The Sugarhouse Blues

by Mariah Stewart

  Apparently still in conversation with Giovanni, Allie waved an acknowledgment that she’d heard. Des walked back to the house, pondering the unexpected changes in her sister’s behavior. First there was her newly accepted sense of responsibility where the theater was concerned. Then there’d been her determined climb to the top of the scaffold, where she still sat, chatting away with Giovanni. As much as Des had hated to see the pain Allie’d gone through the night before, the experience seemed to have shaken something loose inside her. Whatever the reason, this new Allie was showing a side Des had once suspected might be there but had never seen.

  It might be a long shot, but she hoped the new Allie would stick around a little longer.

  * * *

  Early the next morning, Des and Cara set out to run together. Since Cara was already in shape and Des was in catch-up mode, they’d agreed Des would be free to stop anytime she needed to.

  “How can you keep on going in this heat?” Des gasped. “I can’t stand it.”

  “I just think about something else. I sing a song inside my head, or play a scene from a movie.” Cara had stopped to wait for Des.

  “Look at you. I’m gasping and you’re barely breathing hard. No fair.” They were in the park, Des leaning over the back of a bench.

  “What’s your favorite romantic movie?” Cara asked.

  “Pride and Prejudice.”

  “Which version?”

  “I like all of them.” Des took several long, deep breaths.

  “Well, just think of your favorite scene while you’re running. Makes the time go faster.”

  “Will it make my lungs feel better? Because time isn’t really the problem here.”

  Cara laughed and set out running again, and Des followed her for a few blocks before dropping off. She walked back to the house, her chest heaving the entire way.

  Her conversation with Cara came back to her on Saturday night.

  No one ever had made much of a fuss over her birthday, and that was okay with Des. Unless, of course, they were on the set of Des Does It All on her birthday, when her mother would make a big deal about it, bringing in a very fancy cake and ice cream and decorating the lounge with balloons and crepe paper streamers. Otherwise, nada. Des learned at an early age that her birthday wasn’t much of a special day, so her expectations had never been very high.

  Seth picked her up at seven, and they drove to Rose Hill and had dinner at the restaurant she’d once passed over in favor of Seth’s grilling steak. From there, they drove back to Hidden Falls. As they came through town, Des expected him to make the right onto Hudson Street to take her home, but instead, he made a U-turn in front of the theater.

  “Why are we here?”

  “I want to show you something.” He was at her door by the time she unfastened her seat belt. “Come on.”

  As he unlocked the theater door, she asked, “Where’d you get a key?”

  “Borrowed it from Barney.” He swung the door open and they went inside.

  “It’s really kind of spooky in here at night, in the dark.” She ran her hand along the wall, searching for the light switch. She found it and snapped it on. “Oh, so much better. What did you want to show me?”

  “Upstairs.” He took her hand, and they walked up the steps to the balcony level, then into the projection room.

  There, on the table, was the projector he’d taken home to tinker with.

  “You fixed it?”

  He nodded. “Took me longer than I thought, but it’s working.” He led her back out to the balcony, and to a seat in the first row. “I thought for your birthday, we’d have a private viewing of your favorite romantic movie.”

  “Wait, Pride and Prejudice?”

  “Yup.”

  “You talked to Cara. You had her ask.”

  He nodded.

  “And she was so clever in the way she did it.”

  “She’s a smart cookie, all right. I thought she was my best bet. Nikki couldn’t keep a secret. Allie would forget to call me back. Barney never knows where her phone is, so she’d never have gotten my message.”

  “That does pretty much sum up my family.”

  “I’ll be right back.” Seth disappeared into the projection room, then a moment later, Des heard the soft whine of the projector. Seth turned off the lights, then hurried back to sit next to her.

  He put his arm around her, and she snuggled in.

  “Ooh, I like this version. This was a TV miniseries in 2005. It’s a lovely movie.”

  “Shhh. I haven’t seen it.”

  “There’s a surprise.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It’s sort of a chick flick.”

  “Real men are not turned off by chick flicks.”

  Des giggled, he shushed her again, and they watched the film to the end.

  “That was the best birthday present ever.”

  “It wasn’t bad. That was some romantic line he laid on her there when he was proposing.”

  “Oh, you mean, ‘You have bewitched me, body and soul . . .’ ”

  “Yeah, that one. Jane Austen had a seriously romantic way of expressing herself.”

  She got out of her seat and sat on his lap. “Jane Austen didn’t write that line. It never appeared in the book. They wrote it for the movie.” She kissed him, thinking tonight she’d have that chance to make out with a hot guy in a movie theater she never had when she was a teenager. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

  “Ah, Des, I think you might want to . . .” He was attempting to sit up when all the lights in the theater came on.

  “Surprise!” came the cry from below.

  Des peered over the balcony railing. There stood her family and the friends she’d made here. Cara and Joe, Allie, Barney, Nikki and Mark, his sister and two of her niece’s friends, Barney’s friend Tom, Ben, and Seth’s sister, Amy. Was it her imagination, or were Allie and Ben deliberately not looking in the other’s direction?

  “Oh! Look at you all down there!” She turned back to Seth. “You planned this?”

  “I did.” He looked enormously proud of himself. “Obviously I didn’t have a lot of time for planning, but next year, I’ll be ready.”

  “It’s perfect. You couldn’t possibly top this.” She kissed him again. “You are the best guy. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Now let’s go downstairs and take a look at your present.”

  “My present?” She made a face. “I just had my present. The movie . . .”

  “That was a private showing. And it was good. Can’t say it was my favorite film of all time, but I didn’t mind it. But you have to admit, there was something missing.”

  “What?”

  “What’s one of the things you most look forward to when you go to see a movie in a theater?”

  She thought about it for a moment, was about to give up, when she smelled it.

  “Popcorn! I smell popcorn.” She jumped up and ran down the steps, hugging people as she joined them on the first floor. “Where is it?”

  A laughing Cara directed her toward the lobby.

  “OMG, as Nikki would say, you had the machine fixed!”

  “Ah, no, Des. You wouldn’t have wanted to eat anything that came out of that old machine. Bugs, mouse nests . . . not healthy.” Seth walked over and tapped the top of the stainless steel and glass machine where the corn was popping into a white mound. “This is new, commercial grade. I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone. Birthday gift, grand opening night gift.”

  “I love it.” Des all but danced around it.

  Seth handed her a box. “Here. Serve your hungry guests so we can get on with the show.”

  “We already saw the movie.”

  “That was just for you. The next one has—how shall I put this?—a more universal appeal.”

  “I can hardly wait.” She scooped up popcorn and passed it around until everyone had a box.

  “There’s water here in a cooler,” B
arney announced. “No soda—no machine set up yet—but water’s better for you anyway. Take a bottle and run up to the balcony and get your seats.”

  Five minutes later, everyone had a seat, a bottle of water, and a large box of popcorn, and happy chatter surrounded her.

  Des sat with her feet up on the balcony railing the way she figured she would have done had she grown up coming to this theater—and she wished with all her heart that she’d been given the chance to have done that. How much more fun would those childhood favorite movies have been if she’d watched them here, with her dad, her sister, a younger Barney.

  She realized with a start she hadn’t included her mother in that happy scene. In an instant, Des was overcome with sadness. She missed what her mother could have been. She missed her father. He was a scoundrel, she’d no doubt of that, but that was who he was, and she’d loved him. Sitting here, in a seat he might have sat in at one time, in the theater her family had built and where Fritz’d graced the stage so many times in any number of plays, she felt generations of other Hudsons surrounding them. And here in this place where her parents had met, she understood that whether Fritz and Nora had loved each other was not an issue. Allie and Seth had both been right about that. Whatever it was, good or bad, had been between Fritz and Nora.

  Of course, she’d thought her father was crazy when Pete Wheeler called her and Allie to his office to discuss the terms of Fritz’s will. Little did they know how their lives were about to change after that afternoon. As crazy as she’d thought the idea at the time, coming to Hidden Falls was the best thing that had ever happened to her. She’d discovered a sister she never knew she had, and an aunt who’d become more dear to her than she could say. And she’d found Seth, a man who was not only her best friend, but had turned out to be a whole lot more.

  Des knew that she and Allie still had things to work out, but there were times these past few months when they’d been closer than they’d ever been, except maybe the time before Des had been cast in Des Does It All. She’d come to love and appreciate her family and their accomplishments, their generosity of both spirit and resources, those who’d come before her, and those she shared a home with. The grand house on Hudson Street was a home, in the truest sense of the word, for all of them. Des was happier than she’d ever been in her life.

  She looked around in the dark, waiting for the movie to start. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she knew she’d love every minute of it, because it was planned by a truly wonderful guy who had put so much thought into making this a birthday she’d never forget.

  Bewitched. The line from the movie played over and over in her head. Right at that moment, Des felt as much bewitched by Seth as Mr. Darcy had been by Elizabeth. She mused over the possibility of that single word as a small tattoo gracing somewhere on her back, or maybe her arm. It could happen.

  It was hands down the best birthday of her life.

  Seth returned to his seat and put his arm around her, entangled one of her curls with his finger, and Des smiled in the dark.

  Definitely bewitched.

  The familiar theme song began to play, and she clapped her hands and whooped out loud when she realized what movie he’d selected. Her all-time favorite.

  The original Ghostbusters.

  Best. Birthday. Ever.

  Don’t miss book three of the Hudson Sisters series

  THE GOODBYE CAFÉ

  BY MARIAH STEWART

  Available Spring 2019 from Gallery Books!

  Allie Hudson Monroe’s life—and her daughter’s—is in California, and she cannot wait for the day when the renovations on the Sugarhouse Theater are completed so she can collect the inheritance from her father and leave Hidden Falls, Pennsylvania. But fate has a curveball or two to toss in Allie’s direction—she just doesn’t know it yet.

  GALLERY READERS GROUP GUIDE

  THE SUGARHOUSE BLUES

  BY MARIAH STEWART

  This readers group guide for The Sugarhouse Blues includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.

  INTRODUCTION

  In Mariah Stewart’s second novel in the Hudson Sisters series, readers find Allie, Des, and Cara back in Hidden Falls as they continue their work restoring the local Sugarhouse Theater. The women reluctantly band together to take on their father’s challenge—all with the goal of completing the restoration and gaining their inheritances—but soon it becomes apparent that the work will be more extensive than they originally thought. Des, elected to handle the money, needs to find ways to stretch the remaining savings while searching for new sources of funding, with the aid of the town’s local residents.

  As the Hudson sisters spend more time in their hometown, they must try to come to terms with the father they only thought they knew and find a way to welcome new friends and embrace the truth of sisterhood.

  TOPICS AND QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  1. Discuss the title The Sugarhouse Blues. Why do you think Mariah Stewart selected this title, which follows the first book in the series, The Last Chance Matinee? Given that we know the series is about the sisters rebuilding and renovating the Sugarhouse Theater, what do you think the “blues” in the title represent?

  2. The book follows the sisters through the next stage of the restoration. Consider where the three women stand in light of the unexpected delays in repairs due to new water damage to the roof and other surprise expenses. Which, if any, of the sisters seems most comfortable with the idea of staying in Hidden Falls longer? Do you expect any of them to remain in the town after the restoration is complete? Why or why not?

  3. Allie tries her best to hide her drinking from her family members. By the book’s end, do you feel she or her sisters have properly addressed her drinking habits? What would you do in this situation if she were a friend or family member? Discuss the ways in which your group believes Allie’s drinking may factor into the next and final book in the series.

  4. Des views the time spent on the restoration in Hidden Falls as an opportunity for her to reconnect with her sisters. Discuss the different distances between Des and her sisters. By the book’s end, do you think she has succeeded in reconnecting with Allie? Does she foster a sisterlike relationship with Cara? Discuss your own family relationships. Are there any wounds in your own families that need to be healed?

  5. “But I agree that a change might be a good thing. Maybe if we could get her to change her surroundings a little, we could help her to move on in other ways.” Does Des’s comment about her aunt Barney apply to the other characters in the book? Which characters need to move on, physically or mentally, from their pasts? Do you think any of the characters seem to be stuck in old routines or in the past? Why or why not?

  6. Cara finally shares with her sisters the box of letters that she found in The Last Chance Matinee. How do Allie, Cara, and Des differ in their reactions to the letters? Discuss Allie’s reaction on page 250 and her view of her parents’ relationship. Can you relate to one of the sisters more than another in this moment? How would you react to discovering news of one of your parent’s infidelities or extramarital affairs?

  7. In Chapter 8, Des and Allie have a very tense moment discussing their experiences as actresses on the same television show. Given the recent headlines and current events between men and women in Hollywood, are you surprised Des kept so many secrets from her family for this long? Allie also mentions that she should have known based on Brandon’s history. Do you think she should have intervened then? As a group, discuss how you might handle being in a similar position. How do you lend support when a friend or family member has such a traumatic ordeal? In what ways do you react?

  8. There are a lot of secrets in the family that resurface in this series. Discuss what sort of secrets you may have found out
about later within your own families. Do you have any long-lost family members or interesting family histories, like a great-great-grandfather who built a historic theater, by any chance? What family history has been shared with you, and what will you share with your children?

  9. The topic of childhood labor, including that of child actors, is oftentimes a difficult one for people to discuss. How do you think Des’s and Allie’s time in Hollywood shaped their lives? How is this sort of work different from what some children may experience working in factories? Would you ever consider bringing your child in for a casting call? Were you or any of your family members made to work, either in the family business or otherwise, at a young age? Discuss the differences between work like Des’s and Allie’s versus your own childhood experience.

  10. As a single mother, Allie admits that most of her time spent with Nikki was just the two of them. Do you think she is an overprotective parent? How does Allie finally find a way to let Nikki get comfortable in her life in Hidden Falls?

  11. In the book, Des puts up many boundaries around men. Discuss how she comes to terms with her feelings for Seth and how she moves past her early opinions of him. Discuss the issues of judgment between the characters and how this contributes to many of the characters’ decisions in the book. Do you think Des rejected the possibility of being with Seth because she, or someone else, judged him?

  12. The book closes with Des’s birthday and a special movie screening in the theater. As a group, make some predictions about how Mariah Stewart will end the series. Do you think the sisters will all stay in Hidden Falls after the restoration? Who do you think will leave to return home? Of all the couples, which do you think stand a chance to start a serious relationship? Are there any other cliffhangers that you hope to see resolved?

  ENHANCE YOUR BOOK CLUB

  1. Bring a copy of Mariah Stewart’s first novel in the Hudson Sisters series, The Last Chance Matinee, to your book group’s meeting. Are there any passages you or your fellow members may have highlighted that you want to revisit?