Backstage Romance: An Austen-Inspired Romantic Comedy Box Set by Gigi Blume (ebook reader with highlighter txt) 📕

the orchestra eased into the first notes of the overture. There was a spark backstage that could only be attributed to the special kind of energy of opening night. Everyone in the cast and crew mouthed the words ‘break a leg.’ Some made a twig-breaking gesture with their hands that meant the same sentiment. Everyone looked fabulous and colorful in the costumes Ari designed. No matter how many shows I’d done, this moment never got old. I could imagine skydivers and Olympians felt a similar rush right before performing death-defying feats. It was electric, and I felt like hugging everybody.

I made my way past the rigging, sliding set pieces, and black-clad crew on headsets to claim a spot in the wings to watch the acrobatic entrance of the pirates. The way they swung from the ropes and transitioned into backflips off the ship and across the stage was like Cirque du Soleil meets La Bohème. A roar of applause thundered throughout the house. But my favorite sight was the Pirate Captain riding in on the mast with a spyglass to his eye. I always had a thing for billowy shirts and tight leather trousers, but Will brought swanky swashbuckling pirate to a whole new level. And those boots! Heaven help me. The man knew how to wear boots.

He was in his element, flying down the mast on a rope, dueling with one of the pirates on the gangplank, and falling off the deck backwards into the linked arms of waiting pirates all while singing Pour Oh Pour the Pirate Sherry.

Everything about the production was amazing. And I was part of it. My tribe. I felt a pang in my heart for Lydia. If only she could be with us as she should have been. She promised to see the show as soon as she could, and we made a promise to her we’d have a place for her backstage anytime she wanted to be close to her friends. The same invitation extended to Nora.

All through the first act, I ached to talk to Will. Things needed to be said, and although I knew we couldn’t very well have a heart-to-heart during a performance, I felt a little off-kilter without so much as a ‘break a leg’ before curtain. When we weren’t on stage, we were at opposite wings. It was actually quite convenient all those times I tried to avoid him. Now it was just annoying. The first contact I had with him all day was during our lift sequence. He caught me in his arms with the same movement and choreography we rehearsed, but his touch was more sincere. Reverent. His eyes reflected the stage lights with a spark as he looked over my features while he sang with a swoony grin, “Here’s a first-rate opportunity to get married with impunity…”

Meanwhile, my baby-making parts were doing an impromptu conga line and in the midst of the little shakers and maracas, I may have forgotten to sing my part. But the moment was over as swiftly as it began when we took our places for I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General on opposite ends of the stage. I was once again separated from Will for the rest of the act.

Intermission found me in the midst of excited cast and crew. Anyone not hugging and squeezing with joy was changing into their act-two costume. I had to change from my beautiful bustle dress into the frompiest nightgown imaginable which guaranteed the opposite effect I hoped to achieve with Will. Maybe I was being pathetic, but if I didn’t find him at intermission for a quick chat, I’d go nuts. Luckily, he was waiting outside my dressing room to do just that.

“Elizabeth,” he bade. “Do you have a moment?”

Did I have a moment? I had the rest of my life. But I played it cool.

“Sure.”

He gently placed his hand at the small of my back and led me to the stairwell. For a second there, it seemed talking wasn’t on his agenda, but he paused at the middle landing and backed away from me to give me space. His expression was soft as he regarded me thoughtfully.

“Thank you for returning my father’s book to me. I thought it was gone forever.”

“How did you know it was me?” I hadn’t written a note, and I didn’t think he saw me go in his dressing room.

“Jane told me,” he said. “She came in with Bing when I found it.”

“Oh.” Even though it wasn’t my fault, I still felt rotten about having the book in my possession. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? Why? I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

“You owe me? More like the total opposite.”

What was returning a book compared to saving someone’s life?

“How can I ever repay you for what you did for Lydia?”

He knit his brows together with a question in his eyes.

“Even if my friends and I saved up for a year—”

“I don’t want to be repaid,” he said softly. “That’s not why I did it.”

I narrowed my eyes on him intently, trying to figure out this enigma of a man.

“Why would you do that? Risk your life for someone you hardly know?”

He was silent for a long moment as though he was trying to form his words.

“I… felt responsible,” he said tentatively. “Even though Jorge isn’t my brother by blood, I felt I had to atone for whatever led him down this path.”

“His behavior isn’t your fault.”

He shrugged and blinked back what looked like the beginning of tears.

“Maybe not. But that’s not why I went down to Mexico.”

“Then why?”

He parted his lips ever so slightly and looked deep inside my eyes. His voice, barely a whisper, resonated through my being.

“Elizabeth,” he breathed. “Don’t you know?”

Zing! I was a goner. Did he seriously imply he risked his life deep in the bowels of dangertown and paid a king’s ransom to free my dim-witted friend… for me? I wasn’t sure if I wanted to throw my arms around him or