“That’s one option. The kids might learn their lines by then.” She giggled, then they got tickled at each other laughing and collapsed into uncontrolled laughter—her on the stage floor, and he on the steps. Finally, they quieted down into happy sighs. He knew it was their exhaustion, but it felt good to have so much fun, and be so real, with her.
“I know one thing. If I ever, ever, decide to do a dual time-frame production again, remind me of this.” He peeled his tired body off the steps and stretched his arms upward. “Switching between historical and contemporary is a challenge, especially when we have some teens playing a role in both.”
“We underestimate them. Remember the chaos of the Christmas play and how bad the dress rehearsal went, but it came off without a hitch.”
He arched a brow. “If you don’t count our yelling match beforehand.”
She winked. “If I remember correctly, we were simply practicing our stage voices.”
“Yeah, I don’t think anyone bought that. It was pretty ugly.”
“Like your attitude then.” She threw the empty water bottle at him.
His quick reflexes went into gear and he caught it midair. “I’m a changed man. Doesn’t that count for anything?”
“It counts for a lot.” She stood up and stepped toward him to claim her bottle and tapped his shoulder. “Come on, we still have lots of work to do and I’d like to see Alice before she goes to bed.”
“What time is that?”
“About seven.”
He looked at the clock. “That only gives us three hours.”
“And we’ve already been working for two with barely anything to show for it.”
“Remind me again why we didn’t invite the youth to help?”
“You did. Conveniently, they all had other things to do.”
“I suppose midterms do take precedence.” He walked alongside her to the fellowship hall where they’d been cutting and painting cardboard and bedsheets for backdrops. “If we’re not done by seven, don’t feel bad about leaving. Alice needs you more than I do.”
She pursed her lips, but her eyes reflected amusement. “I’m not sure if that was a compliment or an insult.”
“Oh, definitely a compliment,” he said in an exaggerated tone. “But seriously, I know it’s important for you to spend time with Alice. I don’t want to keep you away from her too long.”
She put a hand on her hip and stared at him. “You know, you’re really not that bad of a guy.”
“Thanks … I think.”
Laughter rang from her. “You’re not the only one who can give mixed compliments.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” The banter between them made the day go by quickly. Anyone who had witnessed their first meetings wouldn’t believe how well they got along now. “Where’d your name come from?”
She paused midstride and tilted her head to look at him.. “That was random.”
“I was thinking about the first time we met, and I wanted to ask you then, but we didn’t exactly get off on the right foot.”
“That’s an understatement.” She resumed walking. “It’s short for Beatrix. I was named after one of my great aunts. Each of my siblings was named after a family member.”
“Did you ever go by Bea?”
“No. For a while, people called my Bebe, but only mom does now.”
He nodded slowly. “Trixie fits you. It’s quirky and cute, and not common.”
“Quirky?”
Man, how many times could he stick his foot in his mouth when only trying to compliment her? “In a good way. Promise.”
