Love Believes (Sully Point, Book 5) (11 page)

Once the lights were on in the living room,
kitchen and bedroom, she felt herself relax a bit. It was just an apartment,
nothing scary to it. She grabbed a bottle of seltzer water from the kitchen and
decided to work out with her Wii and do some zumba.

An hour later, she was sweating and warm, but
feeling energized. She took a shower and put on her favorite leopard print
silky pajamas with the long top and long pants. Throwing a soft black brushed
satin robe over her shoulders, she grabbed a book to read and settled in the
brocade-covered chair.

The sound of the page turning seemed loud in the
stillness. She re-read the same page three times. A rattling window in the wind
outside made her jump. "Come on, you're being silly," she told
herself. But when a knock happened on the front door, she screamed.

"Beth? Are you okay? Beth, it's me,
William."

She caught her breath and then jumped up and ran
to the door, to fling it open and see William standing there. "William?
What are you doing here? You scared me to death!"

She motioned for him to come in and he walked into
the living room. "I'm sorry. I drove by and saw that your lights were on
so I thought I'd come up and see how you were. I should have called. Don't know
what I was thinking."

"It's okay. I only lost a few years of my
life from fright and heart failure. I had just been sitting here feeling
jittery and the knock pushed me over the edge. Sorry about the scream."

"It was a good scream. I mean, as screams go,
it's good you have a scream like that."

"You're speaking as a director, right?"

"Yes."

She started laughing and couldn't seem to stop.
After a moment he joined her. Finally, she waved a hand at him and got out the
words "Sit...down."

He sat on the sofa and she sat in the chair across
from him. "I'm glad to see you," she said. "I told everyone I'd
be fine here tonight, but..."

"It's scarier than you thought it would
be," William said.

"Yep."

"I could stay--"

"Could you stay--"

They both talked at the same time and stopped
together.

"Yes," he said. "I can stay for a
while, as long as you need. I brought you something anyway." He pulled a
folded booklet from his jacket.

"It's the script."

"Yes, it is. I know you have a copy already, but
this is different. I've got my notes in here, and I thought you might enjoy
going through to see what my thoughts are on your character."

"Of course, I would love that. Let me go get
mine." She got up and went quickly into her bedroom. As she got the script
off the bedside table, she glanced in the mirror...and remembered she was
wearing her leopard pajamas. They covered everything...and with the robe...she
decided she was decent enough for entertaining.

Over coffee and chocolate chip cookies, they sat
in the kitchen and worked on the script. Beth was intrigued by how his mind
worked, at how he saw the whole play and then the separate pieces within. He
brought out things about her character, Corie, that she'd never thought of
before, and that she knew would enhance her performance.

"When are auditions?" she asked.

"They start tomorrow. We may have some people
down from the city, and I know we'll have Sully point show up en masse. There
aren't that many parts, so this will be tricky. I promised to use some Sully
Point residents. I'm just hoping a couple will have some acting ability."

"Sam has told me that Sully Point has more
depth than you think when it comes to the population. People from other places
have settled here. Maybe you'll discover a new talent, or one who has an acting
background."

"I want you to sit in on the auditions, Beth.
Your relationship with the other characters will be vital to selling the whole
play."

"Okay. At the Playhouse?"

"No, at the high school. I don't want anyone
tripping over a bucket of nails and suing me."

"Good point," she said.

Silence fell between them, and Beth realized it
was getting late. He probably needed to leave. She should just tell him he
could leave, that she was okay.

He looked up with eyes that were a mix of gray and
blue tonight. "Got any good movies?"

"I don't honestly know," she replied,
with a bit of relief. "But I'm game to watch one if you are. Let's look at
what Maggie left here."

They watched the version of
Camelot
with
Vanessa Redgrave and Richard Harris, and then they discovered
Operation
Petticoat
with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. They both fell asleep during a
documentary on the making of
The Fellowship of the Ring
, William on the
sofa and Beth leaning against his shoulder.

* * * *

Banging on the door woke William up. He reflexively
tightened his arm before realizing it was around Beth's shoulders and that she
was asleep against his chest.

She stirred and then froze.

"I think we fell asleep," he muttered.

"Oh. Yeah. We must have."

Banging on the door began again.

"What the...Coming!" Beth yelled and
scrambled off the sofa to walk to the door.

William ran a hand through his hair and then
scrubbed both hands over his face. Beth was opening the door to her sister,
Maggie.

"Beth! What took you so long..." Maggie
stopped as she walked in and saw William on the couch. She glanced at Beth and
then back at him.

"Uh, yeah," Beth said. "William
came by to discuss the script last night and then we started watching movies
and I guess we fell asleep."

She turned to William and wiggled her eyebrows. He
said, "Yes, that's right. I wanted to point out some things to Beth in
Camelot that differed from the stage to the movie version."

"Oh. So you fell asleep watching
Camelot?" Maggie asked.

"Hmm. No, we watched Operation
Petticoat." Beth replied.

"And then we watched a documentary,"
William said. "I think that's when we must have fallen asleep. It was
quite late."

"Well, here," Maggie said and handed
over a coffeecake. "I made it. Cinnamon-pecan. Let's all have some."
She handed it to Beth and took off her jacket.

"Sure. I'll get some plates."

Beth went into the kitchen and Maggie came up to
William and placed a hand on his arm. "Thank you for staying with her last
night. I know she needed someone here, even if she wouldn't say so."

William smiled at her. "No problem. We had a
good time. That should help take away the bad memories."

"Good."

"Come on, you two," Beth said, setting
plates on the dining room table. "I'm making coffee for us, but what can
you drink Maggie, with the pregnancy?"

"Some milk would be good with this, if you
have some."

Maggie regaled them with stories from Sully Point
as they woke up. William was grateful she was there, because it eliminated any
awkwardness that might have occurred if he and Beth were alone.

Finally, he stood up and said he needed to go
change at his house, to get ready for the auditions.

"I'll be there," Beth said, before he
could remind her. "Two hours from now, right?"

"Yes, that should be good."

Beth walked him to the door. "Thank you for
coming by last night. It was a big help."

"I was glad to do it, and I had a nice time
too."

She smiled at him, that bright smile with the deep
red lips that was so inviting. Her green eyes crinkled at the edges, and he
looked deeply into them. Yes, she was going to be all right.

"See you soon, Beth."

"Good bye, William," she said.

He drove off wondering how it was that she seemed
to be getting more beautiful every time he saw her. He couldn't ask her out,
although, seeing as how he'd spent the night there watching movies...no, he
wouldn't do it. It was such a cliche anyway, director falling for the lead
actress.

He changed quickly at home and then headed for the
high school. When he walked into the gym, he discovered a crowd waiting.

"What's this?" he asked, and everyone
started talking at once.

"Hold on, hold on. You..." he pointed at
a middle-aged woman. "What is happening here?"

"You said auditions for two minor roles were
at this time. We're all here to try out."

"Hmm." He had not thought so many would
turn out. He knew he needed to do some weeding. "These parts will require
that you attend rehearsals in the evening three nights a week in the month
before the play, with it being every night in the last week. Are you all able
to commit to that?"

After some discussion and questions, a number of
people acknowledged that they really had no time to be in the play, and left
disappointed but not mad. It turned out that a few of the ones left did have
acting experience, but in the end, he chose two people who were novices. He
just really liked the feeling they projected on stage, and they both read the
comic lines with great timing. The delivery man was Joe Bonaparte, a car
salesman of luxury cars, and the big surprise was Kayla from the Bakery as the
phone repair woman. She had a remarkable ability to project a dry humor into
the lines that was perfect for the part.

Beth came in and sat down next to him as the two
were leaving. "Kayla?"

"Yes. She was a big surprise."

"Wow."

"Now we come to the part of your mother, Mrs.
Ethel Banks. We'll hopefully find someone you connect with. Are you ready to
read lines with them?"

"Me? Now? Up there?" Beth stammered.

He laughed. "Get up there, Beth."

She laughed at herself and then marched up to the
stage. The first few people were complete bombs and were not surprised when
they got the negative shake of the head from him.

Then to the shock of William and of Beth, Maelynne
showed up to audition. Beth's antagonism toward the woman was so obvious,
William would never have been willing to take her on, plus she wasn't very
good.

The next one up on stage was Lucretia Evans, the
jewelry-maker. She'd pulled her long, gray hair up into a bun, and was dressed
in a suit instead of her usual bohemian long skirts. As she began to read her
lines, the chemistry between Beth and Lucretia was obvious. William felt
excited the way he always did when a casting decision was really right. Beth
turned to look at him at the end with sparkling eyes, and he nodded at
Lucretia. She clasped the script to her bosom and lit up the stage with her
broad smile.

Next came the role of the neighbor, an elderly
man, Victor Velasco. Several character actors from the city showed up to
audition for this part, and William was pleased to get Richard Bart for the
role. He had an energy that fit the role, and he played well off Beth's Corie.

The group of young men auditioning was large, and
William brought Beth down off the stage as he had each one come in and read a
speech. He quickly eliminated over half of them, and then asked Beth to read
with the rest. The role of Paul Bratter required a handsome, young man in love
with his new wife, who was of a completely different temperament.

All the men read with Beth and he reduced the
group by half again. Then he really tried to focus on the chemistry between
Corie and Paul up on stage. It was difficult he discovered. He kept seeing Beth
as herself. He knew this was not so much due to Beth's acting as his desire for
her. And he was finding it irritating to hear these young hunks proclaiming
their love for her.

He'd never had anything like this happen to him
before. He was always a complete professional. Sighing, he realized that maybe
this time around it was different. He called to Beth, and she came to stand by him.

"What's up?"

"Which one do you feel most comfortable with,
Beth?"

She raised one eyebrow. "What?"

"These all seem about equal in their initial
chemistry with you, so I thought I'd get your take on it."

"Oh. Well, I think the third guy is by far
the best. I'm at ease with all of them, I guess. As much as I can be at this
stage. I think that Zimmerman, Charles Zimmerman did the best with the lines,
however."

"Okay, I think we'll go with him. He did a
good enough job, and like you say, he'll get better. And it's always good to
have my leading lady happy."

She grinned at him. "Thanks!"

He told Charles that he had the part and received an
enthusiastic handshake. The guy had one of those chiseled, good-looking faces,
with golden blond hair that fell perfectly across his brow. Dark brown eyes and
a muscular physique finished off the picture of Charles Zimmerman, who
immediately took Beth aside to chitchat. William decided he hated him on sight.

* * * *

Beth took off after the auditions, explaining to
William that her parents were arriving and she wanted to go meet them. He told
her to take the rest of the day off, and after a minute's thought, she agreed.
She drove out to Sam and Anna's house and was there to greet her mother and
father.

"Baby, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Mom. Don't I look all right?"

"You look gorgeous. Love that impressionist
scarf with the velvet jacket. And the heels on those boots are good."

Beth was used to having her mother critique her
outfits. Sophia, the mom, was also Sophia Carter, the fashion designer. They
all gathered in the living room, and Anna passed around soft drinks and
sparkling water.

Ed Carter, her father, began telling them of the
adventure of driving out of the mountains during the winter with all the snow.
Sam had given his parents what amounted to a tank previously, and Ed seemed to
think they would have gotten stuck without it.

Anna snagged Beth on her way into the kitchen,
while Joshua sat in his grandmother's laugh talking non-stop. "Come on and
help me," she said.

Beth followed her into the kitchen where Anna was
preparing a late lunch of sandwiches and pasta salad.