“There’s something I haven’t been telling you, sweetheart,” he said, wishing he didn’t have to pain her.
She squeezed his hands back reassuringly and nodded. “What is it?”
“My pain and fatigue have been getting worse,” he confessed. “It’s not worse than it’s ever been, but it’s more frequent, and I’m still doing all my physical therapy and resting even more than I had been.” He shook his head. “Like, right now, my hands hurt even though I didn’t do much work today.”
Noelle’s eyes glimmered with tears for a second, but she hastily blinked them back. He could tell that she was trying to be brave for his sake, and he appreciated her so much in that moment he felt like he might burst.
“I went to the doctor, and he told me that my symptoms are concerning,” Dean said. “He said that there’s a chance that different medication and more physical therapy could work for a while, but that my best option is probably surgery.”
Noelle nodded, her expression grave as she listened. “Okay,” she said, squeezing Dean’s hand. “Okay. We’re going to get through this, Dean. Together. We’ll face every step of this journey side by side. I know it seems scary and disappointing, but we don’t need to jump to any worst-case scenario conclusions. We don’t know what’s going to happen, and we should stay hopeful. Let’s just take this one day at a time. Just give this all a little more time—bodies are strange and amazing things. This may just be a temporary hurdle, and you might feel better sooner than you’d expected.”
He swallowed, wanting to smile but feeling like he was fighting off his own onslaught of tears instead. He stroked her cheek gently. “It would be so much easier for you to be with someone other than me,” he said softly. “It would be easier for you to be with someone who didn’t have such a problematic health challenge while we’re both still young.”
She shook her head emphatically. “Dean, I would never want to be with anyone else. We’re getting married, remember?” She held up the beautiful engagement ring that he’d picked out for her with a smile. “You’re stuck with me forever.”
She kissed him tenderly, and he wrapped his arms around her. She laid her head on his shoulder and for a while they sat there quietly, watching the beautiful street in front of them.
“We can get through anything together, Dean,” she said after a little while.
“You make me believe that,” he said, his voice almost a whisper.
She squeezed his hand, and he nuzzled his head against hers, closing his eyes and letting hope and gratitude wash over him.
Delilah stepped out of her trailer, taking note of how vibrantly blue the sky had become. She still felt a little sleepy, but the cup of coffee that she’d drunk while taking a break in the trailer had revived her somewhat. They’d begun filming early that morning, and it was now eleven o’clock. They were scheduled to resume filming soon, but Delilah found herself wishing that she could go back to the hotel and take a nap instead. She felt tired, and the delicious spring wind made her want to play hooky and avoid all her responsibilities.
If I could do anything I wanted today,she thought, hugging herself and looking up at a seagull as it traced a pattern across the sky,I would take that nap, and then go out to the beach. I’d just sit and drink a smoothie and read some sweet, romantic book.
She sighed, wishing that she had a little more free time in Rosewood Beach. She’d had a decent amount, but she found herself wanting to spend more time in the beautiful little town. She wanted to go inside every gift store, try every restaurant, coffee house, and bakery, and simply stroll around the town and get to know it better. She felt as though she was surrounded by countless small treasures, and she wanted the time to explore and find them all.
She saw someone approaching her out of the corner of her eye, and she turned, smiling. It was Carla, who looked a little frazzled but was smiling as well.
“Great work this morning, Delilah,” she said warmly. “Some of those takes we got earlier are just gold. I was looking at some of the footage just now, and I can already tell that our movie is going to be a hit. The footage is all looking fantastic.”
“That’s great.” Delilah smiled. She liked Carla’s enthusiasm. The young director was still working her way up in Hollywood, and so to her, a successful movie meant everything. To Delilah, it was pleasant, but a little old hat. She appreciated being around someone who cared so much about the movie they were making.
I can’t help feeling a little lackadaisical about this film,she thought a little regretfully.I appreciate that we’re doing it and I’m sure it’s going to be great, but it’s like the movie that I’m really invested in is the one I’m going to audition for. That’s the story that’s mainly on my mind.
“Are we moving to another spot for the mother daughter scene?” Delilah asked. “Or are we going to film on the beach over there?”
“Actually, we’re going to postpone that scene,” Carla said. “I came over to give you the good news that you get the rest of the day off.”
Delilah’s heart skipped a beat, and she had to stop herself from grinning like a schoolgirl who had just been told that school was suddenly over for the day.
Nap and beach, here I come,she thought eagerly.
“Okay, sounds good,” she said, keeping her tone smooth and professional instead of gleeful. “When are we doing the proposal scene? Tomorrow morning like we had scheduled?”
Carla shook her head. “We’re pushing the mother daughter scene to tomorrow morning. We don’t have a location for the proposal yet. That’s why we’re postponing today’s scene—it seems silly to go all day today when tomorrow morning is open now. Besides, we want our team to have the time to look around town and try to find a good spot for us to film the proposal.”
“What kind of location are you looking for for the proposal scene?”
Carla shrugged. “Something that screams ‘romance.’ But, ‘cute and cozy romance.’” She laughed. “You’d think it wouldn’tbe too hard to find in a town this quaint, but we want to make sure we really land on the perfect spot.”
“I’m sure there’s a fantastic location somewhere here,” Delilah said. “I’ll keep my eyes open for one.”
Today, on my afternoon off,she thought cheerfully.I can’t wait to see more of Rosewood Beach.
CHAPTER TWELVE
