by Cindy Myers
She turned her back to her sister and Mindy began fumbling with the buttons. “I was watching the Hard Rock Miner competition.”
“What did you think?” Shelly asked.
“I don’t know whether I need a stiff drink or a cold shower. I mean, all those hot, muscular, sweaty guys.” She shuddered. “I could hardly stand to leave.”
“Who won?” Shelly fussed with the ruffles at the neckline of the 1890s women’s traveling costume.
“Jameso Clark. Man, is his wife one lucky woman. Why are all the good men taken?”
“They’re not all taken,” Shelly said. “You just aren’t looking in the right places. Have you seen my script anywhere?”
“Here it is.” Mindy handed her the blue folder that contained her copy of the script, with her lines highlighted and, in some cases, rewritten. “But don’t worry. You’re going to do great.”
“I wish I had your confidence.” She flipped through the marked-up pages. “Maybe I should run through the scene where—”
“All right, everyone. I need your attention!”
Cassie, dressed in a black silk dress she claimed had belonged to her great-grandmother, and a hat that featured what appeared to be most of a stuffed peacock pinned to the top, had climbed onto a box to address the company. “First, I want to thank you for all of your hard work,” she said, when most of the room had fallen silent and turned to face her. “Second, I want to ask you to remember to maintain the dignity and integrity of this presentation. We are not here merely to entertain the audience but to educate and inform them. I want everyone in this theater to leave tonight with a better understanding of and respect for the sacrifices that the founders of this town made on behalf of future generations.”
“If people wanted a history class, they’d go back to school,” Bob said from the back of the room, where he was overseeing the arrangement of the sets.
“I believe we’re going to have the best audience yet,” Cassie said, ignoring Bob. “The box office tells me they even had to turn people away.”
“Probably half of them are here to see Baby Shelly,” Bob said.
Most of the people around them turned to stare at Shelly, who flushed bright red. Mindy almost felt sorry for her sister. All that adulation and fame was wasted on someone who really didn’t like to be in the spotlight.
“Some of them may be here to see Shelly,” Cassie said. “And they will see her, in her role as Hattie Sanford, which I’m sure she’ll carry off wonderfully. And perhaps afterwards, we can allow a little time with her to the press and her fans. But only after the play is over.”
Shelly leaned close to whisper in Mindy’s ear. “I can’t do this,” she said.
Mindy frowned at her. “What are you talking about? Of course you can do this. You know all your lines, and even though you’re not a trained actress, like me, you do a good enough job for this crowd.”
Shelly shook her head. “I can’t go out there and put myself on display,” she said. “I know you don’t understand, but it’s just not me.” She began untying the strings that held the ruffle to her throat. “Undo my buttons.”
“Shelly, no! What about the play?”
Shelly turned and stuffed the ruffle into Mindy’s hand. “You do it. You know all the lines and you’ll fit into the costume.” She grabbed her sister’s hand and dragged her back into the mostly deserted dressing room.
“There isn’t time,” Mindy said, even as Shelly began to shimmy out of the half-unbuttoned dress.
“There’s time. It’s not as if they’ll start the play without you.” She handed Mindy the dress and started to work on the corset. “Help me and we’ll save time.”
Mindy hesitated, torn. “What are you waiting for?” Shelly asked, taking off the corset and thrusting it at Mindy as well. “You know you’re a better actor than I am. You’ll do a better job and you’ll have a lot more fun.”
Shelly was right. And obviously, she wasn’t going to change her mind. Unless she wanted to let down the whole acting company, not to mention the audience members who had bought tickets to the production, Mindy had to take the role. “All right.” She wrapped the corset around her torso. “Go ahead and cinch me up. And give me those combs in your hair.”
Twenty minutes later, just as Cassie stepped onto the stage to give her welcoming speech to the crowd, Mindy surveyed the results of her transformation in the mirror. “I wish I had more time to fool with my makeup,” she said.
“You’re supposed to be a schoolteacher. Plain makeup fits the part.”
“You’re right.” She turned and impulsively hugged Shelly, who had changed back into jeans and a polo shirt. “Are you going to be all right?”
“I’ll be fine.” Shelly patted her. “Now go on, take your place onstage. And break a leg.”
Shelly slipped out of the door leading backstage and let out a sigh of relief. A quick glimpse into the auditorium had shown her she’d made the right decision. Mindy would wow them all with her performance, and Shelly could remain hidden for a little longer.
She made her way down the hall that led to the front lobby, which was almost deserted now, too, as the play began. She’d almost made it to the door when a man stepped up and blocked her path. “Excuse me, but have you seen a pretty blonde, about five-six, big hair, short shorts? I don’t know what name she’s going by now, but someone pointed her out to me and told me she was Baby Shelly.”
“Who wants to know?” Shelly asked, her heart in her throat.
“I’m Greg Albright, with the Dallas Morning News. I was hoping to talk to her.”
“She . . . she’s in the play.” She pointed over her shoulder to the auditorium. “She’s playing the part of the schoolteacher.”
His face lit up. “Really?”
“Really. Just wait in the wings when the performance is finished and I’m sure she’ll be glad to talk to you.”
“I heard she didn’t care much for reporters.”
“Shelly? Oh, you definitely heard wrong. I know she’d love to talk to you.”
“Thanks.” He held out his hand. “I didn’t catch your name.”
“Oh, I’m nobody important. Go on, now. You don’t want to miss the play.”
She practically skipped out of the Opera House, and hurried down the street toward the lot where she’d left her car. By the time she’d dug out her keys, she was chuckling to herself. Would Greg Albright ever figure out the switch they’d pulled on him, or would he, like the Ladies’ Home Journal reporter so long ago, believe he’d spoken with the real Shelly—a vivacious, personable, fun-loving version who made a much better celebrity, after all, than the real thing.
“We ran out of goodies, so I decided to do some shopping,” Danielle told Lucille as she stepped into the T-shirt booth. “I’ve been coveting a pair of earrings from Olivia.”
“I’m sorry you missed her,” Lucille said. “She’s watching D. J. compete for the Hard Rock Miner title.”
“And you didn’t go?” She held a pair of beaded earrings up to her face and studied her reflection in the little mirror Olivia had hung on the side of the booth.
“I’ve seen it many times before. It’s exciting, but it’s more important for Olivia to be there now while I watch the shop.” Olivia had said at first she was too nervous to watch, but she’d been so distracted once the competitions started, Lucille had convinced her she’d be better off in the stands, cheering D. J. on.
“I’ve seen it before, too,” Danielle said. “But all those brawny guys showing off their muscles don’t have quite the same appeal for me.” She laid the earrings on the counter and looked around at the still-robust crowds cruising through the various booths. “It’s been a great crowd this year,” she said. “More visitors than we’ve had in a long time.”
“Yes, it’s good to see. Most of the businesses in town will head into winter in better shape than they were last year.”
“Spoken like a good mayor,” a man said.
Lucil
le blinked at the man who had stepped into the booth, then tried to maintain her composure, a surprisingly difficult feat, considering how close he was standing. He smelled good—like fresh laundry and leather. “Hello, Duke. What are you doing here? I thought you’d left town.”
“What if I said I’d come back for you?”
“I’d tell you I didn’t believe you.”
“You’re too smart. I had a quick job to do in Texas that, as it happens, brings me back here.”
“More to do with Gerald Pershing?” Danielle asked.
“No.” He glanced around the booth. “Have you seen Shelly Frazier?”
“She’s probably at the theater, getting ready for the Founders’ Pageant.” Movement over his shoulder caught her attention and she looked up to see a middle-aged couple enter the booth. They clung together, looking lost and uncertain. “May I help you?” she asked, moving around Duke toward them.
“This is Sandy and Danny Payton,” Duke said. “Shelly Frazier’s parents.”
Lucille saw the resemblance now; Sandy was an older version of Mindy, while Danny had Shelly’s blue eyes and slightly cleft chin. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said. She took Duke’s arm and pulled him farther into the booth. “What are you up to?” she whispered. “I had the impression that Shelly and her family don’t get along.”
“Don’t worry.” He patted her hand in a way that, from anyone else, might have struck her as condescending. “Everything is going to be all right.”
“Exactly the words Gerald Pershing used right before he swindled the town out of most of its money.”
“It really is going to be fine this time, at least with Shelly and her parents,” he said. “She asked me to contact them and bring them here. She’s decided it’s time to put their past differences to rest.”
Lucille relaxed and glanced at the couple, who were talking with Danielle and admiring a T-shirt Olivia had painted with columbines. “That’s good, then,” she said. “I hope everything works out well for them all.”
“You should think about doing the same,” he said.
“My parents have been gone a long time now,” she said. “And Olivia and I get along fine.”
“I meant putting the past behind you,” Duke said. “Don’t measure every man by Gerald Pershing and whoever else hurt you in the past. Some of us are better than that.”
“Yes, I believe that.” She met his gaze, steady and direct. “The trick is figuring out which ones. I’m still not sure about you, Duke.”
“All I’m asking for is a chance.”
She considered this, making him wait while she let the idea sit on the surface of her mind, allowing it to sink in. “Tell me something, then,” she said. “And I want the truth. Who sent you here to look for Gerald?”
“His son, Arthur.”
His answer didn’t make her any more comfortable with her situation. “Does he know about his father’s will?”
“He does.” Duke shifted his body more toward her, making an intimate angle that shielded them from everyone around them. “That’s another reason I came to Eureka. Arthur wanted me to check you out. To see what kind of person you are.”
“To find out if I’m a gold-digger, you mean.” She could say the words without flinching; it was probably what she would have done in Arthur’s shoes. “What did you tell him?”
He leaned closer still, his breath stirring the top of her hair when he spoke. “I told him you’re smart and honest and Gerald had used you badly. And that I thought you deserved whatever you could get from the old man.”
Her eyes widened a little at this. “What did he say?”
“You’d like Arthur. He grew up with his mother and stepfather and has no illusions about Gerald. And he’s a successful businessman in his own right. He doesn’t need his father’s money. He wanted the matter of Gerald’s whereabouts settled, so that he could move on. He’s happy for you to have the money.”
“Maybe I’d like to meet him. Someday.”
“I could arrange that. And it would give me another reason to see you again.” He smiled, the lines crinkling around his eyes and deepening alongside his mouth. “So, will you give me another chance?”
“The best answer I can give you is ‘maybe.’ ” Even as she said the words, her heart gave a little leap of anticipation. She was too old for these crazy emotional flights and dips. But was she really ready to spend the rest of her life so safe and so alone? She made a shooing motion with her hands, and caught a glimpse of Shelly’s parents over her shoulder. “Now go on over to the Opera House and say hello to Shelly. She’s probably been waiting for you.”
He took a step back, his eyes still locked to hers. “I’m leaving for now,” he said. “But I will be back. That’s a promise.”
Maggie, Jameso, and Angela watched the Founders’ Pageant from two balcony seats to one side of the stage. When Mindy stepped out and delivered her first line, the people in the audience who knew her gasped, realizing that a switch had been made. But most of the rest clapped and cheered, believing they were seeing an adult Baby Shelly, safe and sound at last.
“She’s really good,” Maggie said as the curtain came down on the first act.
“The play isn’t bad, either,” Jameso said. “Bob told me Mindy rewrote a lot of the dialogue to make it less stilted.”
“I’m amazed Cassie let her get away with it.”
“I don’t think she asked permission. She just did it.”
“That sounds like Mindy. But in this case, it definitely worked.”
Act Two was even better, with Mindy even teasing a rare smile from Cassie, and Doug’s speech dedicating the new town of Eureka bringing tears to a few eyes. At the end, the audience gave the cast a standing ovation.
“That was good,” Jameso said as they waited their turn to file down the stairs to the lobby. “But I miss the fireworks.”
“You’re the only one. Bob’s idea of a big finale last year practically set the building on fire.”
“Yeah, there is that.” He craned his neck to see ahead of them. “Why is it taking so long to get out of here?’
They discovered the answer when they finally reached the lobby and found Mindy holding court, a trio of reporters and two television cameramen arranged around her. As Maggie and Jameso inched around this roadblock, Mindy laughed, a delicate, rehearsed sound. “She’s in heaven in the spotlight,” Maggie whispered.
Outside the Opera House, the crowd thinned a little. Jameso shifted Angela to his other arm. “Where are you parked?” he asked.
“I left my car in the lot behind the Miner.”
“My truck is at the Dirty Sally. I guess we’ve got a bit of a walk, then.”
They hadn’t gone far, though, before Shelly hailed them. “Maggie! I’ve been looking for you.” She trotted up to them, cheeks flushed and a little breathless. “I’ve decided I want to do an interview with you. But just you. You can do whatever you like with the article, but I won’t tell my story to anyone else.”
“Really?” Maggie studied her face, trying to decipher the mix of both apprehension and elation she saw there. “What changed your mind?”
“I decided hiding from people was only feeding their desire to know more. I’m better off trying to manage the Baby Shelly phenomenon myself, on my own terms. We can talk about that at the interview, if you like, but first, I want you to meet someone.”
For the first time, Maggie noticed the couple who had been waiting a few steps away. Shelly grabbed the woman’s hand and pulled her forward. “Mom, this is Maggie Clark. She’s a reporter for the local paper and a friend of mine. This is her husband, Jameso, and her daughter, Angela. And this is my mom, Sandy Payton. And my dad, Danny Payton.”
“It’s so good to meet Shelly’s friends.” Sandy shook their hands.
“It sure is.” Danny shook their hands, too, pumping hard. “This sure is a nice little town y’all have here.”
“And a wonderful festival,” Sandy said. “Al
l those booths and everything.” She looped her arm through Shelly’s. “This would be a great place to have the anniversary celebration each year. We could make it a real party, and invite folks to come out and help us commemorate the anniversary of your rescue. And your birthday, or course.”
“Mom.” Shelly frowned, and Sandy blushed.
“I know, honey. You don’t want all that fuss. But I’ve spent so many years thinking about the best way to honor the day you came back to us—I can’t help wanting to celebrate.”
“We’ll talk about it later.” Shelly relaxed a little and patted her arm. “Right now, everyone is coming back to my house for dinner.”
“You may have to wait a while for Mindy,” Maggie said. “She’s holding what looks like a press conference in the lobby of the Opera House.”
Shelly laughed. “She’s probably having a blast. How was the play?”
“It was really good,” Maggie said. “Thanks to Mindy. She really is talented.”
“I thought you were supposed to play the schoolteacher,” Jameso said.
“I was. But at the last minute I realized Mindy was much better for the part.”
“So, do the reporters think she’s you?” Maggie asked.
“If they do, it’s not my fault. Say, have either of you seen Travis? I was trying to find him to invite him to dinner.”
“I saw him this morning,” Jameso said. “He said he was headed back to Dallas and a girl he hopes is still waiting for him there.”
“Should we go on into the theater and find Mindy?” Danny asked. “We could meet you there.”
“Sure, Dad,” Shelly said. “I’ll be in in just a minute.”
“Are you worried about how your life will change now that your secret is out?” Maggie asked Shelly when her parents had walked away.
“A little. I won’t like everything that happens because of this, but I realize I’ve spent too much time worrying about what could happen to enjoy everything that is happening right now. The past shapes us, but it doesn’t have to define us.”