AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Thankfully, the door was pulled open at that moment, and a smiling Sarah was waving her in. Valerie rushed forward, not wanting to spend any longer in the cold than she needed to. She might have fallen a bit in love with the town, but she hadn’t gotten entirely used to the weather just yet.
“Valerie’s here, everyone!” Sarah yelled as soon as the door was shut behind them.
A chorus rose up from deeper in the house of, “Hey, Valerie,” “Hi, Valerie,” and “We’re back here.” She turned her attention to Sarah.
“Who all came tonight?” she asked, a bit nervous that this was going to end up being a much bigger to-do than had been indicated during the invitation.
“Well, come and see,” Sarah said with a grin before turning and walking ahead of Valerie through the cozily decorated but a bit cramped hallway, her blonde ponytail swishing merrily behind her.
Valerie just nodded, even though the other woman couldn’t see her and followed after with a gulp. The noise of everyone talking got louder as she followed Sarah, and the next thing she knew they were stepping through a doorway into a cozily decorated kitchen.
She exhaled an immediate sigh of relief when she saw only three other women at the table, much fewer than the noise had made it seem like. She recognized most of the women—obviously there was Sarah, Mindy from Baking Fiend, Shelley from the arcade, and then another woman whom Valerie didn’t know.
That woman had honey brown hair with hints of red in it, and green eyes that were so vivid and expressive it was a bit startling. She was also grinning like mad at Valerie.
“Hi,” the woman Valerie didn’t know said as she pushed herself up from her chair and extended her hand. “I’m Lacy. I believe you met my husband, Derek.”
“Ah!” Valerie made a noise of recognition, recalling her run-in at the hardware store with the man in question and how he’d mentioned that his wife was a fan. “Yes! He told me about you, and Clark mentioned you a few times as well. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
Both Valerie and Sarah sat down at the table at the two remaining seats, and Valerie leaned forward to sniff at the dishes in the center of it. A heaping bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, a giant Italian salad, and a pile of breadsticks decorated it, and the smell of it all made Valerie’s mouth water.
Now that they were all there, they began piling their plates high with food, the women chatting amongst themselves, and Valerie was pleased to find how easy it all was. They didn’t treat her like she was different, which, unfortunately happened to her all too much.
“You know,” Lacy said around a giant bite of meatball, looking at all the other women around her with wide eyed excitement. “This is the first bit of time I’ve had away from Piper since she’s been born.”
“Mommy’s gone wild,” Sarah said with a waggle of her brows, lifting the glass to her lips with a grin and making the other women laugh.
“I don’t know about all of that.” Lacy chuckled before turning her eyes back to Valerie. “So you said Clark told you about me. Have you two been spending a lot of time together?”
Valerie blushed, looking down at her plate and taking a few bites before answering.
“A bit,” she admitted sheepishly, and all the other women at the table shared a long look.
“They definitely came into the rink the other day together.” Shelley was grinning from ear to ear.
Every eye turned toward Valerie and, somehow, her blush got even worse.
“I like him,” she admitted, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to hide the truth. “More than I planned to, honestly. But it’s all so complicated.”
“How so?” Lacy asked, cocking her head to the side in question.
Valerie didn’t even stop to contemplate it as she spilled it all out. She told the women about her time with Clark, and about the role her agent found for her. She talked to them openly and honestly about her worries about going back to Hollywood, about how no matter what she did she felt like she’d just be living on borrowed time. And how in such a short amount of time, Snowy Pine Ridge had already made such an impact on her that it had her doubting everything she’d ever known.
Silence filled the small kitchen when she finished, until Sarah reached across the table and placed her hand on Valerie’s, giving it a soft squeeze.
“You already feel like a part of our community,” Sarah said softly, a kind smile lighting her face. “And we might be biased, but Clark is a good man. We support whatever you want to do.”
“But we would be lying if we didn’t tell you we wanted you to stay,” Mindy chimed in, her corkscrew curls bobbing as she gave an emphatic nod.
“Which brings us to another thing,” Shelley added, almost sheepishly.
Valerie noticed Sarah giving the other woman a quick look, but Shelley didn’t tear her eyes away from Valerie.
“I know you’ve heard about the showcase coming up,” Shelley continued on, her voice soft and coaxing. “We were thinking that it might drum up a little more interest if we theme some things after one of your movies. Specifically, the ice-skating showcase, and tying it to the movieLove in Bloom. It fits in really well with the decorations and choreography we already have.”
“And you won’t have to do much at all,” Sarah said quickly, giving her a reassuring smile. “Your involvement can be kept minimal. And you can say no at any time.”
“Okay,” Valerie said with a nod, surprised and honored that they had even thought of her. “I’m in.”
