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

It was so satisfying.

“Oh, speaking of my husband, he’s waving me over. Gotta go.” Teresa gave Georgia a tight squeeze. “Hope you enjoy the walk-through. See you at the finish.”

Georgia crinkled her nose as Teresa danced away. “Walk-through?”

15

Wyatt

It was fun to tease Georgia about the Christmas miracle thing. But the real miracle was her. How she stumbled into my life and suddenly the world was beautiful again. Okay, Reeses had something to do with the stumbling part but I considered it a miracle just the same.

We lived in a city of millions. Perfect strangers with completely different lives. I could have passed her on 14th street and never had a reason to talk to her. Yet here we were in Bethlehem, Kansas. Falling in love.

Whoa there, Wyatt.

What did that dear old granny put in the gravy?

I knew I was falling in something. The woozy feeling in my stomach told me as much. But love? How would I know? I had nothing to compare it with.

We entered the sanctuary as people were taking their seats. A group of about a dozen ladies came in through the front door. They were all smiles, giggling amongst themselves. But there was something about them I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

“I wonder who they are,” said Georgia, following my line of sight. “They’re all wearing the same thing. Like a uniform.”

Ah, that’s what it was. Each of them wore a long, beige skirt and the same white collars peeked out from under their winter coats. They had some sort of metal brooch in the shape of a heart pinned to cream cardigans, from what I could see when a coat or two was unzipped. And each and every one of them had short hairstyles. But the one thing that particularly stood out was the joy on their faces. Like they were all glowy from the inside out.

“Maybe they work at See’s Candy,” I suggested. “They’re so happy.”

Georgia chuckled. “I’d be happy, too, if I worked in a candy store.”

We moved to look for our seats when A.J.’s grandma seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“I’m so happy you decided to come.” Hugs and wet kisses on the cheek were part of the greeting package with this woman. We soon found out what Teresa meant by walk-through. A.J.’s grandma explained the whole thing. Although the opening scene was to take place inside the main sanctuary, the rest of the reenactment was a walking tour outside guided by a little boy with a snare drum.

“Don’t worry.” said she. “Pastor Kevin put up space heaters along the route. And the actors have plenty of layers.”

By actors she meant townsfolk and their children. It was a tradition at this church and apparently the congregants looked forward to this night all year long. They were kinda obsessed with it according to A.J.’s grandma.

The old woman leaned in to whisper, “I heard Suzy McCormick got pregnant again on purpose just so her kid could play Baby Jesus this year. She’s no Virgin Mary, I’ll tell you that much.”

T.M.I. lady.

We sat down right before the lights dimmed. Our new friend dropped off a plate of fudge at a refreshments table and swiftly returned to join us. She certainly loved to talk, chatting in Georgia’s ear all throughout Pastor Kevin’s intro speech. I think she was thrilled to have fresh ears who hadn’t heard all her stories before. Georgia was bright enough to get her name. Lois. She looked like a Lois.

At one point she asked how we came to pass by Bethlehem of all places. Georgia told her how we hitched a ride with the man with the black truck, highlighting the detail about the snake on the hood.

“Oh that would be Walter,” chirped Lois. “Such a nice man. Did he tell you about his daughter? Big time lawyer in the city. He’s so proud.”

That piqued my interest. “No he didn’t. Not much of a talker.”

According to Lois, Walter went to live with his daughter after his wife passed away. He’d made the trip back to Bethlehem every month to place fresh flowers on her grave and on Christmas, he and his daughter had the tradition to meet at his little cabin just over the state line.

Georgia and I exchanged a look. We were so off.

Pastor Kevin finished his intro and the congregation applauded as the stage lights turned to a blueish hue and music rose through the speakers. It was a lesser-known carol called Gabriel’s Message beautifully performed by the children’s choir. As they sang, a young lady dressed in a blue veil came on stage accompanied by a boy dressed as an angel.

“Is that Suzy McCormick?” asked Georgia in a whisper.

“Heavens, no,” said Lois. “That’s the pastor’s daughter, Joy. She’s only fifteen. You’ll see Suzy later.”

Oh yippee.

When the song ended, a scripture was read and we were instructed to follow the drummer boy outside. We all filed out. Since we were towards the back, we ended up getting clumped in the straggler’s section but that didn’t dilute our experience.

It was a walking tour of the nativity story. Costumed characters stood in perfectly still vignettes like statues in a scene. Large scrolls served to indicate what scene we were passing. There was the angel appearing to Joseph in a dream. The teen boy playing Joseph did a good job at acting frightened.

There was Mary (played by yet another girl) visiting her cousin Elizabeth. We walked further down to see the Herod scene played out by a ten-year-old boy lying on a mountain of gold. That was a little disturbing.

Then another two actors playing Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem on a Donkey. They had a real donkey.

I was about to be extremely impressed by that until I spotted the camels. Where the heck did they get three camels? These guys weren’t fooling around with their nativity show.

“Watch out,” said Lois, nudging us with her arm. “Those creatures like to spit.”

Georgia chuckled. “I’ll bear that in