48
CALLUM
The next morning Callum’s phone vibrated, interrupting them kissing. Callum stifled a groan. He tried to ignore it but the caller was determined to wait until someone answered. Thankfully the ringing stopped as the call went to voicemail.
‘Maybe you should answer it?’ Tasha said, resting a hand on his stomach and making Callum think that was the last thing he wanted to do at that moment.
‘It’s not seven yet,’ she said, giving him a sympathetic smile. ‘For someone to call this early could mean there’s an emergency.’
‘Ever the professional,’ he said, kissing her on the tip of her nose. ‘I suppose I should see who it is.’
He moved away from her reluctantly and reached out to pick up his phone. Then, seeing it was his mother who had a tendency to call at inopportune moments, thought he would call her back in a bit. Before he had the chance to ask Tasha to continue with what she had been saying, a message pinged onto his screen.
Call me. Urgent. It’s about your sister. See attached pics. Mum
Callum sighed. What had Erin done now that couldn’t wait until later in the morning? ‘I’m sorry. It seems that my sister has done something that’s concerned my mother. I need to look at some photos Mum has sent me.’
‘Go ahead.’
Tasha turned on her side, facing away from him, the skin of her thigh grazing his lightly as she moved, resting her bottom against his hip.
Callum’s breath caught in his throat and for a moment he wondered if he could leave the photos just for a little while.
No, he should do the right thing. He closed his eyes, frustrated with his mother’s interruption, then opened the photos, frowning when he saw photos of Erin at a party with Riley. He began to feel irritated with his mother for getting irate about perfectly innocent photos, when he swiped to the next one and saw what had upset her.
‘What the hell?’
Tasha immediately turned to face him. ‘What’s happened?’ she asked, sitting up and peering at his phone screen. She gasped.
He stared at his sister. Riley stood beaming at her, his arm around her waist as Erin held out her hand to the woman he recognised as the make-up artist who had prepared him for his few short scenes. Erin beamed at the woman who gazed in awe at the large diamond solitaire engagement ring on his sister’s finger. It wasn’t so much seeing that, but the wedding band next to it that shocked Callum. It took him a moment to comprehend what this meant.
‘They’re married?’
‘It certainly looks that way,’ Tasha said, sounding as stunned as he felt.
He tore his eyes from the photo and stared in disbelief at Tasha. ‘When could they have done it?’ A dark thought wafted into his mind. Callum tried to push it away but after discovering that Tasha had not immediately alerted him or Erin about Brooke after the drama of the photos of his sister and Riley kissing being in all the papers, he knew he needed to address what was on his mind.
Before he could say anything, Tasha’s expression darkened. ‘No, I did not have any prior warning about this, if that’s what you’re about to ask me.’
He was relieved she had been the one to say it, removing the need for him to do so.
Callum looked from her to the photos again. ‘I know,’ he said, feeling guilty for even considering that she might have known without trying to do something about it. Although what Tasha could realistically do, he wasn’t sure. ‘I’m going to have to call Mum. She’ll be beside herself about this.’
Tasha held out her hand, so he passed the phone to her. She peered at the photo and shook her head. ‘This must have been taken at the wrap party. I forgot that was happening last night.’ She scowled up at him. ‘Someone from the party probably took this and sold it to one of the newspapers. They didn’t waste any time, did they?’ She picked up her own phone from the nightstand next to her. ‘Send me this, will you?’
He forwarded the photo to her, wondering what she was about to do with it.
‘I’m going to contact a couple of the crew and see what they can tell me,’ Tasha explained.
‘Thanks.’
Callum slipped out of bed, pulled on his underwear and went into the kitchen to call her.
‘Mum?’ he said, keeping his voice low.
‘Oh, so you are there then?’
‘I know you’re upset, Mum, but until we speak to Erin there’s not much I can add to what you’ve already seen.’
