by Amie Denman
“We never have time to goof off in the summer,” Evie said. “We could take a quick walk downtown and look at the cute shops.”
They crossed the street running parallel to the waterfront. A large plaza with a fountain and planters provided an outdoor venue for summer concerts. Beyond that, a boulevard divided the main street downtown. Augusta’s bakery was just around the corner, and numerous boutiques and restaurants filled the street-level floors of the historic buildings. Colorful planters overflowing with flowers and elegant awnings gave downtown Bayside an upscale vibe.
June stopped in front of a business, obviously closed, with brown paper covering the tall windows facing the street.
“What used to be here?” June asked, something about the shop triggering a memory.
“The dance studio,” Evie said. “Your old instructor from when you were a kid finally retired. She’s moving to Florida. Mom told me about it.”
June faced the empty windows and found a small space uncovered by brown paper. She peered in, leaving a smudge on the glass. It looked just like she remembered. Open floor space for dancing, mirrors along one wall. She pictured herself in her favorite dance clothes lining up with the other girls. Her life in a nutshell.
“It’s available for lease,” she said aloud.
“Uh-huh,” Evie said. “I bet it’ll end up being a bar or a microbrewery. A few of those have already gone in downtown and I hear they’re doing well.”
“A bar in my old dance studio?”
“You haven’t been inside there in almost ten years,” Evie said. “Who knows what it’s like now?”
“Looks the same,” June said, still straining to see inside.
“Okay,” Evie said, glancing at the time on her cell phone. “We should head back to the dock so we don’t miss the ferry.”
June pulled her phone from her purse and took a picture of the front of the store.
“Are you getting sentimental?” Evie asked.
“No. I’m taking a picture of the Realtor’s number.”
Evie crossed her arms over her chest and looked at her sister as if seeing her for the first time. June shrugged and started to walk away, then glanced back at the building.
As she and Evie walked along the sidewalk back toward the ferry docks, her phone rang.
“Hi, Mel,” she said, checking the caller ID before she swiped the phone to answer.
Evie shot her a grin.
“I hope you don’t mind having your cover blown,” Mel said, “but Augusta told me about the cake you ordered Ross.”
June’s shoulders sank. So much for not disappointing Mel.
“I was walking by her bakery on the midway and she called me in to check Ross’s age,” Mel continued. “She had sixth birthday written on the order form, but she thought Ross looked too tall and it must be his seventh.”
“He is tall,” June said, finding her voice. “Takes after you.”
“Anyway, I just wanted to say it’s really nice of you to have a little party for him at the day care.”
“He’s a great kid,” she said, unwilling to tell Mel over the phone that her plans had changed.
“My parents are having dinner and cake on Sunday night at their house. It’s the day before his birthday, but it works better having it on a Sunday with my crazy work schedule,” he said.
June could hear the excitement in Mel’s voice. He spoke a little fast as if he was speed-walking and talking at the same time. Maybe he was. He could be dashing off to fix a ride for all she knew.
“Anyway,” he continued. “I wondered if you’d like to come to the party Sunday night.”
“Sunday night?”
Evie shot her a look as they lined up for the ferry.
“Yes,” Mel said. “Dinnertime.”
“I’m just getting on the ferry,” June said. “I’ll talk with you when I get back to the Point.”
Evie shoulder-hugged her sister and steered her toward a bench seat on the front of the ferry.
“Maybe it’ll all work out,” Evie said.
June sighed. “I have no idea how.”
“We’ll be back in plenty of time for the parade,” Evie said. “I’ll bet that will cheer you up.”
* * *
FOUR O’CLOCK ON a Friday afternoon and the Fates were against him. No stage lights in the Starlight Saloon, and the clock was ticking on the five o’clock show. Megan, the theater manager and second in command, sounded panicked on the phone, so Mel called the hotel day care and told them he’d be late. They were used to it.
Mel had no idea where June was. Something sounded off when he’d talked with her just after lunch. Maybe she was disappointed he’d found out about her surprise party for Ross. He’d caught a glimpse of her when the parade went by. Mel made it a habit to be somewhere on the parade route every day so he could wave to his son. It was their game, and Ross watched for him all along the route.
“Thanks for coming here so fast,” Megan said as she met him at the back entrance. “I flipped on the lights, there was a popping sound and then nothing.”
She followed Mel to the breaker panel.
“Do you think I should cancel the next show?” she asked, sounding breathless.
Mel put down his toolbox, grabbed a chair from a stack by the back wall and placed the chair in front of Megan.
“Sit,” he said. “Take a break while I look at the box. Might be just a breaker.”
Megan eased herself onto the chair.
“How much longer?” Mel asked.
“I’m due in three weeks,” she said.
“And you’re still on your feet all day?”
Megan laughed. “I can’t see or feel my feet, so it’s not so bad.”
Mel flipped a switch in the panel and the lights came on.
“Oh,” Megan breathed. “Thank goodness.”
“I wonder what tripped the breaker in the first place,” Mel asked. “I’m going to check a few things while you remain in that chair where I can find you if I need you. Give me five minutes and I can tell you whether or not I’d cancel the show.”
Mel followed the path of a group of wires, checking for heat in the walls or power-hungry things plugged into the line that had overloaded. He was on the other side of a flimsy partition wall when he heard Megan talking to someone.
June.
“Mel has it fixed already.” He heard the relief in Megan’s voice.
“He’s a lifesaver,” June said.
“So, are you excited about your callback?”
Callback? June hadn’t mentioned that.
“Very. It’s the break I’ve been waiting for. My agent said there were only three performers called back for this role, so my chances are decent.”
“When do you leave?” Megan asked.
June was leaving?
There was a pause. Mel didn’t move. It was wrong, crouching and eavesdropping, but he had to hear the answer.
“Sunday,” June said. She didn’t sound happy...did she? “The audition is Monday.”
Monday. Ross’s birthday. The day she was supposedly throwing him a surprise party.
Mel dropped his flashlight and it knocked against the wall before landing on his foot. He cursed.
“Is Mel still here?” June asked.
He didn’t hear a response. Megan was probably nodding and pointing, unaware that he and June had things to clear up. At least they did now.
He heard footsteps and didn’t have to look up to know the quick, light steps were June’s, not Megan’s.
“Hi,” she said.
Mel picked up his flashlight and shoved it in his tool holster. He should make this easy on her. Just tell her he overheard the conversation and wish her good luck on her audition.
Have a nice life.
“You heard,” she said.
Mel nodded. He ran his hand down the length of the wall and checked the electrical outlet near the eye-level light switch.
“What are you doing?” June asked.
“Just checking things.” It was baloney. He was stalling and avoiding eye contact. Avoiding the inevitability of June’s departure. Something she had never lied about.
So why did it feel like a betrayal?
“I’m sorry I’ll miss Ross’s party,” June said quietly. “Both of them.”
“That’s all right. He’s used to having just me and his grandparents.”
He wanted to add that the boy’s own mother had missed his last three birthdays. Ross had experience being chosen last by the women in his life. But never by his dad. Ross was Mel’s first priority. Always. And that was why this summer whatever-it-was with June had to end. Now.
“I didn’t have a choice on audition times,” June said. She followed him along the wall and stood too close.
Mel risked eye contact and saw tears glisten in her eyes, even in the dim light of the backstage area. He hated seeing June’s tears. Wanted to kiss them away. But he was already in too deep. She was leaving. She’d have to dry her own tears in the big city and she might as well start now.
“Speaking of time,” he said, “Megan’s waiting to find out if it’s okay to run this show.”
“I don’t care about the show right now,” June said, her voice trembling.
“Yes, you do. It’s always about the show with you.”
June drew in a sharp breath and flushed. “That’s rotten. You’re being rotten.” Tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. “I never promised you anything. I told you from the start—”
“I know. You’re not staying past summer.” Mel flipped the light switch off and on. He looked at the overhead lights for no reason except to change his focus.
He stalked back to the electrical panel. Megan was no longer sitting on the chair, and he didn’t care how much of their conversation she might have overheard.
“Would you listen to me?” June asked, following him.
“Why?” Mel said, turning to her, arms crossed over his chest. “So you can tell me how great the city is, how that’s where you have to go to pursue your big dream?” He swallowed, anger making his chest tight. “I’ve heard all that before.”
The color drained from June’s face. She stared at him for five seconds. Ten seconds.
He’d gone too far.
“Are you kidding me,” she said, her voice low like the rumbling of a distant train. “Are you actually comparing me to your ex-wife?”
He swallowed again. “That’s not what I said.”
June advanced on him and put one finger on his chest. “It’s what you meant. How dare you. How dare you make me feel guilty for doing something I’ve always said I would? Always wanted. I’m not your ex-wife walking out on you. Walking out on our son.” She took her finger off his chest and pointed it at him. “If you can’t tell the difference, maybe it’s a good thing I’m leaving.”
“I looked it up,” Mel blurted out. “The end of Pippin.”
June’s expression turned from fury to confusion.
“You never finished telling me what the main character found out in the end. That he searched the world and discovered what he really wanted was right at home where he started.”
Mel waited for June to say something. He watched her swallow. Bite her lip.
“But I guess that’s not everyone’s idea of a happy ending,” Mel said, his voice flat with defeat.
He had been a fool for thinking it was.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
JUNE STOOD ALONE on the stage. The director of White Christmas waited in the first row of seats and June’s agent sat several rows back, watching.
“Sing ‘Count Your Blessings,’” the director said. “And then we’ll have you sing ‘Sisters’ with the girls who got called back for the main part.”
The sound technician turned on the music and June counted, waiting out the introduction. It was a piece she knew by heart.
Last night, as she lay awake in the apartment she shared with Cassie, she thought about her blessings. She opened her eyes and watched the city lights dapple her bedroom ceiling. She closed her eyes and saw the lights of Starlight Point. Her sister’s blond hair as she walked down the midway in the sunshine. Her brother’s hopeful expression as he watched the front gates open. Even her mother with her dog sleeping in the wagon.
Starlight Point used to seem like a curse instead of a blessing, but this summer had reinvented June’s opinion of her childhood home and family livelihood.
When she’d closed her eyes and counted her blessings last night, she also saw the faces of Ross and the other children as they danced with happy disregard for style and rules. Who knew teaching children to dance could be so much fun? She thought about Ross’s birthday party that was probably going on right at that moment. She hoped they would dance. At least a conga line.
Most of all, when she counted her blessings she saw Mel’s smile. His blue uniform. Disheveled hair. Eyes, hands, lips.
Long ago, a music coach had told her to think of someone she loved and sing to that person. Sing as if the song were only for that person’s ears.
As June auditioned for the part of a lifetime, she smiled and let images of Mel roll through her mind like a film reel. He could be as angry and unreasonable as he wanted, but she knew why he’d reacted as he did when the reality of her leaving hit him.
He was in love with her. There was no other reason. It wasn’t about his ex-wife. It wasn’t even about this show. It was about love.
She poured all her love for Mel into her audition song, hoping for one of two things. It would burn clean through and leave nothing, or it would light her way.
When June finished singing and dancing to the satisfaction of the director and his staff, her agent signaled for her to meet him backstage.
“I think you’ll get it,” he whispered. Harold Summit had been June’s agent for three years and she’d never seen him so excited. “You should stay in New York, to be here when they deliver the news.”
“You can call me with the news,” she said. “Like I told you, I’m staying back home until rehearsals start, assuming I get the part.”
“If you get this lead, you may need to come back a week or two before the rest of the cast.”
June kissed her agent on the cheek. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”
Harold frowned. “Plenty more to do,” he said.
June smiled. “I have no plans to slow down. Call me when you get an answer, and we’ll talk about the future.”
* * *
MEL COULDN’T BELIEVE his son was six years old. He remembered the hot July day Ross was born and put into his arms for the first time.
“Do you want to do the honors?” Virginia asked. She handed him a lighter. “Or we could let your son play with fire. Kids love that, and it’s his birthday.”
Mel grabbed the lighter. “I’ve got this.”
Augusta had delivered the large sheet cake just in time for the party and she stood by wearing a pink apron, ready to cut and serve. Jack, dressed in a business suit and Starlight Point name tag, leaned against one wall. Mel couldn’t tell if his friend’s eyes were on his relatively new wife or the cake. Either way, Ross would be happy Uncle Jack was there.
Mel leaned over his son and lit all six candles. “Make a wish,” he said. “But it can’t be a puppy.”
Ross’s shoulders fell and he frowned. “Kitten?”
Mel ruffled his son’s hair. “How about something without fur?”
“A fish!”
“Now that,” Mel said, “is a wish that m
ight come true.”
Mel remembered Ross’s birthday wish two years ago. At a nice dinner at his grandparents’ house, Ross wished aloud for his mother to come home. Mel swore he could hear his own heart breaking for his son. At least that hadn’t happened again last year. The poor kid had given up false hope at a tender, young age.
A shadow blurred in the door and Mel glanced up. Of course he knew June wasn’t coming to the party. She was probably wowing some director in New York City right now. Starlight Point wasn’t enough for her. He wasn’t enough for her.
Maybe he should take a lesson from Ross about false hope. Especially after the way he’d left things with June.
Virginia led the group singing an off-key but enthusiastic “Happy Birthday.” Augusta and Jack joined in, and Evie slid through the door just in time for the final notes. She held a wrapped gift with a large red bow.
The Hamiltons were practically family and they were all there for his son’s party. Except one.
“This is from June,” Evie said. She handed the gift to Mel. “I don’t know if you want Ross to open it now or later.”
Mel took the package. Judging from the shape and size, it was a book of some kind. Probably an atlas of all the places you can go that aren’t here.
“She wanted to be here,” Evie said quietly, so only Mel could hear. There were at least a dozen kids helping Ross make a dent in the cake and ice cream. They wore party hats and kicked balloons around the floor as they dodged streamers hanging from the ceiling. Mel made a mental note to stop by later and help clean up. The day-care teachers already put in long days, and he preferred to stay on their good side.
He turned to Evie. “If she wanted to be here, she’d be here.”
“Not fair,” Evie said, shaking her head.
Mel shrugged.
Evie elbowed him. “I remember my sixth birthday. You and Jack threw water balloons at my girlfriends and wrecked my princess party.”
Mel grinned. “You were just mad that I got your new cash register wet.”
“Best birthday present I ever got. The drawer rang every time you opened it.”
