Page 16 of Deck the Hauls

The pasta turned out to be delicious. Not handmade like the pasta my parents served at Rossi’s, but it was al dente and the sauce was rich and flavorful.

The quiet meal was a stark contrast to the meals on set, which were chaotic and loud and where I felt pressured to be constantly ‘on’ and fill silences with chatter.

“Have you worked here long?” I asked once the clawing hunger in my stomach had dissipated.

“Just under three years.” Dana stabbed a piece of pasta and eggplant with her fork. “When I started the farm was owned by an older couple but they retired and sold the farm to Roz. She started dating my friend Olivia, who owns a flower shop in town, and now they run the farm together.”

So Roz had a girlfriend. Was Dana interested in women too? Not that it mattered if she was. I wasn’t looking to date right now—I needed to focus on work—and even if I was, it wouldn’t be with a woman. I’d decided long ago that wasn’t an option for me no matter how attractive I found someone.

Something else clicked.

“The local florist? What a coincidence! My Airbnb is above Sapphire Blooms. The actor I replaced insisted on having her own accommodation, so I’m staying there instead of the bed and breakfast with the rest of the cast. I haven’t met Olivia yet because I’ve left every day before it’s opened and come back after it’s closed, but it’s a gorgeous shop.”

Dana grinned. “Olivia lived there until she moved in with Roz. I hope you like flowers.”

I laughed. “The apartment is very floral-forward.” That was an understatement. The apartment was covered in flowers, from floral wallpaper and framed prints of flowers to flower cushions and duvet covers.

I ate my last mouthful of pasta then put my knife and fork together on my plate. “That was delicious, thank you.”

Dana stacked my plate on hers.

I pushed my chair back. “I can clean up.”

“No, don’t worry about it. There’s hardly anything. I’m sure you’ve got an early start tomorrow so why don’t we get onto practicing the lines. Should we head to the living room?”

“Sure.” I grabbed my water glass and followed Dana back into the living room.

I sat in the armchair to reduce the risk of being distracted by the proximity of Dana’s biceps and retrieved the script from my handbag. I handed one set to Dana.

She flicked through the pages. “I should warn you. My acting career peaked in third grade when I played one of the three wise men in the Christmas Nativity play at school.”

I wriggled back into the armchair, which was slightly worn but surprisingly comfortable. “That’s okay. My sister often runs lines with me and she also has zero acting experience. Not even the three wisemen are on her resume.”

“So how do we do this?” Dana scanned the first page, chewing her lip. Was she nervous? That’s kind of cute.

“I’ll read Molly’s lines and if you can do everyone else’s lines, that would be terrific. Don’t worry too much about trying to make them sound realistic. It’s more about preparation, not performance. Let’s just start with the waitress—I memorized the beginning last night.”

“Okay.” Dana took a deep breath. “Grumpy Waitress: What do you want?”

A giggle rose in my chest. Should I tell her she’s not meant to read the character name?

“Austin: Can we get two hot chocolates and two gingerbread cookies?” Dana’s monotone had worked well enough for the grumpy waitress but was less believable for Austin.

Dana frowned. “So the guy just orders for you without checking what you want first? What a dick. And I thought your costar’s name was Austin. His character is named Austin too?”

“Yeah, some of the dialogue is not the best. And on Austin’s name, he insists all the characters he plays are named Austin.” I laughed as Dana’s eyes widened. “I know. It’s weird. Don’t ask me why.”

Dana paused, head tilted as she peered across at me. “Hey, what do you think of Austin?”

“He seems fine. Why?”

“He just… I don’t know...” Dana trailed off. “Never mind, we can keep going.”

“Okay.” I smoothed out my pages and grinned. “And by the way, you don’t need to read out the characters’ names before their dialogue.”

Dana chuckled. “Oops. I should probably also keep my thoughts about the script to myself.”

“That’s okay. I like hearing your thoughts.” My face heated as soon as the words were out of my mouth.