In her rental, she drove by Lauren’s house, but her car wasn’t there. She made the quick jaunt to the theater, and there it was. The spunky sky blue Mini Cooper. How was it possible that even the car was a sight for sore eyes? Carly gave herself a mental pep talk as she walked up the ten stairs that led to the building’s entrance, past the picturesque stone columns, and into the lobby, which she knew would be unlocked during the day because the box office sold advance tickets. Once inside, all she needed was for someone to open a door to the house in the normal course of their workday, and she’d be in. Luckily, she only had to wait five minutes for that to happen.

“Carly?”

She sighed. It was that Tinsley woman. She had paint all over her arms and a red bandana around her head to keep her hair back. The new set must be going in for Falsettos, the production that would open next.

“Hey, there.” She followed Tinsley through the theater like she belonged there.

“I didn’t realize you were doing any more work here,” Tinsley said. “Forget something?”

“Just some business to take care of.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Tinsley smiled but eyed her with suspicion. Carly didn’t care. She wasn’t here to be friends with Tinsley, who’d never really shown her much warmth anyway. She proceeded to the stage management office just down the hall from the stage itself. Her heart thudded, her palms were sweaty, and she had a serious case of butterflies dancing a conga line through her midsection, but she was going to fall on this damn sword because it was abundantly clear to her what mattered most.

Carly paused in the doorway because, God, there she was. Lauren worked quietly at the desk, laptop open, soft music playing from the radio on the table behind her. She was a vision of beauty, focused as always as she worked. She chewed subtly on the inside of her cheek, a common occurrence when she was concentrating. Carly had always loved watching her in thought.

Finally, Lauren glanced up and went still. For a moment, she said nothing. Then her shoulders dropped slightly as if she’d been wounded. “Hi.”

Carly offered a nervous smile. “Hi.”

“I don’t understand.” She shook her head and peered behind Carly as if to see where she came from. “What are you doing here?”

“We want the same things.” It wasn’t the most eloquent of ways to plead her case, but it was all she could think to say, her speech having flown out the window the second she laid eyes on Lauren.

“What?” Lauren was trying to wrap her mind around Carly’s surprise appearance, and it seemed like her brain hadn’t quite caught up.