Page 31 of Wrapped in You

"Let's do it as soon as the line fades," Sophie said, gesturing toward the cast and crew who remained, eager for their hot lunch.

But the line seemed to grow longer and longer. Just as soon as they'd served everyone, the original people they'd served were back in line again, eager for seconds. There was no time for a conversation about the Christmas Festival, not that afternoon and not that evening.

Sophie knew this was potentially hazardous. The festival was just a couple of weeks away.

But as Randy got ready to head to the grocery store to buy more supplies for the set's dinnertime catering, Sophie heard herself assure him. "We've done the Christmas Festival a few years in a row now. Maybe we can find our old notes from last year, buy the same ingredients for the food stalls, and throw everything together?"

Randy looked at her wearily as he strung his scarf around and around his neck. "You want to just throw the Christmas Festival together?"

Sophie balked. That doesn't sound like something Sophie Masters would do.

But between catering the film and the Christmas Festival and the stress with Derek and Cara and Jeremy, Sophie wasn't sure how she could manage everything at once.

"We won't just throw it together," Sophie assured him with a strange laugh. "We're professionals. It's going to be fine."

But as Randy hurried back to the grocery store for the third time that day, Sophie's stomach twisted with nerves.

Maybe she didn't have everything under control.

Maybe she never had.

Cara met Sophie at the catering headquarters later that evening. Beneath a black sky sparkling with stars, they walked together to The Thirsty Bucket, where Sophie opted for a Diet Coke and Cara went with a hot tea.

"I have to keep my wits about me," Cara said of the tea. "I'm worried about Derek's emotional patterns, and I don't want to react emotionally to something he says or does. And I'm more emotional if I have a glass of wine."

"Aren't we all?" Sophie said with a smile.

Cara crossed her arms over her chest. Around them, the bar was sparse, void of even the sound guys, who'd taken up refuge at The Thirsty Bucket frequently since Sophie had introduced it to them.

"You have a really calming presence, Sophie," Cara said suddenly. "Has anyone ever told you that?"

Sophie raised her shoulders. Jeremy used to tell her that all the time. After he'd broken up with her, he'd tried to call her on the phone a few times; he'd wanted to use her "calmingpresence" even after dumping her. He'd said, ‘I miss you, Soph.’ But she'd known that what he'd really missed was how she'd made him feel—good about himself.

"I don't feel entirely calm up here," Sophie said, pointing at her head.

"Who does?" Cara said with a laugh. She sipped her hot tea. "Today went better than I expected it to. I'm so thrilled that we're back on schedule."

"Derek seemed... nicer?" Sophie said, then winced.

Cara laughed. "He asked me how I was liking life out here. He never asks me how I am. I mean, he used to." She folded her lips. "My mother used to say that grief makes people selfish. I think, in Derek's case, that's entirely true. It's been impossible for him to feel what other people are going through. It's just been him, his dying career, and his broken heart. And yesterday, he tried to drag the entire cast and crew along with him. I'll spend the rest of my life trying to figure out why it was you he listened to."

Sophie's heart pattered.

"I hope you'll be careful," Cara said after a long time.

Sophie raised her eyebrows. "Careful?"

Cara was quiet. At the bar, Alan was jumping from one radio station to the next, trying to find the perfect Christmas song.

"What do you mean? Be careful about what?" Sophie pressed.

"Don't worry about it." Cara waved her off. "I'm sure I'm just imagining things."

A split second later, Cara changed the subject so well and so deftly that Sophie wondered why Cara hadn't become an actress herself.

Chapter Ten

The following morning, Derek approached the catering table. Sophie was at the grill, frying up slabs of bacon that spat grease. Behind her, Randy was tearing up boxes, looking for more napkins. At first, Sophie didn't register that it was Derek there at the table; she assumed he was just another crew member, hungry for breakfast. But when she looked up, she stared directly into those big, dark eyes, and her heart dropped into her stomach.

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