Page 41 of Wrapped in You

Why had she called again? Oh, yeah.

"I was wondering if you wanted to grab dinner tonight," Sophie said, speaking too quickly. "There's an adorable pizza place a few miles outside of town."

"Pizza? I can't remember the last time I had pizza!" Cara's laugh was joyous.

"You can invite Derek too," Sophie chirped. "I mean, I want to invite a few people from work. I know how far away from home you are. I don't want people to be, you know, in their cabins or hotel rooms, all alone, just waiting around for Monday."

"That's really sweet," Cara said. "Maybe I'll pass it along to the assistant directors as well?"

"That sounds great," Sophie said. Her stomach stirred with anguish. She didn't want to go to dinner with Cara and the assistant directors. She wanted to be alone in a beautiful snowy forest with Derek Brownlee. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and tell him it would be okay.

"Cool! Should we say eight o'clock for dinner?" Cara suggested.

"I'll make a reservation," Sophie assured her. "Five people? Six?"

"Three assistant directors, Derek, you, and me," Cara confirmed.

Sophie agreed and got off the phone. She pressed the heel of her hand on her forehead and let out a big sigh.

Just go to dinner, she told herself. Act normal. You'll be fine.

Maybe it was fate that brought Jeremy to the pizza restaurant that night.

Sophie arrived five minutes before eight and sat alone at the table set for six, waiting for the others to arrive. She spotted Jeremy in the corner, tapping his napkin over his lips with one hand and waving at her with his other.

He was there with his older brother, Mark. Because she'd grown up with him and gone on vacations with him and considered him a part of her family, Sophie had missed Mark over the years. When they'd run into one another since the breakup, they'd always made light small talk, and then Mark had always ruined it by saying: It's really a shame, what happened between you two. I'm pulling for him to change his mind.

Sophie smiled as her heart pounded. Jeremy started to get up from his table to come say hello, just as Derek and Cara enteredthe restaurant. Jeremy took one look at Derek and shriveled up, returning to his table in the corner. He then bent his head and spoke to his brother quickly. Was he explaining who Derek was?

Sophie got up, trying to fix her face from worries. She hugged Cara and waved at Derek from across the table.

"This place is quaint!" Cara cried, smiling as she looked around the cozy interior with its multiple Christmas trees, its family portraits, its tinsel, its mistletoe. The place smelled of baked dough and oregano and melted cheese. "My mouth is already watering. Tell me what's good here, Sophie. Better yet, just order for me? I'm worried that I'll freak out and just tell them I want a salad. I don't want a salad!"

Sophie laughed. She could feel Derek's eyes upon her. Tears sprung to her eyes.

Derek and Cara opened the menus and laughed at the prices.

"It's so cheap," Cara breathed. "I don't know if we should ever leave, Derek."

Derek eyed Sophie over his menu. "Have you had the potato, sausage, mushroom, onion?"

"I've had everything on the menu," Sophie admitted. "I've been coming here since I was a little kid. My parents have a framed photo of me in a highchair here with pizza sauce all over my face."

Cara scrunched up her face. "That's adorable! Maybe we should ask if we can film a scene in here for the movie, Derek. It fits the small-town feel so well."

"It reminds me of a pizza place I grew up with too," Derek offered.

Cara tilted her head. "Uh-oh. Derek never talks about growing up in Indiana. Ever."

"Indiana!" Sophie smiled. "What's it like there?"

"The people are just about as nice as they are here," Derek said. "Everybody knows your name wherever you go. And nobody ever thinks about leaving."

Cara's eyes widened. "I thought you were from Missouri."

"Nope," Derek said.

Cara turned to look at Sophie. "He talks about it so little that I didn't even know! And I've been his assistant for years!" She laughed and returned her attention to Derek. "What else are you keeping a secret from me?"

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