Right into the pool.
Unfortunately, the sound tech tried to catch her and ended up toppling in after her with a shriek. The water was warm, a shock only in its suddenness. Madeline surfaced, sputtering, her hair plastered to her face, her linen shirt clinging to her like a second skin.
The sound tech popped up beside her, laughing so hard she could barely tread water. “Oh my God,” she gasped. “That was incredible.”
Madeline laughed too. “I think I invented a new genre. Accidental slapstick drama.”
“Definitely Oscar-worthy,” the sound tech said, still giggling. From the edge of the pool, a small crowd had gathered, including Kel.
With a groan, Madeline pushed her hair back. “Someone please tell me Ruthi isn’t standing there.”
“She’s not,” Kel called, stepping to the edge and offering a towel. “But there’s a camera guy who definitely got it on video.”
“Perfect.” Madeline took the towel and climbed out, dripping and mortified. “Can we edit that into the commercial? Maybe under the banner of transformation through humiliation?”
Kel grinned and handed her another towel. “You okay?”
“I think my dignity is floating somewhere near the deep end,” Madeline said. “But other than that? Never better.”
As she toweled off and tried not to think about how transparent her shirt had become, Madeline caught sight of Ruthi standing a little beyond the tent, arms crossed, and her eyes hidden behind her sunglasses. She was watching and though she said nothing, Madeline swore the corner of her mouth twitched upward. A little.Maybe, Madeline thought,not everything today was a disaster after all.
The jeep rumbledalong the narrow dirt road. Kel sat in the backseat, wedged between Madeline and a large coil of extra cable that hadn’t made it into the equipment truck. In front of them, Ruthi Shay sat in the front passenger seat, arms folded, jaw tight, and her sunglasses back in place like a shield. No one spoke. In fact, Ruthi hadn’t said a word since they’d left the cove. Not about the site, the lighting, or the test shots. Not even about Madeline’s impromptu dive into the pool, which Kel had expected to be the subject of at least one dry remark. Instead, Ruthi had been quiet, as if she were distracted and had something other than making the commercial on her mind.Iguess I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth,Kel thought.The less she attacks Madeline, the better.
Kel felt Madeline’s warm body beside her. She smelled like salt and coconut and something floral. She’d been laughing a little earlier, teasing herself about the fall, but now she sat quiet too, her gaze fixed out the open side of the jeep, wind tugging strands of hair across her face. The road curved sharply, and the driver slowed to navigate a rocky patch of terrain. They were halfway around the bend when the jeep jolted hard, the left rear tire thudding over something that felt like a boulder. The vehicle lurched sideways, and Kel instinctively threw an arm across Madeline’s waist to steady her.
Then came the unmistakable hiss of air escaping. The jeep groaned to a halt. “Of course,” Ruthi muttered, already unbuckling her seatbelt with a snap. “Of course we get a flat in the middle of the damned jungle.”
Leaning forward, Kel took a look. Sure enough, the rear tire sagged, deflated and useless. The driver climbed out with a grimace and moved to the back, muttering about the spare and the jack.
Ruthi was already out of the jeep, pacing in the dust. “Unbelievable,” she barked. “We have three jeeps, and I end up in the one that can’t make it through a pothole.”
The second jeep, which had been following at a short distance, rolled to a stop behind them. A few crew members leaned out, curious but unsurprised. Ruthi strode toward it like a general inspecting her troops. She yanked open the passenger door and pointed at the nearest person. “Out.”
“Uh—what?”
“I am not spending the next forty-five minutes watching someone fumble with a jack in the dirt,” Ruthi said. “Out. I’m taking this seat.”
The guy scrambled out, and Ruthi climbed in without another word, slamming the door behind her. The jeep rolled away a moment later, leaving a trail of dust in its wake.
For a beat, Kel stared after it, then turned to Madeline with a look. “Well, that was subtle.”
“I think she’s going for the Most Dramatic Exit award,” Madeline said with a laugh.
“She’s definitely winning,” Kel said with a smile.
They sat in silence for a moment, the sun dipping lower, casting long shadows across the road. Madeline’s shirt had dried in the heat, but the memory of her fall into the pool was still vivid in Kel’s brain. The water clinging to her skin. The way she’d laughed, like she wasn’t even aware of how gorgeous she looked. Kel tried not to think about it. She failed. “You were great today,” she said, surprising herself.
Madeline turned to her, brows lifted. “You mean before or after I took out a sound tech and face-planted into the deep end?”
“Before. During. After.” Kel said with a wink. “All of it.”
Tilting her head, Madeline studied her. “You always say the right thing, you know that?” she said and Kel’s heart skipped a beat.
“Only when I mean it.”
Looking away, Madeline’s smile shifted into something softer, more thoughtful. “You’ve always been good at that,” she said. “Making me feel like I’m not completely screwing everything up.”
“You’re not,” Kel said quietly. Madeline’s gaze returned, locking with hers. For a heartbeat, neither looked away.
