The Girl From Summer Hill (Summer Hill 1)

At the side of the stage, the high school girl playing Kitty was tapping away on her phone, unaware of anything going on around her. The crowd quit trying to hold in their laughter.

“Then,” Olivia said, “oh, wise husband, perhaps Mary. With her books, she could be a match.”

“No,” Lori said thoughtfully as she looked around at the people on the stage. “I have decided who will marry Mr. Collins and will have this house that is my very soul. The house that is the source of all this beastly marriage rumpus.” Lori took a long breath, then whirled around and pointed at the woman playing Hill, the overworked servant of the Bennets.

In real life, the woman was about forty-five years old and was doing the play only because her children had nagged her into it.

“Hill, you are my great love!” Lori said loudly. “And the house will be yours!”

The woman—the only one onstage who was sitting down—said, “Only if Darcy comes with it.”

There was an explosion of laughter that didn’t end until Kit came back on the stage.

After that little episode, Lori was everyone’s favorite.

Other than that one bit of lightheartedness, the rehearsals were unpleasant and they continued to be for nearly a week. By the end of it, Kit and Olivia were hardly speaking. One morning Olivia was to work on the scene where her husband is teasing her. But Dr. Kyle was called out on an emergency and had to leave. Kit stepped in for the part.

“Oh, Mr. Bennet,” Olivia said, “you have no feelings for my nerves.”

“Your nerves,” Kit said softly, even seductively, “your words, your thoughts, your very breath, have been my companions these many years.”

“If only I believed that!” Olivia snapped, and walked off the stage.

It took Kit a few moments to recover, then he called for yet another break.

Casey went to the guesthouse to prepare lunch to be delivered to Jack and Tate. When Josh stopped by, she gave him the cooler to take for her. If she could avoid going to the Big House, she did.

Minutes later, he returned with a gift in his hand. It was the size of a shoe box and wrapped in shiny green paper with a pretty pink ribbon. “This is for you.”

She gave it a quick glance. “I don’t want it.”

“It’s not from the men. It’s from her.”

Casey looked up from the pie dough she was rolling out. “Who is ‘her’?”

“Tate’s sister.”

“Then I definitely don’t want it.”

Josh sat down on a stool. “You wouldn’t consider telling me what’s going on with you and Gizzy, would you?”

“We broke up with some guys,” Casey said. “No biggie.”

“You four, along with Kit and Olivia, are sabotaging a play that benefits charity, but it’s no big deal?”

“Sorry.” Casey rolled the dough over her pin.

“Casey!” Josh said loudly as he went to her. “Stop with the pies. You’re putting the local bakery out of business.” He put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her. “I understand that you and Tate had a falling-out. It happens. But I just met his sister and his little niece and they don’t deserve to be part of it.” When Casey was silent, he threw up his hands and stepped away. “Nina asked if you’d cook for them.”

“Of course. Tate already asked. But…” Trailing off, she took a breath. “You’re right. I’m carrying this too far. I would be glad to cook for them.”

Josh picked up the prettily wrapped gift. “Open it.”

“I will.”

“No,” Josh said firmly. “Open it now.”

Reluctantly, Casey tore away the paper. Inside was a box filled with pink tissue paper. Buried in the middle was a little blue velvet case, the kind a ring came in. She dropped it back into the papers as though it were poison. “I’m not opening that.” She turned away.