Then, I drag Ginny with me to the theater.
“I personally think Nickel’s cute and nice,” I say. “I honestly do. And I know you have music in common. But that’s just one subject. I mean, Dave has known you your entire life! That’s so special.”
“We’re not like you and Logan, Macey,” Ginny says suddenly.
“I know that. You’re engaged to each other. You’re in love.”
“I mean we’re not like you guys in all the good ways. The way you two look out for each other. When it comes to what’s important, it seems like Logan’s always there for you. And you for him.”
I look over at her sharply.
“I honestly can’t say the same for me and Dave.”
“You can back out, honey,” I say. “Logan and I have both told you we’re on your side.”
“You don’t think I’m just scared? My sister says I’m just not sure I only want to kiss one man for the rest of my life. She says I just think being with someone else would be easier. Like a last hurrah, so to speak.”
“Is that what you think it is?” I say.
“I don’t know. I actually like Nickel,” she says. “And I feel sorry for Jane Austen’s ghost. For the first time, I actually feel sorry for her. Trapped and miserable and unable to be with her true love.”
Luckily, we’re in the theater parking lot, so I don’t have to answer her.How do I support Ginny and play the good maiden of honor like she’s asked me to?I’m not sure it’s possible.
As we rush in through the doors, we run straight into Logan, Gigi, and Blake.
“Hey, Small Woman!” Blake yells out as I try to scoot past them. “I’m trying to remember your last stage debut—how did that go again?”
“Not now,” I warn him.
I push Ginny toward her seat and wave goodbye.
But Logan follows me down the hall and into the dressing room where Mama accosts me as soon as she spots me.
“Where in God’s grace have you been?” She throws her arms in the air. “I’ve been waiting on you for the past forty-five minutes! Let’s get you into your costume—the alterations will have to be skipped. Hi, honey.” She gives Logan a kiss. “So good to see you back on your feet. Get a good seat because my daughter is going to be just fabulous tonight!”
Logan wishes me luck. “I’m sorry about yesterday.”
I shift my head so I can meet his serious gaze with my own. “I’m the one who read it. That entry just made me think.” I give him a light shove. “You better go or Mama will try to drag you on stage, too.”
Mama’s in the first scene, of course, which starts about five minutes after I arrive. She races backstage afterward, flushed and smiling.
“Great energy out there!” she beams at me. “Nothing like opening night.”
When it’s time for my big moment, nearly at the end of the entire script, Mama actually comes up behind me and shoves me onto the stage. I stumble forward and am out in the center of the stage before I can right myself and stand up straight. I look up and out at the audience just as Mama instructed me, and I try to keep my voice clear and steady as I deliver my lines.
“I told you he’d love you anyway. He always has, and it’s not the looks, it’s what’s inside you.”
Logan has always liked me for exactly who I am—a flawed, well-meaning woman who’s trying her best to be happy in this screwed-up world.
But since he got engaged to Gigi, I’ve felt insecure. And that’s not right. I deserve to carry myself with strength and pride. I shouldn’t wither just because Logan chose another woman.
As I stand tall on Darcy’s small-town stage, I vow that starting now, I’m going to have a happy rest of the summer regardless of what Logan and Gigi do.
We all come out for curtain calls at the end, and I bow, feeling sick to my stomach. I never ate dinner, and I’m nauseous from all the adrenaline. Being an actress is hard work, I tell Mama afterward. Don’t I know it, baby, she says as she wipes her brow. Daddy comes backstage with a bouquet of flowers for Mama and one for me, and Riley, Ben, and Free give us each a rose.
And then, I go home and blissfully fall into a deep sleep.
Chapter Seven
