Page 104 of The Backup Bride Proposal

Even from this distance, Mae could see the tears welling in Sarah’s eyes. Wow. She was good.

“Hell yeah he does.”

This was spoken by the actor who’d been with Sarah in the last scene as he walked into the gazebo.

Kane smiled at Jeff. “I don’t think I’m needed here anymore. I’ll let you two talk.”

Kane walked out of the gazebo, leaving Sarah and Jeff looking at each other.

“And…cut,” Alexis said. “Great work, everyone.”

And just like that, Kane and the other two actors laughed and high-fived.

Whew. That had been a tight scene. Kane grabbed a bottle of water from the table, along with two of the cookies she had made.

“Wow,” she said. “There was some emotion in that scene.”

“Yeah,” he said, taking a bite of a cookie. “Alexis digs that stuff. I’m glad we hit it in one take.”

She shook her head. “Well, you—and your actor friends—are very good at it.”

He had started walking away from the area, so she followed. “Thanks. I need to change out of wardrobe and into something that looks a lot like what I’m wearing now.” Hetossed the other cookie in his mouth and mumbled something that sounded like “I’ll be right back,” so she waited while he climbed into the costuming chamber.

He came out about five minutes later dressed pretty much the same—except this time the jeans were relaxed and he was wearing a T-shirt and scuffed boots.

“You look a lot more comfortable,” she said.

“Feel that way, too. I know it’s still early, but how much more work do you have today?”

“Just paperwork. Calendar stuff and notes. Why?”

“I thought we might go somewhere. I don’t have any more scenes today. Feel like getting out of here?”

She shrugged, figuring she could catch up on work later tonight. “Sure.” She’d worn leggings and tennis shoes along with a long-sleeved shirt and she had her sweater, so she was probably appropriately dressed for…wherever.

They went to his car and he took off, taking them onto the expressway and heading toward the city. When he pulled off at the sign for the zoo, she smiled.

“Like the zoo?”

“I love zoos. I try to visit them at every city I’m in.” At the stoplight, he turned to her. “How about you? Do you like them? If you don’t we don’t have to go.”

“I love them. Let’s do it.”

••••••

Kane was sorelieved that Mae seemed to enjoy the zoo as much as he did. He supposed he should have suggested it to her instead of just driving here and hoping for the best. But he wanted to surprise her with a fun day out.

“My therapist suggested I get out and do some fun things instead of hanging out in my trailer stewing in my anger juices.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Anger juices? That sounds gross.”

“Yeah, like my mood lately. And he’s right, so I figured I’d do something that makes me happy.”

She looked over at him and smiled. “I’m glad you decided to seek therapy.”

“It’s been helpful, though it’s early. But you were right that it’s good to have someone to talk to that doesn’t know me personally. I can really dive in and lay it all out there without judgment or personal bias.”

“Therapy is super helpful. I recommend it for everyone.”

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