eyes.

“Ho. Is that right? Hogging the stage already? My man. Awesome.” Josh clapped him on the back.

“I don’t know. Bethany Ducart is not all that. She’s cute, but she knows it. There’s nothing I hate more than a girl who stinks of attitude. And this girl reeks of it. She’s not really very nice. She talks about her friends behind their backs. Not cool.”

“Well, you don’t have to marry her right?”

“No, but I have to kiss her.”

“Even better.”

Tony smiled shyly, the one corner of his mouth kicking up. “It’s not the end of the world.”

Josh laughed. “I’d think not, especially for a sixteen-year-old boy.

“I don’t want her to think it’s more than it is. It’s just a play. I’ve got to live here all summer long.”

“Be nice, but remind her of that. You’re only sixteen. Have fun. Keep it light. She’ll get the message.”

Tony nodded, hands in his pockets. “I appreciate the advice.” Tony smiled, a real smile that lit up his face with joy.

“I’d like to catch that performance. That’s if you don’t mind?” Josh tossed the list of equipment on the nearby leather couch.

“Nah. I’m cool with it.” Tony shrugged. “If you want to go, it’s fine.”

“Okay, then let’s get you to that performance, shall we? I’d like to see you in action. Plus, I really need the name of a good contractor on the island from your aunt to get started on this studio project today. Time is ticking.”

“Great.”

“Do you know how to get to this pediatric hospital?” Not all sixteen-year-olds knew how to get around if they didn’t drive. Not that you could drive within town limits anyway in Serenity.

“Yep, just down the street and over a few blocks in a tucked away area.”

“Even better. It’s important that Ben doesn’t find me. And I think he’s headed back into town. So I think the hospital is a great location for me to hide out for a few hours.”

“He’d never think to look for you there.”

Chapter 11

A Muse Who Plays

Tuesdays were the bright spot in Jordan’s whole week. She didn’t need to worry about the café on her day off. And soon, she hoped, the café wouldn’t be her worry at all. Maybe Josh could find someone else to manage it for him. She’d recommend Roxanne, her cook’s wife who took over the café on Tuesdays to cover for Jordan. Roxanne was highly competent, great with the customers, and had great ideas for improving the menu and service at the café.

Jordan’s days at the café were numbered and it wasn’t totally because of a certain sexy rock star either. She’d managed the café far longer than she should have. While she’d taken it on right after finishing her business degree, now she wanted a different challenge.

At first, she’d been interested in it. But, over time, her interest had waned. Now, she lived for Tuesdays, when she got to work with the high schoolers to put on performances for the kids receiving cancer treatments at the pediatric hospital.

The kids they performed for once a month had each come to PIC-U Wings program (Pediatric Intensive Cancer Unit) to be treated for childhood cancer. The logo was a modern line-drawn angel, thus the wings, which also symbolized hope and freedom for these kids.

Most people thought Serenity wasn’t big enough for a pediatric hospital this size, but the founders had had other ideas. Establishing a special hospital for kids here had been a passion for them. The setting was ideal for these kids. People brought their kids from all over the country for treatment.

The oncology staff tried to make their cancer treatment as fun and filled with joy as possible. This was a hard thing these kids were experiencing. Most of them didn’t lead normal childhoods. So the staff did what they could to bring distractions to them. And while it broke Jordan’s heart to get attached to these kids when they were so sick, she did it anyway because theater brought so much delight to them.

Today Jordan and the high school theater troupe named the Serenity Misfits were at the pediatric hospital to perform Sleeping Beauty for the kids. They’d worked hard over the past month to learn lines, create costumes, block out action sequences so that today’s performance was as real for these kids as possible.

The cancer center had a small all-purpose auditorium with theater-style seating and a stage with a real curtain and lighting. All a boon for Serenity. However, it was really tiny. At most, there were a hundred seats, which for a small island community wasn’t bad, but they’d never host any big performances that drew all the locals, that’s for sure. Since Serenity’s official population was one-hundred-eighty-one.

“Hannah, have we seen Bethany yet?”

“Nope. She’s AWOL, J.D.”

Jordan looked at her phone. Fifteen minutes until curtain. Shit. Now what? She found Bethany’s number and dialed. No answer.

A few minutes later her phone rang. It was Bethany. “J.D.?” The girl was crying and her voice was hoarse.

“Hey, Bethany, where are you?”

“I’m sick. I tried to call. I won’t be there today for the performance. I’m really sorry.”

The girl sounded sick. She coughed a deep croupy cough.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ve got you covered.” She assured her; even though she wasn’t entirely sure they did have her covered. “Take care of yourself. Get well soon. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Jordan slipped the phone back in her pocket. “Okay, Hannah. I need your help. You know Bethany’s lines, right?”

“Ah . . . I guess so. Yeah.”

“Bethany is really sick. She won’t be here today. I need you to act as Sleeping Beauty today.”

“Awww. Come on. Really? I do lighting and stage props. I’m an artist. Not an actress.”

“It’s for a good cause. Please? It’s easy. These little kids will be so disappointed if we cancel the performance.”

Hannah looked at her. “Me? Sleeping Beauty? I am so not—”

Jordan put a reassuring hand on her shoulder to stop her mid-sentence. “Yes. You are beautiful. You could do this easy. Beauty doesn’t have a lot of lines. She sleeps through most of the three acts. Just the few lines at the beginning of the first act. Then the waking scene and the grand finale. Come on. I’ve seen you following along with the lines when Bethany spoke them.”

The girl moaned. “Yeah, that’s only because I have a princess complex. I’m always longing for my own Prince Charming. I’m a sucker for happy endings.”

“Please? Help a girl out.”

“Why can’t you do it?”

“Well, there are lots of reasons. First, the princess is a teenage girl. I will never pass for one.”

“She’s been asleep for a hundred years. Maybe she’s aged. You’d do just fine.”

Jordan huffed out a laugh. “Thanks. Now I look a hundred years old? Great.”

Hannah pushed her white-blond hair behind one ear. “You look good for being so old.”

“Thanks, I think.” Jordan straightened the straps to her fairy wings. They’d gone with simple, elegant costuming. She wore a white sheath gown, with iridescent fairy wings strapped to her back. “Besides, I’m playing the good fairy. I can’t be Beauty, too.” She paused, glowering at Hannah. “Plus, I can’t let a teenage boy kiss me. That’s illegal in all fifty states, honey.”

“Ewww.” She looked away. “Did you find a prince? Because I don’t want to be kissed by a girl. I mean, I like Maisey just fine. And I’ve got nothing against kissing girls. It’s just not for me.”

She’d had Maisey Danes stand in as Prince Charming while she’d been searching for a suitable teenage boy to play the role. There weren’t many on the island who weren’t still employed by the local fishermen. She’d finally asked her nephew.

Only it had taken a little convincing since he wasn’t a theater hound like most of these girls. And, he’d taken a dislike to Bethany. Yes, the girl was a little stuck on herself, but she didn’t expect a teenage boy to be so adept at noticing it or care enough to distance himself from a pretty girl because of it.

Jordan laughed at Hannah’s delicate tap dance around the kissing issue. “It’s okay. I found someone.” She looked around back stage. “He’s not here yet.”

“I don’t want to be kissed by some strange boy either.” The stubborn set to Hannah’s chin said she still wasn’t convinced she should take the role.

Damn. She needed a Sleeping Beauty. Now.

Jordan cocked her head and studied Hannah. “It’s a peck on the cheek. What’s the big deal?”

“Then why can’t you do it?”

“Again. Sixteen-year-old boy. Twenty six year old woman. Ah, no. Even worse, he lives under my roof.”

Hannah’s kohl-lined eyes widened. Her mouth worked silently.

Jordan offered the girl her most beseeching smile. “Please? You owe me for getting your mom back on track yesterday. And Tony’s cute. You seemed to like him well enough when you met him at the café the other day. Not too bad, right? He won’t be an ogre to kiss.”

“Tony is Prince Charming?” Hannah croaked.

“Yep. I’ve been working with him on his lines the past two nights. He’s a quick study.”

Hannah took a shuddery breath and closed her eyes. “Oh, all right. But then we’re even. If it weren’t for such a good cause, I’d say hell no.”

“Language.”

The girl hung her head. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Good. Go get dressed. Your gown is in the dressing room.”

“It probably won’t fit. Bethany has no chest. And I’m taller.”

Jordan chuckled. “The dress was a little big for her. I think you’ll fit just fine. Now, go. We’re running out of time.”

Hannah walked away muttering to herself.

Jordan smiled, pleased.

Yep, she should feel guilty for using her ace in the hole to get Hannah to cooperate, but somehow she didn’t.

The two kids were cute together. In an awkward, first-bloom-of-love kind of way.

Besides, the show must go on.

Jordan was so involved in the production of Sleeping Beauty and her dual roles as director and good fairy righting the wrongs of the old spiteful fairy—played by Mrs. Hooper the island librarian—that she didn’t notice Josh until the third act of the performance when she was standing in the wings.

She’d only spied him when she looked out into the audience to see their reaction to the awakening scene—the moment just after Tony, dressed in a military-style tunic decorated with golden braids over skinny black jeans and Converse shoes, kissed Hannah.

The moment had been sweet and awkward, with all the fervency and reluctance of an unsure teenage boy with a crush on a pretty girl.

Josh sat in the front row of the darkened auditorium, eyes intent on the stage, small smile playing around his sensual lips. He’d slouched down in his seat, arm draped over the back of the empty seat beside him, and his long legs, clad in jeans, stretched in front of him. Heat drilled through her in a flash. She knew what was under that button-down white shirt with its rolled sleeves—the muscular body, the swirling dark ink that curled around his masculine beauty and dipped to circle his thigh.

God, she had to get this man out of her system. And she only knew one way to do that. Sleep with him. Because the reality always chased the fantasy right out of existence and made her interest fade fast.

She dragged her attention back to Tony and Hannah on stage. The rest of the onstage household had also come out of their enchantment and danced around the happy couple. The maid brought a tiara with a veil attached for the princess.

A chaplain with a book appeared before them.

Even Henrietta, the princess’s little dog, pranced around in delighted little hops. It helped that Henrietta’s owner, David Dunn, the elderly doorman slept on the floor by the little dog at the foot of the ornate bed Beauty inhabited for her hundred-year slumber. A wonderfully trained miniature Schnoodle, the dog was cute as a furry button, but full of energy. Even in her feigned sleep, the pup had wiggled and twitched with a hard to restrain exuberance.

Jordan entered stage right to deliver the final words of the play. As narrator, the good fairy had the last word. As it should be. She smiled at the crowd and waved a wand over the audience in a benevolent manner.

“As in all proper fairy tales, the princess and prince—Mr. and Mrs. Beauty—lived happily ever after. When they became monarchs of the land, they ruled with kindness and fairness, both doing their equal part to guide their citizens to wait for love and teach them that true beauty comes from inside them, no matter who you are—a princess or a prince or a fairy with powers to bless or curse or a playful puppy with happy kisses to bestow.”

Henrietta circled Jordan as she finished her soliloquy, growling at the oversized wings Jordan wore, the small dog backed up and pounced again. Her bottom up in the air, the dog wagged her short stump of a tail then sank her teeth into Jordan’s dress. Henrietta tugged, jerking her head right, then left as she growled.

The crowd laughed in response.

Jordan scooped up the tiny, fierce dog, which proceeded to lick her face. The audience erupted in applause. The curtain came down.

The post-performance rush hit Jordan, that euphoria that came from knowing you’d pulled off something complicated and done it well. She turned to the teenagers on the stage and clapped for them.

The kids on stage cheered and hugged.

“Well done, Misfits.” She put Henrietta down and the dog joined the celebration, careful to stay clear of over-zealous feet. Then she went running to her owner, David, leaping into his arms with a happy yip. “Stay in costume. The WINGS kids will want to say hi. Let’s exit stage left to get to the auditorium floor. Line up like we practiced please.”

The teens marched down the stairs off the stage and stood in a processional line to one side so the kids from the pediatric program and some of their parents and siblings could file by to talk to each one of them.

They adored Hannah and Tony.

“You’re so beautiful,” the little WINGS girls kept saying to Hannah over and over. The teenage girl blushed, her cheeks rosy from the lights and the high of the performance, and probably just a little from her proximity to Tony and the fact that he’d kissed her, even if it was a chaste kiss.

Henrietta got lots of cuddles and gave the kids doggy kisses. And the parents pumped Jordan’s hand, thanking her profusely for what she’d done and was doing for their kids.

One little boy, Nathan, came up to Jordan and tugged on her dress. She knelt down to address him face-to-face. She’d only met Nathan a few weeks ago. He was new to WINGS. His parents had heard of the program in Serenity and moved into town from Asheville to ensure they were close enough to offer support and comfort to their son while he underwent the intensive treatment he needed.

She ruffled the short downy blond fuzz on his head. “Nate, how did you like the show?”

His blue eyes glowed with excitement. “It was amazing.” His voice held a note of wonder.

The four-year-old handed her a bead. “This is for you, J.D.”

“What’s this, little man?” She held open her palm to look at the pretty blue-green glass bead.

He patted the layers of strands of beads around his neck.

“It’s because you were brave today. Every time we’re brave during our stay here, we get a new bead.”

The kid wore maybe ten strands of beads around his neck. Each strand fell to the center of his chest.

Jordan’s heart broke. That was a lot of bravery, and pain, for a kid of four.

He grinned at her, a dimple dipping into his chubby cheek.

Jordan cocked her head. “Thank you, Nate.”

“I thought you were very brave today. Mommy said you don’t go on stage anymore because it made you sick.”

Tears came to Jordan’s eyes. “Yes, it did kind of make me sick.” Maybe the sickness she’d contracted from acting on the big stage wasn’t cancer like these kids suffered, but it had been a sickness, nonetheless. Something she’d worked very hard to get away from and to rid herself of in the past ten years.