His mind wandered to their parents, both gone now. It was just the two of them—well, actually, with Jim it was three of them. Soon to be four, with any luck. And it was his family, and he was bound and determined to do the right thing, no matter the cost.
Chapter 7
Yet another yawn escaped before Tamlyn could stop it as she sewed the final seam on one more costume.
“Man, I’ve never seen you yawn like this before,” Felicia said as she eyed Tamlyn from the far side of the studio.
Tamlyn stood and stretched. She hadn’t been on her feet much today, but her ankle was sore and she leaned against the sewing table and rotated her foot.
“I don’t think I ever have,” she said.
Felicia took the remaining pins from her mouth and stuck them back in the pincushion.
“Not sleeping well?”
Tamlyn rubbed the back of her neck and peered out the window toward the saloon—where the coffee was. She turned back toward Felicia and shrugged.
“As far as I can tell, I am. I went to bed regular time, got up early. I think I slept okay.”
“Hm,” Felicia said. “That’s weird, then. Maybe you need to get more exercise. Sleep more soundly.”
Tamlyn had given that some thought, actually, when she’d gotten up that morning. Before the accident, she’d been a runner—well, more like a jogger. She didn’t go fast enough to consider herself a runner, but she’d always enjoyed it. Being outside fed her spirit and made her feel much better. In the past few months, she hadn’t been out once. Not even to walk.
“Good point. But my ankle is bothering me again and I’ve tried to be really careful not to re-injure it.”
“Makes sense to me. That guy really ruined your life, didn’t he?”
Tamlyn stopped mid-step. Ruined her life? She’d never thought about it that way. She frowned as she sat back down at her sewing table.
“Ruined my life?” she asked as she leaned on the sewing table, her chin resting on her hand. “I don’t think so.”
“No? You were in a cast for two months, have a hard time walking now, can’t jog. I guess it depends on your version of ‘ruin’.”
“I guess so,” Tamlyn said slowly.
“I mean, you’ve been here what—several months, at least. Have you considered dating anybody? Do you go out with friends?”
“What does that have to do with the accident?” Tamlyn asked, a little annoyed.
“Well, I just mean you’ve been immobile, just at work and at home, you can’t jog, so...well, that’s all because of the accident. Weren’t you even mad at the guy?”
Tamlyn yawned again, and stretched.
“No. I wasn’t. In fact, I met with him before I left the hospital.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Felicia said, reaching for the steamer and running it over a dress made of calico.
“Right. And I forgave him. So no worries. I don’t think it ruined my life.”
“Yeah, you forgave him. But you did have a concussion and were on pain meds, right? Maybe feeling a little more warm and fuzzy than you normally would have.”
Tamlyn leaned against the wall, her arms folded as she looked over at Felicia, then out the window onto the Old Town. Felicia was fairly new to this set, but she and Tamlyn had worked together many times before on other shows. She knew Tamlyn pretty well, but was off base on this one.
“You know that’s how I roll. It was just an accident.”
Felicia pulled at the belt of the dress she was steaming, fluffing out the pleats to get a better angle. She glanced over at the table next to the little refrigerator that they shared.
“Uh-huh.”
Tamlyn’s stomach growled. She’d been so busy that she hadn’t even eaten lunch. It was late afternoon, but she had brought lunch. She’d just forgotten about it.
She walked over to the small refrigerator, took out the container of chicken salad she’d brought, and set it down on the counter, right next to the copy of the Riston newspaper that Felicia had brought in earlier that morning. She grabbed a fork and took off the top of the container, picking up the newspaper to read while she ate.
When she saw the headline, her mind went blank and all the air whooshed out of her lungs. She got so dizzy, she thought she’d faint, and she steadied herself against the counter. The lid to her container clattered to the ground.
“Tamlyn, are you all right?” Felicia rushed to her side and with her arm around Tamlyn’s waist, helped her to sit on the nearest chair. “What’s wrong? You’re white as a sheet.”
Felicia reached for a bottle of water from the fridge, opened it and handed it to Tamlyn.
Tamlyn took a big swig of the water, the back of her hand to her sweaty forehead.
What was that? Tamlyn had never felt quite like this. The closest was in the car the previous day when she’d had to pull over. She’d forgotten to eat millions of times in the past, but she’d never felt faint because of it.
“I don’t know,” she replied. “All of a sudden my heart started racing and I couldn’t see.”
Felicia looked from Tamlyn to the newspaper.
“Oh,” she said.
Something about the tone of her voice prickled Tamlyn. Her heartbeat had calmed and she’d caught her breath. She reached for the newspaper and her eyes widened at the headline.
Man To Be Sentenced Soon for Vehicular Assault
Tamlyn stared into the eyes of the man who’d run into her, his mug shot front and center in the newspaper. She couldn’t imagine it was front page news—it certainly wouldn’t have been anywhere else, but not a lot happened in Riston, apparently.
She skimmed the article, read her own name, and set the paper down slowly.
“Hm. Well, I guess he was pretty drunk when he hit me. Looks like he got the worst of it, though. Surgery, and the whole nine yards.”
Felicia shook her head as she handed Tamlyn her container of chicken salad.
“I don’t know. People like that deserve what they get, don’t you think? He’s the one who took it upon himself to put himself and you at risk. Look how much he’s upset you.”
Tamlyn slowly chewed her chicken salad. She looked down at the newspaper on her lap. She didn’t feel upset. She’d just felt faint for a minute, although that wasn’t something that happened to her very often. She was positive the two weren’t related.
“He was injured pretty badly. Besides, I already forgave him.”
Felicia paced in the small studio, her arms folded over her chest as she frowned.
“Yes, I know you did. But did he even apologize?”
They both turned as the door to the studio opened and Tamlyn stood, setting her chicken salad down to help whoever it was.
“Oh,” she said at the sight of Bradley, the coach from the middle school who’d brought the kids in the day before.
“Hi, Tamlyn,” he said as he held out a small gift bag in her direction, a bigger laundry bag under his arm.
“Hello, Bradley,” both she and Felicia said as Tamlyn stepped forward.
“What is this?” she asked, reaching for the bag.
“Well, I couldn’t exactly return clothes full of mud without a thank-you gift, could I? You really got me out of a spot yesterday and I wanted to thank you.”
“You really didn’t need to do that,” Tamlyn said as she sat down at the sewing table and Felicia reached for the bag of muddy clothes.
“No, it’s the least I can do. And the girls were thrilled to wear the costumes. In fact, this morning at drama camp, the whole crew decided to change Romeo and Juliet from its original setting to the frontier wild west. Can you even do that?”
Tamlyn and Felicia exchanged glances and laughed.
“I’ve seen stranger things than that done. That’s a cute idea.”
Bradley took off his baseball cap and ran his hand through his hair.
“I don’t know anything about this. This whole thing is really giving me a run for my money. This isn’t even my jo
b. I was just supposed to cover the field trip, but my sister’s not going to be able to come back and finish the drama camp.”
Tamlyn leaned back in her chair and listened while Bradley explained how he’d come to be in charge of the camp—and that he’d thought he was going to be on vacation by now.
“I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. Stephanie hadn’t gotten to the costumes yet, so I guess it doesn’t matter that they’ve changed to a frontier location,” he said with a laugh. “I’m starting from zero anyway.”
Tamlyn turned to Felicia when she cleared her throat. She was nodding toward the back room where they kept costumes for extras—and there were quite a few of them.
Tamlyn frowned, and then Felicia started wiggling her eyebrows. Felicia finally let out an exasperated sigh.
“We have a lot of period costumes that we’re not using right now, or won’t be until later. Things are a little slow right now. I’m sure Tamlyn could take some time off and help with costumes.
Tamlyn whipped her head around and glared at Felicia. She just smiled and shrugged, turning back to the costume she’d been steaming.
“Oh, I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Bradley said as he stood and headed toward the door.
Tamlyn didn’t know quite what to say. It hadn’t even crossed her mind about the costumes or helping, but Bradley was trying so hard to help his sister and was obviously out of his element. She supposed it was the least she could do to help.
She stood and glanced back at Felicia.
“I’d be happy to help. I’m sure Felicia can cover here part of the day and I can come help with the camp.
Bradley stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, his hopeful smile tenuous.
“Really? You’d do that?”
Tamlyn laughed and shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans.
“I guess so. Not sure exactly what I’m getting into, but I’m happy to try.”
Bradley put on the baseball cap he’d taken off when he’d come in the studio and let out a sigh.
“Wow. I don’t know how to thank you. The performance is less than two weeks away and I have no idea what I’m doing.”
Tamlyn laughed. “I’ve never done anything like this before, either, but hopefully we can make it work.”
They made arrangements to meet before class the following morning. Tamlyn knew where Riston Middle School was—she passed it every day on her way to work—and she shook Bradley’s hand before he headed out with one more grateful smile.
As the door closed behind him, she turned to Felicia with a glare.
“What was that about?”
Felicia laughed, taking the pins out of her mouth.
“I don’t know. He just seemed so pitifully in need of help, and you seem so pitifully in need of a social life. Or a distraction, at least.”
Tamlyn shook her head and wondered what she’d gotten herself into.
Chapter 8
The staff in the front office of Riston Middle School had given Tamlyn a map to the campus when she’d signed in as a volunteer, but Tamlyn didn’t need it. She’d had no trouble finding the multi-purpose room that Bradley had described.
The school was quiet, and as she walked through, she noticed that it was really clean and looked like the kids had a lot of school pride. She hadn’t been on many middle school campuses as an adult—well, none, really—but her memory of her middle school was a little different. It wasn’t her favorite time growing up, as she’d been bookish and not had much of a social life.
She shook off the memories and reached for the door, but it opened before she could grab it.
Kayla, the redhead, bounced out of the door, followed closely by her friend, Delanie.
“Coach Holbrook said you’d be coming.”
She was practically bouncing on her toes and her friend giggled.
“Thank you so much for letting us borrow your dresses. We really would have like to clean them, but Coach said not to.”
“No, I asked him to return them as is. They kind of need to be cleaned gently as they’re made of special fabric,” Tamlyn said as she followed the girls into the multi-purpose room.
“Well, thanks again. We liked them so much we decided to have our Romeo and Juliet be in pioneer time,” Delanie added as she grabbed Tamlyn’s hand and pulled her toward the stage.
“I heard,” Tamlyn said as she followed—not like she had a choice.
“No, no, try again,” Bradley said to two boys who were practicing their lines.
As she approached the stage, Bradley turned around and smiled, although it seemed a little pained to Tamlyn.
“Coach Holbrook, look who’s here,” Kayla said in a sing-song voice. “It’s Jasmine.”
Delanie tittered behind her and Tamlyn turned at them and shook her head.
“Not Jasmine, Tamlyn,” she said for the umpteenth time in her life. She’d always been flattered by the comparison, but somehow at the moment it seemed silly. Maybe it was just the way Bradley cocked his head and looked at her as they said it, but she looked down at her blue cowboy boots, nonetheless, to try to escape his gaze. And theirs.
“Thanks for coming, Tamlyn,” Bradley said as he pulled up a chair for her to sit down.
“You’re welcome. I’ve never been involved in a live production before. It’s interesting,” was all she could think of to say as she hoped Kayla and Delanie would move on.
And they did. The other kids sat in pairs or groups, practicing their lines. That she was used to, but the energy in the room was palpable—these kids were really into it.
“Take a break, guys,” he said to the two boys on stage, and they picked up their scripts and sat with JW, rehearsing.
Bradley sat down beside her and gestured to the bag she’d carried in.
“What do you need from me?” he asked as he leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
She opened the bag she’d brought and took out a notebook, a measuring tape and a sketchpad—tools of her trade. She opened the notebook and reached for a pencil.
“Well, I’m going to need to take measurements of the entire cast first of all. Before that, I’ll need a cast list—who’s playing what part. I read Romeo and Juliet over again last night so I’d be familiar with the roles.”
Bradley sat up and stared at her, a smile spreading over his face.
“Well, you’re way ahead of me, then. I just read it last night for the first time.”
Tamlyn’s eyes widened and she laughed.
“The first time? How could that be? You weren’t tortured with Romeo and Juliet in school like the rest of us?”
Bradley shook his head and laughed.
“Mercifully, no. I don’t know how, especially as I was a history major. Just lucky, I guess. It’s awful.”
Tamlyn fiddled with her measuring tape as she surveyed the room.
“It’s not one of my favorites, either. All that pain and despair.”
“Exactly. But I guess they all voted and it was unanimous. Shouldn’t surprise me. Kids this age love pain and despair—at least as long as it’s on the page. They’re highly emotional at this age.”
“And giggly,” Tamlyn added, glancing over at Kayla and Delanie.
Bradley nodded in agreement as he followed her gaze.
“Understatement of the century. Hopefully, we’ll both survive this. I sure appreciate your help. I feel less vulnerable, somehow.”
Tamlyn glanced at him to see if he was kidding—and it seemed he was. His brown eyes sparkled as he stood and whistled loudly, his fingers in his mouth.
“Old coach’s trick,” he whispered to Tamlyn as the kids gathered around and quieted.
“I think you all remember Miss...um...”
“Nelson,” she whispered.
“Miss Nelson,” he said as the kids nodded.
He went on to explain what she’d told him she would need, and they all smiled very politely.
“After Miss Nelson gets a cast list, she’ll call
on you individually, take measurements and talk to you about your costume. I expect polite, respectful behavior at all times.”
Kayla rolled her eyes and stood.
“When have we ever not been polite, Coach? Mrs. Melbon would have our hide if we weren’t. Besides, Miss Nelson is helping us. We’re grateful.”
Bradley raised his eyebrows and looked a bit relieved.
“Well, thank you, Kayla. We all appreciate it,” he said as he nodded in JW’s direction.
Tamlyn laughed at the look on the face of the student teacher. He looked like he was wound tight as a drum, expecting the worst, and his relief was almost palpable. Maybe this would be fun, after all.
“I have one question,” Tamlyn said. “I heard that you all had voted to change the setting of the play to pioneer days. And that sure works with me, because I have lots of costumes like that already. But I am curious—how do you deal with the noblemen and women of the time?”
A relatively tall young man in the back stood and cleared his throat.
“If I may, Coach?” he asked and Tamlyn was again struck by how polite they were. Or maybe it was a little more theatrical than that. They were, after all, drama kids.
“Sure, Sean. Go ahead,” Bradley said and nodded in his direction.
“We thought it would be interesting if they were leaders of the town. Jeremy, for example, plays Juliet’s father, and instead of being a wealthy business man in that time, he is the mayor of the pioneer town. The enemy clan is made up of ranchers surrounding the new town who aren’t our friends,” he said. “To put it mildly.”
He sat back down and most of the kids nodded in unison.
“Very clever,” Tamlyn said. “You have obviously given this a lot of thought.”
“And a lot of discussion. In fact, hours. You should be glad you missed it,” Bradley said quietly to her.
Tamlyn laughed and reached for her tape measure that she’d set on the seat behind her.
“All right, then. I know Sean’s role, but I need to know who everybody plays so we can begin.”
Kayla hopped to her feet. “I, of course, am Juliet,” she said as her friend beside her nodded vigorously and stood.
Teaching Tamlyn Page 4
