Final Call by Rachel Ann Nunes

Author:Rachel Ann Nunes [Nunes, Rachel Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Shadow Mountain Publishing
Published: 2012-05-06T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Liam came to see me the next day as I was finishing my whole wheat turkey sandwich from Smokey’s. I’d been expecting him because I’d texted him and told him that if he didn’t come in, I would tell the police he was hiding something. When he arrived, he looked like a college student who’d pulled an all-nighter for a final.

“Hey, are your eyes different colors or is it just the light?” he said a bit weakly.

Monday afternoons were customarily dead, so we had the shop to ourselves. “You look terrible, Bean Pole.”

“I’ve been researching on the Internet all night. I found them.”

“Your grandparents?”

“They own a little theater in Washington. Have for all their lives. They write plays and cast them and also act. It’s just a little place, apparently, and they close down every now and then because of a lack of funds, but some of their plays have been picked up elsewhere. They seem to be well known, and people have a lot of good things to say about them.” He sat down on the stool behind the counter. “How could my parents keep this a secret for my whole life?”

“I get the feeling your father doesn’t approve of acting in general, and your mother, well, according to the imprints on the photograph, she had a falling out with them. For what it’s worth, she regrets all that now, and she’s kept track of them for years. From a distance, apparently. They may not even know you exist.”

Liam raked his hands through his hair. “It’s so . . . so hypocritical. My father gave Rosemary such a terrible time about what she wanted to do, but it was in her blood, you know? Something she had to do. She lives for it. And she’s really good. Whenever I watch her, I really feel the part, you know?”

Though acting wouldn’t be my first choice for any child of mine, Winter had always taught me to let life be the dream-killer instead of mocking or being too realistic in regards to others’ dreams. Support them, help them, encourage them, show them options, and if for some reason they didn’t make it, you stepped in to help pick up the pieces, keeping your relationship intact. If you did what Rosemary’s father did, you lost every chance of a relationship with the child. Perhaps that was why Winter had helped me start my antiques shop instead of insisting I take over his herb store.

“Maybe he was trying to protect her from disappointment.” I didn’t believe it, but I wanted to soothe the pain on Liam’s face.

“It’s her life. If she doesn’t at least try, she’ll always regret and wonder. Besides, she could always do something with her talent, like my grandparents. She doesn’t have to end up in New York.” He grimaced. “Do you think my mother gave up her dreams because of my father? I don’t even know if she ever had any.”

“You’d have to ask her.”

He put his elbows on the counter and let his head drop to his hands in apparent misery.

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