She thought maybe he wanted her to wait so that he could open her door for her. He had always been such a gentleman.
But he made no move to get out.
“You said you missed this place while you were away,” he said after a moment.
“Of course I missed it,” she said. “There’s no place like Trinity Falls.”
“What if you start to feel the same way about New York?” he asked. “What if you want to act again? If your agent calls with a life-changing role, I don’t want you to feel stuck here with us.”
Hailey sighed, realizing she needed to share a little more than she had wanted to.
“I don’t like to talk about this,” she said softly, her eyes fixed on her hands. “But I think you need some more background on why I stopped acting.”
“Okay,” he said.
“First of all, the scene in the city isn’t really my kind of thing,” she said carefully. “You know I’m not a party girl.”
“You’d rather curl up with a book,” Ransom said fondly.
“Exactly,” she told him. “And I thought I got lucky landing a show so quickly when my roommates were always outnetworking.”
“Okay,” Ransom said. “But that’s necessary, right?”
“Networking seemed to mean going out to parties,” Hailey said. “And sometimes spending time with men they thought could give them their big break.”
“Oh,” Ransom said, suddenly seeming to understand.
“I wouldn’t have made it long in the city if I hadn’t landed the part onRidley Hospital,” she said. “I got it through an open audition, no networking involved. And I felt really, really lucky. I quietly showed up and worked and saved my money for a long time.”
“You did a great job on the show,” Ransom told her.
“Everyone said Van Hogarth really liked me at my audition,” she said. “And I figured he liked my work. He would chat with me sometimes during breaks. He was very kind, very complimentary.”
Ransom nodded, but there was a wary look in his eyes, like he knew what was coming next.
“One night he kept me late after shooting,” Hailey said. “And he told me I was too pretty to play the best friend forever, and that I should be Dr. Silverman’s love interest. I thought it was odd.”
“Why shouldn’t you be Dr. Silverman’s love interest?” Ransom asked. “They all but promised it with some of the scenes you guys had.”
“I thought it was odd that he said I was tooprettyto play the best friend,” she said. “A director who wants to expand your character’s storyline isn’t just looking for someone pretty. Not to generalize, but almost every actress is pretty. They’re looking for someone compelling and interesting, someone who can keep the viewer watching through the commercial breaks.”
“Okay,” Ransom said. “That makes sense.”
“And then he asked me out for a drink,” she said, feeling her cheeks heat with shame.
“Did he mean…?” Ransom clearly didn’t want to finish the thought out loud.
“I really hoped not,” she replied. “And when I said no, he saidmaybe another timeso politely. And I thought that would be the end of it. But…. well, it wasn’t. And the third time he asked and I said no, he basically told me I wouldn’t be getting my romance plot line. It was a real blow, but I never expected him to kill off my character.”
“Hailey, that’s terrible,” Ransom said, sounding furious. “Is that common?”
“I hope not,” she said, shrugging. “But it made me realize something. I don’t want to rely on someone else to notice me and decide to promote me or get rid of me. I want to do what I’m passionate about and have some control over how to do it. I’m so lucky that I could start my own business. NowI’m the one who gets to decide when to ease off a little and when to aim for the stars.”
“So if your agent called you with a big break…?” Ransom offered.
“Don’t you see, Ransom?” she said, shaking her head. “Thisismy big break.”
She turned to him and he searched her eyes for a moment.
