Page 60 of The Sweet Part
She sighs. “I know.”
“If you want, I can look for a children’s theater for you.”
She brightens. “What do they do there?”
“The kids act out stories onstage for an audience.”
“Do they wear makeup and pick their own costume?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll look into it, okay? I’m sure Grandmom would know.”
“I’ll call her right now.” She grabs the phone and presses the button for the contact list I stored in there.
The doorbell rings. Must be the pizza.
I open the door to find Mason holding our pizza box. I freeze. We agreed to keep things private between us.
He smiles. “I saw the delivery guy coming up the walk, so I paid him and said I’d deliver it myself.”
“What’re you doing here?”
“I have great news, and I couldn’t wait to share it. It involves Sophie too. Where is she?”
“She’s on the phone in the family room. Tell me first.”
I take the pizza into the kitchen, and he follows.
“Don’t eat without me!” Sophie yells from the family room. And then loudly into the phone, “Sorry, Grandmom, pizza’s here. When you sawShrekat the children’s theater, was Fiona wearing green makeup? Cuz I want to wear green makeup.”
Mason steps close to me, lowering his voice. “Before she gets in here, Hank sent the promos we filmed today to my aunt Claire. Our show is under her production company. Anyway, Claire loved Sophie’s improvised version. She says she has a presence and energy that lights up the screen. She wants her for a movie she’s producing and directing. Sophie would play the kid version of the lead.”
My hand goes to my throat. “A movie?”
“Aunt Claire says she can get her an agent. It could be the start of a fun hobby for Sophie.”
“Or take over her life. You’ve heard the horror stories of child actors who get into drugs because they don’t have a normal childhood.”
“Shayla was a child actor, and she turned out great.”
“You said she was in the Hollywood party scene as a teenager. That’s why she stayed with your aunt Claire for the summer.”
“But she came through fine, and now she’s very happy with her career.”
I cross my arms. “No. Local children’s theater is one thing. Working on set with adults, no school—”
“Claire says it would likely be a week of work. She can miss a week of kindergarten.”
“Hi, Mason!” Sophie exclaims, appearing next to us. “Are you having pizza with us? Why am I missing a week of kindergarten?”
Mason looks to me for the answer. Welp, now that she’s seen him, it wouldn’t hurt to have dinner with him.
“Would you like to stay for pizza?” I ask.
He smiles. “I’d love to.”
“Why am I missing a week of kindergarten?” Sophie asks again.
I shake my head. “You’re not. Set the table with napkins and plates, please. I need to talk to Mason for a minute.”
