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“I could travel,” she explained. “I could go back and forth. I could fly to wherever the set is whenever I’m working, and then my home base would be here. I could slow down a bit, take roles that I actually loved. Not just because I think they’re going to be a hit, but because I’m passionate about the character and the script.”
She was getting more and more excited as she spoke, everything seeming to add up and fall into place.
“I could have the best of both worlds!” Valerie exclaimed, suddenly excited at the life she began envisioning. “I could have my career filled with passion and without all the judgment. And I could have…”
Her eyes flicked back to Clark and noting the hesitant look on his face her words died off. She thought he would have been excited at the news, but at the moment he just looked concerned.
“Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.
Valerie nodded, not needing a moment to think about it, and the worry began to fade from Clark’s handsome face. The lines on his forehead eased, relaxing into something else entirely. Joy took over his features as his eyes sparkled and his smile grew wide.
“You know what that means, don’t you?” he asked, and Valerie’s heart pounded as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“That I get to keep you too,” she murmured, standing up on her tiptoes to brush her lips against his.
“Exactly,” he said, and Valerie felt his smile spread even wider before she lost herself in his kiss entirely.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Two days later, Mindy bustled around Baking Fiend serving customer after customer. It was officially her day of the showcase, and they’d been nonstop all day. She threw a glance over her shoulder toward the employee that was helping her, making sure that she wasn’t too swamped at the register as Mindy raced to fulfill the orders.
The night before, Mindy had been worried that she’d made more trifles than she could sell, but now she was terrified that she hadn’t made enough. Everyone was buying them, and she could barely keep up with making more in between filling the orders for the customers in the store.
The bell over the door jingled, announcing the arrival of another set of customers, and Mindy glanced up. Her friends were all striding through the door, chatting eagerly as they did so.
“Allison,” she said, speaking to the young girl currently waiting behind the counter. “I can take this one from here.”
Allison nodded and then walked out to bus some of the tables that had recently been vacated as Shelley, Matthew, Lacy, Derek, Valerie, Clark, Sarah, William, Colette, and Zach all approached the counter.
Valerie was the first in line at the counter, and Mindy immediately broke into a large smile.
“Rumor has it you’re going to be staying with us for a while,” she surmised, and Valerie gave her an answering grin.
“For as long as you all will have me,” she said, prompting Clark to lean in close.
“Which means she’ll be here for a very, very long time.” He planted a loud kiss on Valerie’s cheek, making her groan as Mindy and the others all laughed.
“What is your special for the showcase?” Valerie asked, but then her eyes widened as they darted toward the chalkboard that had the special listed. “A gingerbread trifle? I’ll definitely take one of those.”
Echoes from the rest of Mindy’s friends wanting to try the showcase menu item sounded, and Mindy rang them all up. She made quick work of grabbing everything for them and then passed the large champagne flutes that contained the desserts over to them.
She waited with bated breath as her friends dipped their spoons into the dessert. People had been raving about the trifle all day, but their opinions were what mattered most. Particularly Sarah, who Mindy quite admired, and a trill of satisfaction rolled through her as Sarah rolled her eyes back in her head, groaning at the taste.
“This is phenomenal,” Sarah gushed, dipping her spoon back into the dessert as everyone else murmured their assent.
“Oh, good.” Mindy breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad.”
They made idle chitchat for a bit, but when another rush of customers came in, Mindy’s friends filed out and it was back to running about the space. Hours ticked by, and she was so busy that she hadn’t even noticed the familiar form standing at the counter, watching her as Allison did a few things in the back.
Eventually, the man at the counter cleared his throat to grab Mindy’s attention, and she whirled to face him. Landon stood just a few feet away. He smiled at Mindy softly as she approached, wiping her hands on her apron before stopping before the register.
“Hey, Landon,” she said as she came to a stop before him, giving him a friendly smile. “Thank you for coming in. What can I get for you?”
“I’ll take a black coffee and one of the trifles,” he answered before fishing in his pocket for his wallet after Mindy gave him a total.
He didn’t say anything else as she poured his coffee, grabbed a trifle, and handed it over to him. She waited patiently for him to leave the counter, but he just stood there, eyes roving over her as the corner of his mouth ticked up in a smile.
“Min,” he began, his voice taking on a low, intentional tone and Mindy had to fight off a groan. “You look incredible. I was thinking that maybe we could grab dinner or something sometime soon?”
