yelled. “That’s a wrap, ladies! You nailed it.”
Bella’s pretty face split into a smile, and she crossed the distance to Steph. “Holy crap! I thought you were going to hit me with it that time.”
Steph laughed. They’d already taken four takes of that scene. One where she didn’t scream loud enough. One where the glass didn’t shatter properly on the wall. One where the director didn’t think Bella looked angry enough. And one where the glass had slipped from her fingers.
“Are you kidding? I would never hit you.” Steph hugged her friend. “Besides, they had me practicing my aim earlier. And I used to play softball in school.”
“You did not.”
Steph laughed. “Okay, I didn’t. But still.”
Together, they walked toward their trailers. Steph knew Bella still had another scene to shoot before she wrapped for the day. But she could head home, just as soon as hair and makeup relieved her of her wig and the layers of caked-on makeup that made her look like the washed-up singer she was playing in the movie Bombshell alongside Bella, who had the lead as an up-and-coming star dethroning Stephanie’s character as the queen of pop.
It had been a lot of fun to shoot the movie, and Steph had enjoyed it the way she always did when she was filming. But this movie was different because she was excited to get back home to Glacier Falls and her new project, Lynx Creek.
Four days left, and she’d be done and back home in the mountains.
Her new home.
She hadn’t lived in Glacier Falls long, but it already felt more like home than any other place she’d ever lived. Especially now that she had the cabins at Lynx Creek. What had once been an old, abandoned fishing village was being transformed into beautiful log cabins tucked along the river, ready for a romantic retreat center.
Steph planned to live in one of them for now, but she was already starting to think about having her dream home built on the property as well. It was something she hoped to talk to Travis Bishop about when she got back to town.
Her entire body heated at the thought of the sexy, frustratingly aloof contractor who’d been working on her cabins. She’d never been so attracted to a man while at the same time being so frustrated and annoyed. It was an interesting combination, and she was still working out the balance.
Steph sat in the makeup chair and let her team go to work while she flipped her cell phone on.
Two missed calls from Nick.
She’d call him back in the morning; it was already late and Amelia would likely be sleeping.
A text from her mom.
Miss you. Hope to see you soon.
She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt at her mother’s text. Steph missed her parents, too. It had been far too long since she’d gone home to the small town up North where she’d grown up, but she’d been even busier than usual lately with both the movie project and the cabins. And when she did have time off, she wanted to be in Glacier Falls with her new friends and her half-sisters she’d only recently reunited with. Never mind her brand-new baby nephew. There were so many draws to Glacier Falls, she’d tried to convince her parents to come visit her, even offered to have her private jet fly up and get them, but so far they’d been reluctant.
She couldn’t help but feel that they were feeling displaced and maybe a bit jealous of the new family she’d found completely by accident and it hurt her heart to think that they might feel that way. She needed to make a stronger effort to show them that’s not how she felt. No one could replace them. She loved them both fiercely, and she did want to share her new life with them, too. Surely they would come to see her new project at Lynx Creek; she just needed to make sure the cabins were ready.
“All done, Ms. Starz.” Her makeup artist unfastened the cape and Steph was free to go, her face clean and fresh, and signature bright-red hair free of the wig she’d worn all day.
“Thank you, Missy.” She hopped out of the chair. “Nothing feels as good as getting all that stuff off.” She grinned. “See you tomorrow.”
Her assistant was waiting outside her trailer to fill her in on the details for the next day. When Terri was finished running through the schedule, she added, “Oh. I