Page 99 of State of Grace

The room was quiet for a few moments, and Blake let her words sink in before finishing her proposal.

“Just imagine Avery finding out Harper is leaving and running across the colony to her. They profess their feelings for each other and kiss.” The smile spread wide on Blake’s face. “You have the chance to give these characters a fulfilling and fitting ending.”

“So, that’s it. Just have them kiss and fade to black?” Mike had leaned back in his chair and was twirling a pencil between his fingers. “No.” For a moment, Blake worried her fight was lost. “Let’s have them kiss, and then Avery leaves with Harper. That gets both you and Casey off the show, which is what you both want.”

Blake had been flabbergasted that she’d been able to get Mike on board so easily. After Mike was in, the rest of the crew followed. They’d talked the plan over with Casey Hartman, who played Harper, and everything had been set. They’d even filmed their kiss scene a few nights ago, and Blake thought the entire thing had been perfect. There was only one more scene – the final shot of Avery’s parents, Avery, and Harper in the shuttle leaving the colony – left to film, and Blake found herself suddenly misty-eyed.

“Thank you again for doing all of this for me and Avery, Mike.” She wrapped her arms around his neck as he reluctantly hugged her back. “Maybe someday we’ll get to work together on something again.”

“I’d love that.” Mike pulled away with a friendly kiss on the cheek. “And hey, if that Moonflower Cove place is as picturesque as you say it is, maybe I’ll bring the film crew to you there.”

“Deal.”

Heading their separate ways, Blake headed out the back of the indoor set and to her trailer to grab her keys before heading home. Or, well, to Salem’s couch where she’d been crashing. It wasn’t ideal, but it had worked fine for the few weeks she’d be in town.

“Hey, Blake.”

“Holy fucking shit.” Blake clutched her chest as her eyes focused on the woman sitting on the small couch inside her trailer. Although she had known the visitor was coming, she hadn’t expected her to show up in her trailer unannounced. “Sophia, how on Earth did you get on set?”

“I have my ways.” The smug woman smirked at her as Blake put her hands on her hips. She was trying to act annoyed to see Sophia but inside, she was so excited to see her. Which was something Blake never thought she’d say.

“And we have security.”

“Which is why, if anyone asks,” there was a twinkle in her eyes, “I am your mother.”

“Oh, good lord.” Blake snorted a laugh as she plopped down on the bench seat across from Sophia. The two studied each other in silence for a moment. Sophia, as per usual, was dressed to kill in an off-the-shoulder green dress with a slit nearly up to her hip. It was no wonder she was able to sweet talk herself onto the set. “How was your flight? Did Alexis ever catch on that you weren’t really going to Denver?”

“Why did I think we’d said it was Dallas?’

“Does it really matter if it was a lie to get you out here?” Blake laughed.

“I guess not.”

They’d been planning the secret trip for about a week, and Blake had been surprised how easily everything had worked out for it to happen. She’d been even more surprised that Sophia had been so on board with the whole thing. It gave Blake hope that the plan she was working out was going to be executed perfectly.

“How’s Alexis?”

“She’s good.” The love Sophia had for her best friend was evident on her face. “She misses you.”

“I miss her, too.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing we have a solution to that.”

“Indeed.” Picking up her bag off the floor, Blake slung it over her shoulder as she nodded toward the door. “Come on, let’s go pick out the ring, then I’ll take you to dinner.”

Chapter 34

Alexis was insane. There was no other way to describe it. People only flew across the country on a whim to confess their love to someone in movies. Not in real life. Definitely not in Alexis’s life.

And yet, that’s exactly what she had done.

Alexis got the address from Isla, who was eager to let her out of her shifts for the next few days. She’d left Emily in charge of Harper and Tucker before heading to the airport and was in the process of navigating the streets of Vancouver in search of Salem’s apartment. The navigation app on her phone told her to turn left.

“What am I doing?” Alexis gripped the steering wheel tighter. “I’m insane. Totally insane. I’ve lost my marbles.” She followed the directions through two more turns before arriving at a stop sign. “Deep breaths.”

There wasn’t a time in her life that Alexis recalled ever being so nervously anxious. Harper’s birth was the only thing that even came close. She needed to see Blake to know that everything was going to be ok. They had the ability to understand what the other was feeling without saying it, and Alexis needed that reassurance now more than ever. After all, that’s why she flew to Vancouver to see Blake in person instead of calling her on the phone like a normal person would do.

“Turn left,” the automated voice prompted once more, seemingly frustrated that Alexis hadn’t obeyed its command yet.

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