She scurried down the alley.
“You want to sit down?” Brody asked.
“If I go down, you’ll just have to haul me back up. It’s not so bad as long as I’m not putting pressure on it.”
“You can thank the adrenaline for that,” Myles told him. “It’ll hurt like a sonofabitch later.”
“Personal experience?” Tucker asked.
Piper backed her car down the alley.
“Ski accident back in college. High point was the ski bunnies who felt compelled to entertain me the rest of the week since I was lodge-bound.”
Tucker laughed. “Perhaps some of our cast members will take pity.”
“It won’t be me,” Piper told him, opening the door to the back seat. “Idiots don’t get special caretaking.”
But her hands were careful as she, along with Myles and Brody, managed to get him into the seat.
“We’ll all sign your cast, man,” Brody told him.
“No profane drawings,” Tucker ordered. “I’m an attorney. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”
“Aw, where’s the fun in that?” Brody teased.
Regret and concern flickered over Piper’s face as she glanced over at Tyler. “We’ll keep you posted.”
“Just take care of him,” Tyler said.
As soon as the alley was clear, Nate hollered, “Let’s get this truck unloaded.”
The rest of the cast members, who’d been hanging around the loading dock watching the drama unfold, sprang into motion again.
“Thank God it happened early so we’re not having to pull a substitution right before opening night,” said Nate, heading back inside.
Myles could see the indecision on Tyler’s face. She wanted to quit. And, really, Myles kinda couldn’t blame her. Piper had been right about the intimacy engendered by playing love interests in a show. To do that with someone who used to be an actual love interest had to be tough.
Her shoulders squared up, her eyes hardening. Decision made then.
Good for you, Myles thought.
Brody crossed over to her on the loading dock. “I’ve never seen him miss the landing before.”
“A lot’s changed in the last eight years,” she said. “Tucker’s not quite as spry as he used to be.”
She wasn’t talking about Tucker. Brody obviously knew it and was wise enough not to comment.
“Truck’s empty,” said Nate. “Let’s get to rehearsal.”
Brody gestured toward the stairs, a sweeping, courteous motion. “After you, Miss Haynes.”
So it was to be a show in a show after all. Bringing up the rear, Myles hesitated at the threshold, thinking back to Tucker’s fall. Piper had screamed before he ever hit the ground, almost as if she knew he was going to get hurt.
~*~
“—unless I was to get myself engaged or something real fast,” Tyler said.
“Yeah but where you gonna find somebody way out here?” Brody asked.