Page 25 of Wrapped in You

She knew where she needed to strike.

Right in the heart.

She took a breath. "Georgia wrote the original script. What would she say about the changes?"

Immediately, Derek's eyes filled with tears. He blinked rapidly; his face grew shadowed and even more cruel.

For a moment, Sophie thought he might kill her. She remembered what he'd told Natalie—that frightened people did terrible things.

But instead, someone else intervened.

The assistant director threaded through the cameras and announced in an authoritative voice, "Thirty-minute break, everyone. Head to catering for breakfast and coffee. Derek? Let's talk in your trailer."

Derek glared at Sophie and rolled the brand-new script into a tight cylinder. Already, Natalie and Brent scampered off set, clasping their hands together. Next came the smell of sizzling bacon. Randy needed her help to melt the cheese on the breakfast sandwiches. He needed her help to pour the coffee.

She'd done enough.

Derek spun around, storming toward his trailer with the assistant director hot on his heels.

Suddenly, a hand touched Sophie's shoulder. She turned to find her three grinning friends: Mike, Beck, and Isaac.

"She faced the monster," Mike rasped, still careful to keep his voice low.

"And she lived to tell the tale," Isaac finished.

"So far," Sophie whispered. Fear wrapped around her heart.

Sophie wasn't convinced she'd keep her job for the rest of the day. As she headed back to the Culinary Tastings stand, she cursed herself for her big, open, Christmas-loving heart. Maybe it had ruined her career.

But at least she'd stood up for what she believed in.

At least she'd stood up for hope.

Chapter Eight

It was no small miracle that Sophie wasn't fired that day.

After a forty-minute break, during which Sophie and Randy made thirty-two breakfast sandwiches and Sophie suffered a small grease burn from frying bacon, Derek and the assistant director still had not left the trailer. Sophie's heart pumped with nerves. What were they talking about in there? She washed her hands and craned her neck to see the door of the trailer, but there was no sign of what was going on inside.

Natalie came up to the table for a water bottle. Her smile was open and beautiful. "I can't believe you did that," she said, shaking her head. She looked mystified.

Sophie grimaced. "I don't know what came over me."

"I should have said something!" Natalie cried. "I heard myself reading those horrible new lines, and all the time, I was thinking 'This can't be happening. This can't be happening.' But in Hollywood, we're taught to do everything we're told. Otherwise, we might anger someone at the top and lose our careers altogether."

Sophie raised her shoulders. In a small voice, she said, "It just wasn't right."

"You're a good person, Sophie," Natalie said. "It's not a surprise, I guess. It seems like everyone in Willow Creek has a good soul."

Suddenly, Jeremy was at the culinary table. He puffed out his chest and looked from Sophie to Natalie and back again. Natalie smiled at him confusedly.

"Everyone's so proud of you, Soph," Jeremy said as Randy hurried to assemble his sandwich. "I told them it's all in a day's work for Sophie Masters. Remember when you saved that litter of kittens in New York City?"

Sophie wasn't interested in discussing her past with Jeremy, not now. But at the mere mention of a litter of kittens, Natalie melted with excitement.

"Oh my gosh! A litter of kittens? You have to tell me more," Natalie begged.

Jeremy was thrilled to have captured the attention of the beautiful actress. He moved his hands as he spoke about their trip to the Big Apple more than ten years ago. "We heard this little, sweet sound. I never would have stopped, but Sophie forced me to."

---