Logan didn’t say anything, just held the door for her and led her to the office. A young woman stood behind the counter. She was very attractive, with short blond hair and pretty green eyes.

“Hi, Logan.”

“Hi, Serena. Is Daryl in?”

“He sure is.” She picked up the phone and pushed a button. “Hey, Daryl, Logan McCormack is out front to see you. And he’s got Desiree Jenkins with him,” she added in a very excited voice.

Des grinned.

She listened for a moment, then hung up. “He says to go on right into his office.”

“Come on, Des.” Logan led her past the desk and toward the back of the room where a sign on the door said “Daryl Tucker, Principal.”

A tall, blond-haired, very good-looking man wearing a red polo shirt and khakis stood behind the desk. He came around and shook Logan’s hand.

“What’s up, Logan? And you must be Desiree Jenkins. I’m Daryl Tucker.”

Logan smiled. “Hey, Daryl. You’re looking all principal-like.”

Desiree grinned at that. “Nice to meet you, Principal Tucker.”

“Oh, please. That makes me feel old. Call me Daryl.”

“I will if you call me Des.”

“Have a seat.” Daryl leaned against the corner of his desk. “So what brings you two to Hope High?”

“Des saw the sign about drama club practice today, and she was hoping she could sit in and watch.”

Daryl’s brows rose. “Really? Margaret Penfield is our English teacher and head of the drama club. She’ll be thrilled. So will the kids.”

“Oh, great,” Des said. “I’m a big fan of Shakespeare. I actually did Much Ado About Nothing in high school myself.”

Daryl pushed off his desk. “Then let’s not waste any time. I’ll take you to the performing-arts center.”

Des walked next to Logan, listening to him and Daryl catch up. Apparently Daryl had gotten married last year to a teacher from Oakdale High. The two were expecting their first baby in a few months.

“How’s Patty feeling?” Logan asked.

“Complaining about teaching on her feet all day and her ankles being swollen because it’s so damn hot. Sorry for cursing, Des.”

“Nothing I haven’t heard before, Daryl,” she said as they made their way outside and across the lawn.

The performing-arts center was beautiful and looked new. It was a round building; she couldn’t wait to see what it looked like inside. As they took the cement steps leading up to it, everything about her high school years came rushing back to her.

She’d been lucky they’d been stationed in one place that long, so she got to do at least two years of high school in North Carolina. It had been hard to insert herself into an already established group, but she’d done it anyway because she’d loved drama, had loved being in the plays and musicals. Though she couldn’t sing for shit, whenever there was a musical she’d at least try to get minor roles or work on set design. Anything to be a part of the production.

As they stepped through the double front doors she could already hear the cast rehearsing the familiar words, lines that she still remembered. They walked toward the stage and Des’s nerve endings tingled. She wanted to leap up there and start reciting Beatrice’s dialogue.

Instead, she grasped Logan’s arm midway down. “I’ll just grab a seat here.”

“Why not go all the way down?”

“I don’t want to disturb them.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself. We’re going to sit here, Daryl. Des doesn’t want to stop the practice.”

“Okay. I’ll just let Margaret know you’re here, then I’ll get back to work.”

Daryl headed down to the stage where he stopped to talk with a curvy redhead. It was dark in the audience section, but the woman looked their way, then nodded at Daryl, who waved in their direction and headed out a side door.

The acoustics in the theater were great, so while Margaret led the students through their scenes, Des leaned forward and listened. They were rehearsing the festival scene, when Beatrice was ranting about Benedick to a man she thought was someone else, when it was, in fact, Benedick himself in disguise. A delightful scene and the teens were doing a great job. She laughed at Beatrice’s over-the-top performance and Benedick’s responses.

“What’s this play about?” Logan asked.

She turned to him. “You’ve never seen it?”

“Not much for Shakespeare, though I had to read Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet in English class in high school. Didn’t care for it. Hard to understand.”

She laughed. “It can be. But it’s also rich with language and interpretation and such a delight for an actor to play. So much tragedy, and in the case of Much Ado, comedy.”

“So this is supposed to be funny.”

“Yes.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Huh.”

“Just watch, and listen. You’ll get the hang of it.”

“I doubt that.”

Des could tell Logan was confused, so she sat back and explained the basics of the plot to him.

“So everybody lies to everybody else. Not only about what they feel, but about what they’re doing.”

“Pretty much.”

“That doesn’t make any damn sense. If they all just said how they felt, none of this would happen.”

She rolled her eyes. “And then there’d be no point to the play. Deception and holding of truths is part of the plot. Benedick really does love Beatrice, and she feels the same, but there’s a certain amount of pride, neither of them daring to admit to the other how they feel. And Hero’s crushed that Claudio so easily believed the lies told about her. He has to prove his love to her.”

“See? If everyone was just honest, none of that game-playing would be necessary.”

“And all that honesty happens in real life, right? People always tell each other exactly how they feel.”

He just looked at her. “I guess not.”

“I thought so.” She wondered what would come out of his mouth if he was honest about his feelings—about anything and everything. Maybe at some point she’d just ask him. But not right now.

For now she was content to sit back and listen to the young dramatists play out their scenes.