12. The Show Must Go On

Tap. Tap. Tappity-tap. Tappity-tap-tap-tap. The sound of Miss Grace's shoes on the newly waxed floor was driving Niles insane. What was Mr. Sheffield thinking of, to push his little lead actress so hard that she didn't even stop rehearsing in her own home? And where, in the name of sanity, was Gracie even getting all that energy? She was usually so quiet for her age.

Tap-tap-tappity-tap. Niles ground his teeth as he headed for her room.

What he saw beside the doorway was the proverbial last straw: CC Babcock, coming down the hallway with a bowlful of M&M's and a can of Coca-Cola. The moment she caught sight of him, she gave a guilty start.

"Babcock." He folded his arms and blocked Gracie's door. "I didn't think even you could sink this low."

"I – I don't know what you're talking about."

"I know you'd love to see Miss Fine blamed for the failure of the play, but I don't see why Miss Grace's health has to suffer for it. So hand over that … that sugar-coated sludge and nobody gets hurt, understood?"

He didn't know what to expect from her, but not to see her flush with righteous anger and practically shove the candy into his arms.

"Is that what you think, Butler Boy? That I actually want to see the little one break down onstage? Do you have any idea how many calories tap-dancing takes out of you? How tired she must be? Don't you know how absolutely brutal school plays can be for such an insecure little girl, especially with a father who … Oh, never mind. Of course you don't."

She turned away and braced one hand against the doorframe, shoulders slumped, her face in shadow. Niles thought of his own father, a warm and sturdy presence, quietly teaching him the art of the perfect dinner menu and how to put on a bow tie. Then he thought of Mr. Sheffield, lecturing Gracie as if she were one of his hard-boiled Broadway actresses. He wondered what CC had been like as a little girl, and if anyone had worried about her sugar intake then.

"You should never give candy to children after five o'clock," he said, more quietly. "It prevents them from sleeping. Miss Grace will need her sleep if she's to do well at the rehearsal tomorrow."

CC only nodded, still refusing to meet his eyes.

"I'll bring her some warm milk with honey," he added.

There was an awkward pause, in which neither of them knew what to say. Niles considered, and dismissed, several ideas: Thank you for the gesture, Miss Babcock? I had no idea you were capable of kindness? What in God's name happened to you when you were a child?

As always, he chose what, for them, had become the path of least resistance: "Or you could go in and talk to her about your love life. I'm sure that would lull her right to sleep."

"Or you could tell her about yours," she retorted, rolling her eyes. "But on second thought, don't. You'd give her nightmares."

Still, she was smiling as she sauntered past him, taking a handful of M&M's for good measure.