A Boy To Remember. Cynthia Thomason

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СКАЧАТЬ lie about that. “No. After I married, I went to live in Chicago. I’m just here visiting my father.”

      “I hope you’ll be around long enough for Lizzie to have her chance on stage.”

      “Yes, we plan to stay awhile.”

      “Great. She’s a minor, right? So Glen will have to get your signature on some papers, but we’ll treat her with kid gloves.”

      “How involved are you, Daniel? Will you have an acting part in the play?”

      “Nothing as glamorous as that. While I’m on hiatus from my real job, I’m helping with the sets. And since I’ve had some acting experience, I may try my hand at coaching some of the newer players. It’s just a diversion for me really, and I’ve known Glen for a long time.”

      He was being modest. He had been the star of the resort revue. Audiences had loved his singing and dancing. All the girls had confessed to having crushes on him. The resort guests asked for him personally when they needed a favor during the day. That summer he had cleaned up on tips, stashing away every cent to pay for college.

      “So this has your stamp of approval for Lizzie, Alex?” he asked. “I hope so. She’s a natural.”

      “Sure. Whatever she wants.”

      He stood and called toward the stage. “Come on down, Lizzie. Your mom is on board.”

      Lizzie bounded down to the main floor. She scurried up to her mother and Daniel. “It’s okay with you, Mom? I can drive myself whenever you don’t want to bring me. You won’t have to operate a taxi the whole summer.”

      “Yes, honey, I think it’s a great idea.”

      Lizzie gave her a hug.

      “It’s settled, then,” Daniel said. “Take a copy of the script home and start learning the lines. We’ll have to get your dress size and shoe size so we can alert the costume designer that we have our Zaneeta. This was the last major role we had to fill.”

      Having heard the exchange, Glen joined the others. “I’d say this calls for a celebration, not just because we have our Zaneeta, but because old friends have met in this theater today. We need to catch up with each other. What do you say, Alex? All of us, dinner on me at the Jug and Boar?”

      Alex ran a hand through her shoulder-length hair. “I don’t know, Glen. I have obligations...”

      “You can bring your husband,” Daniel said. “And Lizzie can bring a friend...”

      “I don’t have friends here,” Lizzie said. “And my father died...”

      Alex felt the cold rush of guilt creep into her cheeks. There had been no reason for her to tell Daniel she was a widow, and yet she somehow felt as if she’d withheld that information from him.

      Daniel stepped back. “I’m so sorry. How long ago?”

      “It was January,” Alex said. “We’re still adjusting.”

      “Of course you are. Wow, that’s tough. If there’s anything I can do...”

      “There isn’t. I’m with my family.”

      “Okay, but if you think of something...”

      Glen covered the awkward silence. “I think that dinner is even more important now,” he said. “What do you say, Alex? Is tomorrow night good for you?”

      Alex stood and maneuvered her way to the aisle. “I couldn’t. You understand. Lizzie and I have to go now.”

      “Sure,” Glen said. “We start rehearsals on Wednesday, kid. We’ll see you at nine o’clock.”

      “I’ll be here.”

      Alex and Lizzie walked to the exit, and only when she’d opened the door did Alex take a normal breath. She’d felt Daniel’s gaze on her the entire way up the aisle and now had to convince her knees to quit trembling.

      “Why didn’t you want to go to dinner, Mom?” Lizzie asked. “Those guys are so nice. I wanted to go.”

      “Maybe some other time, honey. We’ve just arrived here. Grandpa wants time with you.”

      “Okay, but if they ask again, say yes.”

      Alex nodded. You got away with this, she told herself. No harm done. Surely she could manage a short summer season without Daniel Chandler knowing the truth about his daughter.

      * * *

      “HEY, WE’VE STILL got a bridge to build. Can we get some work done today?”

      Daniel hadn’t realized he’d been staring at a closed door until Richie Parker’s voice echoed off the theater walls. Beside him, Glen chuckled. “Guess Richie doesn’t realize we got something important done today that didn’t include the bridge.”

      “Yeah,” Daniel agreed. “Hiring Lizzie was a stroke of luck.”

      Both men turned and headed toward the stage, where construction of the romantic bridge had halted. “I don’t know about luck,” Glen said. “I remember Alex having a good bit of talent that summer at the resort. Maybe it runs in the family. At any rate, you and Alex made my job as choreographer run smoothly.”

      Daniel had thought of Alex Foster many times in the past few years. Because of her, that summer was the best he’d ever spent at Birch Shore. He had noticed her right away. In fact, he clearly recalled rushing up to the SUV her father drove and offering to transport Alex’s bags into the dormitory. And it hadn’t been ten minutes after her dad left that Daniel had invited her to go with him to the cafeteria for supper. And so began a relationship that seemed to have been built on days of grinding rehearsals, subpar meals and, what made it all worthwhile, moonlit walks on the beach that led to his eventually making love to Alex.

      Oh, yeah, he’d had it bad for Alex that summer. Unfortunately, she seemed to have developed something equally as bad for another guy as soon as the season ended. The resort closed, the kids left, and except for a few phone calls, Daniel never made contact with her again. He’d searched his brain for reasons to explain her sudden surprising behavior. When logical explanations didn’t come to him, he tried to forget her, to move on with other girls. But he’d ended the best summer of his life with a broken heart.

      Eighteen years earlier

      DANIEL RETURNED TO Ohio State believing that he’d met the girl of his dreams, the one who would make all his hard work and sacrifice worth it. Someday I’m going to marry Alex Foster, he’d told his friends at Ohio State.

      The first phone calls had been exciting, fun, sprinkled with sweet words, and them sharing their dreams. They planned when they would get together again. And then, the last time she spoke to him, everything changed.

      “You shouldn’t call me anymore, Daniel,” she said.

      “Why? What’s wrong? Are you ill?” If there was something wrong with Alex, Daniel made up his mind to leave campus and go to her immediately.

      “No, I’m fine. СКАЧАТЬ