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She extended her arms in front of her, open wide, as if she wanted to embrace him, or maybe the whole world. “Yes! Absolutely! You get it.”
“So, what happened with the show?”
She grimaced. “Right. I forgot I was in the middle of that story. Well, I guess you could say it didn’t go to plan.”
“How?”
“I was too nice.” She shook her head regretfully. “Or, I guess I should say soft. At least, that was the word the majority of my colleagues used when they threw it in my face.”
“What’s wrong with being nice?”
“It’s not a nice business. It’s not something you can pursue if you expect people to coddle you, or if that’s something that you need. It’s cutthroat. It’s a sink or swim type of situation where the cream is expected to rise, and everyone else is expected to drown. The people who’ve risen to the top like it that way. I get it. It’s tradition. That’s how it’s always been done. I’d go so far as to say I even agree with it.
“But when it came down to it, when I was sitting in that judge’s chair looking into the eyes of these kids who were so desperate to continue chasing their dreams, I didn’t have it in me to crush them.” She shrugged. “So I didn’t. I was, in a word, a big old softy.”
“Well, that’s actually three words. But I think it’s admirable.”
One side of her mouth went into a bitter rueful half-smile. “Thanks. You’re the only one.”
“Is that what brought you to Valentine Bay?”
She nodded. “I needed a break from the theater scene in New York. They certainly needed a break from me. So I’ve come out here to clear my head and figure out what’s next.”
He smiled broadly and reached across the table to take her hand. “Well then, thank God for Broadway Baby.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “How so?”
“Because it brought you here.”
