Duet in the Wings: A Small Town Romance by Aurelia McKay

Author:Aurelia McKay [McKay, Aurelia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-28T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

“Donuts are here!”

Zoe glanced up from her painting task to see Christine carrying three boxes of donuts into the theater. Today’s set build and painting had been listed as mandatory and Pam had grumbled about losing half her staff to the event, but it seemed most of their customers were out here helping, too. People she’d never met were spread around the theater, inside and out, some working on the stage, some cleaning out the dressing rooms, others doing painting and millwork outside.

“Can we afford donuts?” Zoe asked, following Christine into the lobby where they had a snack table and drinks.

“I can afford donuts. Is Pam not paying you?” Christine asked, spreading the three boxes, then taking out a pink-frosted donut. She tore the donut in two, giving half to Zoe. “What are you doing with the paint? You’re usually a power drill person.”

“The men here seem to be afraid to give me a power tool. Also, I didn’t want one,” Zoe said trying not to inhale her half donut in one bite.

“Are you sick?” Christine asked, her brow furrowing. Zoe had always taken on the heavy labor and left the painting to people who had limited skill. Tucker had taken one look at her and judged her a painter and she was too tired to prove him wrong.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m older than I thought,” Zoe said, motioning to her hair. The vibrant purple had faded, leaving the bleached ends with a lavender hue and dark roots.

“I’m sorry I said that. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad about your hair,” Christine said, finishing her donut and wiping the leftover sugar residue on her work shirt. Zoe had borrowed a t-shirt and shorts from Mrs. Tilly’s ‘work clothes’ stash because she didn’t own anything she could paint in these days.

“By hair, you mean life choices,” Zoe said.

“That, too.” She smiled sheepishly. Then she poked her head into the auditorium and hollered that donuts were here. Coming back to Zoe, she said, “Nick tells me you two are going to save the theater.”

“Yeah. I think he’s just doing it to woo me,” Zoe said, picking up a water bottle and taking a long drink. The humid summer heat had left her sweaty and gross and she worried about getting sunburned before the show, too.

“Aren’t you already wooed?” Christine asked.

“I am,” Zoe said, slinking away from the donut table as people trickled into the lobby. Dropping her voice, she whispered, “Even if the theater closes, I think I’d stay in town just for him.”

“Wow.” Christine’s eyes went wide. “So you’re giving up that flitting from town-to-town, hooking up with any guy who catches your eye life?”

Zoe’s nose wrinkled. Her reputation never mattered when she didn’t plan to stay. Hooking up with Parker had affected her relationship with Charlotte through this whole rehearsal process and Zoe couldn’t imagine what she’d inadvertently done to others. At least Parker had finally noticed Charlotte and they were a cute couple, but sometimes Zoe felt like a stain on their love story.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.