Page 103 of The Summer of Christmas

Chapter 30

Ivy rushed to find a place to write. All the church preschool classrooms were being used by the production. Props. Lights. Wardrobe. The library was being used for extras. The downstairs auditorium was where craft services were set up. The church secretary saw Ivy rushing around and gave her sanctuary in the pastor’s office. Ivy opened up her tablet with a keyboard. Opened the script file. She deleted the funeral scene in one quick flourish and started writing, hoping that by writing the happy ending in her movie that it would bring her a happy ending in her life. She felt momentarily blocked and realized she wanted to talk to Nick first. She called him. There was no answer. She texted him:PLEASE COME TO THE CHURCH.

***

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Nick sat on his boat,True Love, watching the waves getting a little stronger. Other boats were heading back to the docks, but Nick wanted to stay a little longer. He’d decided he would takeTrue Loveout for a quick ride. Figure out what he needed to do and head back in. He had spent the morning processing everything. His mom’s moving. Amari. Ivy’s reaction to Nick’s reveal about what really happened that day of their breakup. And the visit from his ghost dad.Could that have been my dad?

When Nick told Kenny about it, Kenny suggested that maybe it was one of the actors who was playing his dad. Either way, his dad had the best advice as always. You get three strikes. Nick had two strikes against him. But he did have one left. He had to take one more swing at romance. One more shot at Ivy. This was true love. Nick smiled. He pressed the ignition button. Nothing happened.

True Lovewas dead on the water.

***

Back at the church, under the watchful eyes of a painting of no less than Jesus Christ, Ivy typed away. Crafting a new scene that started with the end of the Christmas nativity. In Ivy’s new ending, parents, grandparents, and parishioners all got up to leave. Ilsa stayed behind, just taking it in. Across from her, on the other side of the sanctuary, was Rick. They saw each other. They found their way back to each other. Ivy paused and looked at the pages. She read them out loud to herself.

ILSA

You’re here.

RICK

Where else would I be?

It’s Christmas.

Isla and Rick run toward each other, serpentining around pews, and finally kiss in the empty church.

Ivy was pleased. She printed it out and walked downstairs. They were filming the church pageant. Her parents and sister were in the second pew. Vera had positioned them to be featured extras. Ivy watched from a video village monitor. The child actors playing Young Ivy and Young Nick were smiling at each other. Were they already crushing on each other?God, I hope not.Ivy’s romance with Nick was tough enough.

Vera yelled, “Cut!”

Bruce yelled, “Moving on to the next setup!”

Ivy gave Vera the pages. “I think you’re going to love them.”

She read them. Smiled. And ripped them up. Vera yelled to Bruce, “Let’s cue the middle Ivy.”

“What’s wrong with the scene?” Ivy asked, hoping for some directorial direction.

“I’m not feeling the love. Go work on it some more.”

Ivy left dejectedly.

***

Back on Nick’s boat, the rain was intensifying. The storm was getting closer. The waves were white-capping. Nick could not get the boat started. He looked in all directions. There was no one in sight. There was no phone reception to be had. Day was turning into night. It was a quick- moving thunderstorm. The small boat rocked more. Maybe he could ride the storm out onTrue Love.

***

Back at the church, Ivy wrote another version of the scene. Same setup. Crowded church service. Christmas Eve. This time she would have the grown up Ilsa and Rick perform the nativity play. Rick would read the lines about putting the baby in the manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. “There’s always room for you at my inn any day,” Isla would say, and the Christmas Couple would come back together.

Ivy brought the new scene down to the set. They were filming the second nativity scene with the middle school Ilsa and Rick. Ivy smiled.

Vera called, “Cut!” Bruce announced it was lunchtime. Vera saw Ivy, walked over to her. “You’re running out of time.” Ivy handed her the new pages. She scanned them quickly. “What are you writing, Christmas porn dialogue?” Vera ripped up the pages. “Try again.”

Ivy worked through lunch. Thirty minutes later, she brought down another version of the scene.Rip!Vera didn’t like those pages either. “We don’t need Amari monologuing. We still need a big emotional ending. There are no stakes.”

Vera hustled back to the set.Stakes,Ivy thought.I could raise the stakes. I could give this a life-or-death moment.Loud thunder echoed in the church. Suddenly everyone’s phone went off. It was an emergency alert from the National Weather Service.

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