Page 66 of Take Two

He was looking at her so hopefully. So certain. There was no malice in it, no desire to trap her. Just love and assumption.

The cloud from the date finally gave up, dissipating.

She took a breath that felt like swallowing a stone. ‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘All right.’ It wasn’t the time. She’d find her bravery later.

‘Good girl.’ His relief was immediate, obvious. He reached across and squeezed her hand. ‘It’ll be brilliant. You’ll see.’

She squeezed back, because that was what you did when someone you loved was happy.

Twenty-Eight

Now

Callie had spent the night staring at the ceiling, replaying every second of Mae’s mouth on hers, every word said between them, every word not said.

Come morning, she looked in the bathroom mirror to see a panda. Out came the concealer. She thought she’d done a pretty good job until she walked into the kitchen and her mother turned and froze.

‘Christ. You look…’

‘Tired?’ Callie suggested.

‘Like shit shovelled up,’ her mum corrected. ‘Are you eating enough?’

Brian peered over the newspaper. ‘She looks fine.’

‘She looks like a ghost,’ Hannah chimed in, swinging her legs under the table. ‘But like, a sad ghost. The ghost of an old lady who died of a broken heart.’

‘Excellent,’ Callie muttered, heading for the coffee. ‘Love being roasted at breakfast.’

Her mum went to touch the back of her neck and then thought better of it. ‘Is everything all right with filming?’

Callie almost saidyesbecause that was easier. But she was too tired to do this dance. ‘Don’t worry, Mum. I get paid even if I look like shit.’

Three pairs of eyes locked on her. Callie took a long gulp of coffee.

‘I never said anything about money,’ her mum said, with a distinct note of warning.

Callie was getting ever more certain that Brian didn’t know she supplemented them. If she wonKey to my Heart, that was no problem. If not, there might have to be an awkward conversation.

Well,anotherone.

Callie’s phone rang. She didn’t even look at the screen. She just answered. ‘Hello?’

‘Callie!’ Neil’s voice almost pierced her skull. ‘Listen, crisis averted. Mae’s on board. We’re all set for the bakery shoot today.’

Callie blinked. ‘We… are?’

‘Yep! She texted at six this morning. No idea what magic you worked, but bless you for it.’

Magic? That was actually a good word for it.

But Callie hadn’t imagined it would be persuasive in terms of getting shooting permission. In fact, Callie had been pretty sure that little kiss had broken any chance of using the place ever again. Or talking to Mae. Or being allowed in the village at all. Maybe even the region.

‘Neil,’ she said slowly, ‘I really didn’t try to—’

‘Doesn’t matter!’ Neil barrelled over her. ‘All that matters is that we can salvage this episode. We owe you big time. Bring your A-game today, yeah? We need sparks.’

‘Sparks,’ Callie echoed flatly.