Free Memories of Love by Jean C. Joachim

gasped. He stared, rubbed his eyes, and looked again.
There was no doubt about it, Cara stood right in front of him. He coughed
again, drawing her gaze. Her eyes widened, and she stumbled into Quinn, who
caught her before she fell. Cara laughed and made a sarcastic remark about her
blindness, covering her blunder.
    Grant shot daggers at Jane, who
simply shrugged. He was stuck. No way was he walking out, disrupting Cara’s performance.
So he settled back, his lips curling into a smile. She looks great. Cara glanced at him. He caught her eye and widened
his grin. He noticed her shoulders lower, her posture relax as she glided
across the floor with her usual grace.
    Pleased to see she was still the
consummate professional, he noticed she didn’t blow her lines. Her performance
was seamless as she and Quinn created a romantic relationship for their
characters on the stage. Grant slipped his hand over his sister’s and gave it a
squeeze. He chuckled to himself when he heard her sigh. She did this on purpose. Good for you, Jane.
    His heart was lighter than it had
been in years. His whole body followed suit. His shoulders dropped, and his arms
felt weightless.
    One glance at Evelyn’s red face
signaled to Grant how she was coping. Evelyn was as silent as a mouse,
shrinking in her seat, the redness slowly draining from her face, restoring her
natural tone. Grant glanced at her and attempted to take her hand, but she
snatched it away.
    Hostile eyes shot him angry looks.
He shrugged to indicate he had not known, but the look of disgust on her face
told him she didn’t believe him. He sat back. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let her ruin this moment. He focused
on Cara again and found it hard to remove his gaze from her for the entire
play.
    Time flew. Before he knew it, he was
rising up to lead a standing ovation for the cast, especially Cara. When she
made her appearance at the curtain call, she didn’t take her eyes off him,
bowing directly to him at one point. He beamed at her.
    “We have to go back stage,” he said
to Jane.
    “No way!” Evelyn pushed to her feet.
“Get me out of here.”
    “Come on, Evelyn.” Grant took her
arm.
    “How evil of you to plan this.”
Anger flashed in her eyes.
    “I didn’t—” Grant began, until Jane
interrupted him.
    “Look, Evelyn. Grant was as
surprised as you were. This was my doing. I planned it, and yes, I knew exactly
what I was doing. It’s time to get this resolved, one way or the other.”
    “You’ve got some nerve, interfering—”
    “Are you happy, Evelyn?”
    “What business is that of yours?”
    “I have to live with the insanity
going on in that apartment. And so does Sarah. She deserves better. If you both
want to be jerks, go ahead, but don’t drag Sarah and me into your little
drama.”
    “How dare you!”
    “Shut up, Evelyn,” Jane said, her
lips forming a tight line.
    “You can go see her. I’m going
home.” Evelyn stopped and looked at Grant. “If I have a home.”
    “Evelyn, you’re being overly
dramatic,” Grant said.
    “Why don’t I call Carl Butler in
D.C.? I think you’ve had a home with
him plenty of afternoons when you were supposed to be picking up Sarah,” Jane interjected.
    Evelyn turned pale. Grant’s eyebrows
shot up. He grasped the seat in front to steady himself. Heat in his neck
climbed to his face. “Is that true, Evelyn?” He managed to choke out the words.
    “I’m leaving. I don’t have to put up
with this…this inquisition.”
    Grant grabbed her upper arm. “Yes,
you do. But not here.” He glanced around and noticed people looking at them.
“Let’s take this outside.”
    The three of them were the last to
leave the auditorium. Sullen-faced, Evelyn didn’t look at Grant or Jane. I might be too late to see Cara.
    “Why don’t you go home, Evelyn? I’m
going to try to see Cara. We can talk when I get there.”
    “Fine,” she said, ripping her arm
from his grasp.
    “You’ll be there when I get