Page 86 of Under the Table

“Good.” Angelica raised an eyebrow at her. “I have thirty minutes to get this done before we leave.”

“Fine, fine. I hear you.” Hope laughed again, stole yet another kiss, and then went back to her chair.

Angelica looked at her for another second before focusing back on her computer. Hope pulled her phone out of her pocket and started to play with it. Angelica was right, she was bored to tears sitting here and waiting for the car to come pick them up. Hope pulled up her Instagram and scrolled through it, checking on a few of her friends’ posts before meandering over to Angelica’s profile.

The posts Lyric had put up recently were getting better than ever. Not just the photos that she was taking and sharing, but the way she was writing the captions. It sounded more like Angelica than it ever had. Not that other people would be aware of that, but Hope would be. She looked up at Angelica and snapped a photo of her.

She thought about texting it to Lyric for social media but stopped herself. This was their moment, and she didn’t want to share it with anyone else. She was just about to go back toInstagram when her phone rang. She furrowed her brow at it but then lifted it to her ear and answered.

“Hey, Rach.”

Angelica looked up from her computer and locked her eyes on Hope. Hope pointed toward the door and left so she wouldn’t disturb her girlfriend from her work.

“Hey!” Rachel’s voice was bright and bubbly like it always was.

Hope loved talking to her sister, but everyone knew she was knee deep in filming which meant that they shouldn’t really be trying to call her unless it was an emergency. They’d grown closer in the last few years, and Hope never wanted to give that up.

“Where are you?” Rachel’s question sent a shot of worry through Hope’s chest.

“Los Angeles. Why?”

“Because I just got a call to confirm my travel arrangements and sign contracts and it made me think of you.”

“Arrangements for what?” Hope furrowed her brow.

“To film with you in San Diego.”

“Oh.” Hope’s heart stuttered. She’d nearly forgotten. This season the producers had invited some of their family to come and film with them to try and make them more relatable to the audience. Hope hadn’t exactly been happy about it, but Rachel would be fine. “Right.”

“Did you forget?”

“I’ve just been neck deep in filming.” And knuckle deep in Angelica. Hope didn’t say that last part, but the thought definitely ran through her head. She glanced over her shoulder, as if she could still see Angelica’s office, but she couldn’t.

“I was just trying to figure out what to do with the kids while I’m there.”

Hope hummed. “I can speak with our nanny and see if she wouldn’t mind adding a few kids to her watch list that week. We’ll just have to pay her rate increase for it.”

“Sure. I think we can swing that.”

Hope knew she’d cover the cost. She didn’t need her sister to be worrying about finances when she was essentially doing her a favor. She’d shown up on her daytime cooking show several times, but they’d never let the kids be on it. At least not yet. Just Eva. Hope ran her fingers through her hair and found a bench to sit on so they could talk.

“I haven’t really looked into San Diego to see why we’re headed there.”

“Oh, they’re trying to make it family friendly.”

Hope stilled. “Wait, so are you filming with the kids?”

“Sometimes, yeah. That’s part of the deal. Didn’t they tell you?”

“No.” Hope pressed her lips into a thin line. “You’re okay with that?”

“Yeah. Lars and I discussed it before we signed all the paperwork.”

“I would hope so.” She wrinkled her nose. If they were filming, then she had an idea that they were going to want to include Eva in it as well. Which she’d need to talk to Rex about. Or perhaps he’d already decided that and Hope had missed that part of the conversation somewhere along the way.

“Well, it’ll be nice to see you again. I miss you.”

“Miss you too.” Rachel laughed a little. “What are you doing in Los Angeles?”