Chapter 51
Chapter Fifty-One
L auren skipped breakfast at the inn and headed to the share house early the next morning. Most of the cast were leaving early to catch flights home, and they wanted to be there to film everyone leaving.
It was about seven thirty when she walked into the house. She helped herself to coffee and a bagel with cream cheese and settled at the table with her laptop. Eloise rushed in a moment later, followed by Hudson, Mike, and Tom with their cameras.
Most of the cast was up and getting ready to go. Simon and Smith seemed to sense that something was up. They were both sniffing the suitcases that waited by the door. Simon jumped up onto the island, tail twitching, and Honey rushed over and scooped him up and apologized.
“He saw me get his cat carrier out earlier, so he knows what’s going on.”
Everyone seemed half-awake as they made their way into the kitchen and helped themselves to breakfast and coffee. Lauren noticed that Suzanne and Noah still seemed to be going strong. She overheard them making plans to see each other the following weekend. And Anna had told her that she and Jason were planning to get together soon, too.
Sami was quiet as she gathered her things together. She took her coffee and bagel outside and Billy followed her. Hudson was already out there and Eloise and Lauren followed and stood by the railing so they could overhear the conversation.
“Are you doing okay?” Billy asked her.
Sami nodded. “I’m fine. I just feel bad. We shouldn’t have hooked up. It was stupid.”
Billy shrugged. “It probably wasn’t a good idea. But it seemed like it at the time. What are you going to do?” It sounded like he’d already moved on.
Sami shook her head. “I’m going to try to make better choices. You might want to do the same. Goodbye, Billy.”
“Are you leaving already?”
“I just wanted one last look at the ocean before I head out. My flight’s in an hour.” She took the last bite of her bagel and headed back inside.
Billy looked up and saw Lauren and realized she’d overheard the conversation. He smiled his charming grin and stepped towards her, but Lauren didn’t feel like talking to him.
“I need to get back in,” she announced.
They all headed inside and left Billy on the deck.
Over the next hour, everyone finished packing up and left for the airport. When the last of the cast members was gone, they wrapped for the day and Lauren said her goodbyes to Eloise and the rest of the production team.
“We’re still on for Millie’s tomorrow?” Hudson asked as they all walked out together.
“Yes, looking forward to it.”
He grinned. “Great, I’ll swing by and pick you up at six.”
“So, I have some good news to share.” Kate looked around the room and waited until she had everyone’s attention. They were gathered at Angela’s house on Sunday night for an impromptu appetizer party to say goodbye to Lauren. It was a small group, with Kate and Kristen, as well as Victoria, Lauren, and Angela.
“We signed the contract today for a new film deal with Cami Carmichael’s production company. She’s going to star and it will be filmed here on Nantucket! How amazing is that?”
“That’s so awesome,” Angela said. Everyone else offered their congratulations.
“Is it okay for me to announce it in the paper?” Victoria asked. As a reporter at the main newspaper on Nantucket, she loved covering any entertainment-related stories.
Kate happily agreed. “Of course. I’ll shoot you an email with more details and I’d love to see it in the paper. My mother will probably cut it out and frame it.”
Kristen laughed. “She will! Or maybe I’ll do it for both of you.”
They had a fun night, with too much delicious food, as usual. Lauren really liked Angela’s friends. It felt like she’d known them longer than just a few months. She was so happy for Angela, too. She remembered how hard her life had been in San Francisco, and how alone she was, before she inherited her grandmother’s cottage on Nantucket and met Philippe and the Hodges family.
“How are you feeling, Angela?” Lauren asked. Angela looked fantastic—her skin was glowing and her hair was shiny.
Angela grinned and reached for a homemade chocolate chip cookie. “I’m feeling great. The morning sickness is pretty much gone now and my hair has never been this healthy. I think it might be the prenatal vitamins or pregnancy hormones, I’m not sure.”
“Have you had any cravings yet?” Kate asked.
Angela laughed. “Yes. Ice cream still. I have to have it every night. But I’ve switched to making it with frozen bananas most of the time. It’s healthier and still pretty good. I’ve also been craving Kalamata olives, in just about everything. Maybe it’s the salt?”
Kate laughed. “I craved salty things too. I was big on pickles and chocolate sundaes. Sometimes one right after the other.”
Lauren was so glad that Angela was feeling better. Something soft brushed against her leg and she saw that it was Sam, Angela’s elderly orange cat. She’d had Sam for as long as Lauren could remember. She reached down and petted him and he began to purr loudly, then hopped into her lap and settled down.
Lauren didn’t mind. She missed having a cat. She’d thought about getting one over the past few years, but her schedule was unpredictable—sometimes she’d work twelve-hour days or longer if they were on a shoot and it ran late. And she often traveled and was on location for months at a time. So the timing wasn’t right, yet. But she hoped it would be at some point. For now, she enjoyed having Sam on her lap.
“I wish you were staying longer. It’s been so nice having you here this summer,” Angela said.
“I know. I hate to leave. I’m really not looking forward to going back to LA,” Lauren admitted.
“Do you think there’s a good chance you might be back to film again next summer?” Kristen asked.
Lauren nodded. “It’s possible. It really depends how the show is received. We won’t know that until after it airs, probably about six months or so from now.”
“I’d love to interview some of the cast, and maybe do a feature article when the show releases, if you think that’s possible?” Victoria asked.
Lauren thought that was a great idea. “Sure. I’ll email you and maybe you can do a few Zoom calls with a few of the cast members.”
“What’s next when you go home?” Kate asked.
Lauren explained about the post-production editing that would happen over the next few months. “I’m not sure after that. I’d love to find a new project and I’m hoping that we get picked up so I get to come back here for season two.”
“How did it turn out? Did any romance or interesting drama happen?” Angela asked.
Lauren nodded. “Yes, more romance than we expected and a bit of drama, especially near the end. I hope viewers will like it. We still have a lot of work to do to turn all the film into a season’s worth of story.”
“I can’t wait to watch it,” Kristen said. “I love those reality shows. It’s fun to be a fly on the wall in other people’s drama—and it helps me to appreciate my relatively boring but happily normal life.”
Lauren grinned. “That’s how it is for me too, and what attracted me to working in production on my first reality show. It’s a lot of fun.”
“It sounds fun. Do you ever think you might want to work on other kinds of things too, like scripted movies or TV shows?” Kate asked.
“I’d love to at some point. My agent knows I’m open to anything and is keeping an eye out for my next project once we finish this. There’s a few things that she is waiting to hear back on.”
They chatted for a few more hours until Angela started to yawn and Lauren realized it was almost nine. Kate and Kristen both stood at the same time.
“I should probably head home. It’s getting late,” Kate said. Everyone walked out at the same time, and Lauren was the last to say goodbye. She gave Angela a big hug.
“I didn’t want to ask in front of the others, but how did you leave things with Hudson? Did anything develop there?”
Lauren filled her in. “I’m seeing him tomorrow night. It’s our first official date. I’m not sure what will happen after that, though.”
“Just take it one day at a time. And call me immediately with a full report.”
Lauren laughed. “I will. I’ll talk to you soon. Feel free to call me anytime, too.”
“I will. And I’m keeping my fingers crossed that your show is a hit and you’ll be back next summer. I’ll have the baby by then, which is hard to imagine.” She looked happy and excited. Lauren was thrilled for her, too.
“I can’t wait to meet her or him.”
“Safe travels, Lauren. Love you!”
“Love you too.” Angela gave her another hug and then she was on her way.