“I’ll be fine. There she is,” he said upon sighting the cat, then squatted as Buttercup approached.
After sniffing and licking his hand, the cat slid against his leg, purring softly.
Chloe scowled at the animal. “Really? You come out of hiding forhim? She’s been mad at me for being gone all day yesterday.”
He scratched Buttercup’s neck. “Aw, that was my fault, honey. You shouldn’t take it out on Mommy.”
“Someone needs to remember who does the feeding around here.” Chloe opened a can of chow—the good stuff, mind you—and placed it in the cat’s dish.
That got Buttercup’s attention.
“And don’t you forget it,” Chloe said as the cat dug into the food.
Liam washed his hands while Chloe finished their drinks, then they sat at the table.
“Were you recognized at the donut shop?”
“I don’t think so. They had a variety of chocolate donuts, so I got them all.”
“I haven’t met a chocolate donut I didn’t like.” She selected the chocolate-frosted custard and bit in. “Yum.”
“These are good.”
“Doreen makes the best donuts in the world. Her work hours are the pits though.”
“Do you know everyone in town?”
“Just about. It’s a small community till the tourists arrive in the summer.”
“Do the townspeople hate that?”
“Oh, we take the good with the bad. Fact is, most businesses—ours included—couldn’t survive without them. If we have longer lines and packed beaches, that just goes with the territory. Summer weekends get really crowded around here.”
“Speaking of weekends, most of the cast and crew will be arriving Saturday.”
Chloe was starting to get nervous about the filming. “That’s what Simone said. I don’t really know what to expect. I’ve never been on a set before. What’s it like?”
“You’ll get the hang of it. You’ve probably been told we film out of chronological order. It’s about location and actor availability. Andthey try to keep the filming locations fairly close to each other because moving is a huge production. We’re talking like ten massive trucks full of equipment. If we have a few scenes set in one location, we film them together whenever possible, even if one’s at the beginning of the movie and one’s at the end. There are quite a few takes of each scene to make sure they’re getting the right coverage for editing. It’s time-consuming. Some long days. But you’ll be amazed how the crew works together so efficiently. And I will say the table reading went exceptionally well.”
“That’s what Simone said.” Chloe took a bite of her donut.
“Will you be on set every day?”
She finished chewing and swallowed. “As much as I can, given my job hours. Do you know Daisy very well?”
“I’ve met her a few times, but I can’t say I really know her. She has a good reputation for working hard and she’s very talented.”
“I agree.”
He cocked an eyebrow, watching her closely. “So you weren’t concerned aboutherrole in the movie?”
Chloe’s face heated. “It’s not that. It’s just that Ledger is really the key to making this story work. He’s the one the readers swooned over.”
“So you said. And you didn’t think I could pull it off.”
“I’ve hardly even seen you on-screen at all!”
His eyebrows shot up. “Ouch.”
