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“Nestlé Sno-Caps.”
He held up a finger and took off toward the checkout.
Adelia shook her head. As attractive as this guy was, now was not the time to get involved with someone new. Even if it had been a while since she’d been on a date.
He returned soon after with a box of Sno-Caps in hand.
“No way!”
He nodded his head toward the front of the store. “They moved all the movie theater snacks to a special display near the checkout.”
“Oh my gosh, you are a lifesaver.”
“They have those too.” He reached over to the rack and picked up a roll of Life Savers, which made her laugh. “Sno-Caps were that important to you?”
“So important. Thank you.”
A smile spread across his face, and she wished she could stay and chat like a normal person.
She smiled back and was about to ask his name when he said, “You look so familiar. I feel like we’ve met before.”
Her stomach dropped. Crap! “I don’t think so.” There it was. Real life reminding her why she couldn’t have what she wanted. “Thanks for the candy.” She scurried up to the checkout, grabbing a few more boxes of Sno-Caps on the way, and paid before her mystery man came after her.
“Have a good night,” the hippie-looking dude behind the counter said.
“Thanks. You too.” She could see the guy she’d been talking to moving in her peripheral and dashed out the door.
She walked quickly to the scooter, put her snacks in her bag, and climbed on.
“I like your scooter,” the man said as he came outside.
“Oh, thanks. And thanks again.” She gave him a smile and a wave and drove away.
That was close.Her stomach churned. What if he figured out who she really was? Why had she thought she could go to the store undiscovered?
Back at the lake house, Adelia settled into a chair with a few movie scripts, a glass of wine, and a box of Sno-Caps. Outside the window, everything was pitch black. It was only eight o’clock, but it felt much later with it getting dark so early this time of year.
She opened the first script but found herself quickly bored, so she set that one aside and started on the next. The number of scripts she’d been reading and passing on lately was ridiculous. It wasn’t that they were bad stories, but her heart was set on a project she’d been trying to get made for two years, and so far, she’d been unable to get the green light.
The next script she opened was entertaining, but not what she was interested in. She set that one aside too. With each average script she perused, she felt more and more disappointed. She needed another project to work on. Something to get her mind off the movie she really wanted to make, and something to distract from her current family situation.
Her phone rang, startling her from her thoughts, and she frowned at the screen.
“Hello, Mother,” she answered.
“Darling, are you okay? Where are you? Violet said you left California.”
“No thanks to you.”
“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“But it did, didn’t it?” Her jaw was tight, and her nostrils flared. She’d never felt such anger.
“Adelia, dearest.”
“Don’t ‘Adelia, dearest’ me. How could you do this to Daddy? How could you do this to our family?”
“Your father and I have been having problems for a while now.”