Page 119 of Kiss Me at Christmas
Sid of course managed to woo the entire theater, and Ricco was all affable charm as Scrooge’s nephew. Hiroshi terrified his audience as he danced malevolently around the stage as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. And when it came time for Scrooge to look upon the people selling his still-warm belongings after his death, Harriet couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. She craned her neck to steal a glance up at Evaline in her box but jumpedback and hid in the shadows when it seemed as though Evaline had at that moment trained her opera glasses directly upon her.Surely not?But later again, when Scrooge witnessed his own name upon the tombstone in the churchyard, she dared another peek, and this time Evaline not only had her in her sights but nodded once to acknowledge that she had indeed seen her. Harriet suppressed a squeak just as Scrooge cried out:“No, Spirit! Oh no, no! Spirit! Hear me! I am not the man I was.”
The final scenes were the busiest of them all as they required almost all the cast and bit players to be on the stage in some capacity or another. Two of the Relic Hunters stood behind the set of Scrooge’s house and held the frame firm as Ahmed climbed the box stairs and pushed open the window to speak to Sid on the stage below.
“What’s today, my fine fellow?”
“Today!” called up Sid, disguised in a cap and thick scarf. “Why, CHRISTMAS DAY.”
The audience roared their approval.
The end of the play was near, and the collective tension was relaxing into the euphoria of knowing that something terrifying was almost over. The cast were enjoying themselves; even Billy had a genuine spring in his step when he took to the stage for his final scene. At the very last moment Ahmed scooped Sid up off the floor—which hadn’t been part of the plan because of his hip replacement last year—and Sid laughed joyfully and shouted, “God bless us, every one!”
There was a standing ovation as everyone involved in the production, even Ken and the maintenance crew, took to the stage in a messy, joyous muddle. Harriet could see Emma jumping up and down in the stalls, waving her arms above her head and whooping. Gideon was in raptures, bouncing from one end of the stage tothe other, his cape flying out behind him. For a few moments, the audience was forgotten, despite their riotous applause and foot stamping, as new and old friends slammed together in hugs, swung each other round by the hands, landed kisses on cheeks, heads, lips. James found Harriet in the bustle and swept her into his arms so that her feet left the floor as he kissed her. The sound of Prescilla’s piano playing finally broke through their rhapsodies, and as one they turned to the audience, taking the hand of the person beside them as they joined in singing “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.” The audience went wild.
Gideon made his way to the front of the stage, bringing with him a microphone and stand, tapping it loudly so that the boom shocked stage and audience alike into quiet.
“Greetings and salutations to the town of Little Beck Foss!” he bellowed. “If I might invite Harriet and James to stand beside me?”
Harriet gulped and went to his side. James, looking equally uneasy, went to his other side.
“When these good people called upon my expertise for their small production of a Dickens classic…”
Here we go, Harriet thought keeping the rictus grin plastered to her face.
“My expectations were far from great!” He stopped and waited for people to get his joke. There was a smattering of polite laughter. “I thought, how shall I ever be able to mold this ragtag group into a cohesive production crew, with no budget and little experience between them?”
Bit rude.
“But I was wrong. As it turned out, they molded me.”
Didn’t see that coming!
“I have borne witness to a group of disparate humans coming together to form friendships and bonds that will stretch far beyond this production. It has been my honor to work with them all. And I am a better person for having met all of you.”
With that, he bent into a deep bow, forcing James and Harriet to bow with him since he had a tight grip on their hands. The cheering took up again both in the stalls and on the stage.
A sharp rap-rap-rapping noise reverberated through the theater, and one by one people stopped clapping and fell quiet to watch as Evaline Winter hobbled onto the stage, her stick tapping with every step, Austin walking respectfully beside her. The theater became so hushed that even the scratch across the boards of the beads at the hem of her gown was audible.
She made a slow beeline for the microphone stand, and James quickly altered the height for her. A gold-tasseled evening bag with a beaded chain hung from her arm. When she reached the stand, her labored breaths sounded loud through the microphone. She didn’t rush. Harriet wasn’t sure she could have if she’d wanted to. Every person in the theater held their breath, and then she began to speak.
“This theater has been in my family for generations. For almost half of my life, it has lain forgotten, harboring all the ghosts of my father’s disappointment and my ill will. I wanted shot of it, but that was mere emotion speaking, and I am a businesswoman first and foremost. I was not about to part with this place until the price was right. Tonight, thanks to the refurbishment of this old place and in no small part to this production, I am finally being offered what this building is worth.”
Harriet had to keep reminding herself to breathe. Herfists were curled into balls as she waited to see if Evaline would screw her over, when they had gone to all this effort to do her bidding just for a small corner of her empire that they could use for the community. It seemed cruel that during this journey her modest hopes had grown so much bigger, and the disappointment would be so much greater for the number of people who would be let down if Evaline went back on her word.
“My father was a snob. You may be saying to yourselves, ‘Like father, like daughter.’ I cannot defend myself on that score. The Winter Theater failed because instead of allowing the real people of Little Beck Foss to enjoy it, my father put his pride and his pretensions and his profits above all else. Now I see that by ignoring this community, by denying the good people of this town the simple resource of a space in which to form connections, I was indeed built in his image. But as we have seen here tonight, even the hardest heart can be softened. Perhaps there is time for my soul to be saved after all. And so, I hereby politely decline the generous offers from all interested parties, and instead pledge the Winter Theater to the community, under the careful and watchful regard of Ms. Harriet Smith and Mr. James Knight. I wish you all a merry Christmas.”
Harriet’s mouth dropped open. The theater remained quietly stunned. She looked up at the royal box in time to see the theater group representatives stand to leave, each with a phone to his ear. Evaline turned, leaning more heavily on her stick now, Austin close in beside her and James placing himself on her other side. She made her way painfully slowly toward the stage wing. She locked eyes with Harriet and nodded once.
“I don’t know what to say.” Harriet scrambled for anything that would convey her gratitude and shock.
Sid ran to the front of the stage and grabbed the microphone. “And God bless us, every one!” he shouted into it.
Evaline cracked the smallest of smiles as the audience found their voices.
“Then let him say it for us,” she croaked. “I shall leave quietly through the back door. Don’t follow me. I’m tired and I don’t want to talk to anyone, least of all the unwashed masses. My solicitor can sort out the mess I’ve made, that’s what I pay him for,” she cackled, glancing at James, and Harriet was almost glad to see that the old woman hadn’t undergone a complete personality transformation.
Gideon, sensing an opening for an encore, nodded to Prescilla, who played the opening bars of their final number, and the audience got to their feet in readiness. Sid was out front and center, showing off his breakdancing skills, and Gideon joined him. Harriet allowed herself to be pushed back as the rest of the cast surged forward. Her eyes roved over the stage counting her ducks as was her habit—Ricco, Carly, Leo—and she gave a little hiccup when she spotted Billy and Isabel locking lips in the wings.
“Looks like it’s not only us who got a dream come true tonight,” James said into her ear, his arm snaking around her waist and pulling her close into his side as they swayed together to the music.
