CHAPTER 9
“Holy shit.” Jess lifted the paper straw sticking out of her iced coffee to her lips and looked around the theater at everyone gathered for the auditions. After taking a sip she set the cup down on the table. “This is crazy.”
“Right?” Brynn couldn’t believe the parent turnout.
Actually, she could believe it, and it had nothing to do with the iconic play that they would be doing. A modern-day retelling of Romeo and Juliet was sure to be a crowd pleaser but that wasn’t what had drawn this particular group here today.
Axel had been in town a little over a week. In that time, word had spread about the work he was doing. Or more accurately, how good he looked doing the work he was doing. Axel in a crisp, white T-shirt, faded blue jeans, steel-toed boots, and a tool belt that hung low on his hips was serious mom porn. Brynn had had to check her own mouth for drool on more than one occasion.
From her office in the administration building, she had an unobstructed view to the front of the theater. And if she opened her window, she could pick up most of the conversations. She’d sipped her coffee each morning and watched moms stop by to “check on the progress” of the restoration. The first day, it was one mom. The second day, it was three moms. By Friday, it had been like ants at a picnic. They usually came with a snack or a drink in hand for Axel. She really couldn’t blame the women for their outpouring of hospitality.
Even though it wasn’t her style, she got it. Besides being drop dead gorgeous, Axel had an air of mystery surrounding him that people weren’t used to around here. Even Mrs. Dobrinski was unable to find out anything about him. This morning on her walk around the lake, Mrs. D had asked her to join the Needlepoint Mafia. The knitting club was by invitation only and was considered to be the most “exclusive” club in Whisper Lake. Both Ali and Jess had been asked to join, but both women considered their invitations pity asks.
Ali’s came after she lost her brother and Jess’s was while she was recovering from her heart transplant. Brynn hadn’t had any interest in being part of a club that excluded people, but she had wanted to learn to knit for a while now. And she wasn’t about to pass up any excuse to hang out with her friends.
Jess and Ali had been so excited when she’d texted them earlier to tell them the momentous news. It was agreed that she’d most likely been asked to join for the sole purpose of extracting information on one Axel Vaughn. The man that was both a master woodworker and a master of evasion.
“Do parents usually come to auditions?” Ali asked, referring to the moms that lined the walls at the back of the theater.
“No,” Brynn said as she shook her head.
When Mrs. Stein had given her the rundown, she’d mentioned that she held open auditions because she believed in transparency with casting. She’d only ever had a couple of parents show up. Teenagers typically weren’t thrilled at the thought of their parents coming to school.
Brynn knew the reason that they were all here, but unfortunately she also knew that they might be in for a big disappointment. She hadn’t seen Axel this afternoon. And she had to admit, she’d definitely kept an eye out. He was probably making himself scarce. The same way he had all week.
Their relationship seemed like it was going in reverse.
The first night she’d met him he saw her naked, she’d copped a feel, and they’d had dinner together. There’d definitely been a “vibe” (Jess’s words) between them, and in the following days they’d run into each other a few times, had a few cute exchanges, like when he’d noticed that she straightened her hair when her ex-husband hadn’t even noticed that she’d chopped ten inches off. Or when he’d rescued her from her near-nose dive in front of the theater.
But now…nothing. Crickets.
Other than seeing him through windows, whether it was the window from her office or a window at home, they’d had zero interaction. At this point Ryder had talked to him more than she had. Over the past weekend, her son had been Axel’s shadow as he made various repairs around the property.
As tempting as it had been for Brynn to make some lame excuse and go check on them, she’d resisted. She’d given it a lot of thought, and considering he hadn’t initiated another conversation with her since she’d showed him the theater, she was beginning to think that the dinner they’d had together the first night may have been born out of obligation. He’d had so few interactions with anyone in town, and turned down every request for dinner, or coffee, or any social engagement, which was basically a herculean feat in Whisper Lake. It had to be purposeful.
“Is Mandy Richards really putting on a full face of makeup using her iPhone camera as a mirror?” Ali asked.
Brynn scanned the women flanking the rear wall of the theater and sure enough, that was exactly what Mandy Richards was doing.
“Forget Romeo and Juliet, I think you should hold auditions for The Real Desperate Housewives of Whisper Lake.” Jess smirked.
“Excuse me.” Chrissy Caldwell cleared her voice as she approached the table.
Out of all the women in attendance, Brynn could say with complete and utter certainty that Chrissy was actually here to watch her daughter audition. The woman had four children and somehow managed to attend every practice, game, performance, and recital. She was the president of the PTA, a Girl Scout troop leader, and an assistant soccer and softball coach. She made Christina Applegate’s character from Bad Moms look like a slacker.
She also happened to be Fiona’s mom.
“It’s three past four.” She tapped on her Apple watch with her perfectly manicured, French-tipped nail. “Are we going to be starting soon? Cassidy and Kimber have ballet at five.”
“Don’t get your tutu in a bunch, Prissy.” Jess could never pass up an opportunity to use Chrissy’s childhood nickname.
Chrissy took the bait and glared at Jess. “They don’t have tutus in contemporary ballet.”
“We’ll be starting shortly.” Brynn responded before Jess could say more.
Her answer was enough to satisfy Chrissy, and she turned and walked back to where her youngest two children were sitting and doing their homework on makeshift workstations that included reading lights so they could see in the dim theater and clipboards to use to write on. Jess had always given Chrissy a hard time and Ali tolerated her, but Brynn was seriously impressed with the woman. She was like a parenting Pinterest board come to life.
“Well, I better get this party started. And thanks again for being here guys.”