Yours Seductively

Chapter 7.5 (Part 1)

   Jane has just hung up her phone late Wednesday morning when it rang again. Still thinking about the last call, she raised the receiver to her ear and said absently, "Hello?"

   "Hi."

   The single syllable was enough to claim her full attention. "Hi, Tyler. How's Amy?"

   "Much better, thanks. She felt pretty lousy all weekend, but by yesterday she was completely back to normal.

   "I'm happy to hear that."

   "Have you had lunch yet?"

   "No." She glanced at her watch, noting that it was almost noon.

   "I've got an hour and a half before my next appointment. How about I pick you up some takeout and bring it to your place?"

   "Is this another impulsive action?" she asked, delighted.

   "I guess you're corrupting me."

   She laughed softly. "I haven't even gotten started."

   "Should I take that as a threat—or a promise?"

   "Whichever you like."

   "I'll see you in fifteen minutes."

   Jane hung up the phone again, then jumped to her feet. Maybe she should put on a little makeup or something, she thought, hurrying toward the bedroom.

   It was exactly fifteen minutes later when Tyler rang the doorbell. She threw the door open with a smile. "Hi."

   Carrying a couple of aromatic paper bags, Tyler nodded. "Hi, yourself."

   "Here, let me take one of those. We can eat in the kitchen."

   He followed close on her heels as she led the way. "I'm glad you were free," he said.

   Setting the bag on the table, she shrugged ruefully. "I seem to have a lot more free time than I'm used to these days."

   "Sounds as though you're already getting tired of small-town life."

   She lifted an eyebrow in response to something she heard in his voice. He seemed to be expecting her to agree with him. "Not really," she said. "It's just taking me a while to figure out what to do with my time this summer. Actually, something just came up that sounds interesting."

   "Oh?" He dug unto a bag and pulled out a paper wrapped sandwich, his voice casual. "What's that?"

   "Marlene Smith called earlier this morning. She's been contemplating starting a community theater group and she wanted to know if I would be interested in sharing my expertise. She has several acquaintances who want to get involved, but they don't know how."

   "Community theater?" He looked at her curiously then. "Would you really be interested in getting into something like that?"

   "Why not? It might be fun."

   "Hmm. And it might be a bunch of aging beauty pageant queens like Marlene who just want a chance to get back in the spotlight."

   "You've just pretty well described most community theater groups," she informed him with a chuckle. "They're generally made up of volunteers who always secretly dreamed of acting, but never quite had the courage to pursue it."

   "Or the talent," he suggested, thinking of Marlene.

   She shrugged. "That, too, of course. But the right director can put even limited talent to use with the right script and enough hard work."