by Liz Isaacson
Almost all the women sat in the seats facing the small stage, except for a group of five women—and Simone was one of them. She wore the excitement right on her face, and she met Micah’s eye as he went up the few steps to the stage.
“Pair up,” Susan said. “We don’t care with who. We’ll run it a pair at a time, and I might have you go again with someone different.” She stepped off the stage and sat in the first row, a clipboard in her hand.
Micah stepped to Simone’s side and said, “Will you be my partner?”
She didn’t answer, but Micah heard her silent yes. “And do you think Susan knows this is just community theater? Not Broadway?” He chuckled, glad when Simone smiled too.
“Is the pastor coming?” Susan said, standing up and looking back to the door.
“You need these for the scene,” Chandler said, handing Micah a form. He looked at it, his heart pulsing around in his chest. It was a blank application for a marriage license. He looked from it to Simone, who hadn’t seemed to notice Chandler handing anything out.
“Who did you pick for the pastor?” Susan asked Chandler as he joined her on the floor.
“Uh, Jason,” he said. “And the actual pastor.”
“Well, where is he?”
“His phone rang right when we were coming in.” Chandler sat down. “Let’s start with Jason as the pastor, and Chris with whoever he’s partnering with.”
Chris and Jason stepped forward, along with a woman named Tasha Pike. They said the lines effortlessly, complete with facial expressions and hints of humor, as they filled out the paperwork, handed it to Jason and then faced him.
He gave his few lines about love and marriage and forever, and then he married Adelaide and Jack right there on stage, like a real pastor. Micah was enthralled with their performances, and he wondered why anyone would need to go next.
Chris and Tasha kissed, and the entire crowd—Micah included—whooped and hollered as if they’d really gotten married. He looked at Susan and Chandler, and they sat with stone masks on their faces, both of them writing something on their very official clipboards.
Chris and Tasha came down the steps and found seats in the audience, and still notes were being made.
“Jerry and Ruth,” Susan called a few moments later. The chatter that had broken out quieted, and the scene got acted again.
Once again, Micah thought he was way out of his league here. He was glad he hadn’t had to go first, that was for sure, and he hoped he could be half as charming as Jerry was. Another I do, another pronunciation of man and wife, another kiss, and he hollered as the couple “got married.”
Simone reached over and put her hand in Micah’s, and he glanced at her. “I’m going to mess it up for you,” he said. “You should audition with someone else.”
She merely shook her head, and Chandler stood up. “Is Scott back?”
“Right here,” he said from the back of the room.
“You’re up,” Chandler said. “With Micah and Simone.”
Micah’s hands broke out into a sweat, and he wiped them down his jeans as he stood up with Simone and followed her up the steps to the fake altar. He practically crushed the paper in his fingers, his muscles clenched tight too.
“If you’re not going to fill that thing out, I will,” Simone said, delivering the first line of the scene with flawless precision.
“I’ve got it, sweetheart,” he said, adding his cowboy drawl to the sentence as he picked up the pen and put his name on the certificate. “You’ve been waiting a long time for this.”
Simone linked her arm through his. “So have you.”
He wrote her name too, wondering if he should’ve used the characters they were playing. It didn’t matter; this wasn’t real. He could’ve scribbled on it and it would’ve been fine. “It’s been a long road home,” Micah said, glancing at the script for his next line. He couldn’t find it. “That’s for sure. There’s been ups and downs.”
He knew that line wasn’t right, but Simone didn’t miss a beat. She reached out and pointed to the script, as if it was a line on the certificate. “Right there, dear. My birthday is March sixth.”
But Micah knew her birthday was in November. He smiled, remembering what he was doing right now. The audition. “That’s right. Coming up.” He looked at her. “And we’ll be married tonight.”
She sighed, the look on her face made of absolute bliss. “Finally.”
Micah signed the paper and handed the pen to Simone. “Just sign it right there, sweetheart, and let’s not keep this preacher waiting any longer.”
Simone signed the paper and handed it to Scott, who barely had to act to play the part. He beamed at Simone and Micah as if they were really getting married. “You two are simply perfect together. Never forget that you care about each other. It’s not weakness to admit our love and concern for another human being.”
He continued his short speech, and Micah reached for Simone’s hand, something none of the other couples had done. She said “I do,” when it was her turn, and Micah said, “I absolutely do,” when it was his.
He could hear the chuckles behind him, and he hoped Jack was meant to be a cowboy with flair.
“Then I pronounce you man and wife,” Scott said. “You may kiss your bride.”
Micah turned toward Simone, a smile covering his whole face. He took her into his arms and dipped her all the way down, causing a squeal to come from her mouth.
The crowd positively erupted, and Micah laughed just before he kissed her, this fake wife of his in an audition.
And what a kiss it was.
When he lifted her up, they were both laughing, and everyone in the audience had stood. Even Chandler had a smile on his face as he wrote on his clipboard.
“Too bad,” Micah said. “We still didn’t crack Susan.” Then he led his “wife” off the stage and back to their seats.
Chapter Eight
Simone felt like she was floating on clouds as she left the theater. She’d been smiling for the past hour as the men auditioned for the roles in A Long Way Home. She’d done the marriage scene with Micah and then Cory, and she felt like she had a real shot of landing the lead.
“That was amazing,” she said once she and Micah had said goodbye to everyone and were approaching his truck. A laugh filled her chest and came out of her throat, and Simone could not hold it back.
“You were great,” Micah said, reaching for her hand.
Simone looked at him, wondering when this had become her life. “Did you know I did theater in high school?”
Micah shook his head. “No, ma’am, I did not.”
“I was nothing special,” she said, thinking of how Daddy and Gran and her sisters had come to see her in every performance. At least one of them came each night. “I was in the ensemble for Grease. It was fun.”
“Just Grease?” He unlocked his truck and walked her around to the passenger side. “You just did the one play?”
“Yeah,” she said, pausing in the doorway. “I was a sophomore, and Evelyn was graduating, and Callie had started doing a lot on the ranch. It was…a lot for them to support me.”
Micah cocked his head. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Simone didn’t either, and she shrugged as she got in his truck. He closed the door behind her and circled the truck. “Ice cream?”
“Yes,” she said. “I want some of that raspberry sherbet from Mom and Popsicle.”
“You got it.” Micah put the truck in gear and pulled out of the parking lot. “Was your family too busy for you to perform in your piano recitals too?”
Simone sucked in a breath and whipped her attention to Micah. “I mean…what?”
Micah glanced over at her. “You told me that last time we dated. That you wouldn’t tell them about your piano recitals because you were worried they’d be overwhelmed with everything.”
Simone folded her arms and let her annoyance at the perfection of his luxury vehicle bother her. “Didn’t you e
ver feel that way? That you were the last child, and everyone older than you was bothered by your mere existence?”
“Simone,” he said, his voice very serious and very low. “Is that really what you thought?”
“Sometimes I still do,” she murmured to her faint reflection in the window.
“Sweetheart.” Micah reached over and tried to hold her hand. But she had her arms folded, and she was using them to hold her roller coaster emotions inside. He put both hands back on the steering wheel. “If it means anything to you, Simone, you’re the only person I’ve spent any time thinking about in the past couple of years.”
She swung her attention toward him as if in slow motion, trying to decide if he was kidding. He didn’t seem to be. “You always know just what to say.”
“Slide on over here and hold my hand,” he said, and Simone didn’t want to keep distance between them, so she did.
“Ah, that’s better,” he said with a smile. “And it’s not just something I say, Simone. I really have thought about you more than any other person since I met you.”
“Even when you were dating Ophelia?”
Micah drew in a deep breath and pushed it out. “She broke up with me, because….” He didn’t finish, and Simone’s curiosity rose.
“Because why?” she prompted as he pulled to the curb in front of Mom and Popsicle.
He ducked his head and tightened his grip on her fingers. “Because of you, baby. She said she knew I was still hung up on you, and she was tired of waiting for me to get over you.”
Shock coated Simone’s vocal cords, and she didn’t know what to say.
“You still want ice cream?” He nodded toward the shop.
All she could do was nod.
He got out of the truck, and she slid over into his spot before dropping to the ground beside him. He closed the door and took her hand again. Simone needed something to fill the silence between them, but she couldn’t think of anything.
Micah said nothing as well, and the bell chiming on the door of the ice cream shop made Simone flinch. Noise flowed from the inside of the shop, and several people milled around the counter and filled the tables.
The light seemed too bright, and Simone felt like everyone had turned to look at her and Micah as they entered. He certainly wasn’t the only man in a cowboy hat, and in truth, no one cared that the two of them were there together.
“I think I want chocolate and bananas,” he said.
“That’s your favorite flavor combination,” Simone said, seizing onto the conversation topic. “I need to make you those banana cream cheesecakes I told you about.”
“The ones in the slow cooker?” He continued to study the menu, and Simone hated this falsely casual conversation.
“Yes,” she said, and the topic had run its course. “How close are you on the house now?”
“I should be moving in about a week,” he said. “Just waiting for all the deliveries.”
“Are you going to finally let me in?” Simone reached up and held his arm with her other hand, leaning into him and hoping this flirting tactic would work.
Micah looked down at her, a smile finally touching the corners of his mouth. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?” She grinned at him and shook her head. “Maybe I’ll sneak in while you’re out on the ranch tomorrow morning.”
“It’s Sunday,” he said. “I’m not going out to the ranch in the morning.”
“Then after church,” she said. “When you’re out riding Memory.”
Micah finally broke, the smile gracing his face now absolutely beautiful. Did he know how handsome he was? Had she ever told him? She didn’t think she had.
“Micah,” she said as they edged closer to the counter.
“Hmm?”
She balanced by holding onto his arm tighter and lifted up on her toes. “You’re the best-looking cowboy in here,” she whispered.
Surprise crossed his expression. “You think so?”
Simone nodded as she settled back onto her feet. “Especially when you give me that smile.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, stepping up to the counter. “I want the banana chocolate cabana. And she wants the raspberry sherbet.” He gave the sizes he wanted, paid, and they moved down while they waited for their concoctions to be scooped.
Simone got her sherbet first, and she had to let go of Micah to eat it. “You were brilliant on the stage tonight too,” she said.
“Well, look who’s full of compliments tonight.” Micah took his ice cream from the girl behind the counter and said, “Let’s eat this in the truck.”
Simone went with him, enjoying the cold, tart sherbet in her mouth as she thought about her boyfriend. Once she and Micah were back in the truck, she knew she liked this man. Really liked him. Maybe even had started to slide into loving him.
She choked on a bite of sherbet, and Micah looked at her. “You okay?”
She nodded, because while she’d confessed a few things to him tonight, she wasn’t ready to drop that three-word bomb.
A week later, Simone had spent a solid five days in her workshop, and she’d managed to get caught up on her projects for the Spring Fling. She enjoyed her regular girls’ nights with her sisters, and tonight, while Micah moved into his house, Simone had invited Anita and Soren over for coffee and cake.
Anita Poulsen and Soren Hancey lived just next door to Simone, and they’d worked at the Shining Star since Callie and Liam had started improving it, a few years ago. Simone had become friends with them, and the other cowboys in the row of cabins, though she didn’t have any of them over for dinner or desserts.
After her disastrous relationship with Jarrod, Simone had learned to keep the next door neighbor cowboys at arm’s length.
Her doorbell rang, and Simone tossed the oven mitts on the kitchen counter to go get it. She smiled at the two women on the front step, both of them holding something that would make Simone’s taste buds rejoice.
“I bought mine,” Soren said, lifting what looked like carrot cake. She was tall and blonde, with freckles across her face and one of the strongest work ethics Simone had ever seen.
“I made mine.” Anita stepped into the cabin and sighed. “Your place is so much better than ours.”
“It’s the same,” Soren said.
“It is not,” Anita argued as she put her pie on the counter. “She has all this nice furniture.”
“Do you need new furniture?” Simone asked, stepping around the counter. “I could ask Liam about it for you.”
“He won’t buy anything this nice,” Anita said, moving over to the couch. She sighed as she sat down and leaned back. “Ah, yes. This is amazing.”
“I made that,” Simone said. “But Homelife has great stuff. You could get something like it.” But she knew the cowgirls wouldn’t. It was Callie and Liam’s job to furnish the cabins, and the house was part of their pay.
“I thought you didn’t like Homelife.” Soren sat at the bar while Simone poured cream into a bowl.
Simone had told them that, after running into Micah and his girlfriend there. She shrugged. “If you go during the mid-afternoon, it’s not bad.” She switched on the electric mixer and got her cream beating. A few minutes later, she had perfectly stiff peaks, and she pulled the chocolate sauce out of the microwave with the oven mitts.
“Okay, so I made a chocolate mousse cake,” she said. “And we’ve got a carrot cake from the bakery.” She smiled at Soren, who smiled back. “And…what kind of pie is this, Nita?”
Anita, who wore her dark hair in a braid almost every day, got up and came over to the island. “Mine is a strawberry rhubarb.”
“Oh, one of my favorites,” Simone said. “The cream will go well with that too.” She turned and got her cake out of the fridge. “So, who has news and wants to go first?”
“That would be you,” Anita said. “You’re the one with the hot cowboy boyfriend.”
Simone laughed, and it felt good to spend some ti
me with her friends. She didn’t do it often enough, and she set the cake on the counter and looked at Anita and Soren. “He’s moving into his new house today. He still won’t let me inside. I’m hoping to just stop by tomorrow after church with one of these.” She indicated the cake. “He won’t turn me away then, will he?”
“He better not,” Anita said. “If you showed up at my house with a cake like this, I’d marry you.” She laughed, and Soren and Simone joined in.
“I don’t know if Micah is the marrying type,” Simone said as she cut into the mousse cake. Soren got up and took another knife from the block to cut her carrot concoction too.
“Really?” Anita asked. “All of his brothers are married.”
“What makes you say that?” Soren asked.
Simone sobered as she kept her attention on the delectable cake in front of her. “I don’t know. We’ve known each other for years. We dated before this, and it was, in my opinion, really serious. And he’s…I don’t know.”
“Going too slow for you?” Anita asked.
“A little, yeah.” Simone stopped fiddling with the cake. “It’s just, I’m going to be forty soon, and I don’t have a lot of time left to have kids. And I want kids.”
“Have you talked to Micah about it?”
Simone remembered the night she cradled Conrad on her lap and said how badly she wanted a boy like him. “Yeah,” she said. “A little anyway.”
“Maybe you should make it a lot,” Soren said, taking a sliver of carrot cake and a piece of pie and putting whipped cream on both. “Now, cake me. I have some news to tell.”
“You do?” Simone put a slice of mousse cake on Soren’s plate, her curiosity rising with every passing second while they all got their desserts. They always ate in Simone’s living room, and tonight was no different.
“News,” Anita said. “I think I know it.” She smiled at Soren, who nodded.
She finished her bite of chocolate cake, and said, “The Shining Star is getting an agriculture award.”
Simone’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you kidding? Have you told Liam and Callie yet?”
Soren shook her head and forked up another bite of pie. “Not yet. I need you to help me plan an amazing surprise for them.”