“You don’t even have to finish that sentence,” Carly said, pointing at her. She softened. “Good night, Lauren. You saved me today.”

Lauren studied her. “You’re welcome.”

“You can bet I’m not going to forget it, and you know something?”

“What’s that?”

“You’re an awesome person. I may not make that clear in how I behave, but I’m spoiled and working on a recovery strategy.”

“I appreciate that,” Lauren said, with a twinkle in her eye. “I have all the faith in you.”

As Carly walked to her rental in The McAllister’s parking lot, it was already dark outside. That extra hour she’d stolen with Lauren had been the most productive of the rehearsal day, and entirely unexpected. She’d gone from furious with Lauren that morning, to eternally grateful to her this evening. What a difference a few hours and some alone time made.

Carly had already known Lauren was many things, but a decent actress hadn’t been one of them. She closed the car door behind her and sat in the cold car. She’d enjoyed tonight. She’d made friends since she’d arrived in Minneapolis. She and Kirby and a couple of other actors from out of town had gone out for dinner a few times, and of course, the meetups at Put Upon Pete’s had been fun. Yet they’d all paled in comparison to the time she’d just spent with Lauren Prescott, when it felt like everything was right with the world. She was leaving for the night fulfilled, invigorated and inspired by the story of the younger Lauren’s love for the art. Perhaps, if she paid enough attention, she’d walk away from this experience with that same kind of passion. She already felt it blossoming. Maybe there was something special to this whole theater thing. Maybe there was something special about Lauren Prescott.

She looked back at the large white building. Maybe it was both.

Chapter Five

“I brought doughnuts.”

Lauren nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of the cheerful voice behind her. Her hand flew to her heart and grasped the fabric of her shirt as she turned around to see none other than Carly, standing in the doorway of the rehearsal room, holding a greasy looking white bag. Lauren checked her watch, and checked again to be sure it actually was Carly and not an apparition. Yep, still her. “What are you doing here at nine a.m.?” She placed a hand over her heart. “Oh God. Did hell actually freeze over? I never even got to see it.”

“You’re funny.”

“Rarely. But I do keep trying.” Lauren eyed her. “What gives?”

Carly inclined her head to the side and dropped off the bag on the table next to Lauren. “You said we could run lines.”

“And we can.”