“I read Shakespeare by candlelight,” said Noah, kneeling. “I keep the candle right here, on the end of my hook.”
He held up his right sleeve, which was suddenly empty, and AJ had to choke back a cackle.
“You know what would look great with that hook?” she said, batting her eyelashes. “This orange shell cameo brooch I procured from the good shipHome Shopping Network.”
“What a pair of mooncalves,” muttered Eudora, as Noah’s face split into a grin. He howled with laughter until he was on all fours, which made AJ laugh so hard she couldn’t breathe.
She had never known such freedom.
Noah’s mother’s illness hoveredaround their practices like a fourth participant. One morning Eudora had them performing routine tasks on the patio “as if no one was watching.” Noah was halfwaythrough constructing a model plane when Mrs. Gilroy burst breathless from the kitchen.
“Noah, Dr. Clements has the blood test results.”
Noah was out of his chair so fast it was still wobbling as he strode into the house. AJ glanced at Eudora, seated beside her in the shade. She made no move to follow him.
The sun glared as the minutes ticked by. On the table, Noah’s fragile creation began to sag.
When AJ could stand it no longer, she ventured, “Should we see—”
“No, dear,” said Eudora.
AJ heard the muted sound of Noah’s car on the other side of the mansion.
“I’m a twin, did you know that?” said Eudora, eyes unfocused. “Elijah—Noah’s grandfather. Snuffed out one night doing ninety on the 101. He took too many drugs. He was only thirty-seven. A mercy compared to Ezell. Cancer—really took its sweet time. He dwindled for years, then one day he was…gone. Ah well.You must follow them to the end, into death if necessary.”
This last was a quote fromLaughter & Death,but AJ had just been hit with too much Drew acting voltage to form a cogent response. Eudora sniffed. “According to Noah, his mother’s taken a turn, butIhaven’t heard anything from the doctor that sounds life-threatening.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said AJ, but Eudora appeared not to have heard her.
“I’m afraid if we continue like this, he’ll never break free,” she lamented. “At a certain point, there’s nothing more I can do. If he wants to throw away our legacy…”
She glanced at AJ, remembering herself. “You’re coming along nicely, dear,” she said crisply. “What’s next for you? School play?”
AJ squirmed under her gaze. “I hadn’t thought about it,” she said, and she hadn’t. Her vanishing point in these lessons had been college…college and the SFSB panel.
“Oh?” probed Eudora.
AJ considered. “I want to write. Comedy, like onSNL.” The desire to share her fic had been organic, a natural extension of this dream. Butwhat she did here was somehow private. Sacred. That new self, the one beneath her armor, had only ever come out at Drew House. Playing on the patio with Noah felt right. Safe. Acting onstage at the high school felt like…Pippi Lung-stocking. “I’m not really a performer.”
Eudora raised an eyebrow. “Well, you certainly won’t be if that’s what you tell yourself.”
AJ laughed. “I like acting, I just…I don’t know if I could do it if I knew people were watching. They might think it was stupid, and then I’d…I don’t know.”
Eudora gave her a sidelong look. “I understand.” She sighed. “I’ve had terrible stage fright since Ezell died. It’s like without him, the part of me that knew how to do this died too. I just can’t face the crowd.”
AJ was stunned. “But you’re…you.”
Eudora winced. “I’m not what I used to be,” she said. “It’s painful to watch people’s faces fall when they realize that. I saw it inyoureyes the first time we met. It’s a terrible thing to stand in the wings, haunted by the specter of your younger self.”
“I’m sorry,” said AJ. Suddenly, it occurred to her that Eudora might be backing out of the panel. Ezell hadn’t covered stage fright inLaughter & Death.“So, how do we, um, fix it?”
Eudora laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not reneging on the nut convention just yet,” she said, reading AJ’s mind. “I’ll find a way to hold up my end of the bargain. You’ve held up yours. Admirably, too.”
AJ’s cheeks colored. “Anything forAstronauticals.”
Eudora continued to eye her. “You really don’t know how good you are.” She sounded almost mystified. “For what it’s worth, I think you could really make a go of this.”
AJ looked up at her, startled. “You do?”
