Love Believes (Sully Point, Book 5) (3 page)

Kayla put the cookies in a separate white paper
bag, and then Beth paid and left. She felt curious about three things. Who was
Mr. Christopher? Why was he important to a bakery salesgirl? And, why was her
sister yelling at people?

Chapter 2

Beth had changed into black jeans, black leather
ankle boots, and an emerald green tunic top that matched her eyes by the time
Sam came by to pick her up. Her eyes widened when she saw the sports car he was
driving. She smiled at him as she remembered how he'd always been crazy for
cars.

"Nice!" she said as she got in and ran a
hand across the dashboard.

"Like it? It's yours, but only while you're
here."

"Seriously? That's fantastic, Sam. Thanks!
What kind of car is it anyway?"

He sighed. "I can't believe you don't know
these things. This is a 2002 Ford Thunderbird. Not all that expensive, but a
nice little car to run around town in."

"I like that its outside is all shiny and
black," Beth said with a grin at him.

Sam groaned and then chuckled. "You always
get me."

"Having a car to get around in will be great.
Although, this town seems so small I could probably walk everywhere."

"It is a small town, and especially for someone
coming from a large metropolis, it has to feel strange."

She said, "At least the bakery is awesome. I
already checked it out."

"Should have figured on that. Are you going
to be hungry for dinner?"

"Sure. So is it just you and Anna and Josh,
or will others be there?"

"If by others you mean, Maggie and Eric, yes,
they'll be there. But nobody else from the family. I figure to give you a
couple days on your own before springing the whole gang on you."

"You mean the Grainger family? Anna's
folks?"

"Well, it's more than the Graingers now.
Holly and Cody, Anna's sister and brother, both got married so the Tremaines
and Earlingtons were brought into the fold. Then you have to add in the
Stantons, due to Maggie's marriage, and suddenly we have quite a group. We're
pretty much all involved in one way or another with the foundation and with
what we call the Sully Point Project. Did anyone tell you about that?"

"I thought I heard something about building
an artist colony—is that it?"

"Yes. Work has started on it and we're making
progress. Our most recent addition to things is the...well, let's wait until
we're at dinner to discuss that."

"What? Is it a secret?"

"Nope, but we're here so let's go see
everyone."

He pulled the car into the driveway. Beth walked
into the house to be engulfed in a hug by her tiny sister. Maggie always seemed
so small, she thought. Five inches difference in height made a big difference.

"Bethie! You're here!" Maggie said,
hugging her tightly.

"Whoa, you almost knocked me over,
Mags."

Maggie laughed and pulled away. She ran her violet
eyes up and down Beth and declared, "Not an extra pound on you, as usual,
but you look beautiful. Tired, maybe, but beautiful. Come on in and meet
Eric."

Laughing, Beth let Maggie take her hand and drag
her into the living room. When they got there, she saw a handsome man with long
hair pulled back in a tie, and crinkled green eyes in a smiling face.

"Welcome to Sully Point, Beth. I'm Eric
Stanton," the man said.

"It's great to finally meet you, Eric,"
Beth said. "I'm so sorry I wasn't able to be here for the wedding."
From Maggie's inquisitive look, Beth knew her tone of voice had changed when
she mentioned the wedding and missing it. She made an effort to smile. "So
you two are going to be parents? That's just wonderful."

Maggie laughed a bubbling, infectious laugh.
"Yes! We just finished up the nursery. You have to come see it. But tell
me, do you like the apartment? Is it okay?"

"It's perfect. Thanks for letting me use
it."

Anna walked in, carrying a sleepy-looking Joshua.
"He heard you come in and wanted to say good night."

Beth kissed the little boy on the cheek and he
gave her a slobbery kiss back.

"Nite, nite, Aunt Bethie."

"Oh, it's just Beth, Joshua."

"Naw, it's Bethie. Heard Aunt Mag call you
Bethie."

Beth frowned over his head at her sister, who
shrugged. "Well, okay. You can call me Aunt Bethie, that's cool."

"Come on, big guy, let's get you into
bed," Anna said. Joshua waved at them all as she took him out of the room.

"You always did call me Bethie, even when I
told you not to," Beth said to her sister.

"And you always called me Mags. So we're
even."

Eric laughed. When they both looked at him, he
said, "Sorry. But you two are so clearly sisters. It's kinda sweet."

Sam offered drinks and soon everyone was settled
with something alcoholic or non. Beth took her glass of white wine over to
stand by the large window that looked out to the beach. The sun was just
setting and the watercolor sky looked like a painting. Which reminded her of
the painting in the apartment.

"Anna, did you paint the piece hanging in the
apartment?"

"Yes, I did."

"I really like it. I'd love to see more of
your work while I'm here."

"Come over during the morning, when I get the
best light in the studio. You can see what I have here then."

"I'll do that. I went to the Bakery this
afternoon. Yummy brownies."

Anna smiled. "The Bakery will always be
special to me, to us," she said and looked at Sam. He walked over and sat
beside her.

"Yep, it was the place we met, several times,
before we began actually dating."

"There was a man in there today, some guy
that the salesgirl, Kayla, seemed to be kowtowing to. She called him Mr.
Christopher. Have any of you heard of him?"

Beth watched as everyone in the room looked back
and forth at each other and then to Sam. "What? What is it?"

Sam smiled at her. "Nothing to worry about. I
was going to tell you about Mr. Christopher tonight, anyway. Remember in the
car, when I said we had a new interest in town? Well, he's a part of it. Beth,
we've started a Playhouse here. We're going to have summer stock in Sully
Point."

"You're...oh, wow! That's terrific, you
guys."

"We're all pretty excited about it,"
Maggie said. "We thought you might approve. Mr. Christopher is the man
we've brought in from the city to get it started. Do you keep up with stage
news at all? He's--"

"No! You don't mean William Christopher? The
director and producer of some of the most popular and money-making plays in the
past five years? He's here?"

"Yes. Yes, and yes," Maggie replied.
"We had to talk fast to get him, but he had finished a production and
seemed really tired of the big city. We basically gave him carte blanche to do
whatever he wants setting things up here. I think the idea of having total
control appealed to him."

"William Christopher in Sully Point. I can't
believe it. You know he's known as the most demanding director around, don't
you? But he does get amazing performances out of his actors. From what I saw in
the Bakery today, he is demanding about even his cookies. That Kayla was
fawning over him in hopes her cookies would please him. What's that
about?"

Eric laughed and the others grinned.
"Everyone in town is hoping to be cast in the first play and they all know
that he's making the choices. You can't go anywhere without hearing 'Mr.
Christopher this' and 'Mr. Christopher that,'" Eric said. "It's
probably driving the man nuts, running into one person after another trying to
impress him."

"You see," Sam said. "We asked him
to utilize some local talent. He can bring in some actors if they'll accept the
pay scale we're using, but we know there will be small parts that some in town
might be good for. He agreed to our request. But he might be regretting it
about now."

Anna looked at her watch. "Time for dinner
everyone. I'm taking out the fish right now, so if we could all move into the
dining room..."

Beth was impressed by Anna's cooking. The cod in
cream sauce with delicate asparagus tips was delicious. The rolls were good
too. "Where did you get these? Did you make them?"

"I did make these, but you can get the exact
same kind in the Bakery. They make them fresh every day," Anna told her.

"So, Bethie...Beth...how long are you here
for?" Maggie asked.

Sam glared at her. "Maggie, we said we
weren't going to pester her."

"I'm not pestering her. I'm just asking a
simple question. Is it just for a few days or will it be a longer visit?"

Beth sighed. "It's okay, Sam. I knew I was
going to have to answer this. I've kind of been dreading it. See, guys, it's
like this. I quit my day job to come out here. I was tired of it and I can get
another one when I go back. I have excellent secretarial and computer skills.
But I'd like to stay for a bit, I think. I'm tired, tired of looking for an
acting job and tired of L.A. I need a break, and Sully Point seems like a good
place for it."

"See?" Maggie said smugly to Sam.
"I bet you're glad I asked now."

"What? What's up?"

Anna shook her head. "Beth, I want you to
remember when they tell you this next thing, you are not obligated to anything.
You can stay in the apartment and take a vacation just like you'd planned. And
everyone at this table had better remember that, too," she said sternly.

Sam said, "It's like this. We, well some of
us, were wondering if you'd like to help out, since you're here, with the
Playhouse. Specifically, we need an assistant for Mr. Christopher. He's in need
of the help of someone who can be organized but is also familiar with the theater.
Would you be willing to fill in while you're here?"

Beth sat back in her chair, rather stunned. To
work with one of the greats in her line of work? But, and it was a big but, she
thought, he was a director. A controlling director. She frowned, thinking of
the recent slime-bucket of a director in L.A.

"I was thinking you could learn so much from
him," Maggie said. "And it would be doing something related to your
work. Your passion. We don't want to use you. We want you to use the situation
for yourself. Will you at least think about it?"

"I'm not sure how long I'll be here...I'll
think about it, okay? I'll definitely think it over and get back to you within
a day, how's that?"

"That would be good," Sam said.
"Terrific, in fact."

They had chocolate cake for dessert, a specialty
of Anna's, and everyone agreed it was her best ever. Sam walked Beth out to the
car, after she received some cake from Anna to take home.

"Now remember, I don't want to get it back
all banged up like last time," he said.

"Last time I drove one of your cars I was in
high school."

"Not so long ago."

"Whatever. I'll be careful. Promise," she
said with a grin. "Hand over the keys." She drove off with a last
wave, thinking he always had babied his cars.

* * * *

William Christopher sat in his house reading. It
was his guilty pleasure to read not Shakespeare or other great works, but
mystery series. This one was a series about a psychic detective written by Sam
Carter. He had discovered the books when he arrived in town, after the initial
meetings with Sam. He'd just finished up the last mystery series he'd been
reading, and found that Sam's books were an engrossing, yet relaxing, end to a
busy day. Plus, they were funny as hell.

He set the book down and got up to make some tea.
Tea was his choice before going to bed. He loved his coffee but wouldn't sleep
if he had it past six in the evening. While he waited for the water to boil he
put the tea leaves in the tea ball and thought about his week.

It had been a busy one, and he was getting
desperate for an assistant. He planned to call Sam in the next day or two and
discuss bringing in someone from the city. He needed to start auditions in a
week, and his office at Julia's was chaos. He'd never had the knack of
organizing paperwork, and had been fortunate to always have someone available
to do it for him.

The Christopher family had been one of the richest
in his neighborhood of posh homes growing up. He'd rarely needed anything
because everything was always provided for him. Right about the time he was
ready to leave home to work on the stage, he was brought up short by the death
of his father and the discovery that the money was gone. He and his mother had
managed to use the sale of remaining assets to pay off all the debtors. She had
gone to live in the country with her sister in Wyoming, claiming she was ready
for a change from the city. William had visited her there every year since
then, and was usually stir-crazy at the end of two days.

He supposed that was what surprised him the most
about Sully Point. There was a vibrant energy to this small town. Nothing like
the city, of course, but it was...alive. Plus, it was a town full of
characters. He enjoyed characters. Then there was the work. It was fascinating
to start from nothing to create something that would last.

Settled back in his chair with his tea, he thought
the only thing more that he needed was female companionship. He knew he was
picky about women, probably too much so. He refused to date actresses after
some disastrous relationships with them when he was younger. It seemed that the
women he met closer to his age were all looking to get married. He wasn't
looking for marriage. What he would like would be someone he could talk to,
enjoy doing things with, sit by the fire at night with a good book and just be
relaxed. And of course, have sex when the mood struck them. Since it appeared
that every woman in Sully Point planned on auditioning for the play, he didn't
have much of a choice here in town.

He picked up his book with a sigh. Even the psychic
detective was in a relationship.