Crowned and Moldering

“Well, it’s really unfair and selfish of you to keep Cliff from doing one teensy job in my home.”

“You’re remodeling a bathroom,” I said. “That’s not a teensy job. But that’s not even the point. Tommy and my father had a business arrangement.”

“Whatever. I just wanted to do something nice for Cliff, and it figures you’d get in the way.” She sighed. “Do you even remember him from high school? I was sooooo in love with him, it was crazy.”

“Fu

“Of course I was,” she snapped. “But Cliff kept asking me out. I actually think he was in love with me.”

“Gosh, I’m really sorry to get in the way of all that love.” I wanted to hurl. Better yet, I wanted to tell her that Cliff had asked out almost everyone, including me, numerous times. Even better, I wanted Whitney and Cliff to go jump off a real cliff.

I said a hurried good-bye and dashed up the steps and into the auditorium. I found Callie sitting on the aisle halfway down from the stage and slipped into the seat next to her.

The teenage girl on stage was singing “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music. She was really good, very theatrical and very pretty, although she appeared to be wearing a short blond wig to look more like Julie Andrews in the movie. It looked u

Callie leaned over and whispered, “Isn’t she great?”

“She is.”

The kids playing the Von Trapp children were good, too. I would have to inform the festival committee that we had a hit on our hands. The spring play coincided with the town’s spring festival, so it always drew a good crowd.

A minute later, the song ended and the director clapped her hands. “Good job, everyone. Much better, Sarah. That was beautiful.” She consulted the tablet she held. “We’ll break for five minutes, then rehearse scene seventeen next.”

“Come meet Sarah,” Callie said to me, and I followed her up the aisle to the stage. Her actress friend waved and came over to the edge.

“You made it,” she said.

“I’m so glad I did,” Callie said. “Oh, my gosh, Sarah, you’re so good. I’m so impressed. This is my friend Sha

“Hi.” We shook hands and the three of us chatted for a quick minute, until the director came over to say something to Sarah.

“This is Ms. Matthews,” Sarah said. “She’s the best drama teacher ever.”

“Hello, Ms. Matthews,” I said.

Ms. Matthews smiled indulgently as I introduced myself and Callie. Sarah beckoned Callie to join her a few yards away so they could have a private conversation, leaving me to talk to the drama teacher. I liked her. I guessed she was in her early thirties, close to my age. She was pretty, with dark hair and eyes, and she wore neatly pressed jeans and a long striped sweater.

“I give you permission to call me Lara, by the way,” she said, her eyes sparkling with humor. “I’m one of those mean teachers who insists on being called by their surname.”

“I think that’s so much better.”

“Me, too. It helps tap into that i

I laughed out loud; you had to have a sense of humor to teach high school. “Have you been working here long?”

“It’s been three years now. How about you?”

“I’m a building contractor. I’m putting in the new parking structure out by the te

“Oh yes. Everyone’s excited about that.”

“It’s really i

She laughed. “So, have you seen The Sound of Music before?”

“Only a few dozen times. I love it.”

“I’m glad. I played Maria in high school and again in college. I’ve always loved the music.”

I studied her a little more closely. “You have the look of Maria.”

“You mean nunlike?” she asked, laughing.

I laughed, too. “Not at all. But you do look like you can handle a bunch of wild children.”

“Definitely,” she said with a smile. “Even though I have none of my own, I do an excellent job of wrangling other people’s teenagers. And pets. I have several of those. No husband, luckily. Not yet, anyway.”

I chuckled. “You’ll be thrilled to know that I was the head carpenter when I was going to school here.” I pointed toward the back of the stage. “That looks like one of the flats I built the year we did Grease.”

“You did good work,” she said. “Do you want another job? We just lost our head carpenter to the varsity baseball team.”

“Oh no. Can one of the other kids step up?”

She looked around to make sure we weren’t being overheard, then whispered, “They’re not the most talented group I’ve ever worked with.”

I winced, because really stage decoration had as much as acting to do with the success of a play. “Sorry about that.”

We chatted for another minute, until it was time for her to call the kids back to the stage. “Nice talking to you, Sha

“You, too, Lara. I’ll see you at the play.” As I walked out of the theater, a brilliant idea began to form in my mind.

Chapter Twelve

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” I asked, as Sean and I crossed the high school campus after work the following Monday. “It would just be for a few weeks, until the play is over. My friend is a little worried that things won’t get done in time.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Sean said. “It’ll get me out of the house a few nights a week.”

“That’s really generous of you.”

And clever of me, too, I thought, but it wouldn’t do to crow too loudly.

Sean held the door for me and we walked into the auditorium, down to the edge of the empty stage, where I looked around for Lara Matthews. “She must be here somewhere,” I muttered.

“Break’s over, guys,” Lara shouted as she walked out onstage, staring at her tablet. “Come on. Shake a leg. I need the Von Trapp kids front and center to rehearse ‘So Long, Farewell.’ Everybody onstage.”

She glanced down and noticed us when I waved. “Sha

“Hi, Lara,” I said, smiling. “I came up with a solution to your carpenter problem. This is Sean, one of the guys on my construction crew. He’s willing to help out your carpenters for a few weeks, if that works for you.” I turned to Sean. “Sean, this is Lara Matthews.”

They stared at each other for a moment; then she stooped down and stuck her hand out. “Welcome to the show, Sean.”

He shook her hand, gri

Lara gazed at me. “Wow, you make good things happen.”

I shrugged modestly. “Just want to make sure the carpentry crew shines.”

*   *   *

That night, flush from my brilliant introduction of Sean to Lara, I walked down to the pub to pick up a celebratory burger for di

After greeting me, he asked, “Are you meeting someone?”

“No, I was going to get something to go.”

“Why don’t you join me?” he said.

“I’d love to.”

The waitress showed us to a booth along the far wall and took our drink orders. I was willing to admit it was not a hardship to gaze across the table at him. “You come here a lot, right?”

“Yeah. This and the wine bar are pretty much my go-to places when I don’t feel like cooking.”

“Mine, too,” I said. “But I might be a little prejudiced when it comes to the wine bar.”

“True—your uncle owns the place. But I can speak objectively. And I say it’s the best Italian food around.”

“On behalf of Uncle Pete, I thank you.”

We both smiled. Everyone knew my uncle owned the wine bar. It was officially known as Bella Rossa, but more commonly was referred to as the wine bar on the square.