Page 103 of The Backup Bride Proposal

Chapter

twenty-nine

Mae couldn’t believethere were only a few weeks until Christmas. Since she was currently staying at the Bellinis’, she hadn’t bothered digging out the decorations at her apartment, but she’d really enjoyed helping the Bellinis decorate their house.

They went all out with two Christmas trees, seasonal décor all over the house, and lights on the house, the barn and all across the property. The outside lights were all white because of winter weddings, and since they celebrated weddings of all faiths, the white lights would suffice no matter what type of wedding they celebrated. Besides, since the nights were getting colder, most of the weddings were inside the barn and could be lighted according to the couple’s wants and customs.

Once decorating was done, baking started. Louise rarely gave up control over her kitchen, but since she left at night, Mae enjoyed making breads and cakes and cookies whenever she had the chance. She had spent last night elbows-deep in flour and sugar and decorating.

She wasn’t filming today, but Kane had been busy with back-to-back scenes with his film brother and best friend the past couple of days, so she hadn’t seen him and, frankly, she’d missed him. They’d talked, but they hadn’t really been together since he’d also been filming some night scenes. She figured if she brought some of the stuff she’d baked, maybe she could see Kane for a few minutes.

After packaging up some cookies and bread she’d made the night before, she put on her sweater and walked over to the production area.

The weather continued to be ideal. Sunny and in the low seventies, and today there was no wind, making it a perfect day. She figured the production company was probably pretty happy about the ideal conditions for filming, too. In some places, late November and December were awful, but here, it could stay nice all the way into January.

She made her way through the path. Security knew her well by now and let her in, and she headed toward where filming was occurring, surprised to see a woman and a man in the middle of a scene that had been set up at a small gazebo they had erected in a clearing in the woods. It always surprised her how quickly the crew could put together something phenomenal and beautiful, making it look like it had always been there. She stood quietly while the actors completed the scene, an emotional one with declarations of love that ended in a very passionate kiss. When Alexis called cut, there was a flurry of activity as if that romantic scene hadn’t even happened.

Moviemaking was weird.

“Hey.”

She flipped around to see Kane standing there. “Hey, yourself. I was watching the scene they were just filming.”

“Oh, yeah. My best friend and my ex-girlfriend.”

“Oh. Complicated.”

“Very. I slip in next, though it’s kind of filmed out of order since in the movie he comes in after I leave. He’s actually in love with her, only she doesn’t realize it yet because she thinks she’s still in love with me. Which she isn’t. Kind of a subplot.”

“Got it. That should be fun in the movie.”

“I hope so. What are you doing here?”

She picked up the bag she’d brought. “I baked.”

His brows lifted. “Ohhh. I can’t wait to see what you brought. Can you hang out while I do this scene?”

She thought about what she had going on and realized she didn’t have any meetings, so she nodded. “Yes, I have some time.”

After putting the snacks on the table for everyone to enjoy, she made her way back to the scene in the woods. Kane was standing inside the gazebo, a prop phone in his hand. He looked amazing in dark jeans and a striped button-down shirt. He had started pacing, and Alexis called action. He was talking on the phone with someone, and the actress stood just outside the gazebo. Kane noticed her and told whoever he was talking to that he’d call them back.

“I’m sorry, Blake. I didn’t know you were on the phone.”

“It’s okay, Sarah. What’s up?”

The actress—or her character, Sarah—walked fully into the gazebo, stopping in front of Kane. “I thought we could have a minute to talk—alone. See if we can recapture that magic we had.”

Kane laid his hands on Sarah’s shoulders. “Sarah. I think what you’re looking for from me is an apology, something you didn’t get when we broke up all those years ago.”

She laid her hand on his chest and moved in to him. Close to him. “No, what I want from you is what we both want. What we both need, Blake. A reconciliation.”

He took her hand and wrapped both of his around it. “What about Jeff?”

She frowned and backed up a step, turning away from him. “Jeff? I don’t have feelings for Jeff.”

“Don’t you? You’re so afraid of getting hurt again that you’re throwing yourself at a guy you don’t even care about—that would be me, by the way. Come on, Sarah. Jeff loves you.”

She turned to face him again, her eyes wide. “He…loves me?”

---