Description: Busted by the one person she was trying to avoid, Juliet Jones has nowhere to hide and nothing but her strong will to get to Glenn Sabine. But will it be enough to get past her nemesis and avoid his wrath a second time?
Bright Lights, Big Dreams. PART 12.
She had been thwarted at the door by the security guard. She had been forced to squeeze through a bush of berries she couldn’t eat. She had climbed through an open window – effectively breaking and entering – just to get in to see Glenn Sabine and tell him the God-awful truth about Punk Setter. Sure, she had finally made it to her destination, but only to be stopped in her tracks by the one she had been trying to avoid in the first place. So it was perfectly understandable that this mayor of the little town of Devon had crossed the intersection of infuriated and vexed long before she had entered the backstage dressing rooms.
Stiffening like a raging bull at a hernia checkup, Julie scowled at Setter’s condescending teasing and jeering. He was still razzing her for sneaking into the pageant without a ticket. As if that was the reason why she was here!
“A kid of twelve, sure,” said Setter with the tone of an uncle babbling boo-boo to a little baby. “But a full-grown woman sneaking in!”
He was pinching the end of Julie’s nose and wiggling it gently. “Aren’t you ashamed, lady?”
Ashamed? More like the Titanic about to capsize, and take prisoners in its wake. More like a stick of dynamite that had been dropped in your drawers and was only seconds away from rearranging your plans for the evening.
“Let me through, Mr. Setter!” Julie bellowed in a voice that would have made Marine drill sergeants run and hide.
Setter was unfazed. He turned to the police officer at the other side of the room and whistled loudly. Setter beckoned with his finger for the cop to come. Apparently, he had all of his staff well-trained from canine obedience school.
The officer had been napping in a wooden chair that was angled back against the wall. His police cap was tipped over his face, and when he heard Setter’s whistle, the chair slipped off the wall and dropped to the floor with a crash, taking the officer with it. The officer scrambled to his feet and fitted his hat to his head, looking around to make sure no one saw his blunder before wandering over to the Pike.
“Officer,” Pike Setter said as the officer made his way over to him. “Take this hysterical gate-crasher, huh? Put her in cold storage until this shindig is in the records.”
Cold storage?! Julie was about to kick and scream, but realized that it was one thing to fight against Punk Setter. It was an entirely different set of screws and matches messing with the law. And technically, she had broken in. It was then that she realized she could have just bought a ticket like everyone else and gone in the front door.
The officer took her by the arm and led her away. Pike Setter was folding his arms and grinning proudly like a moron who had just solved a first-grade math equation at a Mensa contest.
Julie turned back to the officer. “You mustn’t listen to him,” she pleaded, trying to yank her arm away from his death grip.
“Now, now, Miss,” he said sympathetically. “I’ll find a nice quiet spot for you to pass the time in.”
Julie knew she had done it this time. Now she would not only miss her chance to talk to Glenn Sabine, but she also wouldn’t even be able to see her sister up on that stage, living her dream. Her little sister Eve who would be looking out into the audience for her big sister Julie, looking for that support, and finding no one.
