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.”
