“Oh, thank you.” Peggy smiled. “Our set designer is Gus Stevens. He’s the husband of the girl you saw playing the part of the mother. And she was awfully good, wasn’t she?”
“Wonderful,” the woman agreed warmly. “Just wonderful. You know, we’ve been coming up here to Lake Kenabeek for years—our son goes to a camp nearby. This is the first summer that we’ve had any real entertainment! You tell your director that we wish him a lot of luck—and the whole cast. We hope you’ll be here every year from now on!”
Peggy left her thoughtfully, realizing that if the theater should have to close, it would affect more than just the company and the Chamber of Commerce. People here really wanted entertainment. Surely there was room for a summer theater and the movies to exist side by side!
She bought her ticket for the film, hoping that the woman in the booth didn’t recognize her. Probably not, Peggy thought. It might be a sin for anyone employed at the movies to go to the Summer Theater! She shook her head impatiently and went into the dark interior. Now that she was here, Peggy wondered if her plan had been so ingenious after all. Perhaps Bill Slade wouldn’t even be here today. Perhaps instead of finding him, she would run smack into his brother Max! And that was a prospect she didn’t particularly want to face.
Peggy took a seat in the first row at the side of the balcony. Here she was close enough to the mezzanine to get up frequently and look around the lounge where a sign on a door announced, Office of the Manager. Looking at it doubtfully as she left her seat for what must have been the tenth time, Peggy wondered if anyone was inside. She might have to stay here all day, seeing the film several times as she waited for someone to emerge. Two ushers walked by and Peggy heard one of the girls say, “No, Mr. Slade isn’t here yet. He said he’d be in around five-thirty. But you’re off duty then, aren’t you?” They went on, leaving Peggy feeling that her brilliant idea hadn’t been so brilliant after all! She was just about to go back and watch the end of the movie, when the door opened and Bill Slade walked out!
Peggy was in luck! It must be Max who was expected later on.
Bill Slade saw her standing there, and an incredulous expression suffused his face. “Why—why, it’s you!” he blurted, in utter astonishment.
“Oh, Mr. Slade! How nice to run into you again!” Peggy’s acting experience came in handy right now. She hoped she seemed genuinely surprised.
“And you know my name now, it seems,” he said, reddening slightly as he came over to her. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t dare introduce myself that day, not knowing how you’d feel about it.”
Something tugged at Peggy’s heart. She felt she had never met anyone so basically nice or so unhappy with a situation.