‘Don’t tell him that. I want him to fear me. It’s the only way I can get him to rinse the sink after he brushes his teeth.’
They lapsed into an easy quiet, the kind that only existed under the tree. Callie watched her, thinking,Should I bring it up?
‘If you let him teach you how to make bread, he’ll think you’re staying,’ Callie said eventually.
‘I know,’ Mae said quietly.
Callie’s bum cheeks clenched tight as she asked. ‘Areyou staying?’
Mae looked at her. ‘No,’ she said quietly.
The word landed, and, for a heartbeat, Callie couldn’t tell whether it was relief or terror she felt most.
Mae drew her knees up, wrapping her arms around them, gaze fixed on the pond. ‘I’m going with you,’ Mae said into the pond.
‘Mae,’ Callie said, her smile growing to Cheshire cat proportions. ‘This is going to be great.’
Mae reached out then, grabbing Callie’s hand. ‘I think so too. But Jesus, the thought of telling my dad makes me feel sick.’
Callie heard doubt. ‘You don’t have to do this for me.’
‘I know,’ Mae said immediately. ‘I want this. I want to go with you. I love you, and I want to go with you.’
Callie was so relieved she could cry. ‘I love you too.’
Mae leaned in, forehead resting against Callie’s. ‘It will be okay, won’t it? He won’t, like, disown me?’
Callie tutted. ‘My mum and your dad are going to be unhappy, but we’re adults. They need to let us go.’
Mae smiled, then kissed her. It felt like a promise.
Thirty-One
Now
The swing door pushed inwards, and the volume of Sam Grey’s voice shocked Mae anew. A boom dipped overhead, a camera tried to be unobtrusive in the corner and utterly failed.
‘Oh my God, look at this!’ he cried, stopping dead just inside the threshold. ‘It’s like an actual kitchen. With… things.’
‘That’s the technical term,’ Callie said dryly, following him in.
Mae had braced herself for this moment, but the reality—if you could use that word in this context without laughing—was a lot.
The make-up was doing its job; Callie looked put together, every angle softened just enough for the lens. Only Mae, apparently, could see the faint tightness around her mouth, the way her shoulders held a fraction higher than usual.
Their eyes met, just for a heartbeat.
Everything in Mae went very, very still.
‘And this,’ Callie said smoothly, turning back to the camera, ‘is Mae. She’s the one who actually knows what she’s doing.’
Mae forced her face into something that felt like a smile. ‘Only when it comes to dough.’
That got a little laugh from Sam. Mae wondered if he even knew what he was laughing at.
But Callie wasn’t laughing. Nope.
‘Hi,’ he said, stepping forward, hand out. ‘I’m Sam. I’m sorry in advance for what I’m about to do to your kitchen.’ He shot a look at Callie, and she dutifully laughed.
