Page 122 of Deck the Hauls

“Are you talking about your meeting with Charles next week?” Dana asked, handing me the glass.

“Well, more about the Austin reel. I was saying I’d ask Charles if he knows who was behind it when I see him.”

“I think it was almost certainly Charles,” Dana said, chuckling. “Now that he’s setting up his own production company, he probably felt like he could burn some bridges with HolLove.”

Jenny raised her eyebrows. “Oh cool! Are you meeting with him to discuss a potential role?”

I grinned. “Yes! He mentioned two roles—one is a queer holiday movie, and the other is a psychological thriller that he wants to have both me and Mihira involved in.”

I’d been worried about being typecast into playing queer characters, but both roles excited me. Queer people deserved light-and-cozy holiday movies as well. We all deserved happily ever afters. And working with Mihira on a psychological thriller would be so much fun and, for Mihira, a significant improvement over her friend’s disastrous indie movie.

“And the best part is that Charles loved Sapphire Springs so much that he’s planning to shoot the holiday movie here,” Dana chimed in, wrapping her arm around my waist.

“Amazing!” Jenny clapped her hands. “Maybe we can be extras again.”

“I think once was enough for me,” Blake said, in a tone that conveyed she couldn’t think of anything worse. “But you should definitely do it.”

“Hey guys! Did you hear that? Charles may be filming another holiday movie here next year, and it’ll be a queer one with Emily as the lead!” Jenny yelled at George, Hannah, Roz, and Olivia, who were standing a few feet away.

“That’s awesome, Emily!” Olivia exclaimed.

“It’s not confirmed yet,” I said. Perhaps it had been a bad idea sharing with Jenny at this stage, but her excitement was infectious, and I couldn’t help smiling.

“Might be another opportunity for some more publicity.” Jenny looked at George and Roz. “And Hannah, Charles is starting his own production company. You should talk to him about your idea for a queer fantasy TV series.”

Hannah’s eyes lit up. “Oh, that’s a good idea! I’d love to get that idea off the ground. If it happened, I could insist he hire Emily as the lead!”

I grinned at Hannah. Well, look at that. There were multiple roles in the works. Screw my worries about typecasting; they all sounded amazing.

I sipped my sparkling wine. “I do need to find a new agent, though. While I think Brittany had my interests at heart, I’m not sure we’re really compatible.”

“If you want, I can give my old agent a call?” Jenny asked. “She represents a few influencers but mainly represents actors, including Chris Trent, and she’s excellent.”

I beamed. “That would be amazing, thank you.”

The conversation moved on to other topics, ranging from our discovery of the porcupine—everyone was thankfully in vehement agreement that we weren’t going to dispatch him or her—to Hannah’s next book-launch party and the impending opening of the farm’s event space in April.

Later in the night, Dana wrapped her arm around me. “How are you doing?”

I looked around the room at my new friends, the Times Square broadcast on the screen behind them.

“Really well. A week ago, I would never have thought that I’d be celebrating the new year in a room full of queer women with my stunning girlfriend and a number of potential new acting gigs on the cards,” I said, smiling at Dana.

Dana pulled me in close, both hands on my hips. “Stunning, eh?”

I studied Dana’s deep-brown eyes, the faint freckles on her nose, her soft, slightly crooked mouth, and a rush of warmth and desire swept over me. Maybe it was too early to say the words, but I felt them so strongly in my bones I had to let them out.

“I lo⁠—”

“The countdown has started!” Olivia yelled. “One minute to midnight!”

The unsaid words were heavy on my tongue, but now everyone was gathering around the TV, watching the numbers count down.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!” Everyone broke into a cheer.

Dana pulled me to her. “Happy New Year!”

I leaned up and kissed her as “Auld Lang Syne” played over the TV.