Christmas Eva Read Online Free PDF Page A

thought…”
    Her sister frowned for a moment. “Oh,” she said, the penny dropping. “I’m sorry, Evie, I didn’t think. Tell you what, next time I’ll get four seats, and we’ll lose the wheelchair in my office. I would do it now, but it’s a full house.”
    “It’s the opening show. And a full house is a good thing, isn’t it?” She wasn’t going to add there wouldn’t be a next time.
    “Yes, but this year it’s Matthew Lyell. He’s pulling in the crowds. April is even talking about extending the run if we can.”
    Eva looked at the program on her lap. She closed her eyes, trying to deal with the raw emotions flooding her. A mix of grief and anger at Sue’s death, panic at being out of the house and her comfort zone, embarrassment at being in public in this chair, and the usual butterflies that seeing Matthew Lyell’s photo anywhere gave her.
    The lights dimmed and Eva found her heart beating in time with the orchestra. She wanted to hate this, but couldn’t. As the pantomime got underway, she found herself caught up and transported with Wendy and Peter Pan to Neverland. And when Captain Hook appeared to rapturous applause, she found herself clapping with the rest of the audience. She booed and hissed and sang the ridiculous song about a cow and the number of legs it had, or didn’t have.
    She wondered whose idea it had been to have a pantomime cow on board the Jolly Roger as she knew there wasn’t one in the book. But she had to admit it was a brilliant touch, with plenty of fresh milk jokes. She ate ice cream in the interval and even found herself smiling at her father’s awful puns.
    After the panto finished and the actors vanished back behind the curtain for the last time, she looked at her sister. “Thank you. You were right. It was fun.”
    Her sister winked. “ Oh, no it wasn’t …Yeah, actually, it was and you’re welcome. Want to come see my office?”
    “Sure.”
    Felicity stood and maneuvered the wheelchair towards the stage entrance. “We’ll go this way.”
    Eva looked with undisguised interest at the stage as they got closer. The tech crew was cleaning up and preparing for the next performance.
    “Miss this?” Mum asked.
    “A little. Mind you, TV and film work is vastly different from stage work. But I can’t go back to it, not matter how much... You can’t do makeup sitting down.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because I can’t, that’s why.”
    “No such word as can’t,” Felicity said. “There are ways around it. Anyway, these are the dressing rooms. And this is the after-the-opening-show party.”
    The room was full of all the cast members, most still in costume and makeup, drinking coffee and eating fish and chips. As Felicity introduced Eva, they were all too happy to sign her program. She was only missing one signature, but he wasn’t there.
    Felicity looked around. “Has anyone seen Matthew?”
    “He’s having makeup issues,” half the pantomime cow told her.
    “OK.” She looked at Eva. “Then let’s go find him and get the last signature you need.”
    Before Eva could hardly draw breath to argue, Felicity had whisked her from the room and down the hallway.
    Eva glanced at the door in front of her. A star hung at an angle with Matthew Lyell written on a card beneath it.
    Felicity straightened the star and knocked on the door. “Mr. Lyell?”
    “One minute,” came the reply.
    Eva glanced at her sister. “He’s busy. It’s fine.”
    “Just wait a minute, like he said.”
    The door opened. And there he was, wig off, hair covered in a hair net, his makeup untouched. He still wore the black silk knee length breeches, white socks, and black patent shoes with gold buckles. His long red coat was tossed on a chair by the mirror, and his white shirt open at the neck, with the bunch of lace in his hand. His intense gaze took them in, before he smiled. “Hi.”
    Personally, Eva concluded he was tired and really didn’t want to be bothered right now. He must hate