She knew accepting the fellowship would be good for her career, but from here on out, she wanted her sculpting career to reflect passion and joy, not be a reminder of the darkness into which James had tried to pull her.

Vicki had faith that other opportunities would come her way. And until then...

She walked into Ryan’s open arms, her winning sculpture cradled between them. He grinned down at her. “Can I drive you home?”

The years immediately disappeared until it was just the two of them again, a girl and a boy who had become friends in an instant...and who would end up sharing the rest of their lives together.

“Sure,” she said, “if you don’t have anywhere else you have to be.”

He put his arm around her shoulder and walked beside her. “Nothing more important than hanging out with my best friend.”

They were halfway across the room when she felt her phone buzz in her purse. She handed her sculpture to Ryan so that she could pull it out of her bag. She was surprised by the name on the screen.

“Smith is calling me. Do you have any idea why?”

Ryan shook his head. “Nope. He hasn’t said anything to me.”

She picked up. “Hi, Smith. If you need Ryan, he’s right here.”

“You’re the one I’m looking for, Vicki, and I’m really glad I got you. Any chance you could drop by the set first thing tomorrow morning? I’ve got the set designer coming in and we both need to sit down with you to discuss the pieces we’ll need for the movie.”

She’d felt perfectly calm while dealing with Anthony and turning down the fellowship. Only now did she feel like her head was spinning and her fingertips were buzzing.

She recognized that feeling.

Inspiration.

“I’d love to meet with both of you, Smith. Thanks for the opportunity.”

“I’m the one that should be thanking you for agreeing to jump into the deep end so fast. I’ll text you the details for the meeting. Bring a piece that represents your style, okay?”

She looked at her sculpture in Ryan's arms. “I’ve got just the one. See you tomorrow morning.”

“I’m going to work with Smith and his set designer on his new film. You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you?”

“Trust me,” Ryan said as she slid her phone back into her purse and he handed ANCHOR back to her. “Smith takes his movies way too seriously to do anyone a favor. He wants you on his movie because you’re the best.”

She was about to press a kiss to his lips when a gray-haired man stepped in front of her. “Ms. Bennett, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m the curator for the Marina Gallery in Sausalito. We’re very interested in your work.”

And with that, Ryan stood proudly beside Vicki while she finally had her day in the sun.

Epilogue

Three weeks later...

The whole crew was at Smith’s house and there was nothing he liked more than sitting back and watching the mayhem created by his brothers and sisters and their significant others and kids and stepkids and dogs. Only Ryan, who was pitching in Detroit, and Vicki weren’t there.

“Everyone, this is it!” Lori called out. “If he nails this pitch, we win the World Series!”

Even the animals quieted down as Ryan looked in for the sign from the catcher, shook off the first two, then nodded yes to the third. He went into his windup and broke off a slow curve that split the plate in half. The batter was completely fooled, the bat frozen on his shoulder.

“Strike three!”

On the screen, even as the Hawks' players charged out of the dugout then jumped on each other like little boys in a sandbox, Ryan's entire focus was on Vicki as he blew a kiss up to her in the stands.

Lori hugged Megan and Summer. Chase and Chloe danced with baby Emma between them. Marcus and Nicola used the win as yet another excuse to kiss each other. Zach and Heather tried to calm down their overexcited dogs while Summer’s poodle puppy peed in the middle of one of Smith’s priceless Aubusson rugs. A very pregnant-with-twins Sophie and Jake stayed right where they were on the couch and everyone came over to hug and high-five them.

Smith danced his mother, Mary, into the kitchen. Together, they pulled several bottles of Marcus’s finest champagne out of his wine refrigerator, along with a couple of bottles of sparkling apple juice for Sophie and Summer.

More cheers rang out as they popped open the corks. Once every glass was filled high enough for bubbles to skid across Smith’s kitchen counter and everyone had a glass, Lori said, “To Ryan for winning the World Series!”

“And for winning Vicki’s heart, too,” Sophie pointedly added.

Everyone clinked to that, then relaxed back into their seats.

“So,” Chase asked as he put down his glass and bounced his adorable little girl on his knee, “how’s casting going?”

“Good,” Smith said. “We’ve just signed Tatiana Landon.”

“She was amazing in Midnight Lake,” Chloe said.

“And she seems so sweet in her interviews,” Heather added.

“I think she’s pretty,” Summer said. “Can I meet her?”

He ruffled her hair. “Of course you can.”

His family was right. Tatiana was a talented, sweet, and beautiful twenty-one-year-old actress. Funny, then, that he hadn’t given her a second thought since they’d signed the contracts.

No, it was Tatiana’s older sister he couldn’t stop thinking about.

Valentina Landon was a watchdog for her younger sister...and she clearly didn’t trust him—or like him—one bit.

Smith had never let a woman distract him from his work. And given the fact that he was finally directing, producing, and starring in a movie in his home town, his focus was tighter than ever.

Still, none of that stopped him from wondering about what lay beneath Valentina Landon's armor as he grabbed a roll of paper towels from the kitchen then got down on his knees beside Summer to help her clean up the mess the poodle puppy had made of his rug.

~ THE END ~