Carousel Nights

by Amie Denman

  “You still have it, don’t you?” Mel asked.

  Evie laughed. “It still rings.”

  Virginia stuck around to play with the kids, but Jack, Augusta and Evie left. Mel tucked June’s gift under his arm and debated if and when to have Ross open it.

  He watched Ross play board games with the other kids, helped supervise a conga line down the long hallway and back, and was ready to call it quits on the party. He needed to get back to work for a few hours. He had plans to take Ross for his favorite drive-through food in their new pickup truck on the way home. Ketchup was going to get on the seat sooner or later anyway.

  “Is that present for me?” Ross asked as he reached up to straighten his party hat. He pointed at the gift tucked under Mel’s arm.

  No choice now.

  “It is.” Mel decided to test the waters. “It’s from June.”

  “Cool,” Ross said. “I wish she could’ve come to my party. I kept hoping.” He held out his hands. “Can I open it even if she’s not here?”

  Mel handed his son the gift and waited while he carefully peeled the bow and tape off the paper.

  “Is it a book?” Mel asked.

  Ross nodded and studied the unwrapped present. “I get it,” he said. “It’s a book to teach you how to play the piano.” He handed the book to his dad. Mel flipped it open.

  Ross sighed. “It would be more fun if she taught me. But the book is nice, too. I can mail her a thank-you card.”

  This is exactly what I was afraid of when I let us both get too close to a shooting star. “Look,” Mel said, holding the page open so his son could see it. He wanted the sad look on Ross’s face to disappear. “It’s ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.’”

  “I already know that one,” Ross said, a small smile returning. “I can skip right to song number two.”

  “You’ll be terrific.” Mel closed the book. “I’ll pick you up in a few hours and we’ll get those chicken fingers you like.”

  Ross headed for the games and treats and Mel looked at the book in his hands. What did June mean by getting his son a piano workbook? If she didn’t plan to stick around and teach Ross, it was a lousy substitute.

  * * *

  “SEE WHAT I MEAN?” one of the summer workers said, pointing at the marquee of the Midway Theater. From above, the black-topped marquee was a solid mass of white bird poop. “It doesn’t look very nice and people always point and giggle. It’s gross.”

  June was on the platform of the cable cars, where guests boarded for a trip above the skyline of Starlight Point.

  Her phone rang and she answered it. “I got your message. What do you mean you need a day to think about it?” June’s agent practically yelled into the phone.

  June sighed and held up one finger, indicating to the summer employee that she needed a moment. She walked to the edge of the platform. “I mean I need a day, Harold,” she said into her phone. “I just got back last night and haven’t even unpacked.”

  “Why did you fly all the way here for callbacks if you weren’t darn sure you wanted it? I heard you sing at the audition. Saw you dance. It was like you were inspired. It sure seemed to me like you wanted that part like you wanted your next breath.”

  “I did. Do. It’s complicated,” June said. “I’ll call you tomorrow. I promise.”

  She clicked off and turned back to the problem at hand. Birds were crapping on her marquee and it seemed to be her problem to solve. She was a long way from Broadway.

  June laughed. She was never going to change the birds’ minds, but there was always another way. I wonder if the painters have time to paint the top of the marquee bird-poop white?

  * * *

  SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT. Jack had called at half past seven and asked Mel to meet him and Evie at their office. Jack said he wanted Mel’s help getting to the bottom of a box of doughnuts, but Mel didn’t believe it for a minute. His best friend never voluntarily shared doughnuts.

  He heard Jack and Evie arguing as he took the steps two at a time.

  “She’s being a fool,” Evie said.

  “So? It’s her life.”

  Mel stepped into Jack’s office. “Your wife divorcing you already, Jack?” Mel asked.

  Jack glared at him.

  Evie swished her lips to one side and narrowed her eyes.

  “You look just like your mother when you do that,” Mel said.

  “Why did we call him?” Evie asked, looking at her brother.

  “You’re the one who wanted to. I wanted to mind my own business.”

  Mel dreaded asking what was going on, but a cool breeze down the back of his neck told him it was about June. And him.

  Evie faced him, arms crossed. “June’s planning to call her agent this morning and turn down the part she’s wanted for a long time.”

  “She got the part she went back for?” Mel asked.

  “You didn’t know that?”

  “No. I haven’t talked to June in almost four days.”

  “See?” Jack asked. “Mel had nothing to do with it.”

  Evie rolled her eyes.

  “I tried talking to her, but she says her mind’s made up. For some reason,” Evie said, turning her stare on Mel, “June is suddenly giving up a dream part on Broadway and planning to stay home permanently.”

  June was giving up Broadway and staying home? Mel felt like someone hooked a vacuum hose to his chest and sucked out all the air.

  “She hogs the bathroom counter with all her junk,” Evie continued, her lips curving into a small smile. “Who could blame me for wanting her to go back to New York?” She sat behind her desk. “Plus it’s her lifelong dream, blah, blah, blah.”

  Mel didn’t move. Jack and Evie had called him here to tell him he had a chance with June. But that chance meant she was giving up the opportunity of a lifetime.

  “Did she already make the call?” he asked.

  Evie glanced at the clock. “Her agent isn’t in the office until eight. June’s backstage at the Midway Theater fussing with something before the shows get started.”

  The clock read 7:55.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  MEL RACED DOWN the steps, dashed past Kiddieland and ran full speed to the theater. He pulled on the front door. Locked. He raced around the side. Also locked.

  He unclipped the wad of keys from his belt and speed-sorted to find the right one. He didn’t even know what he was going to say when he found June. Why on earth would he want to stop her from turning down her dream role?

  Because he loved her.

  Which was also the reason he wanted her to stay.

  These infernal keys...

  Mel finally found the key, unlocked the door and shoved his way onto the stage. Only a few lights were on and he was momentarily blind after being outside in the morning sunshine. He tripped over a drum set and knocked over a rack of costumes. He rolled to a stop in a pile of glittering vests, shimmery skirts, dancing shoes and at least one top hat. Which was now crushed. The crash was deafening in the silent theater.

  Desperate to disentangle himself, Mel kicked off the sparkly costumes and unhooked the frame of the clothing rack from his foot. Static electricity glued a sparkly vest to his cotton uniform sleeve and Mel jerked at it and tried to fling it away.

  “June!” he yelled. He thought he heard a voice getting closer.

  Finally free of the clothing pile, Mel rushed toward the voice. It was June, cell phone to her ear. When she saw him, a huge smile lit her face.

  Definitely better than the reaction he’d expected after their argument.

  She covered her mouth with her free hand and smothered a laugh. Her eyebrows rose in a question. Of course he looked ridiculous, but was that the only reason she looked so happy?

&nbs
p; And was she happy because she was taking the part on Broadway...or turning it down to stay here working the theaters. Or—and this was the great or—was she just that happy to see him?

  June approached Mel and stood so close he could pick up the voice of the other person on the phone call. It was a man’s voice, but Mel couldn’t hear a word he was saying. June reached for Mel and plucked a sequin off his forehead. She held it on her finger so he could see what she’d done.

  June continued holding out her sequined finger as she nodded slightly and said, “I’ll take it. I’ll call you later and we’ll discuss the details.”

  Mel’s heart, already racing from his mad dash across the midway and his flailing fight with the clothing rack, jerked to a sudden stop.

  He knew his face must reflect the near-stoppage, because June’s expression changed. She drew her eyebrows together and tilted her head.

  “I’m excited, too,” she said. “Thanks again. Bye.”

  She ended the call and tucked the phone in the back pocket of her curve-hugging jeans. Mel wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms so she wouldn’t have a chance to leave. He closed his eyes, trying to control his feelings.

  Eyes still shut, he felt June’s arms slide around him. “Are you all right?” she asked.

  Mel cleared his throat. He opened his eyes.

  June ran her fingers through his hair and pulled out more sequins. “What happened to you?” she asked. “You’re covered in sparkles and your shirt’s missing a button.” She touched the place on his chest where the button should be. Mel didn’t move. Having June’s finger right over his heart was a problem he’d been fighting for months.

  June glanced over his shoulder and saw the trail of wreckage.

  “What did you do?”

  “It was dark. I tripped.”

  “You could have turned on a light.”

  “I was in a hurry.”

  June stepped back slightly but kept her finger on the missing button. “Why?”

  “Because I had faulty information. I heard you were going to call your agent and turn down the part you desperately wanted.”

  June opened her mouth, but Mel touched her lips with one finger.

  “I didn’t want you to turn it down. It’s your dream, June. You’re the most talented and beautiful person I know.” Mel looked up at the darkened ceiling and then returned his gaze to June’s face. “I love you. And loving you means I have to let you go. I’m glad I got to hear you tell your agent you’ll take the part. I’m glad I got to see the joy on your face when you said it. That’s how I know for sure this is the right thing.”

  “Mel,” June said. “Listen—”

  “I don’t know where we go from here. I’ve racked my brain trying to figure it out.”

  He was talking too fast and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop.

  “I thought about following you to the city. I could find a job there. Ross could start school someplace nice. Or maybe we could stay here and wait for you. You could come home on the weekends, holidays—”

  “Stop talking, Mel,” June said. Her eyes filled with tears.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t even know if you feel the same way about me. Maybe you don’t and you can’t wait to unload me and my son—”

  June kissed him on the lips. A long, deep kiss. Mel held her close, unwilling to let go until she said the final words that would make him. Is this a goodbye kiss? If so, it was the most incredible goodbye he’d ever had.

  * * *

  “I WANT TO SHOW you something,” June said, finally breaking the kiss. The last thing she wanted to do was stop kissing Mel, but there was something he needed to know.

  She pulled her cell phone from her back pocket and handed it to him. “Look at my call history.”

  Mel took the phone in one hand and scratched his forehead with the other. “I’m not good with these things. I don’t even know what I’m looking for. Ross handles complicated electronics at our house.”

  “You’re an electrician,” June said.

  “That doesn’t count.”

  “Did you hit your head when you crashed through my costumes?”

  “Maybe.”

  June swiped the screen on her phone as it lay in Mel’s outstretched hand. “There’s the number I just called. The person I was talking to when you came thundering in here.”

  Mel frowned. “It’s a local number. Is your agent in town?”

  June laughed. “No. I called a Realtor.” She let her words sink in for a moment, but Mel’s confusion showed in the twist of his mouth. “I called the man who has the listing for a dance studio in downtown Bayside. The one I used to go to when I was younger.”

  “You want to lease a dance studio?”

  “Yes. It’s where I learned to dance. And I discovered this summer just how much fun it is to teach. The studio needs to be modernized. I know it needs work, but I can’t wait to get started.”

  “So you’re not taking the part?”

  June shrugged. “I haven’t called him yet to tell him the bad news. I was more interested in seeing if the Realtor could get me the lease on that place downtown.”

  “You’re turning down the part and staying home. And you’re leasing a dance studio.”

  June felt her smile stretch her cheeks. “I am.”

  “But why? What changed your mind?” Mel reached out and plucked a sequin off June’s neck. “These look great on you, by the way.”

  “Of course they do. I was born for the stage.”

  “But you’re giving it up.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not giving it up. I’m changing course. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I went to the city. Glad I was on Broadway for several years. I’m proud of my performances and I wouldn’t trade those years. But this summer has changed me. For the better.”

  Mel’s look was pure hope. Eyes huge, a smile beginning to dimple his cheeks.

  “I fell in love,” June said.

  Big smile now.

  “With Starlight Point,” she continued. The smile dipped a little. “With the theaters here. With the people I’ve worked with. I fell in love with choreography, the parade, teaching the kids at the hotel day care. I fell in love with a boy who turned six while I was away doing something else, a mistake I won’t make again.”

  “And?” Mel asked. He ran a gentle finger down her cheek and the hope returned full force to his expression.

  “I fell in love with you.”

  Mel crushed her against his chest, holding her tight as if she would fall off a cliff if his grip failed. His cotton work shirt scratched her cheek, and his lips pressed into her hair. Finally, Mel loosened his hold and gently pushed her away from him, holding her at arm’s length.

  “I love you, June, so much it hurts. But if you really love me, I want you to prove it.”

  “I do love you,” she said. What more did he want? She’d decided to stay home, took out a lease on a local studio and gave her heart away.

  “I believe you. But I still have to ask you to do something.”

  “What?”

  “Take the role in White Christmas. The one you earned.”

  June felt her breath catch. Her heart lost its rhythm. He loved her but he wanted her to leave?

  “It’s only for a few months, right? The show ends right before Christmas?”

  She nodded, totally flummoxed. “The last show is December 23.”

  “Perfect,” he said. He drew in a long, deep breath. “Ross and I will work on your studio while you’re gone. And we’ll be there to watch your last show and bring you home for Christmas.”

  “Why do you want me to do this, Mel?”

  He pulled her close again. “I want you to know I trust you. After what happened with my...wel
l...you know, I found it very hard to trust and let someone into my life. Especially hard to trust someone with my son’s heart.” Mel laughed. “Whether I wanted him to or not, Ross fell in love with you before I could stop him.”

  “I love him, too. I hope he liked my birthday present.”

  “He loved it. And I’m so happy you’ll be here to teach him to play. In a few months.” He planted a quick kiss on her lips. “I believe in you and us. And I don’t want you to finish this phase of your career with any doubts, any regrets. Please. Do this one last show for me, but also for yourself. And then you’ll be the best Christmas present I’ve ever gotten.”

  June’s heart kicked back into a rhythm. A fast one. This was the most incredible moment of her life. Better than opening day on a big show, better than a standing ovation.

  Clapping erupted from the other side of the curtain.

  “Am I hearing things?” Mel asked.

  June slid out of his arms and crossed to the side of the stage. She pulled the ropes to open the curtains. Jack and Evie sat in the front row.

  Mel stood center stage and waited for June to cross to the middle with him.

  “You’re just in time for the grand finale,” Mel said. He dropped to one knee and took June’s hand. “Will you marry me, June? I can’t guarantee it’s the most glamorous part you’ve ever had, but I’ll always be your biggest fan.”

  June smiled, tears racing down her cheeks. “I love you, Mel. I can’t wait to come home at Christmas and marry you.”

  Her brother and sister stood and clapped enthusiastically.

  “Where’s the ring?” Jack called out.

  June shook her head. “There’s always a heckler in the audience.”

  Mel got to his feet and they took a bow together. “If you’ll come over to the arcade, I’ll try to win you a nice shiny ring from one of the machines. It’ll work until I get you a more permanent one.”

  “Perfect,” June said.

  “Those things are all rigged,” Evie yelled.

  June laughed, took a quick bow and danced off the stage with her fingers laced through those of the man she loved.