The True Love Quilting Club (25 page)

Raylene and Patsy came hustling down the aisle to where Nina and Emma stood off to one side of the stage.

“He’s not at the Horny Toad,” Raylene said.

“And Beau’s parents haven’t seen him in a week,” Patsy added.

“Don’t give up hope,” Emma said. “Beau might still appear. He knows how important this play is to the whole town.”

“I wouldn’t hold my breath on that,” said Terri, who’d come bounding up to them, her face flushed.

“I hate to ask.” Nina shifted the script in her hand and pressed a hand to her stomach.

“His landlord said he moved out last night. The apartment is empty.”

Nina slapped her forehead with a palm. “Son of a bitch.”

Emma had never heard the older woman curse, and it sent apprehensive shivers down her spine.

“Hey you,” Nina said to one of the cast members who was milling about. “Go find Toby, tell him it’s his big moment and I need to see him right away. Beau’s a no-show.”

The guy darted off to find Toby.

“It’s all going to work out fine, Nina,” Patsy soothed. “You’ll pull it off, you always do.”

Nina shook her head. “I’ve got more at stake than usual.” Then she told them about Malcolm and the crew from
Entertainment Tonight
.

“This is your Malcolm?” Patsy said.

Nina nodded.

“Are we talking rekindled romance?” Terri asked.

“Or just hot sex?” Raylene added.

Everyone glared at her.

“What?” Raylene raised her palms. “I’m just saying not everyone has to fall madly in love. Sometimes sex is good enough.”

The lanky cast member sprinted toward them. “Nina, Toby’s sick.”

“What do you mean he’s sick? He can’t be sick. He’s the understudy, and the lead actor has flaked on us,” Nina exclaimed. “He
must
go on. He’s just got butterflies.”

“He’s blowing chunks all over the bathroom floor and clutching his abdomen. He looks just like my brother looked when he had to have his appendix out.”

“Crap. Take me to him,” Nina said.

The young man led the way and everyone followed. They found Toby, the understudy, swaying on his feet in the hallway, his face blanched of all color.

Terri laid a palm on his forehead. “He’s burning up. I’ll call Ted and have him meet us at the hospital. You guys go on with the play.”

Terri and the lanky kid helped Toby out the side exit.

Nina shoved her script in Patsy’s hands and plastered her palms over her ears. “I don’t want to hear this. I’m not hearing this.”

“Denial doesn’t solve the problem,” Raylene observed.

Nina took a deep breath, drew herself up tall. “Okay, let me think. Let’s pretend for a minute that there’s not a Hollywood camera crew in town. Let’s pretend that I haven’t just reconnected with the love of my life and he’s here to see my young protégée perform the role she was born to perform. Let’s take that pressure out of the equation.”

“Okay,” everyone said in unison, including the stagehands who’d been eavesdropping.

“What are our options?” Nina asked.

“Shut down the production,” someone called out.

“Keep trying to get hold of Beau,” Patsy offered.

“Find someone else to play the part.”

“There.” Nina snapped her fingers. “That one. That’s the answer. But no one else knows the entire script, except for me and Emma and her understudy.”

“You could play Jon Grant, Nina,” Raylene offered. “Put on a guy’s uniform and a wig. You’re tall and you’ve got a deep voice. I don’t know how Emma
feels about kissing you, and yeah, it’ll be a bit lezzy, but hey…”

“Raylene!” everyone shouted.

“Okay, okay, forgive me for thinking outside the box.”

Just then the side door opened.

Sam and Charlie and Patches stepped into the theater, and Emma suddenly got a mad idea.

Sam smiled at Emma, even though he was getting weird vibes from everyone. Something beyond the normal chaos of putting on a play was going on here. Sam had come backstage to drop off Patches before he took Charlie to hang out with his folks during the play. He’d decided the play wouldn’t be appropriate for a six-year-old, but his son had insisted on at least wishing Emma good luck.

“Could we see you a minute?” he asked Emma after he’d handed Patches over to the professional dog wrangler that Nina had hired. “There’s something Charlie wants to tell you.”

Looking grateful for a reprieve from whatever was going on around her, Emma came over to them. Sam’s gaze hung on hers and his heart skipped. He put a hand on Charlie’s shoulder.

She squatted in front of Charlie. “What did you want to tell me?”

Charlie tilted his head up and gave her a dazzling grin. “Break a leg.”

It was still a joy to hear his son’s voice. He couldn’t thank Emma enough for making that happen.

“But I don’t really want you to break a leg,” he whispered, and darted an anxious glance at Emma’s
legs. “Daddy says that’s sumpin’ you’re s’posta say ’cause it means good luck.”

“That’s so sweet of you.” She held her arms open wide. “Can I have a hug?”

Charlie wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tight.

“Well, we don’t want to get in your way.” Sam placed a hand on his son’s head. “We just wanted to wish you good luck. The play is going to be great, I just know it.” He gave her a wink and thumbs-up.

“Ha!” Raylene snorted. “Proving you’re not the least bit psychic.”

Nina eyed Sam speculatively. It made him nervous. “Emma, didn’t you tell me that Sam had been reading lines with you?”

“Yes.”

“How well do you know the play?” Nina asked Sam.

He chuckled. “I could recite the thing backward. Emma is such a perfectionist that—”

Nina grabbed Sam by the hand and tugged him into the theater, jostling the words out of him. “You’re a bit shorter than Beau, but that’s actually a good thing. The kiss scenes between Beau and Emma were problematic because of their extreme height differences. You’re much more suited to her petite size.”

“Um, thanks, I think.”

“His costumes will be long on you, but I’m betting Leandra can baste them up right quick.”

“Wait a minute.” Sam held up his hands. “I don’t like the way this conversation is going.”

Nina pressed her palms together in a gesture of supplication. “Please, you’ve got to help us. Beau has dis
appeared and Terri just rushed our understudy to the hospital. There’s no one else who knows the lines.”

“Beau’s disappeared?”

“He took off. Moved out of his apartment. No one’s seen him.”

Sam blew out his breath. “He’d not been the same since he came back from Iraq.”

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have taken a chance on him. I thought—” Nina stopped herself. “Never mind that. What’s done is done. What we need now is a new leading man.”

Sam shook his head. “I’m not an actor. I’m not comfortable in the spotlight.”

Nina leaned in close and whispered, “Look, I’m not asking for me. I’ve had my run. This is for Valerie and all the other soldiers who’ve fought for Twilight. This is for your hometown. But most of all this is for Emma. This is her big chance. She’s damn good, Sam.”

“I know it.”

“She’s been unlucky in the past, but now her luck has changed.”

“Because you took a chance on her,” he said.

She looked him squarely in her eyes. “Right, and now you’re the only one who can help her get to her destiny.”

Sam looked over at Emma and his heart wrenched. More than anything in the world, what he wanted for her was happiness, and if that meant giving her a shot at Hollywood, that was what he’d do. Never mind that he disliked the spotlight, that he knew nothing about acting. Emma needed him, and he wasn’t about to let her down.

“Okay,” he said. “Tell me what to do.”

Knowing she was going onstage with an untested leading man had Emma’s stomach in knots. Sam wasn’t an actor, and while he might know the lines, he didn’t know any of the moves. How was she expected to pull off a performance good enough to wow Malcolm Talmadge? She paced. She fretted. She wrung her hands.

Then just before the curtain was about to go up, Sam—wearing the costume of Colonel Jon Grant—looked over at her and said, “You, Emma Parks, are going to nail this. You’ve always been destined for stardom.”

In that moment, an invincible calm settled over her, and she felt as if she could do anything.

For the next hour and a half, she performed as she’d never performed before. Sam followed her lead, flawlessly reciting his lines. Emma took the passion she felt for him and channeled it through her body, using
the power of their bond to express all the emotions of the characters she portrayed. But the most poignant moment of all was when she played Valerie and Sam played himself. As she looked into his eyes and told him good-bye, the tears that ran down her cheeks were honest and true.

And when it was over, the crowd was on their feet in wild applause and the cast had to take three curtain calls before the audience finally began to disperse.

Buoyed on a high unlike anything she’d ever experienced, the next few hours passed in a blur as she accepted congratulations, dined on the Thanksgiving feast hosted on the town square by the Funny Farm restaurant, and participated in the charity event auctioning off the quilts to support America’s servicemen and women.

She was interviewed by
Entertainment Tonight
, but she hardly remembered any of it. What stuck in her mind most was the way Sam stood waiting in the wings. He let her have the spotlight, never getting in the way, but whenever she looked up, there he was, giving her a smile of encouragement, letting her know he supported her no matter what.

At the end of the eventful day, Nina and Malcolm Talmadge cornered her for a talk.

“You’re every bit as talented as Nina said you were,” Malcolm said. “Even more so, I suspect, since you were working under the handicap of having your leading man take off on you.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Malcolm,” he corrected gently. “I understand you’ve been working very hard over the last few months, and I was wondering if your work ethic might allow you to jump right into a new project.”

Nina was grinning from ear to ear. Emma’s blood pumped so hard she could scarcely breathe.

“I have a film that’s currently in production, with Matt Damon in the lead role as a war vet who discovers he can’t go home again. The actress slated to play his younger sister has just checked into drug rehab and won’t be able to complete the project. Luckily, we haven’t yet started filming any of her scenes. The part is fairly small, but very pivotal to the movie. Can you do it?”

“I…I’d…I need to talk to my agent of course, but yes, yes!”

“Excellent. Let me call your agent and we’ll get all the details ironed out. I’ll also tell
Entertainment Tonight
that you were discovered right here in Twilight and I’m predicting big things for you. I’m sure they’d like to interview you again for a second segment on
ET
.”

Nina congratulated her with a hug, then she and Malcolm went off together, leaving Emma standing on the courthouse lawn, stunned by the turn of events.

She looked up, and there was Sam. “Did you hear?”

“I heard.” He smiled. “I told you.”

“I’m numb.”

“You’ve worked so hard and so long it’s going to take you a bit to get used to your newfound fame. But it’ll sink in once you’re in Hollywood.”

“I can’t even think.”

“Before you take off on your grand new life, I’ve got something for you.” Sam had a look in his dark eyes that turned Emma’s stomach inside out. She didn’t really know what the look meant, but to her it said he thought she didn’t belong here, no matter how much he might wish she did.

“You got me a going-away present?” Her heart felt goopy.

“I did.” He pulled a palm-sized white box wrapped with a red ribbon from the pocket of his jacket.

She fumbled the box as she took it from him, almost dropping it for no good reason other than her hands were shaking. Why were her hands shaking?
Bette Davis.
She slipped into the persona of that hard-edged actress who never let sentimentality get in the way of what needed to be done, and immediately her hands stilled. Blowing out her breath, she undid the ribbon and lifted the lid.

There, nestled in tissue paper, lay her mother’s star brooch.

She’d tried to get it back, but Hagzilla told her she’d sold it.

She gazed up at him in wonderment. “Sam, how did you get this?”

“Most pawnshops are putting their inventory online these days. I took a stab at it and did a global search for ‘star-shaped emerald brooch’ and it just popped up.”

“Lucky.”

“Or fated.” His eyes crinkled along with his smile.

“How much did it cost you?” She was certain Hagzilla had made him pay through the nose to reclaim it.

“Don’t worry about that.” He took it from her hand and pinned it to her jacket. “There.” He smiled softly. “No ‘gonna be’ to it. You, Emma Parks, are a star.”

Life in L.A. was a whirlwind. The minute her feet touched down at LAX, she was off and running. She had a lot to learn about the movie business, and Malcolm appointed her an assistant to help her navi
gate the pitfalls. She was so busy she didn’t even have time to drop Sam an e-mail or text message. Maybe it was for the best. Breaking off all contact, rather than trying to hang on to something that would only cause them both pain.

She quickly learned it was much different from New York. And being on a movie set was much more grueling (and at times more boring) than she expected. People were nice, but she found she couldn’t always trust the niceness. At least in Manhattan, you knew where you stood. People called it as they saw it. Here, you had to try and guess at motives. She didn’t like that. And after letting down her guard in Twilight, where what you saw was what you got, it was doubly hard to get her emotional shield back up.

She was grateful that Sam had taught her how to drive, but she hated the traffic. And what was with the darn sun? It shone constantly. She found herself homesick for a little inclement weather.

A few days after she arrived, she stopped by the supermarket to pick up a few groceries and ran into her old roommate Jill Freeman, the one who’d put in the good word for her with Master X.

“Emma!” Jill squealed at her over the avocados. “I heard you’d moved to L.A.”

They embraced in the middle of the store.

“God, let me have a look at you.” Jill stepped back. “You’re radiant.”

“And you’re gorgeous. What a tan.”

“Congrats on landing that part in Malcolm Talmadge’s latest.” Jill clapped her right hand against her left palm in soft applause. “Especially after that crap you suffered through with Scott Miller.”

“Thanks.”

“This business, huh?” Jill shook her head. “Remember how naïve we were when we first started? You have this dream of what you want and it seems so magical, that if you achieve it, somehow everything will be perfect after that.” Jill’s laugh was harsh.

“Did something happen?” Emma asked, concerned for her friend.

“They’re canceling
Coeds
.”

“I hate to hear that,” Emma said, and meant it. “But you’ll get something else.”

Jill shook her head again. “I don’t think I want something else.”

“What are you saying? You’re quitting acting?”

“This life isn’t real, Em. It changes you, and not in a good way. I don’t know who I am anymore. I’ve lost myself. All this time I’ve been pretending to be someone else and I realize I don’t even know who I am anymore. You dumbly think money will solve everything. That if you just get that next part everything will be great. But it’s not. There’s no peak to the mountain. You’re never satisfied. And fame isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. It gets to be a real drag. Everyone loves you when you’re a success, but when you hit the skids, they’re all gone. So you run and run and run trying to keep up, but after a while, you just want to get off the treadmill. I don’t want to wake up one day, forty years old, without a husband and kids because I put my life on hold. Do you know what I mean?” Jill paused, hauled in a deep breath, and looked her straight in the eyes. “No, of course not. You’re flying high right now. You haven’t hit the wall yet. Forgive me. I don’t mean to be a buzzkill. Don’t listen to me. Enjoy the good times while they last.”

Jill’s words struck her like nothing else could have because they echoed Emma’s own fears about her choices.

Shrug it off. Jill is just down about her canceled series. She’ll be singing a different tune as soon as she gets a new gig.

They hugged again and promised to keep in touch, but for the rest of the day, Emma couldn’t shake the sadness that settled in her bones. All she could think about was what she’d left behind in Twilight, and she couldn’t help wondering if her sacrifices were worth it.

The dachshund was a biter.

Every time Sam tried to examine the short-legged dog, it latched on to his hand with sharp little teeth.

“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear,” exclaimed the pooch’s owner as she forcefully wrung her hands. “I’m
so
sorry, Dr. Cheek. Prissy is
so
high-strung.”

It ain’t Prissy who’s high-strung.
“Ms. Applebaum—”

“
Miss
Applebaum,” she emphasized, and fluttered her eyelashes at him. “I’m not married. And please, call me Tara.”

He raked a gaze over the woman, seeing her for the first time. Actually, she was quite pretty, with long dark hair, big brown eyes, and dimples in both cheeks. Her body wasn’t bad either. Nice boobs, long legs, but Sam didn’t feel even a whisper of sexual interest. She wasn’t Emma.

He narrowed his eyes. “Did my aunt Belinda send you?”

“Aunt Belinda?” She looked confused.

“What brought you into my office today?”

“I told you, Prissy hasn’t been eating and her tummy
is getting so big. I’m scared she’s got an intestinal obstruction.”

“And that’s it? You have no hidden agenda?”

“Well…” She straightened, sent him a dazzling smile. “I did hear that your girlfriend left town and I was thinking—”

“I’m sure you’re a very nice person,” he interrupted. “But I’ve got no room in my life for romance.”

Tara pushed her bangs from her eyes. “Still hung up on her, huh?”

“You heard?”

“It’s all over Twilight—”

The dachshund bit him again.

“That’s it,” he said, “I’ve had enough.”

“What?”

He bared his teeth at Prissy, who backed down and whimpered. “That’s right pooch, I’ve got teeth too. No more of this biting nonsense.” Then to Tara he said, “Prissy’s pregnant.”

“But that can’t be, I never let her out.”

“She’s not spayed.”

“No but—”

“She’s pregnant,” he said. “Congratulations. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have someone I need to speak to.”

“Okay,” Tara blinked and gathered up Prissy.

Sam stripped off his exam gloves and stalked into the front office. “Cancel my appointments,” he said to Delia.

“For how long?”

“Indefinitely,” he said.

He stalked over to the Twilight Playhouse to find Nina rehearsing the nativity scene with the fifth graders from Twilight Middle School.

Nina looked up and caught his gaze. “Children, let’s take a short break.”

The kids dispersed, and she came over to him. “Is something the matter, Sam?”

“I let her slip through my fingers, Nina. I had her and I let her go.”

“You didn’t want to stop her from going after her dreams, Sam.”

“No, I did not. But I could have told her I loved her. I should have told her I loved her, but I didn’t.”

“You were afraid that if you did, she wouldn’t go.”

He nodded. “She deserves this chance, but she also deserves to know that I intend on being here for her, no matter what.”

“You’re going to put your life on hold until Emma decides she’s had enough of the limelight?” Nina asked gently.

He pulled a palm down his face. “Yes.”

“That’s not realistic.”

“I know, but it’s how I feel. I don’t want any other woman. It’s always been her from the time I was fourteen years old.”

“If you go to her and tell her you love her and then she gives up her career for you, you’re always going to feel guilty.”

“I know,” he said. “That’s why I’m ready and willing to move to L.A. to be with her. I’m a vet. I can get a job anywhere. And Charlie, well, it’s time he knew there was a world beyond Twilight.”

“There’s nothing else in the world that could make you leave this town, is there?” Nina asked softly.

“No,” he admitted. “But Emma is worth it and I’m going to tell her so. Do you know her schedule? Where she’ll be at this evening?”

“She and the rest of the cast are attending a charity event for our troops. Malcolm left for the event this morning.”

“You’re not going with him?”

Nina waved at the kids horsing around on the stage. “I’m otherwise occupied. Plus, there’s some other business Malcolm had to attend to. In fact, if everything works out like he’s planning, we might have a solution to your long-distance love affair.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t say anything, just that you might want to hold off on professing your love for a few weeks.”

Sam shook his head. “No. I need to see her. I can’t wait any longer.”

Nina nodded. “Okay, but if you’re going to go you’ll need a tuxedo and an invitation. I’ll arrange for someone to meet you at the airport with both.”

Six hours later, after he made arrangements for Charlie to stay with his mother, Sam’s plane touched down in L.A. He was met by a driver in a Lincoln Town Car, along with the tuxedo and invitation to the charity event that Nina had promised. He changed in the airport bathroom and they took off for Beverly Hills.

On the plane ride over, he’d mentally rehearsed how he was going to handle this, but by the time the driver pulled up in front of the Ritz-Carlton, he was second-guessing himself. And when he was ushered into the luxurious ballroom packed with celebrities, luminaries, and VIPs, he realized it was the fanciest building he’d ever been in.