Chapter 9
“Places, dancers! Cassidy, you need to be over on the right. Jennifer, two steps back please! Michael? Michael? Where is my Nutcracker? The curtain goes up in five minutes!”
Opening nights were always chaotic, but Emilio had been dealing with them ever since he could remember. He’d been performing on stage since the age of three, but it was still exciting. As he hurried around backstage looking for his absent male lead, he felt the familiar rush of excitement knowing there was an audience beyond the curtain, eagerly awaiting the start of the show, where dance would transport them to a fantastic realm full of music and magic.
He located his sixteen-year-old Nutcracker in a corner of the greenroom, surreptitiously adjusting his costume trousers.
“Young man, you arenotDavid Bowie,” he said and then pointedly turned his back. Within a minute, he was escorting his sheepish dancer back to the stage, where he dressed the lines once again. “You’ll be brilliant,” he told all the dancers and then faded back into the wings as the music started and the curtain began to rise.
There were one or two small bobbles as the show progressed, but by the time they made it to the second intermission—and the end of the ballet—things had gone very well indeed. The show was long, but by tradition it was divided into parts so families with small children could attend for as long as their little ones were interested and depart without feeling they were interrupting anything. The final section of the show included Emilio’s flamenco and the Christmas Waltz, as well as singing performances by the local chorale and the feature of a well-known comedian who was headlining for opening week.
During the fifteen-minute break, Emilio was warming up backstage when he spotted Rayne. He was surprised Rayne had taken him up on the invitation to visit backstage, since he still wasn’t quite certain what Rayne really thought about him. But since Rayne was going to be decorating his house for the holidays, Emilio decided that in the interest of making things work more smoothly, he needed to make another attempt. He picked up a bottle of water and crossed to where Rayne was inspecting the set for the finale with a professional eye.
“There you are,” he greeted Rayne, offering a smile of welcome. “Were you coming back to touch the Love Post for luck?”
“Isn’t that supposed to work only if you’re in the show?” Rayne asked.
The Love Post was a wooden beam that had stood since the theater was built, and generations of performers had carved their initials—and the initials of their sweethearts—into it. The tradition of touching the post for luck on opening night for a show had been around as long as anyone could remember.
“Well, youareworking in the show, in a way,” Emilio said. “Your work is all around us in the renovations. If we want the entire run to be a success, it couldn’t hurt, could it?”
“I’d hate to cause any bad vibes to plague the show.” Rayne gave a little amused huff and headed over to the post. He flattened his palm against it and regarded it with a small, nostalgic smile. “Someone asked if they should sand it smooth when we were doing the renovations. I said anyone who dared try it would probably bring the spirits of all the former theater kids down on their head.”
Emilio’s mouth dropped open in horror. “Spirits of the kids nothing! I could have dismembered them myself,” he replied. “That’s sacrilege!”
He traced the spot where his own initials were carved. They were set inside a heart, reading “E.R. and R.S. 4-ever”. No doubt few of the couples immortalized on the post had remained together, but he couldn’t help but feel wistful because his and Rayne’s heart was located just below the one that Emilio’s father had carved not long after meeting Emilio’s mother.
“It’s still there?” Rayne’s voice was soft and full of surprise. “I thought it might have gotten carved over by now. Or maybe gouged out.”
Emilio gave a huff. “Do you honestly think I would do something like that? It’s supposed to be horribly bad luck. For good or ill, what goes on the post stays on the post.”
“I’m glad it’s still there,” Rayne said as he patted the little heart lightly.
No doubt Rayne meant it because of the tradition of bad luck, but Emilio couldn’t help wondering if coming back to Holiday Pines had made Rayne nostalgic. “Yeah, because now you don’t have to worry about the playhouse spirits bringing the place down around our heads,” he said quietly. “It’s not like we’re the only ex-couple on it, anyway.”
“I’m sure we aren’t, especially considering how young most people are when they carve their eternal devotion into it,” Rayne said. “But it’s a valuable reminder of history, both of the playhouse and for a lot of people personally.”
“Oh, yes.” Emilio touched the heart with his parents’ initials in it. “After Papa died, I had a cast made of their initials from here, so Mama has a copy. That way if anything ever happens to the playhouse, she’ll always have a reminder of when they were young and falling in love.”
“That’s a great idea.” Rayne gazed at him with a small but warm smile. “I’m sure she loved it.”
Emilio returned Rayne’s smile. Rayne had always liked his parents, since Isabel and William had accepted Rayne as part of the family. “She cried all over me for an hour, then hung the casting on the wall of her bedroom where she could see it every night before she fell asleep.”
“It probably gives her a lot of comfort.” Rayne fell silent, his expression turning somber. “I really am sorry about your dad. If I’d known, I would have come for the visitation and funeral. But I haven’t been in touch with anyone in town since my parents moved. The perils of having a small family, I guess,” he said wryly. “There’s no one around to keep you updated on what’s going on.”
Emilio looked away. He’d been furious that Rayne hadn’t at least sent a card, but he couldn’t have expected Rayne to know William Rives had passed away, especially when the heart attack that had claimed his life had been so sudden that his own family had been caught by surprise.
“I guess,” he said, giving a slight shrug. “What’s past is past, right? See, I’m letting go.”
Rayne stepped closer, moving just enough into Emilio’s space that Emilio could feel the warmth of Rayne’s presence even without looking. “Are you really?” Rayne’s voice was soft and deep. “I’d like to hope so.”
Emilio blinked in surprise, and he was about to ask Rayne what he meant when the lights dimmed and then brightened again, signaling the end of the intermission. “That’s my cue,” he said. “I’m on after the chorale, and I need to warm-up.”
Disappointment flickered in Rayne’s blue eyes, but he stepped back and nodded. “I should get back to my seat. I don’t want to miss your number. I’ll see you Monday, right?”
“Yes, Monday.” Emilio wondered at what he thought he’d seen, but maybe he’d been mistaken. “I’ll call you if I’m delayed, but I doubt there will be any problems with the matinee.”
“Great!” Rayne offered a little smile and wave. “Break a leg,” he said, and then he headed back to the auditorium.
Lost in thought, Emilio stood staring after Rayne long after he’d disappeared through the wings. He was brought back to the present when the lights backstage went down and the chorale begin their medley of holiday songs. He really did need to warm-up, so he put down his untouched bottle of water and set about stretching out. Whatever was on Rayne’s mind, no doubt he’d find out about it on Monday.
