Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Delilah looked around Seaside Sweets Bakery with interest. The little bakery was charming and smelled deliciously of pastries, and she enjoyed being surrounded by chatting, happy people.
Most of the customers in the shop were staring in awe at Delilah and the rest of the film crew, but some of them were going about their lives as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
Delilah liked that, and she knew that these people would make good extras in the background of the film, since they were acting so naturally.
The crew was preparing a shot in which Delilah would sit by the front window at a table as she read a handwritten letter from the man who was breaking up with her. After perusing the letter for a while, Delilah would stare out the window, as if wondering what had become of her life.
Since she knew it was going to be several minutes until they were ready for her, Delilah had used her time to purchase a delicious raspberry latte.
“I hope you like it,” the barista said, handing it to Delilah with a bright smile. “Raspberry is one of my favorite flavors too.”
“It’s not something I see on a menu all that often,” Delilah said, smiling back. “It seems innovative.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re probably right.” The barista looked pleased. “What do you think of Rosewood Beach so far? Do you like it?”
“It’s darling,” Delilah answered honestly.
“Wow. Would you—if I grab one of our paper menus, would you sign the back for me?”
“Of course. No problem at all.”
“Awesome!” The barista turned around like a small human cyclone and returned a moment later with a paper menu. “My name’s Abby—like, if you want to address it to me.”
Delilah chuckled, charmed by the teenager’s enthusiasm, and took the menu and a pen from off the counter. She wrote, “To Abby, who is lucky enough to live in the amazing town of Rosewood Beach. Love, Delilah.”
“Wow,” Abby said when Delilah handed her the menu. “I’m going to text all my friends.”
Delilah laughed and took a sip of her latte, letting the sweet, creamy flavor swirl over her tongue for a moment. She reminded herself that she needed to be prepared for her scene, and she spent a few moments trying to get into her character’s head.
This movie we’re filming is sweet, she thought. I like it, but that screenplay for the other movie is so much better. I would love to get to work on something as poignant and heartfelt as that.
She realized that she would rather be practicing her lines for that movie than filming her current one, if she was being completely honest with herself.
The revelation surprised her, since rehearsals were usually much less enjoyable than actually performing as she tried to record an impressive take.
At that moment, the front door opened and four women spilled into the bakery.
They appeared to all know each other well, and there was a striking resemblance amongst three of them, despite the fact that they all had different colors of hair.
A moment later, Delilah recognized the one with reddish-brown hair as Alexis, the waitress from The Lighthouse Grill.
Alexis clearly noticed her as well, because she stopped in her tracks and turned to the other women. “Girls, be cool,” she whispered. “Delilah Bates is right over there.”
“She’s what?” squealed one of the young women, who was wearing a floral dress and had long, wavy copper-colored hair.
“Faith, shh,” Alexis begged.
“Oh my gosh,” said another one of the women, who had dark hair, and was wearing a royal blue maternity sweater over a noticeable baby bump. “I can’t believe it.”
“I think I’m going to faint,” said another woman, with a bright smile, dimples, and wavy dark blonde hair. “She’s really here.”
“We should talk to her,” the woman with the dark hair whispered. “You already got to talk to her, Alexis, it’s not fair.”
“Yeah, and she really appreciated not being swarmed with fans when she was eating at the pub,” Alexis countered. “Don’t freak out too much—besides, they’re clearly about to film something here. We don’t want to get in their way or mess her up.”
Delilah listened to the exchange with amusement, pretending to be looking at a painting on the wall instead of eavesdropping. She found herself hoping that the young women would come up and speak with her, even though it was true that she should probably focus on preparing for her scene.
“I’m sure she’ll tell us if she’s busy,” the woman that Alexis had called Faith said. “Come on, I’m just dying to meet her. I can’t go the rest of my life knowing that I had a chance to meet Delilah Bates and I missed it.”
“Come on!” the dark-haired woman said, and all of them hurried forward in a rush.
Delilah looked up with a smile when she found herself surrounded by the four women.
All of them looked overjoyed and star-struck, even Alexis.
There was a quality of joy to the four of them that Delilah found wonderful.
They were all beautiful young women, she thought, mostly because of the kind, bright energy that seemed to fill them.
“Hi, Delilah,” Faith gushed. “My name is Faith. It’s so nice to meet you. We’re just beside ourselves you’re here. I’ve watched every single one of your movies—usually multiple times. I just love you so much.”
“Me too.” The woman with dark blonde hair shook Delilah’s hand warmly. “I’m Hazel. I’m a major fan.”
“I’m Julia. And I’m just thrilled you’re here too. I also work at The Lighthouse Grill with Alexis, but I was unluckily away at home when you were there.”
“So nice to meet you all,” Delilah said, meaning it sincerely. “And it’s good to see you again, Alexis. How’s your little sidekick?”
“Just perfect,” Alexis said with a laugh, looking thrilled that Delilah had remembered her and her baby. “I’m so sorry if we’re bothering you. I guess this kind of reaction is inevitable when a movie icon comes to a small town. None of us ever thought we’d get a chance to meet you.”
“Could we have your autograph?” Hazel asked, pulling a yellow notebook out of her purse. “We don’t want to bother you, but—”
“It’s no trouble at all,” Delilah said, smiling. “I’d love to sign something for you all. Besides, I’m used to it.”
“I’ll bet.” Faith laughed. “Especially since your last movie came out, The Splendor of the Sun. My friends and I went to see it in the theaters twice. We’re obsessed.”
“We are too,” Julia agreed. “I must have watched it five times by now.”
Delilah laughed, delighted. “I’m so glad you all like it.” She clicked open the pen that Julia had handed her. “Who should I address the first autograph to?”
Delilah scribbled down heartfelt notes for each of the women and happily took selfies with all of them. She realized after a few minutes that she was having more fun than she’d had in a long time.
“What’s this movie about?” Hazel asked Delilah, glancing at the lighting crew curiously.
“It’s a horror movie,” Delilah joked, and then laughed out loud when all four of the women gasped in alarm. “No, no, I’m completely kidding.” Her smile was mischievous. “It’s about a love story. It’s a little sad, but ultimately inspiring. I can’t tell you much about the plot, unfortunately.”
“That’s okay.” Julia smiled. “We’ll just go see it when it comes out in the movie theaters.”
“Are you excited to see your hometown on the silver screen?” Delilah asked.
“Oh, I just got a little thrill hearing you say that,” Faith said. “And to answer your question, yes, absolutely.”
“So excited,” Hazel said. “And we’re excited to see another movie with you in it, Ms. Bates. We’re all big fans—in case that wasn’t already clear.”
All of them laughed.
“Is Rosewood Beach treating you well?” Alexis asked. “How does it compare as a filming location?”
“I love it,” Delilah said. “I have to admit, I was expecting to be bored in a little town—please don’t be offended, I’m just used to more… fast-paced places.”
Julia and Alexis shared a smile. “Don’t worry,” Julia said. “We completely understand.”
“I’m glad to hear that. And I’ve been completely surprised,” Delilah continued.
“This town of yours is charming and beautiful, and I’ve had some of the best food here that I’ve had in years.
I’ve been to The Lighthouse Grill a couple of times now, and the last time I was there the cheeseburger I ordered was absolutely out of this world. That chef—Tom—he’s really excellent.”
Alexis grinned knowingly. “He is very good—but it was pretty clear that he made that plate up specially for you, Delilah. You got the extra good version of our cheeseburger.”
“I did?” Delilah said, finding unexpectedly that she was blushing slightly. “Well, that’s very nice of him. I definitely appreciated his efforts.”
For a moment, as Alexis talked about how Tom had made all kinds of wonderful changes to the items on the menu at The Lighthouse Grill, Delilah was only half-listening.
She couldn’t help thinking about the fact that Tom had made the cheeseburger special for her and wondering if that was a sign that he was hoping to see her again.
He did say he’d run lines with me, she thought. And I do need some help with that.
Maybe I’ll ask him if he really is willing—what could it hurt?
Her heart fluttered a little at the thought, and she was surprised by her reaction.
She felt a sudden swarm of doubts, as if working on lines with Tom was somehow forbidden for her, and she shouldn’t let herself get too close to him.
She wondered why she had reacted that way and concluded that the whole idea of asking him to help her was silly.
Tom was practically running an entire restaurant, spending his days cooking at whirlwind speed.
He probably liked to spend his nights sitting in his house and sipping a cold beer, or maybe relaxing on a boat, or going for a peaceful walk along the quiet streets of Rosewood Beach…
She shook her head, trying to dispel all questions about Tom helping her with her lines from her mind. She simply wouldn’t reach out to him, since they were both so busy and he’d probably only offered to be polite and maybe because he was feeling a little star-struck at the time.
I don’t know why I thought he’d actually want to help me, she thought. I’m sure he has much better things to do.
“Tom seems like a great chef,” she said to Alexis with a smile. “I’m sure I’ll come back to The Lighthouse Grill again soon. I hope that when I do come back there, we’ll all have a chance to say hello again. It was wonderful meeting you four.”
She meant it sincerely. She’d already been charmed by the homey atmosphere of Rosewood Beach, and these women seemed to be the incarnation of that sincere, hard-working, joyful energy.
“We would love that,” Faith gushed, and the other women nodded emphatically.
“It was just magical getting to meet you, Delilah,” Hazel said, shaking her hand again. “Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us.”
“I second that,” Julia said. “But now we’d better get out of your way. We’re here to pick up some treats before helping our soon-to-be sister-in-law Noelle with her wedding planning.”
“Sounds lovely,” Delilah said. “Enjoy your day, girls. Nice to meet you.”
“So nice to meet you,” they chorused.
Smiling, Delilah stepped to the side, where she sipped her latte thoughtfully.
She watched the young women chatter together enthusiastically before ordering some pastries, their heads close together in a way that implied love and closeness amongst them.
After receiving a white paper bag of goodies, they turned around and left the shop, waving adoringly at Delilah before stepping through the door.
Her heart gave a bittersweet pang as she waved back, watching them go. She realized that she wished she was going with them.
“Delilah!”
She turned and saw that Carla was smiling at her.
“Come on over here, it’s time to start filming.”
Delilah nodded and set down her coffee cup, squaring her shoulders as she went over to the table where she was about to perform. Her own life, and her own thoughts, would have to wait for the moment.