“Several, in fact.” Angelica’s cheeks heated, which she’d come to expect now. But this flirting, which was never subtle, was something she was coming to like, something she enjoyed. “But I don’t think we’re going to find time until then.”
“You’re probably right.” Hope dropped her hand to her side. “It’s been difficult enough to find the time that we have had.”
“For sure.” Angelica sighed. “What do you say? We finish filming, finish the wrap party, and head home.”
“It sounds like a dream.” Hope’s lips curled up beautifully, and Angelica longed to see that look on her face more often. She never wanted it to end.
“Then, let’s get back to filming.” She took the plate with her as she walked away, tossing a flirtatious look over her shoulder at Hope as she went.
Chapter
Forty-Two
Hope’s phone buzzed on the nightstand in between the beds. She flicked her gaze to it and then to Eva, who sat comfortably playing on her Nintendo Switch. Hope stared at the name on the phone and debated whether or not to answer. But filming was done, and they were setting up for the wrap party while tearing down all of the equipment and supplies they’d brought and packing it into the trucks, which meant that Hope had very little to do for the next hour.
“Hello?” Hope put the phone to her ear, her voice raspy from the hours of talking she’d done earlier in the day and the exhaustion that settled into her bones. It seemed to always be this way at the end of filming a season. And she wasn’t sure it’d ever change. It was a wild ride of emotion, stress, and intensity.
“Hey,” Rachel replied, and stopped talking.
They hadn’t really agreed to talk now, which was why Hope hadn’t been sure she’d wanted to answer. They were supposed to talk when filming was done, which it technically was, but Hope needed at least a dash of prayer for recovery before diving deep into this conversation.
“Mom’s asking about Easter,” Rachel said, just dropping that bomb into the conversation.
The hairs on the back of Hope’s neck rose up. Easter? Sure it was coming up in a week or two, and it was always a big to-do at their house which usually included the one time a year that Hope went to mass. But her mom hadn’t mentioned anything the couple times they’d talked throughout the filming season.
Hope’s silence must have been too long, because Rachel jumped back in nervously. “Mom, uh… wanted to know if you were coming this year.”
“Mom did? Or you did?” Where had that bold confidence come from? Before, Hope probably would have skirted around those questions and asked different ones to get to the root of what she wanted to know. But she was tired and didn’t have time for that. Or maybe she was just over toying with the bullshit that was Rachel these days.
“We all do.” Rachel’s voice had a patronizing tone that immediately put Hope’s back up.
“That’s not what I asked, and you know it’s not.” Hope flicked her gaze to Eva to see how much of this she was picking up on. She could step out into the hallway, but that wouldn’t necessarily give her any more privacy than this. But it might prevent Eva from picking up on the specifics of the tension.
“Mom wants to know.”
Hope nodded her head to herself, pressing her lips together hard. That was exactly what she’d suspected. Rachel wanted to know, and she was pushing it off on their mom. Because if Mom wanted to know, she would have just asked Hope to begin with, and she probably would. But she knew that Hope was still filming and wasn’t going to ask until they got back to Los Angeles. Hope sighed heavily.
“I told you that you and I could work on our problems when I was done with filming.” Hope ran her fingers through her short hair and relaxed back into the pillows on the bed, her knees bent at an angle. She kept her gaze on Eva, remembering that herdaughter was the main reason that she was considering this. Eva deserved to grow up with her family around and not be isolated from them.
“You’re not done yet?” Rachel squeaked.
“No, I’m not.” Hope breathed in deeply, trying to contain her frustration. Had Rachel always been this bad with boundaries? Had Hope just not recognized it before now? “Why are you calling?”
Hope really had no patience tonight. And she should have recognized that well before she took this call.
“You said we could talk, so when I didn’t hear from you about scheduling a time, I thought I’d call to make the time.”
God, her sister was such a… Hope wasn’t even sure she could come up with a word for that right now. But this entire situation was something else entirely. Hope had never imagined that Rachel would become this person. Then again, maybe she’d always been this way and Hope was just now witnessing it.
“You were a bitch in San Diego, an absolute tool, and you crossed so many lines that I’m not sure we can come back from them.” Hope looked at Eva again, the headphones perfectly on her ears so she wasn’t hearing anything.
“That’s a bit harsh.”
“No, I don’t think it is.” Hope wiggled her toes under the blanket. “You chose my husband’s side in everything, as if I was the sole person making mistakes and fucking up. And you know what? It takes two to make a marriage and typically two to break it. He’s not innocent in this.”
The silence was long and tense. Hope’s heart raced. But this was everything she’d wanted to say to Rachel for a year now.
“I know that… now.” Rachel muttered the last word as if Hope wouldn’t actually hear it.
