So she forced a smile. It felt like a foreign language. ‘Yeah,’ she heard herself say. ‘Okay.’
The boy looked surprised. ‘Yeah?’
‘Sure.’ Mae shrugged. ‘Why not?’
They exchanged details. He left looking thrilled. And Mae stood behind the counter, feeling not quite as ecstatic. If she had to define her feeling, it was resignation.
Her dad poked his head out from the back. ‘Everything all right, love?’
‘Yeah,’ Mae said, wiping her palms on her apron. ‘Fine.’
She wasn’t fine. But for the first time in days, she wasn’t stuck, either. She had a date. And that meant she was moving forward, even if she had no idea where she was going.
Fourteen
Now
Callie was halfway through her cereal, still blearily scrolling through messages on her phone, when there was a knock on the back door. Hannah, wearing a penguin onesie, opened it. She gave a startled shriek when she saw Neil at the door, as if he might have a camera in his hand. Then she fled upstairs.
‘Morning, team,’ Neil said cheerfully, stepping into the kitchen as if he lived there. He did not refer to the screaming tween.
Her stepdad looked up from his toast and gave Neil a polite nod. Her mum handed him a mug of tea before he’d even shrugged off the cold.
‘Are we doing more filming today?’ her mother asked.
‘Callie is,’ Neil said, taking a sip of tea. ‘Sam’s coming today.’
Callie knew Sam was coming, but she tensed at his name.
‘We’re shooting the morning segment at the bakery,’ Neil continued. ‘The date scene, then the baking lesson.’
Callie blinked. ‘Sorry… what lesson?’
‘The baking lesson,’ he said, as if this were obvious. ‘You and Sam are learning something simple. Scones or something. It’ll look great.’
Callie felt the slow, cold realisation drip down her spine.
‘Who,’ she said as calmly as she could, ‘exactly is giving us this lesson?’
Neil smiled, oblivious. ‘Mae, of course. We put in the request yesterday.’
Callie’s stomach lurched so violently she had to grip the edge of the table.
Mae. Teaching her. Teaching Sam. In the bakery. On camera.
Her mum tutted. ‘She’s never been much of a cook.’
Despite the rising dread of the day ahead, Callie couldn’t allow her mother’s comment to pass. ‘Oh? You never complained when I was putting dinner on the table for you and George seven nights a week, all those years,’ she shot at the woman.
Her mother’s smile started slipping ever so slightly. ‘I worked nights,’ she told Neil.
‘Four nights a week. Andyet,’ Callie said. She suddenly realised everyone was looking at her. Including Neil.
Hannah came down, fully dressed and hair tidy, in record time. She looked around her, noting the vibe.
‘What’s up?’ she asked.
‘Nothing,’ her mother said quickly.
