Page 27 of A Nantucket Season
After coffee, Stephanie ran off to put out a fire, leaving Ella in the red tent, poring over the schedule. Her band was set to perform at eight o’clock for a full two hours. Before that, Aurora was set to play for twenty minutes. Since Ella had invited Aurora to perform, she hadn’t seen her at all. She supposed if Aurora didn’t show for the gig, Ella and Will’s band could go on early to avoid dead time. Once the festival chaos calmed down a little, and their band went back home until the wedding, Ella could focus on Aurora, on her needs. Perhaps she could befriend her in a more concrete way. Perhaps she could find a way to help her through.
As Ella stewed with guilt, something outside the tent caught her eye. Across the street, where the large stage was nearly completely set-up, stood Aria with her guitar. The wind blew through her auburn hair, and she placed her hand as a shield over her eyes as she gazed wistfully across the square.
“Aurora!” Ella hurried toward her, careful not to spill her coffee.
As Ella grew closer, Aurora tilted her head and took a small step back, as though Ella frightened her. Ella stalled, not used to people being scared of her. The shock of it was alarming. She was just Ella! She just wanted to help!
“You’re here early,” Ella said.
Aurora nodded. “I wanted to scope out the stage. I don’t think I’ve ever performed on one as big as this.”
“It’ll be a big crowd,” Ella said.
“I’m not nervous,” Aurora was quick to say. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about anything, actually.”
“That’s great. I’m excited, too. It’s been a while since I performed with my entire band.”
“I heard they all came to the island to practice before the big gig,” Aurora said. “It must be incredible to have such longstanding musician relationships.”
Ella was confused. On the one hand, Aurora’s eyes reflected hundreds of various emotions: sorrow, anxiety, optimism, and fear. But on the other, what Aurora said seemed completely sensical, not the ravings of a woman going out of her mind.Was it possible Ella’s mother had gotten it wrong?
“Anyway,” Aurora said, lifting her guitar case. “I might head back to The Copperfield House for a little while and do a last run-through of my songs.”
“You’re on at seven-thirty,” Ella reminded her.
“I won’t be late,” Aurora assured her. “I’ll definitely be back in a little while to watch more of the performers.”
“Great!” Ella searched through her pockets to find several free food and drink tokens, which she passed to Aurora. “The performers get these for the day. Enjoy yourself, okay? Nantucket festivals are magical.”
Aurora nodded and placed the tokens in her purse, promising Ella she would have a good time. Her voice wavered just the slightest bit, giving her another moment of pause, but before she could probe, Aurora was off, charging through the employees doing set-up, the volunteers, and disappearing around the corner.
“Hey! Ella!”
Ella turned as Greta approached, dressed in a flowing cream dress.
“Morning, Mom.” Ella hugged her mother. “You look wonderful.”
“Oh, thank you, honey. The festival is a great occasion for me to go through the back of my closet,” Greta said. “I saw you talking to Aurora. Was she all right? She’s avoided me like the plague since the interview.”
“She seems fine, actually,” Ella said with a shrug. “She just went back home to practice for tonight.”
Greta bit her lower lip, studying the newly built stage. “I can’t help but feel that something horrible is about to happen.”
Ella placed her hand on her mother’s elbow. “No matter what’s going on with her emotionally and mentally, she’s a professional. She wants to be on that stage tonight, and she won’t do anything to mess that up.” After a beat, she added, “Maybe next week, after things calm down, I can talk to her a little bit more. Get her to open up.”
Greta’s eyes glinted strangely. “It sounds wonderful, honey. I just hope we’re not making a mistake here. I hope we’re not pushing her till she breaks.”
ChapterFifteen
Back at The Copperfield House, Barbie had left another note under the phone.“Brooks called again! :)”
This time, Aurora took the note, crumpled it up, and sent it in a parabola toward the trashcan. Ever since he’d dropped her off at the house yesterday after the sailing trip – a time that had been clarifying for Aurora, Aurora had done her best to obliterate all love for him from her mind. It was clear that he was after her, that he’d seen something in her that he wanted— and that he was eager to take her artistic talent or her time or her passion and leave her for dead when he was done with her. Aurora had seen the same pattern played out in her mother’s life endlessly.
Aurora never should have gotten into that fishing boat with him when she’d first met him. She’d forgotten all of her rules. Now, she was left to pick up the pieces of her life and ensure that he didn’t get any part of them.
Aurora retreated to the practice room for another two hours, practicing chord changes on her guitar and warming up her voice. When her stomach felt sharp with hunger, she went into the kitchen and poured herself a big helping of cereal, which Andy and Tom sneered at when they entered to make six-inch-tall sandwiches with vegetables, cheeses, and meats. Not used to eating next to people, Aurora took her cereal to her bedroom, where she ate one-half of it before the milk became too sweet to handle. Outside, a blissful June sky arced across the island, illustrating a picture-perfect day. Toward the very back of her mind, Aurora ached with fear for the Nantucket Music Festival, sensing that some of the people there had been sent to spy on her. Aurora tried to hatch a plan for what to do when she noticed a spy.Was it best to just quit playing music immediately? Or was it better to play all of her songs, get off the stage, and break into a run?
According to Ella (a woman who Aurora felt she could trust, at least for now), this concert could be a steppingstone to something truly great. Aurora’s comprehension of what “truly great” could possibly mean was probably off. Then again, the topic of “money” was always on her mind, as she never felt that she and her mother had enough of it. Now that her mother was gone, Aurora wasn’t sure how to keep herself afloat or how to make money, as the sole reason for making money previously was to keep her mother alive.