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“Say what?” Isla pretended to not know what Blake was talking about.
“Whatever you’re not saying.”
A playful smile formed on Isla’s lips, which only annoyed Blake more. “You’re very snippy on those hormones.”
Blake wished she had a pillow within arm’s reach to throw at her. She’d been on hormone injections for a couple of weeks in preparation for the egg retrieval procedure she had scheduled for the next week. The increased hormones had made Blake irritable and tired, a combination that didn’t bode well for anyone around her.
“It’s all worth it for a baby though, right?”
“It will be,” Isla agreed. “I can promise you that.”
After having three of their five kids via reciprocal IVF, Isla and Vera were experts at the procedure. Blake was thankful her mom had agreed to join her on her trip to Vancouver so they could talk. Life had a way of getting between them, leaving them little time alone as mother and daughter.
“Are you nervous?”
“I’m nervous about the procedure.” Blake shrugged. “I know I’ll have light sedation but still. They’re sucking eggs out of me with basically a turkey baster.”
“It’s a little more sophisticated than that.”
“And what if my eggs are shit? Then we’ve gone through all this for nothing. It’s been a lot on us. Alexis is frustrated and blaming herself and I hate to see that happen. She’s such a great mom to Harper and we want another baby so bad. I just hope I don't let her down.”
“Oh, sweetie, don’t think that way. You have to stay positive, because this is going to work. Both of you are healthy and all the tests look great. You and Alexis will have a houseful of kids running around if that’s what you want.”
Her mother’s words comforted her scared soul. She nodded and looked out the small window in the trailer. The view—if it could even be called that—was of the white paneling on the trailer next door. Blake sighed and slid the script across the table to Isla.
“Go over my lines with me again to get my mind off babies.”
Thankfully, the distraction worked and Blake felt confident walking into the reading. She greeted them, several of whom she’d worked with on previous projects, before sitting at the round table. The table read went better than Blake had anticipated and it all felt like she was back in her acting mode.
But that was also the problem.
It wasn’t organic anymore. She didn’tfeelthe characters’ emotions like she had on previous shows. Blake felt she was simply going through the motions she knew the producer wanted to see. Although she knew that’s what was expected of her as an actress, she also realized she no longer enjoyed it.
Blake had felt more alive producing the documentary for her sister’s service dog organization than she did reading over a script. Her heart was no longer in front of the camera, but instead seemed to be behind it. She tried to keep her thoughts to herself as she finished the script reading and was pulled to the side by the director.
Shawn Burns was a shorter man with a bushy beard and a backward baseball cap. He shook Blake’s hand as he motioned for her to follow him. As they walked out the room, Shawn wasted no time cutting to the chase.
“The job is yours, if you want it. There’s no doubt about that.”
“Oh, thanks, Shawn. Really.”
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.” He pushed open the door that led out to the parking lot full of trailers. “You’re a top talent in your generation. I’ll never understand why you took a break.”
“I fell in love.” Blake smiled as she thought about how Alexis had captured her heart a few years ago. “And I don’t regret that.”
“I’m not insinuating you do.”
“Okay,” Blake held out the word longer than usual. She followed Shawn into the large catering under an equally large tent. A delicious spread of sandwiches, cookies, and drinks lay before them and Shawn motioned for her to eat. She mindlessly picked up a bag of chips as Shawn added two sandwiches onto his plate. “So, can you go over the filming schedule with me?”
“Of course.” He sat down at a table and Blake followed. “Oh, before you ask, I wanted to say I saw that documentary. It was very well done. Whenever you’re done with acting, you could have a career as a producer.”
She blinked a few times; unsure she’d heard him correctly. While the Mason’s Mission documentary had been popular in and around the Cove, Blake didn’t know its reach had gone beyond that. It had been placed on YouTube after their streaming service deals never came through and the last time Blake had checked, it had well over a million views. But Blake had told herself they were all probably from Vera. She had no idea that one of those views was from Shawn.
And not only that, he liked it.
“Oh, wow. Thank you. I didn’t know it had reached Canada.”
“It was a great piece. The editing was great, the interviews were excellent. Who did the music?”
