Close Match Read online

  Close Match

  Tracey Jerald

  Copyright © 2019 by Tracey Jerald

  ISBN: 978-1-7330861-2-7 (eBook)

  ISBN: 978-1-7330861-3-4 (Paperback)

  Editor: One Love Editing (http://oneloveediting.com)

  Proof Edits: Holly Malgeri (https://www.facebook.com/HollysRedHotReviews/)

  Cover Design: Amy Queau – QDesign (https://www.qcoverdesign.com)

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  For the nights with Arbor Mist, Diet Pepsi, and conversations on porches while covered in blankets.

  For never ending support, ceaseless laughter, and courage under fire.

  And finally, for butterflies, birds, and dragonflies. For the way they seamlessly entwine and the circle of miracles they wrought that I give thanks for every day of my life.

  So, with that in mind, this book is dedicated to James and Mady. May every star you wish upon give you what you need. It may not be perfect, but it will be close.

  Contents

  What is it about stars?

  Prologue

  Act 1 - Are you sure?

  1. Evangeline

  2. Evangeline

  3. Montague

  4. Evangeline

  5. Evangeline

  6. Evangeline

  7. Evangeline

  8. Montague

  9. Evangeline

  10. Evangeline

  11. Evangeline

  12. Evangeline

  13. Evangeline

  14. Montague

  15. Montague

  16. Evangeline

  17. Montague

  18. Evangeline

  19. Montague

  ACT 2 – I’m positive.

  20. Evangeline

  21. Montague

  22. Evangeline

  23. Montague

  24. Evangeline

  25. Evangeline

  26. Montague

  27. Montague

  28. Evangeline

  29. Montague

  30. Evangeline

  31. Evangeline

  32. Montague

  33. Evangeline

  34. Montague

  35. Evangeline

  36. Montague

  37. Evangeline

  38. Evangeline

  39. Montague

  40. Montague

  41. Evangeline

  42. Montague

  43. Evangeline

  44. Montague

  45. Evangeline

  46. Evangeline

  47. Montague

  48. Evangeline

  49. Montague

  50. Evangeline

  51. Montague

  52. Evangeline

  53. Montague

  54. Evangeline

  55. Montague

  56. Evangeline

  57. Evangeline

  58. Montague

  59. Evangeline

  60. Evangeline

  61. Montague

  62. Montague

  63. Evangeline

  64. Montague

  65. Evangeline

  Act 3 – Then don’t give up.

  66. Evangeline

  67. Montague

  68. Evangeline

  69. Montague

  70. Montague

  71. Evangeline

  72. Montague

  73. Evangeline

  74. Evangeline

  75. Montague

  76. Evangeline

  77. Evangeline

  78. Evangeline

  79. Montague

  80. Montague

  81. Montague

  82. Montague

  Epilogue

  The End

  Coming Soon

  Where to get help

  Also by Tracey Jerald

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  What is it about stars?

  What is it about stars?

  Stars represent the most beautiful and impactful objects in the night sky. Their brilliance on the dark sky has been documented as far back as Ovid, their legends further than that. Their glow has been used to trace the history, dynamics, and evolution of man.

  We are fascinated by the stars. We spend hours watching those overhead as well as those that link above the social norms to form their own kind of constellation—celebrities.

  But what makes them more omnipresent? Greek mythology lures us with tales that say stars were tossed into the sky at the whims of the gods and goddesses. Is it because stars appear to shine brighter and have the force to overpower anything, even when in reality they are made of the same particles of dust we all are?

  Within our chaotic lives, we look to the stars—all kinds—to present a reassuring order to our lives. But do we rely on them too often for the emotional power history has given to them, a power that has not been verified through science?

  Do we rely on them to save our wishes, hopes, and dreams much like the way we do our gods, our celebrities, and our heroes?

  Prologue

  Prologue - Evangeline

  “And the winner of the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical is Evangeline Brogan for Thea in The Dream Sequence!”

  Stunned, shaking, I push myself to my feet. Hugs and kisses are being laid on me by my cast members, my mother, but I don’t even know if I’m smiling.

  Dreams should be harder to attain than just wishing for them in my heart late at night.

  Numbly, I make my way up the stage. It seems to take forever, but the reality is it’s only a few seconds. Hardy Martin, last year’s winner for Best Leading Actor, comes down the few steps to take my hand. Carefully, I lift the edge of my siren red dress so I don’t trip on the fluted edge. My hand is tucked protectively in the crook of Hardy’s arm as I climb up the four short steps. “Smile, Evangeline. Be proud of what you’ve done.”

  And that’s when it hits me. I won the Tony. My knees almost buckle at the exact moment the presenter hands me the squatty little statue. I grip it tightly as I turn to face the audience, who are sitting cheek and jowl to the rafters at Radio City Music Hall.

  “I left my purse with something resembling a speech back at my seat,” I blurt out. A reassuring titter floats through the room. My eyes seek out and find my mother’s in the crowd. She’s never let me down. Not once.

  And I know at the most crucial moment of my life she’s not about to start.

  “I guess this is why they recommended an improv class during my senior year at NYU,” I joke. “So, first, thank you to my alma mater, the Tisch School of Performing Arts at New York University.” A smatter of cheers from other NYU grads as well as generous applause. Taking a deep breath, I go on. “The Dream Sequence would not have been possible without our amazing director, Pasquale Beecher—.” Raucous cheering from the cast of The Dream Sequence ensues. I let it die down before I lean back in toward the mic. “—and the brilliant cast, crew, and orchestra, who are simply flawless every single night.” My eyes fill with tears as I see my theater family give me an impromptu standing ovation in the middle of my acceptance speech.
“But above all, I have to thank my actual family. Dad, I…” My voice chokes up. I hold the statue aloft. “I wish you were here sitting next to Mom and Bris to see this. I hope you’re proud. Mom, Bris, you are my anchors in this crazy storm called life. I don’t know what I would do without you. This is for you. Thank you for supporting my dreams, for making sure that while I chased them, I’m still grounded, and for loving me through it all. And to the theater community as a whole, you have my heartfelt gratitude. Again, thank you.”

  I step back and hear the combined pounding of seats slapping against their chairs as people rise to clap.

  It’s humbling.

  It’s enormous.

  It’s only the beginning.

  Act 1 - Are you sure?

  One

  Evangeline

  May

  The Fallen Curtain - All About Evangeline Brogan

  Evangeline Katherine Brogan is more than just a star on Broadway; she’s the sun it orbits around.

  Although she’s been singing and dancing since a very young age, she’s been quoted as saying it wasn’t until she was first in a production of The Wizard of Oz playing the role of Auntie Em that she felt her calling. Early in her career, she acted in small roles Off Broadway under an alias until she graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama.

  Her first breakthrough role happened at twenty-four when she auditioned for the role of Lisa Rhodes in Best Thing at the City Theater Workshop. The show was so popular, the entire cast was moved to Broadway. That year she was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical against her mother, Brielle Brogan, making them the second mother/daughter in history behind Jennifer Ehle and Rosemary Harris to earn that distinction. Including Lynne Redgrave and Natasha Richardson as well as Richard Rodgers and his daughter Mary Rodgers (for composing), they were one of only four families in history with the distinction of competing against one of their relatives for the same category.

  Following her success of Best Thing, Evangeline’s been seen in revivals of Anything Goes, where she said, “It’s a production near and dear to my heart as Mom named me for the character she portrayed while she was pregnant with me.” She’s been cast in Chicago, where she gave new meaning to sultry in her revival of Velma Kelly’s character. She even did a short stint with the New York City Ballet saying, “I can’t let my skills get rusty,” when questioned why she’d join the corps versus going for another Broadway spotlight appearance.

  Brogan jumped at the chance to sing on the cast album of Best Thing. Her solo of “Anywhere, Anything” garnered her a Grammy nomination and win. Her humbling speech thanked her fellow castmates and her family was much like the woman herself: emotional and authentic.

  Although she was going to take some time off to travel, it’s reported the director of The Dream Sequence begged her to read for the part of Thea. Rumor has it she jumped onto the stage partway through, stealing the role from the actress who became her understudy. It was the right move as her performance won her the 2014 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.

  Taking a break to watch her younger sister graduate with honors from Wharton Business School, Brogan decided to spread her wings across the pond, accepting the part of Laurey to Simon Houde’s portrayal of Curly. The two’s revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic brought down the house night after night in the Royal Albert Hall production of Oklahoma!. Their chemistry onstage was outrageous, and Broadway was fortunate when it returned with them to the US when they both came back to star in She where Evangeline lost out on the Tony to her mother, who won for her role in Powerhouse that same year.

  Finally, Broadway—and the musical brilliance of four-time Tony Award composer John Thomas Michaels—put these two brilliant actresses together. In 2018, Evangeline and Brielle took the stage together in the sold-out Miss Me, with Evangeline in the starring role as Kate Hynes. This all-star cast also includes Simon Houde as her love interest, Michael Kirby.

  This musical—about a falling-out between a mother and her daughter—is expected to sweep the 2019 Tony Awards. Nominations will be announced on April 30 with the live broadcast from Radio City Music Hall on CBS June 7.

  “Did you see this?” Bristol slides her iPad across the table to me.

  “You know I don’t read that stuff, Bris.” I shove it back at her. “Why are you showing it to me?”

  “Because this one’s a halfway decent article on you. They’re not gossiping about you beating out Michelle for the role in The Dream Sequence. They’re not saying you and Mom are scratching each other’s eyes out onstage. And best yet, they’re not saying you’re having a flaming affair with Simon.” She rolls her eyes.

  I grin at her. “That’s your favorite part.” Ever since I treated Bristol to a trip to England to see me act in Oklahoma!, she and Simon have been inseparable. America should consider itself lucky that Simon tumbled head over feet over my baby sister, or juicy role or not, he’d still be in London. Gossips assume it was because of our “magnetic stage presence.” I chortle every time I think about it.

  We both must be better actors than we let on. After all, when you individually eat onion- and cilantro-riddled food before going onstage for your big romance scene, it’s all you can do to not laugh at each other. Or deliberately burp in each other’s faces. Yet, night after night, our “sexual tension” keeps receiving rave reviews and amusing Bristol to no end. Since she’s long dealt with our onstage romance, she delights in slapping a cup of mouthwash in Simon’s hand before she’ll even come near him after a show.

  Especially now.

  “How are you feeling?” I ask her. Bristol is about six weeks pregnant. Neither Simon, she, nor I have said anything knowing the gossip rags—much like the one she is trying to make me read—are going to go insane when they realize who the father is.

  “Fantastic so long as Simon doesn’t come near me until he’s brushed his teeth about eight times,” she mutters in disgust.

  I heft my water glass in the air. “To morning sickness.”

  She clinks hers back. “To everything sickness, when it comes to cilantro.” We both burst out laughing.

  “It must be from Dad. Mom loves that stuff.” I’m laughing as I peruse a menu I should have memorized already. We’re at Wolf’s Delicatessen at least once a month. Their pastrami on rye is one of the few luxuries I’ll allow myself while I’m onstage.

  “Mom loves it, but nothing like Simon does. I swear, he’d make it another food group if he could,” Bristol agrees. “I know it’s just a stage kiss, but how you don’t vomit in his mouth night after night…”

  “That’s why they call it acting, darling.” We both turn. Even at sixty-three, our mother turns heads everywhere she goes. “Scoot over, Bris. And tell me why your iPad is on the table. Didn’t I teach you better manners than that?”

  I shoot my sister an amused sneer before I answer for her. “She wants me to read some piece of garbage that was written about me this morning.”

  My mother sighs. “It appalls me you never read your own press.”

  “Probably because most of the time I’m reading about the fact we all hate each other?” I arch a perfectly groomed eyebrow.

  “Linnie, that’s half the fun.” I shake my head at my mother in amusement.

  “Mom, you just like having gossip to spread on set,” I retort.

  She shrugs. Guilty. “Only when I can substantiate it, darling. And besides, I know which one of my daughters is pregnant.”

  Bristol and I exchange horrified looks. “Tell me someone’s not…” I whisper, leaning forward.

  “Darling, if you didn’t want the rumor mill to start, you should have let me go with your sister to her first appointment.”

  “She’d have had to have delayed it, Mom! You were flying in from Paris,” I snap.

  Mom shrugs. She’s still pissed I got to see her first grandchild before she did. Not that she didn’t march Brist
ol back to the OBGYN the next day to make her do to it again, but did the paparazzi follow her? No, of course not. They wouldn’t dare follow Brielle Brogan.

  It’s just me.

  I grab my oversized Louis Vuitton, stick my head into it, and scream. Since it’s New York, no one pays me any attention, not even Mom or Bristol, who are chattering away. I catch the tail end of their conversation even as I manage to get something caught in my hair as I remove my head from my purse.

  “…swear this one is actually a good article.”