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CHAPTERFOURTEEN
The sound of footsteps coming up onto the porch had Valerie’s heart pounding in her chest, and she bounced excitedly on the tips of her toes as she turned toward Clark.
“Do you think they’ll like it?” she asked, eyes wide with anticipation and he smiled at her.
“They’re going to love it,” he said, reaching forward to give her hand a reassuring squeeze and dropping it just as the front door was pulled open.
She, Clark, and some of the other volunteers had been at the house since early that morning, working diligently to make progress on the Hiltons’ future home. And about two hours ago, Clark had received a phone call that Margaret and Stephanie were going to be swinging by just to see how things were coming along. It had warmed Valerie’s heart and spurned her on to finish applying the paint to the little girl’s bedroom. She had done some digging and asked around and found out that the little girl's favorite color was lilac. So Valerie had picked out the most beautiful, soft lilac that she could find to paint Stephanie’s room. And now she was so nervous to find out if the child would like it or not.
The moment the two members of the Hilton family stepped through the door, their mouths dropped open in shock. Even when Valerie and Clark hadn’t been at the house, other volunteers had been and the progress that had been made over the last few days had been astounding.
Almost all the drywall was done, as well as the kitchen, the windows, and the bathrooms. All that was left to do was the finishing touches like painting, the floors, and the hardware.
“This is beautiful,” Margaret breathed as she stepped through the space.
“And this is really gonna be where we live, Momma?” Stephanie asked, a grin tugging across her face.
“It really is,” Valerie assured the little girl and was immediately rewarded by a beaming smile.
“Stephanie,” Clark chimed in, grabbing the girl’s attention. “Valerie actually has something to show you.”
The little girl threw a questioning look to Valerie, who just nodded.
“If that’s all right with your mom,” she said, looking at Margaret.
“Of course, I need to talk to Matthew anyway.”
Margaret waved her daughter on before walking toward the back of the house, where Valerie knew that Matthew was working. Turning her attention to Stephanie, Valerie nodded her head toward the stairs. “This way.”
Both Stephanie and Clark followed her as she led the way toward the room that she had just finished painting. The moment that it came into view, Stephanie squealed in excitement and ran forward.
“This is your room,” Valerie explained, beaming as she watched the little girl’s clear joy.
Stephanie began spinning around in circles, and as Valerie watched her, she felt tears prickling the corners of her eyes. Not wanting to cry in front of the young girl, she excused herself really quickly and darted down the hall toward the primary bedroom.
She didn’t close the door behind her, and she heard someone walk in just as she began to dab at her eyes to prevent the tears from falling.
“Everything all right?” Clark asked, and Valerie could hear the concern lacing his tone.
She nodded before turning around to face him. “It’s all happy tears,” she explained. “It’s just overwhelming. And it’s putting things into perspective.”
“That’s good though, right?”
He took a step toward her, reaching out his arms, and she gladly threw herself into them.
They stood there like that, locked in an embrace for a long moment as Valerie basked in the comfort of his arms.
“It’s just making me realize that I’ve been so focused and wrapped up in my movie career that I forgot to pay attention to everything else,” she admitted, finding it much easier to open up now that her face was pressed snugly against Clark’s broad, warm chest. “And I love acting, I do. But the constant focus on my age, and the dog-eat-dog world of it all, it just has me feeling a bit disenchanted by it all. And then, being here, in this town and with all of you, it’s making me realize what it’s like to be fulfilled by other things too.”
She felt his chest move as he took a big, deep breath before expelling it, and she wrapped her arms around him even tighter.
“I know it’s selfish of me to say this,” Clark began. “But I’m really going to miss you when you leave.”
“I know,” she said with a nod. “But even when I go home, it doesn’t mean we have to lose touch. Because the truth is, I don’t want to give this up. Not when everything about you and this place helps me feel so grounded.”
She moved back a bit, giving them just enough distance that she could look up at his face without stepping out of the comfort of his arms. Clark was looking down at her, a broad smile curving his lips.
“I’m fine with keeping in touch if you are,” he said with a wink, making her chuckle.
