Sea Glass Island (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,68
Emily without waiting for an answer. They were seated in a booth with Samantha. She immediately turned pale. “I guess I’m interrupting. I’m sorry.” She turned to go.
Samantha stood up and touched her shoulder. “Cass, it’s okay. We hadn’t locked up yet. These are my sisters,” she explained, making the introductions. “And you’re not interrupting anything important. We were just talking about Emily’s wedding. It’s Saturday.”
Cass’s eyes lit up. “Come on. That is important! I heard about the wedding from Dr. Cole. He says he’s the best man.”
“Well, I actually think my husband-to-be is the best man,” Emily joked, “but Ethan’s a close second.”
Cass grinned. “You’re funny.”
“Oh, she’s a real stand-up comedian, all right,” Gabi commented. “I need to get her out of here.” She glanced at Samantha. “So we’re agreed about the whole girls-gone-wild thing for tonight?”
“I am,” Emily affirmed. “I can hardly wait to have one last crazy fling before I tie the knot.”
“You will not be having any flings,” Gabi chided. “Samantha and I have to answer to Boone.”
As Gabi led Emily away, Samantha turned to Cass and gestured to the booth they’d vacated. “What brings you by?”
Cass squirmed uncomfortably. “I wanted to ask you some more questions about how hard it is to be a working actress. That is, if I’m not being a bother.”
“It’s no bother,” Samantha assured her. Keeping Ethan’s concerns in mind, she still felt compelled to say, “It’s not easy, Cass. Only a very, very few become huge stars overnight. Most of us struggle to keep working. It takes real drive and determination to stick with it. And there are big differences between starting in New York on the stage and in Hollywood in films or in TV. Some people do commercials when they’re starting out. I still do.”
“As long as it’s acting, I don’t care what I do,” Cass said. “I like being somebody else for a little while.”
Samantha wondered if that had always been true or if she’d developed that interest after her accident. “When did you first know this was something you wanted to do?”
“In second grade when I got to sing a solo in the holiday pageant at school.” Cass beamed. “People clapped and cheered.”
“The applause is addictive,” Samantha confirmed. “Ever been jeered?”
Cass looked horrified. “Never. Have you?”
Samantha nodded, recalling an off-Broadway production that had been an all-around disaster. “It wasn’t nearly as much fun.”
“Well, whoever did that was just plain rude,” Cass said indignantly.
“True, but critics can be cruel, too. Their reviews can amount to the same thing as jeering and in a much more public forum. Think you’re tough enough to handle that?”
“Sure,” Cass said with bravado, then hesitated. “I guess I couldn’t go punch them, could I?”
Samantha laughed. “It’s frowned on, but I imagine it’s happened once or twice.”
“When you started, were you scared?”
“Sometimes,” Samantha admitted, “but mostly of letting my family down.”
“Did you go to college?”
“I didn’t, but it’s a good choice, a place to keep learning the craft and get some more experience. In the right drama program, you’ll be seen by directors and producers who will be able to help your career along if you have the talent.”
“Why didn’t you go?”
“I thought about it, but college can be expensive. I thought some of that money would be better spent by my folks if I went to New York for a year to try to prove myself. In a way, I thought of college as my backup plan, the thing to do if I couldn’t find work. I’m not sure it was the smartest plan, but it worked out okay for me. I wasn’t afraid of hard work, so I juggled a couple of part-time jobs, took some serious acting classes and tried to find an agent. I won’t lie to you, it was a tough year. I thought about giving up more than once.”
“But you stayed and it was worth it, I’ll bet,” Cass said eagerly. “I’m a hard worker. I can handle a tough schedule. I’d do anything to make this happen.” Her expression fell. “But I know there are some people who think I’d be wasting my time.”
“What people?”
“Mrs. Gentry mostly.” She held up her prosthetic arm. “This is why she didn’t cast me in the play at school. She said it would be a distraction, that people would just feel sorry for me.”
Samantha felt the same surge of annoyance that Ethan must have felt. “Sweetie, I can’t deny that your injury could keep you out of some parts, but