Molly stifled her laugh. Chris and Sam were already painting at one end of the panels.
“Everyone back in their places. I’m telling you, if every theater was this incompetent, there’d be no shows,” Magnolia’s voice rang out from somewhere out front.
“Where’s Dorothy? Dorothy?” Her voice came out shrill.
“She refuses to call them by their real names,” Sarah whispered, handing Molly a paintbrush.
Molly’s eyes widened as an older woman she didn’t recognize—and not just because she was dressed like Dorothy—hurried around the set and out to the front of the stage.
“Right here, Ms. Sweet,” the woman said.
“Don’t think I can’t replace you,” Magnolia said. Her voice carried well through the auditorium. “Let me tell you the first thing I learned in Hollywood; anyone can be replaced.”
“Not you,” Cora called back.
“I’m making a few changes. Dorothy, go stand stage left for a moment. Where are the monkeys? Instead of six, I only want three. Monkeys four, five, and six, you’ll be silent woodland creatures instead. Tiffany, make a note.”
Molly, glad she wasn’t Tiffany— whoever that was— continued painting hand-drawn bricks a shiny shade of gold. Sarah’s sharp intake of air made her look up. “You okay?” She whispered it across the space.
Sarah winced and pointed out front.
“But I’m monkey six,” Cora said loudly.
“And now you’re a quiet little bunny in the background. Let’s go again with the lights. Is there anyone in the damn tech booth?” Fingers snapped loudly. “Anyone?”
“We’re here, Ms. Sweet,” said a voice through the speaker system.
“Finally,” Magnolia said. “From the top.”
“Ms. Sweet. There were no bunnies in the play. I don’t understand.”
Molly couldn’t help it. She set the paintbrush down and tiptoed to the edge of the set, peering around. Several people milled about in the wings, and it felt like they were holding their collective breaths.
Magnolia came up the stairs and stood right in front of Cora. “Are you challenging me?”
Cora shook her head. “Of course not. It’s just, I was pleased with my role.”
Magnolia jutted out her hip and placed her hand on it. “And I would be pleased if you stopped wasting my time. While I was outside, I realized that the spark I’m missing isn’t just because you’re a dreadful lot of actors. It’s because there are too many of you. No play needs this many active characters. Now, if you want to be part of the production at all, I suggest you hop along backstage and see if wardrobe has some cute ears for you to wear. Otherwise, your services are no longer needed. Tiffany, get me a water.”
In the bright overhead lights, Molly caught the sheen in Cora’s eyes, and though she was no fan of Ms. Lester, she felt badly for the woman.
“Well then. I quit. You think you can treat people however you want, Magnolia Sweet, but mark my words, one day it’s going to come back and bite you in your butt.”
Cora tossed her script on the ground and stormed off the stage. Magnolia spread her arms wide, looking around at the actors. “Anyone else? If you don’t like the way I do things, you’re free to go.”
A waifish looking woman with her hair in long dark braids hurried over with a bottle of water and handed it to Magnolia, who snatched it from her hand and went to her seat. The woman followed.
No one else moved or spoke. Sarah joined Molly and whispered in her ear. “That’s the second cast member who’s left today.”
Molly followed Sarah back to where they’d been painting, shooting Sam a smile she wasn’t sure he could see in the low light. The actors began to rehearse.
“Who else?” Molly whispered as she kneeled down and swiped the brush through the paint.
Sarah picked up a can and poured more into the tray. “Lenora Ray left earlier today. She was supposed to be the aunt but kept mispronouncing words and Magnolia wouldn’t stop yelling at her. It made Deb happy though. Do you know her? She lives at the seniors’ villa out on the edge of town, where Magnolia lives. She’s got a crush on Beau Harrison who plays the uncle.”
Molly couldn’t stop her jaw from dropping. “My goodness. It’s like she brought the soap opera with her.”
“Are people talking backstage? Stagehands, are you trying to ruin my production? You’re back there to work, not yap all night. Again, from the top.”
There were further moments of tension, but if Molly pushed that aside, listening to the lines from behind the stage was actually kind of fun. Careful not to talk and disrupt rehearsal, Molly and Sam shot looks to each other across the space. She had to stifle a laugh more than once as Chris and Sam goofed around in between working. Sarah shook her head repeatedly, her smile glimmering in the dark as she worked on the set.
By the time they’d painted the castle in full, rehearsal had come to a close. A man came through with a garbage can and a broom, his dark gray beard twitching when he passed Chris, Sarah, Sam, and Molly.
“You four hide out until the dragon lady left?” His eyes twinkled with amusement.
“You know me better than that, Judd. We aren’t scared of her,” Chris said, reaching out to shake the man’s hand.
“Speak for yourself, man.” Sam also shook the man’s hand.
“You’re not carrying your weapon, you ought to be scared. Though I reckon these lovely women could take care of you two scoundrels,” Judd said, tilting an imaginary hat their way.
The guys laughed and Sam put an arm around Molly. “Judd here was our custodian when Chris and I went to high school. Now he keeps half the buildings in Britton Bay clean after hours. Judd, this is Molly, my girlfriend, and this is Sarah, Chris’s girlfriend.”
“Nice to meet you ladies. Sam, good, honest work never hurt anyone. You’d know all about that,” Judd said, speaking to Sam with affection.
Chris took Sarah’s hand but his chin popped up. “What about me? I’m good and honest.”
Judd’s eyes sparkled again. “You’re acting sheriff, boy. That’s next thing to a politician, so whatever good and honest you got left, you better hide it before the job takes that out of you.”
The four of them laughed and Judd shared a couple of Chris and Sam stories from their youth, making them laugh harder.
“You kids go on. See you soon.” Judd waved as he pushed the broom down the aisle and the four of them left the way they’d come in, this time without a hassle.
Chapter Four
Molly looked at the mock-up of the program Sarah
