Page 5 of Keeping Happily Ever After

“Trapped.” Dwayne pressed his lips together and nodded. “She won’t talk to me, Jer. But we don’t think she’s safe. I need your help.”

Bella loaded the last of the boxes they’d filled in the back of her car and slammed the trunk. They’d made a decent amount of progress going through Papa’s things. And much to her surprise, he’d been far more agreeable than she’d expected when it came to paring down his belongings.

“They’re just things, Bella. The memories are in here.” He’d thumped his chest. “You don’t need to hold on to a bunch of junk to remember the good times.”

His cut-and-dried attitude about it all had taken her off guard, and in a strange twist of events, she’d found herself getting defensive of her grandfather’s knickknacks. When he wasn’t looking, she pulled a few things out of his donation pile to keep for herself. The crystal candy dish that had always been full of spearmints when she was little was absolutely not going to a thrift shop.

She didn’t bother going back into the house to say good-bye before driving her carload. There was no point. Papa had already gone next door to Lydia’s. Bella shook her head as she looked in the direction of the neighbor’s house. She’d guessed immediately when she’d arrived before Christmas that the older lady was sweet on her grandfather, but for whatever reason, her grandfather had refused to see it.

Seemed as if that situation had changed dramatically. She couldn’t help but smile. After all, love happened at any age. She just hoped Papa’s new relationship wouldn’t interfere with his move to the retirement community they’d finally agreed upon. It had taken way too long to convince her grandfather that he shouldn’t live on his own anymore and that just because he moved to a community didn’t mean he’d be losing his independence.

But it would mean that he wouldn’t accidentally start fires in his kitchen anymore.

Bella chuckled as she got behind the wheel of her car. After all, it washer,not her grandfather, who’d started the last fire in his kitchen right before Christmas. Not that it had been entirely her fault. She’d been distracted trying to do too many things at once, and she’d completely forgotten to take the cardboard off the frozen lasagna before popping it into the oven.

That situation had turned out pretty good, too. After all, Jeremy had been the firefighter to respond to that call. And if she hadn’t started that particular oven fire, who knows whether they would have reconnected again after so many years.

“Everything happens for a reason.” She spoke aloud in her tiny car as she backed out of the snowy drive and onto the icy street. She still wasn’t totally used to driving on the roads with mounds of snow taller than she was piled up on either side. Glacier Falls was only a few hours out of the city, but being deep in the mountains the way it was, the small town received a lot more snow than Bella was used to.A lot.

Jeremy insisted she would get used to driving on snow and ice, and that pretty soon it would be second nature and she wouldn’t even think about it. Bella wanted to believe him, but every time she got behind the wheel of her car, she still gripped the steering wheel so tightly she was sure her knuckles were completely white underneath her wooly mittens.

What she hadn’t told Jeremy yet was that she wasn’t likely to get much practice driving in the winter road conditions over the next few months. Not after the news her agent, Lewis Robson, had called her with late the night before. She’d gotten the movie.Themovie. The one that she was told would be a massive blockbuster hit. Bella still hadn’t fully let herself process the news that she was about to play Zoe, a struggling singer down on her luck who gets discovered and becomes a global sensation almost overnight. The movie was titledBombshelland it would involve her not only acting as the protagonist, but also recording almost every song on the soundtrack.

Stephanie had pushed hard for Bella to try out for the role, particularly because she was also starring in the film. She was to play the co-starring role of Veronica—the troubled, drug-addicted star who Bella’s character would be displacing from her throne as the world’s biggest star.Bombshellwas set to be gritty but flashy. Emotional, yet uplifting. And the music…Bella didn’t even pretend that she wasn’t wildly impressed with the lyrics. She was itching to record them and put her voice to the words that would come alive.

The entire project was going to be incredible. Completely life changing. And she’d landed it.

And that equal parts excited herandscared the hell out of her.

Bella owed Stephanie Starz more than she could ever repay for the introduction to her agent. Within days of reaching out to him, Lewis had lined up the meetings and auditions that had all led to that moment. Bella had never even considered acting, let alone in giant blockbuster hits.

Everything had happened so fast, more than once Bella found herself getting completely overwhelmed with it all. Thankfully, Stephanie had been more than a good contact to have. She’d been an amazing friend. After New Year’s, when Bella went to the city to start taking meetings, Stephanie had been there as well and she’d all but held her hand through it all.

As if just thinking about her new friend had summoned her, Bella’s phone chimed with an incoming text message. She glanced down at the phone as she pulled up in front of the thrift shop. With her car safely parked, Bella picked up the phone and read the message.

I decided to come back early, too. Girls night tonight to celebrate? Or are you busy with your sexy firefighter?

Bella laughed and typed her response.

I’ve already been busy.She added the winky emoji and sent it before adding,Girl’s night sounds great. Send me details.

With Jeremy working, she wouldn’t be able to see him again until morning. She might as well go out and have a little fun. Besides, maybe a night of catching up with the ladies of Glacier Falls would be exactly what she needed to take her mind off the news Lewis had given her. It would give her a chance to process it all. She could use as many distractions as possible, especially if they included a night of normalcy. Something that Steph assured her was about to become further and farther between.

The idea made her entire body tingle in excitement and nerves.

Don’t mention the movie though, okay?

What? Really?

Steph had been a superstar for so long, Bella was sure she’d forgotten what it was like to be new and unsure.

It would be best if Bella could put it completely out of her mind. At least for one night. Besides, she hadn’t even had a chance to tell Jeremy yet. She was going to tell him earlier, but then they’d gotten distracted,again.And that seemed far more important than telling him that she wouldn’t be spending very much time with him in the foreseeable future.

The idea made her stomach sink.How would he take the news?

He’d be happy for her and her success, right?

Of course he would be. Bella was almost certain of it.

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