Page 57 of Wrapped in You

Randy cackled and arched his brow. "I'm sure half the crew ofSilver Bellsis madly in love with you."

"They are not," Sophie shot back.

"Seriously!" Randy said. His eyes glinted with urgency, as though he, just like her parents and sister, really wanted her to settle down and figure her life out. "What if Mike asked you out? Wouldn't you go?"

"I love the sound guys," Sophie said. "But I don't like-them, like-them. Ugh. I sound like I'm in middle school all over again! I'm sure I even said 'like-him, like-him' about Jeremy!"

Randy laughed gently and tilted his head. "I don't think that guy was ever good enough for you, you know."

Sophie hesitated. She considered saying,You never really got to know him. Not like I did.But what good would that do? She was grateful for Randy's friendship and his care and his insight. He was becoming the brother she'd never had.

And a part of her was grateful Jeremy was gone, too.

It had taken her years to feel this way.

She hoped it lasted.

It was no surprise to anyone that Brent was back and ready to film the following morning. Maybe for show—or maybe not—he had a pair of crutches that he whipped around on, and he talked at length about how "devastating" it had been at the hospital.

"But Natalie was there, holding my hand the entire way," he said, releasing one of his crutches so that he could tuck a curl behind Natalie's ear.

"Places, everyone!" Derek called from behind the cameras.

Natalie wasn't needed in this scene and decided to hang back by the catering table while Derek and Brent talked about the character's motivations and how Brent would move through the scene.

Brent abandoned his crutches easily. Nobody mentioned this. It seemed like they'd all agreed to "humor" him.

Brent began to say his lines to the other actor on set—the man who played his best friend. Natalie grinned madly,watching him through the cameras with a cup of coffee in her hand and whispering to Sophie.

"He's really so talented, don't you think? He was on Broadway last year, he told me. I think that's where real actors work. We've talked about going to New York City after we finish filming. I don't have a gig lined up in LA yet, and I've always wanted to live in Brooklyn."

Sophie smiled as she filled another filter with coffee grounds. She hoped Brent wasn't "faking" his romance with Natalie like he was faking his injury.

Suddenly, Natalie whirled around and looked Sophie in the eye. "I heard that traffic control guy got fired. He was supposed to put salt down on the ice." She sipped her coffee. "Wasn't he, like, your ex or something?"

Sophie's stomach twisted. Although she'd hated having Jeremy around on set, she hated that he'd gotten fired. Unless he'd made that mistake on purpose. But was Jeremy really the kind of guy to hurt someone on purpose? Sophie didn't think so. She'd spent twelve years in a relationship with him, for crying out loud.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a car whipped down the street, headed straight for the film set. It was going faster than anyone ever should in this area of town, whipping snow out behind it. The man driving slammed on his brakes when he saw the film set, but the cobblestones were slippery, and his car smashed into some film equipment before it groaned to a halt.

They'd fired Jeremy but hadn't bothered to hire anyone to take his place.

The film crew let out a howl of alarm. Brent ran away from the set, hurrying toward Natalie. He'd forgotten his crutches, but it didn't matter. The sound of the crunched equipment echoed through the air.

"Cut!" Derek cried out angrily, maybe because he couldn't think of anything else to say. "What is this? An action movie?"

The man who got out of the driver's side was an older ex-colleague of Sophie's father, Josiah. She'd known him since she was a little girl. Rumor had it he was senile and hardly left his cabin. Now, he clambered out of the truck and scratched his head. "What have you got going on here?" he asked.

Before Derek or anyone else stormed up to Josiah and tore him in half, Sophie abandoned her catering table to take care of him. She cut Derek off and hurried up to Josiah.

"If it isn't Little Sophie Masters!" he cried happily, showing all the gaps in his teeth.

"Hi, Josiah!" She hugged him from the side, turning around to look at Derek. He was glowering and talking to the assistant director.

"I haven't seen you or your father around in ages," Josiah said. "Tell me, Soph. What is going on down here? Is this some kind of parade?"

"It's a film, Josiah," Sophie said. She hated that she had to push him away so quickly. She made a promise to herself to go out to his cabin to visit him. She could bring the rest of the butterscotch cookies. "You're on camera! But we need you to drive your truck away so we can get the shot. Can you do that?"

Josiah waved at the camera. Sophie wondered if he was really safe to drive.

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