She laughed and patted me warmly on the back. “Please, we’re not in class. Call me Lisa.”
I shook my head and sat back down on my stool at the bar. “No, ma’am.”
She laughed and sat beside me. “Okay, fine.”
“Let me buy you a drink,” I said. “Please. I want to say I had a drink with the legendary Mrs. Fletcher.”
She smiled and rolled her eyes. “I think you might be drunk. Tell me you’re not driving.”
“Classic Mrs. Fletcher.” I grinned at her. “Always looking out for everyone. And no, I got an Uber over here and I’ll get one back.”
She nodded. “In that case, I’ll have a gin and tonic.”
“Yes.” I signaled the bartender over and ordered her drink.
When she got it, she took a sip and turned to look at me. “Now that you’re in a generous mood, I have a tiny favor to ask you.”
Filled to the brim with liquid cheer, I nodded vigorously. “Of course. Anything you need, Mrs. Fletcher.”
“Would you play Santa in this year’s Christmas play? We need one again and everyone would get a huge kick out of it.”
Of all the things she could have asked me, she’d chosen something I absolutely did not want to do.
Fuck it. I was drunk enough to not care. And maybe if Clara found out, she would be impressed and let me talk to her.
“Sign me up.”
CHAPTER 32
CLARA
Iwas helping backstage at the school. While Mrs. Fletcher ran the actors through their scenes in front of the curtain, I was running the crew through their roles in the show. Sets had to be changed between scenes and things could pile up quickly if they weren’t careful.
To the kids’ credit, they listened attentively, beyond impressed once Mrs. Fletcher told them I’d worked in Hollywood for a bit. Sure, it had led to some awkward questions about what I was doing back here in Harrison City, but I had kept my cool instead of telling the little shit to mind her own business. And to never believe a man who says he loves you.
With a fair amount of effort, I swallowed down my bitterness and focused on the show prep. Things back here were nowhere near as complicated as a Ganymede Raye production, but everyone had to start somewhere. Every single person working on Ganymede’s shows had once been one of these little theater nerds, and if I could inspire a few of these kids, it would be a nice silver lining to my misfortunes.
The big metal doors leading into the seating area banged open. A strong, masculine voice boomed through the theater,which had great acoustics. “Ho, ho, ho. Never fear. Santa is here!”
Santa sounded like a real cocky prick. I wasn’t sure why he was walking in here like he was the star of the show. I’d gone over the scripts for all the scenes. Santa didn’t even have a speaking role.
Honestly, it was a lot like the simplified role Mrs. Fletcher had given Luke ten years back. The thought lit a spark of suspicion in me. I peeked my head around the curtain to see if I was correct.
I was. Luke swaggered up the aisle with a huge smile on his face. All of the air was sucked from my lungs and I gripped the curtain’s edge in my fists so hard I thought I might rip the fabric.
What the hell was he doing here? Had he followed me to Texas? I took a breath and forced myself to think clearly. No, he was in town visiting for Christmas. But what was he doing at the high school theater for play practice, hoeing around like he was Santa Claus?
Did he know I was helping out with the play? No, nobody knew about it. I wasn’t sure how he could have found out. Oh, my God, he was so obsessed with me. A part of me was flattered, liking that he was chasing after me. But the rest of me was not pleased.
I wasn’t ready to talk to him about the way things had gone down with us. Maybe I would never be ready to have a conversation with him, but one way or another, today was not the day for it.
I was barely keeping it together getting the backstage crew organized. Luke was just going to make me cry. If I fell apart, I wouldn’t be able to face these kids again.
Mrs. Fletcher met him in the aisle and thanked him for coming, which sounded like she had been the one to invite him. So he wasn’t here for me. That tracked because his smile waspasted on. It was the one he used when he was on camera. I knew him well enough to see through it. Luke didn’t want to be here but he was being nice.
It seemed he wasn’t there to see me at all. That was good. I could go hide somewhere until he left. I ducked back behind the curtain, looking for an exit.
“Clara?” I heard him say a second later. Even without seeing him, I could hear the confusion in his voice.
