Page 86 of Always You (A Lilac Bay Novel)

“Little change of plans, Tina,” I told her, trying to smile through the fear growing in my chest. “Iris and David had a little accident.”

“Do you know the part?” she asked, looking worried.

“Sure,” I said, even though neither of us did, not really. Sure, we’d seen the damn skit performed year after year, but it wasn’t exactly the kind of thing you paid close attention to. Still, the narrator—Libby this year—did most of the work. She read the story and we just had to act out what she said. We could improvise the rest.

At least, I hoped we could.

“Okay, dear. Well, I’ll send the kids out then.”

I closed my eyes, trying to take deep breaths, as the music started on the other side of the curtains. There was a murmur of approval from the audience, and I could picture the kids from Tina’s ballet class taking the stage, dancing around in their fairy costumes. Then Libby began the story.

“Many, many moons ago, very near to this same spot, lived a rich and powerful king.” There was laughter from the audience, and I peeked around the curtain so I could see what was happening. Mayor Jones had entered in his king costume, strutting around the stage.

“But the king was a cruel man, jealous and demanding,” Libby read, while the mayor pretended to bop a few of the fairy dancers on their head. “The king had a very kind and beautiful daughter.”

There was a pause on the stage. “Riley, that’s you!” Andrew whispered behind me.

“Crap,” I muttered. “Here goes nothing.”

I stepped up on the stage to scattered applause and a few wolf whistles—Jake and Zane, I was pretty sure—and started to flounce around the stage while Libby read the part of the story about the princess loving flowers and the woodland creatures.

“What is Auntie doing?” I heard Mason ask loudly, followed by Rebecca snickering.Nice sister, I thought, grimacing.

“One day, while playing in the woods, the princess came across a woodsman.”

It occurred to me in that moment that Andrew could very well have taken off without me there to prod him onto the stage. But as soon as Libby said the line, he stepped out onto the stage. He stood there in his tights and tunic with the silly little hat, glaring at me across the stage, obvious to everyone how very much he didn’t want to be there.

I slapped a hand over my mouth to cover my laughter, and several people in the audience giggled as well. Edward was laughing hysterically, so loudly I thought he might actually hurt himself. Andrew turned his gaze to the audience and glared at them instead, leading to even more laughter.

“The woodsman thought the princess was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen,” Libby read, her voice tinged with amusement. Andrew sighed and turned back to me. I put my hands on my hips and raised my eyebrows and he sighed, slapping a soppy expression on his face. The crowd was really laughing now.

“The princess and the woodsman fell in love at first sight.” I did my best to dance over to Andrew the way I had seen the other princesses do over the years, but from the way Rebecca was snorting in the audience I probably didn’t look very graceful. “They danced through the forest with all of their woodland friends and the fairies,” Libby read. Andrew just stood there, looking like he wanted to die.

“I said,” Libby called louder, “that they danced through the forest with all of their woodland friends and the fairies.”

Andrew sighed and took me in his arms, waltzing awkwardly around the stage while Tina’s dance class joined us, the little girls in pink fairy costumes, the little boys in brown pants and shirts with furry-eared headbands. I was finding it very difficult not to burst into laughter as the little kids fluttered around Andrew with his angry, flat expression.

“Unfortunately for the princess, her father was very cruel and very jealous and demanding,” Libby read, and Mayor Jones stepped onto the stage, waving his arms over his head.

“Who is that with my daughter?” he bellowed.

“It is I,” I whispered to Andrew. “A humble woodsman.”

“Oh, God,” he whispered, but he turned to Mayor Jones and repeated the line. “It is I, a humble woodsman. But I love your daughter dearly and I promise to make her happy.”

Nice, Andrew, I thought. Apparently he had been paying attention all these years.

“My daughter is a princess!” Jones shouted. “She will not marry the likes of you!”

“But Father!” I cried. “I love him so!”

“Then I will lock you up!” he shouted. God, he was so over the top. Once again, the urge to laugh rose up in me, and I had to hide my face in Andrew’s shoulder.

“Please, Your Highness,” he said, his voice as flat as his expression. “Don’t take away my love.”

Mayor Jones grabbed me by the arm and dragged me away, the fairy dancers covering their mouths in horror.

Libby continued with the story, explaining how the angry King created an island fortress in the middle of the bay to imprison the princess. I sat in the middle of the stage, pretending to cry, as the fairies danced around me.