Page 47 of You're the Reason

“Just the day.”

Officer Hammond nodded and stood, then walked back to the squad car. It wasn’t long before he returned with Seth’s documents and a white piece of paper. “I cited you for the illegal U-turn. I didn’t cite you for the ten over. Keep the speed down, alright?”

Seth nodded, rolled up his window, and shoved all the papers in his glove box. His movements were jerky.

When he just sat there, Grace angled her shoulders toward him in her seat. “You still want to go to Chicago?”

“More than ever.” Seth started the car and pulled onto the road, then merged onto 31 South.

nine

Grace hated that Seth was giving up his day for her, but if it meant getting back to center stage, at least he might see it as worth it. Grace pulled open the side door of the Auditorium Theatre, then held it for Seth. This area wasn’t open to the public unless there was an emergency evacuation, so it didn’t have the charm of the rest of the nineteenth century building. But the deep red carpet that matched the rest of the building hushed their steps as they walked.

“I don’t know how to thank you for giving up an entire day for me.” Grace glanced at her phone and released a sigh. Seth had made good time. “I will pay you for this.”

“You aren’t paying me anything.”

“I will at least pay for the gas.” When he didn’t argue that point, she pushed further. “And the ticket.”

“You aren’t paying for the ticket. I pulled the illegal U-turn, not you.”

“I didn’t call the cops this time.” She held up her hands and hoped he would laugh. “I swear.”

He eyed her for a moment but finally cracked a smile.

“I love when we get to do auditions here.” Grace did a little turn as she walked.

“You don’t always?”

“Oh no. We perform here but so do a lot of other productions. We have a practice studio a few blocks from here. But on occasion we get to use the space for auditions.” Grace walked to a set of doors on the left side of the hall. She eased it open and peeked in, then leaned back. “It isn’t quite the Paris Opera House, but I love it.”

“What do you love about it?”

Instead of answering, she opened the door and led him in. She knew the moment he got it when his mouth dropped slightly open. “Wow.”

Thirty-five hundred lightbulbs arched across the high curved ceiling, making the room seem to glow. Each arch above them was bigger than the one before as they moved away from the stage. It was like they were standing in a giant trumpet, a giant shiny brass trumpet. Wow pretty much summed it up.

“This was the tallest building in Chicago when it was constructed. Of course, it isn’t close now, but it was an engineering marvel at the time.”

“I bet it was.” He continued to turn as if attempting to take it all in. She’d been trying for years and still found new things all the time.

Grace checked the time but they were ahead of schedule. Traffic had been good, and Seth had made good time. She made her way to row D then through the row of chairs until she found what she was looking for. “Want to sit?”

She settled into the chair then waited for him to join her. “These are my parents’ seats.”

He settled down in the seat next to her. “They own seats?”

“No, but I have a friend in the box office, and I know this is where my father likes to sit, so I always have the two seats at will-call, under the name Scooby-Doo.”

“Scooby-Doo?”

“I did that to drive my mother crazy once, and what can I say, it stuck.”

“They come to every performance?” His brows pinched.

“No. They rarely use them, but sometimes they let friends use them. If they aren’t picked up thirty minutes before the show, the box office sells them. But if I don’t get the lead back, I can probably tell Stephanie not to bother.”

“They’d come to one show at least, wouldn’t they?”

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