Sea Glass Island (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,36
makes you think I said anything?”
“Sue Ellen was all gaga because you were in the office. She couldn’t stop talking about it. She told everybody you came to see Mrs. Gentry. The next thing I know Mrs. Gentry apologized to me. She apologized to me! It was crazy. I never thought she’d do that.”
“Are you going to be in the play, after all?”
“No, but she promised she’d consider me for the next one. I’m going to work with her on this one as, like, an assistant or something. She wants me to run lines with Sue Ellen, as her understudy, which totally sucks, but hey, somebody definitely needs to do it.”
“You can live with that?” Ethan asked, though it was evident that she was eager to put her previous disappointment behind her.
“Come on,” she scoffed. “I deserved to get the lead, but Mrs. Gentry told me she was wrong. That’s huge. Teachers usually don’t admit stuff like that, not to their students, anyway. I guess I can cut her some slack.”
“Then I’m glad it worked out for you,” Ethan said. “I have to say, though, I was looking forward to seeing you onstage, knocking everyone dead with your performance.”
“You’ll probably get to,” she said with a hint of laughter in her eyes. “Sue Ellen is so not going to learn those lines. Mrs. Gentry will freak. Sue Ellen will puke. And, bingo, I’ll go on.”
Ethan couldn’t help laughing at the welcome return of her self-confidence. “That’s the spirit. You might want to temper it around Sue Ellen, though.”
She gave him an impatient look. “I’m not stupid,” she said. “Gotta go. I need to memorize those lines.”
“I still expect to see you here on Thursday.”
“I’ll be here,” she promised. “I figure I’m going to owe you from now till forever because of this.”
“You don’t owe me a thing,” he said. Just seeing a smile back on her face and a spark of excitement back in her eyes was reward enough.
8
“I am going completely stir-crazy,” Gabi told Samantha on Friday night. “Do you realize I have not been anywhere or done anything without Dani since she was born? Other than that day you gave me a break to get some work done at the office, that is.”
Samantha regarded her sister with amusement. “I’m pretty sure that was your choice,” she reminded her. “Wade’s offered to stay home with your daughter. Grandmother’s offered. So have I, for that matter. You’ve turned us all down, with some very inventive excuses, I might add.”
Gabi regarded her with annoyance. “Are you making fun of me because I’m behaving like every other new mom in the universe by being overly protective of my baby?”
“Something like that, especially since Wade and Grandmother both have more experience with babies than you do.”
“Okay, so I wasn’t ready then,” Gabi conceded.
“But you are now?”
“I am so ready,” Gabi said fervently. “I want to eat an entire meal, uninterrupted. I want to get a manicure and maybe even a pedicure. I need to get my hair done. I need to shop.”
Samantha chuckled. “Okay, it’s not sounding as if you’re looking for a date night with Wade. I was going to suggest I keep Dani tonight so the two of you could have an evening to yourselves.”
“Wade has already claimed Dani for the night. He’s taking her over to his sister’s so the kids can dote on her. Now the question is, will you go on a girls’ night out with me and keep me from calling him every ten minutes to check on the baby? Despite what you think, I do recognize that I need to chill out.”
“I can do that,” Samantha said readily. “What about Emily? Is she coming along?”
“She’s having another of her powwows with Grandmother and Boone over wedding details. What they could possibly have left to plan is beyond me, but checking things off her list, then double-checking them, seems to make her happy. Who am I to question that?”
“Says the master list-maker,” Samantha teased. “I’m betting you already have a timetable for tonight written down in your day planner.”
“It’s on my smartphone, but yes,” Gabi admitted without a hint of apology. “Those organizational skills of mine are being put to good use these days.” She gave Samantha a sly look. “I can spare some time to work on a new PR campaign for you, though.”
Samantha stilled. “Is that what tonight is about? Is this your sneaky way of trying to fix up my career again?”