Hope frowned at the text and then quickly closed out of her messaging app and pocketed her phone. Her heart raced and her hands felt clammy. “I need to talk to her. When did Lyric say they were arriving?”
“I uhh… I haven’t talked to Lyric today.”
From what Hope knew, Cadence and Lyric talked almost daily, especially during filming. They were best friends on set, so the fact that they hadn’t even sent a text to each other yet made the hairs on the back of Hope’s neck stand to attention.
“Where’s everyone set up?”
“In here.”
Hope followed Cadence through the kitchen and toward a small meeting room with a long table. It could be called a conference room, but it was so small that it couldn’t host a very large conference. She nodded toward Cadence as she ushered Eva into a chair and lifted her phone to her ear.
She tapped her foot while she listened to the ringing on the other end. “Answer it, Angel. Answer…”
Biting her lip, she tried to shake out the trembles in her hands and her body, but it just never seemed to end. When it went to Angelica’s voicemail, Hope hung up and dialed again.
“What’s wrong, Mommy?” Eva caught Hope’s attention, worry in her gaze.
Hope shook her head and kept the phone pressed to her ear as she listened to it ring and ring again. Angelica didn’t get in another car accident, did she? The last thing Hope wanted was another phone call like that. Her heart thudded hard, and it stole her breath from her lungs.
“What’s going on out there?” Angelica’s voice rang through the room.
Hope spun around, nearly dropping the phone. She took three quick steps to the door and wrapped her arms around Angelica’s shoulders and pulled her in tightly. She buried her face in Angelica’s neck and breathed her scent in. Angelica tensed, her arms at her sides before she shifted slightly to touch Hope’s back.
“What’s wrong?” Angelica asked.
Hope shook her head and drew in a deep breath to remind herself that nothing was wrong, Angelica was here, everything would be okay. “You should have gotten here before me.”
“I had a detour I wanted to make.” Angelica’s furrowed brow and confusion didn’t match what Hope was feeling. “But I wasn’t expecting whatever the hell is out there.”
“Hi Angelica!” Eva said from behind Hope.
“Hey.” Angelica shifted to the side slightly and looked over Hope’s shoulder before focusing back on Hope. “Really. What’s wrong?”
“What detour?” Hope took Angelica’s hands, not letting go of them. She really wanted to lean in and kiss her, further proof that Angelica was fine, but with Eva in the room, she wouldn’t do it.
“I’ve never been to the smokey mountains before. Lyric took a small drive so we could see them.” Angelica squeezed Hope’s hand tightly. “What’s going on outside?”
“Josef.” Florence’s voice was strong as it breached the tension in the room.
“What?” Angelica spun around.
“He told them that you two were…” she paused when she spied Eva and gave them both a sharp look, “…he pulled a few strings, and got them out here.” Florence put her hands on her hips and glared.
“He texted me,” Hope murmured, not sure that she wanted to actually say those words out loud.
“What did he say?” Angelica asked, her cheeks paling.
“Nothing specific.”
“It doesn’t matter right now. These guys are going to be out here for the week, so we’re going to have to film around them. I suggest we start everything tonight, modify the schedule to get as much done quickly so we can get the hell out of Dodge.” Florence flicked her gaze from Hope to Angelica. “You two up for that?”
“Yeah.” Hope looked over her shoulder at Eva.
“Sure.” Angelica brushed her fingers through her hair. “Opening sequence is going to be difficult.”
“We’ll do it inside instead of outside.” Florence brushed her fingers through long hair. “I’ll work on the schedule tonight. Why don’t you two sit down with Ronan and Elsie Bates and do the first run of introductions and conversation. Rex and Cadence are already setting up.”
“But we don’t have a script.” Angelica pursed her lips and stared directly at Florence, as if she was stepping into a battle that no one knew they were fighting.
