Ruby's Song (Love in the Sierras Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

quite at home among thieves and vagrants.”
    “Honestly, what were Sarah and Elijah thinking, taking her in all these years? I know they’re charitable, but good Lord. ”
    “I heard Sarah was grooming her to become a great opera singer.”
    More laughter ensued before Eloisa spoke again. “Can you imagine? Why, I’d never even heard her voice before tonight.”
    “It’s true. She hardly speaks at dinners or parties.”
    “I can see why, now,” Eloisa said. “Did you hear her voice? What a soft, mousy little thing. And I always thought she didn’t speak because she had no personality.”
    “Or anything intelligent to say.”
    Marlena’s eyes moistened with hot tears and she pinched her eyelids shut, unwilling to cry over the slight she should have seen coming. Her contempt for Boston was never so great as it was in that moment. There wasn’t a genuine bone in any body of Sarah’s acquaintance.
    She cleared her throat, drawing the horrified stares of all five women. Her spine straightened and she leveled her eyes at each of them. “Good night, ladies.”
    Without another word, she shimmied toward the back of the room and would have left, but the crowd hushed and the play began. Music played and actors leapt about in lavish costumes and before long, Marlena was grinning. As she stood in the audience watching the players, something inside her sparked to life. She saw herself on the stage, reciting those lines and singing those songs, making people laugh and cheer. It was what she’d come to Boston to do.
    The singers weren’t perfect, but their influence was, and not a face in the house looked disappointed as Marlena scanned them. But her heart nearly stopped in her chest when her eyes landed on the face of Sarah’s tour manager, Harrison Brady. She dropped into a squat and shielded her face with a hand.
    He blocked the only way out, and she couldn’t sneak by without being seen. Cold sweat lathered her palms and she slid them over her skirt. Plain dress or not, Harrison would know her instantly. As she squatted, the soft padding of footsteps pattered to her ears and she noticed a small gap between the side wall and the back wall. She followed the seam only to realize it was a door built to look like the wall panel. The steady hum of traffic on the other side of the wall told her it was a busy corridor. Built for the actors and stagehands, she assumed. She saw her only escape route and took it, pushing quickly through the door to land in a dimly lit hallway.
    “What’re you doing back here?” A man asked in hushed tones. He was tall, burly, bald and had ears that stuck out like miniature flags. “No patrons allowed back here.”
    If she hadn’t been so distracted by the size of his ears, she might have given an answer, but another man saved her from it as he sidled up beside them.
    “Monkey,” he whispered. “What’s going on? Is this the girl for the audition?”
    Marlena couldn’t help but giggle at the man’s name. How apt. She seized the opportunity presented her. “Yes, I’m here to audition.”
    “Come on,” Monkey said, taking her by the elbow down a few more turns until depositing her in a private room backstage. “Wait here for Maggie.”
    She sat, listening to the remainder of the play, wondering how she would get out of this scrape. Her mind spun all sorts of escape routes and lies to get her out of the situation, but one thought pulsed through her mind.
    What if?
    What if she could land a place on the stage here? After all, she’d come to Boston to perform. Perhaps it was time to take matters into her own hands. Sarah had told her repeatedly she wasn’t ready for the stage. No better way to know than trial by fire. Then, she’d know for sure if she had what it took to command a stage. Or if she really was some soft spoken, untalented pity case like Eloisa and her friends believed.
    When footsteps approached, her body shook and she had to swallow three times to clear her throat.