“Wow, I feel like a celebrity,” Beth said. “Where’d the lemon go? I figured we could walk over together.”

“I’m guessing she already left,” Lindsey said. “You know how she is about being prompt.”

They stepped outside the library. The sky was just beginning to get dark, and Lindsey could smell the distinct scent of woodstove smoke in the air. It was early in the year to be firing up the woodstove, but then, the weatherman on television had said that tonight would be the coldest one yet.

Beth huddled in her jacket. She was mumbling to herself and Lindsey wondered if it was a personal conversation or her lines that she was going over. Either way, she decided not to interrupt her friend and instead took a moment to relish the sight of the leaves on the trees in the park taking on the last of the sun’s rays in bursts of orange, red and yellow. Breathtaking.

They continued down the sidewalk to the theater. The closer they got, the more Beth started to hum with anxiety.

The ushers and ticket takers were all in the lobby and they turned when Lindsey opened the door as if they were expecting their first guests.

“Cast and crew,” Lindsey said.

Kim Berger, who was in charge of the ushers, nodded at them and waved them through.

“Oh, my god, this is really happening,” Beth said. “That’s it. I can’t do it. I can’t go on stage.”

28

“What?” Lindsey grabbed her arm before she bolted.

“I can’t do it,” Beth said.

Lindsey pulled her through the doors that led into the theater. The lights were down. Crew members were scrambling to make sure the set was just right for the opening act, and cast members were in various states of costume, huddled in dark corners while they went over their lines.

“Stop it,” Lindsey said. “You just have a touch of stage fright. Shake it off.”

“Shake it off?” Beth repeated. “How?”

“Violet will set you right,” Lindsey said. “Come on.”

Violet was in front of the stage with a crowd around her. From the looks of it, Beth wasn’t the only one panicking. The lighting man was holding up colored gels, the stage director kept testing his headset as if he just couldn’t believe it actually worked and two of the cast members were wringing their hands and looking as ill at ease as Beth.

Lindsey would have felt sorry for Violet, but she looked energized in a way Lindsey had never seen before. Her eyes sparkled, her skin glowed and her smile was positively luminescent.

“Cast and crew,” Violet called everyone forward. “Gather ’round.”

As if they had all been tucked into the woodwork, the players and crew came forward, gathering en masse in front of the stage. Violet’s gaze moved over all of them with the affection of a mother.