Tasha noticed Lettie give Callum a slight nod. ‘Callum has something he wants to ask you though, so I’ll leave you two to talk business.’
Intrigued, Tasha waited for him to speak.
He stared at her for a moment, and she wasn’t sure whether she should say something. Then Callum said, ‘Sorry, I don’t mean to ambush you. I thought that as you keep Riley’s diary maybe you were the person to ask whether you thought he might consider coming on my show for an interview and if he would, when he was free to do it.’
‘I see,’ she said, trying to work out how difficult it might be to persuade Riley to do as Callum asked. ‘It’s difficult to say without speaking to him first and checking his availability, but I can let you know either way sometime tomorrow, if that suits you.’
He seemed surprised for a moment. ‘That would be perfect. Thanks, Tasha.’
‘Do you have a preferred contact number, or should I phone the radio station direct?’
Callum shook his head. ‘No, I’ll give you my number.’
‘Hey, Callum.’
Tasha and Callum looked over to the tall, sandy-haired man striding towards them, who Tasha now knew to be Lettie’s partner, Brodie, who was also the local vet. He slapped Callum on the back.
‘How’s things with you?’
‘Good, thanks.’
‘Hi, Tasha,’ Brodie said. ‘How’s everything going? Only two weeks of filming left, isn’t it?’
She nodded, sad at the prospect of leaving the pretty island. ‘I wasn’t pleased at first to have an extra couple of weeks added to the schedule, but the weather has been amazing and I’m hoping the added time here gives me the opportunity to see a bit more of the place.’
‘I hope you do get to see more of it. There’s a lot to see despite the island only being nine miles by five in size.’
‘If you do have any free time,’ Callum said quietly, ‘I’d be happy to show you a few of my favourite places.’
‘There you go,’ Brodie said. ‘I know Lettie would offer, as would I, but there’s so much going on at the veterinary practice and of course here. And there’s Isla.’
Touched by their willingness to make her visit as enjoyable as possible, Tasha raised her free hand. ‘I completely understand.’
She smiled at Callum, wanting to accept his offer but unsure whether it was a good idea if the effect he had on her after such a brief meeting was anything to go by. It wasn’t as if she would be staying here much longer, let alone her promise to herself not to get involved with anyone unless there was a real chance of the pair of them having a future together. She had been caught out like that with her last serious relationship, with Toby, and that break-up took her far longer to get over than she had expected. It was part of the reason she had left the bank where they had both worked for five years and gone into a completely different line of work.
‘No need to make up your mind yet,’ Callum said, seeming to sense her reticence. ‘But you have my number now if you do want to take me up on the offer.’
It was kind of him to let her off the hook so easily. ‘Thanks, I’ll do that.’
3
CALLUM
Callum hoped he hid his embarrassment well enough for Tasha and Brodie not to notice. Why had he been so quick to offer to take her out? Fool. He was acting like an awkward schoolboy for some reason and that wasn’t like him at all.
‘Well, I’d better be going. If Riley does want to do the interview, just let me know.’ She nodded. ‘See you soon, Brodie. Please say my goodbyes to Lettie and Lindy.’
‘Will do, mate.’
As he made his way back to his car, Callum couldn’t help thinking how quickly life could change. Or his emotions at least. He had been happily single for the past couple of years ever since his engagement had ended abruptly when Zena decided spending the rest of her life in Jersey wasn’t something she intended doing. He had thought it an excuse at the time, but she had gone travelling with a girlfriend and the last he heard of her she was living in Australia somewhere.
Callum saw Zac and Lettie’s father, Gareth, taking Spud – the family’s dog – into the house and waved. He thought about Zac, Lettie’s brother and his best friend since primary school, and how most of his teens had been spent on this beautiful farm and how close Gareth and Lindy had come to selling up only the year before. He looked around him at the beautiful granite house, the colourful flowers and the two larger barns and smaller outbuildings, one of which Gareth had let Zac, Callum and two other friends who made up their band use for practice several nights a week after school.
He was relieved they had found a solution as to who would take over the farm after Gareth’s health scare and had been as surprised as the rest of Zac’s family when Lettie gave up her life in London working in fashion to return to the island and run the farm.
He got into his car and drove slowly back down the drive, not wishing to cause any dust or noise as he went in case they had begun filming again. Apart from travelling with Zac just after they had both gained their degrees at university, going away on annual holidays and the odd photo shoot for his modelling, Callum had only lived away from Jersey for a brief two-year period and had since been content to stay on the island. Unlike Zac who spent most of his time touring as a sound engineer.
Callum drove back to his two-bedroomed flat. The mortgage had been painfully high at first, but ever since he had worked on a popular radio show and gained a large number of followers on social media, he had been able to earn more. He understood why Lettie didn’t mind returning to live on the island after spending several years away working in fashion in the capital, and Callum was grateful that now he earned better money life had become much easier. Yes, he decided, his life might not be perfect, but it was good, and the last thing he needed was to let his attraction for Tasha Dodds get the better of him, because her life wasn’t over here and he had no wish to move away.
