Benita had dressed carefully Wednesday afternoon for her meeting with Vaughn. She didn’t want to look too good. But she didn’t want to look too casual, either. Especially not the day after Vaughn’s Big Date with Dr. Olivia Stark. She’d been aware of the furtive looks from Trinity Falls residents. Their expressions shouted, “Does Benita know Vaughn is dating someone else?!?” She hated those looks even more than the hasty whispers.
Seated on Vaughn’s sofa in his living room, she offered him a smile as he handed her a tall glass of iced tea. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He settled onto the armchair catty-corner to the couch.
“What have you done so far toward your musical’s production?” And why are you sitting so far away from me?
“I placed a classified ad in the Monitor, announcing the audition date.” Vaughn opened a manila folder and pulled out a sheet of paper. “The ad will run in tomorrow’s and Sunday’s papers.”
“Good, the Thursday issue carries the Weekend Calendar. Both editions get a lot of reader attention.” Benita made a note of the ad on her writing tablet. “When are the auditions?”
“I’m only offering one. It’s on April twenty-second.”
She checked the calendar on her cherry red cellular phone. “That’s next Wednesday.”
“Will that date work for you?”
“As long as you’re holding it after my office hours. My clients know they can contact me between noon and eight eastern standard time.”
“Is that your subtle way of telling me I should have asked you about the date before I placed the ad?” Vaughn’s sexy grin, framed by his well-groomed goatee, made her want to crawl onto his lap and purr like a cat.
She fought the impulse. “Was I being subtle?”
“It was subtle for you.” Vaughn balanced his right ankle on his left knee. He placed his manila folder on his inside right thigh.
“April twenty-second works fine.” Benita waved a dismissive hand. Her gaze strayed to his thigh. “How many actors will we need?”
“There’re three main characters—the farmer, the water fairy, and the water nymph—and five minor characters.” The excitement in Vaughn’s voice was contagious.
Benita’s hand flew across the sheet of paper as she made notes. “We should get understudies.”
Vaughn shook his head. “We won’t need any. There’s only one performance.”
Benita looked up from her writing tablet. “Suppose someone isn’t able to make the performance.”
“Then they shouldn’t audition for the play.” His voice was firm. “We can’t have no-shows the day of the performance.”
“You have a point.” Benita wasn’t comfortable with Vaughn’s decision. Life happens. But it was his musical, so they’d follow his rules. “We’ll have to make the commitment clear to the cast. If they accept a role, they have to appear for the play. What about stagehands?”
For the next hour, they reviewed their needs for the musical. Vaughn had invited musicians from his concert band to participate in the performance. Most students were available. For additional musicians, he’d reached out to local high schools and nearby universities.
Vaughn shared with Benita his itemized budget for prop materials. “I had to put this together for the grant application. I’m going to ask Jack, Darius, and Ean if they’ll help build a few of the set pieces.”
“Check with Alonzo as well.” Benita made a note in her binder. “He’s helped Aunt Helen with some carpentry around her house.”
/> They reviewed their advertising, printing, and costume needs. And of course, they’d need ushers.
Vaughn sighed. “It’s a generous grant. It goes a long way toward covering the costs of the production. But it doesn’t cover everything. And I want to raise as much money as possible for the center.”
“We’re going to have to get additional investors.”
“I’ve saved some money for this project.” Vaughn tapped his pen against his folder, drawing Benita’s attention back to his muscled thigh.
She swallowed a groan and ripped her gaze from his long limb. “I know you have, but the cost of the playbills alone is a lot.”
“We could cut out some of the advertising.” He sounded hopeful.
“Then how would you promote the musical?”