‘Oh!’
Spencer gasped. His mouth went inexplicably dry and his aorta did double duty as Emily emerged in the pale-pink bee suit.Belle’s bee suit.
‘Where did you get that?’
The words came out sharper than he’d meant, and Emily’s face fell. It was only then he noticed that her eyes were already red-rimmed.
‘Great, so as well as wearing those clown shoes, where I’m likely to go arse up on national TV, now I’m in the wrong bee suit? I don’t know where Dana got it, I’m just doing what I’m told, which isn’t as much fun as it looks.’
Spencer took another breath through gritted teeth. He rarely spoke Belle’s name, and was adept at changing the topic whenever the producers or contestants pried in that direction, but seeing someone in his late wife’s clothing was next-level painful.
Even worse than seeing Clem Crossley at Jeff and Mia’s barbecues …
There was one consolation, in that Emily was distinctly taller and a different complexion to Belle, but that didn’t stop his brain from serving up memories of the last time he’d seen that same pink suit.
Emily studied him.
‘Hey, are you okay?’
Again, Spencer felt out of his depth amid the constantly shifting sea of emotions, the scrutiny of the film crew, the pressure to uphold his standards when each lady was offering her affection in this strange, fast-tracked relationship.
Emily stepped towards him, gently tugged his crossed arms apart and burrowed into his chest. And while he wasn’t keen on the overt affection Ginger and Hope had tried to offer, he couldn’t stand there like a robot when one of the women was upset, or when Emily was offering him the same support.
Is this for real or for show?Why was he finding it so hard to discern between the two?
Emily snuggled into his chest. ‘This seems a lot less brutal when you’re watching it happen to someone else on TV, in the comfort of your own lounge room. The start of the week,and the aftermath of those farewell dinners, is the worst. I was pretty sure you weren’t sending me home Sunday, but there’s always that “what if?” moment. And after yesterday’s ridiculous four-wheel drive challenge, I’m about cooked.’
Spencer knew exactly how she felt. He was maxed out trying to juggle the full house. He’d chosen five confident, capable and hard-working ladies, but living with them, and the dynamic nature of the experiment, had been a steep learning curve.
Hope—the first to leave—had been lovely but full-on and she’d failed to mention she was scared of sheep until the day they were filming in the sheep yards, while Ginger had a habit of sharing too much information about previous lovers and medical dramas, especially after too many drinks.
Which left Kyra, Madeleine and Emily as the last three ladies in this crazy experiment …
Emily burrowed her hands into the pockets of his bee suit and for the first time since they’d begun filming, Spencer didn’t step away.
‘You sure floored it across the muddy obstacle course,’ he said, turning his thoughts to the four-wheel-drive challenge. ‘Addison looked like she was about to lose her breakfast when you pulled up, and I’m pretty sure you went even faster with me in the passenger seat.’
‘Guilty as charged.’ She laughed. ‘I shouldn’t have been showing off, given the other girls are as likely to become rally car drivers as they are agronomists, but I’ve tackled a few boggy paddocks over the years. I’m not scared of getting my hands—or my ute—dirty.
‘Maybe we can call off the whole thing, and you can choose me now, put everyone else out of their misery and banish the film crews. I’ve seen it done on previous seasons,’ she said.
‘Maybe.’ He chuckled.
Emily tilted her face up to him, her blue eyes bright. A tentative smile crossed her lips. ‘Do you mean that?’
Do I?Spencer suddenly craved his rowdy classroom. Restoring order to a room full of teenagers was easier than keeping track of his flip-flopping emotions.
He looked up, the moment lost when he saw two cameras filming from different directions and Dana shaking her head, frowning as she noted something down on her clipboard.
Of course they were listening in. When weren’t they?
‘Sorry kiddos,’ Dana said. ‘No can do. We’ve already lost a farmer this season and there’re a few legal issues with a frontrunner in the Tassie bloke’s circle. Get cosy, have as many of those little deep and meaningfuls as you like, but this train is running all the way to the station. Strap in and enjoy the ride. And put those ruddy boots on, Emily, then let’s get this filming wrapped before my fingertips freeze off!’
Dana consulted her notepad again, murmured more instructions into the microphone attached to her earpiece, then glanced at Spencer.
‘How about we film some B-roll while we’re waiting. Make-up, over here!’
Within moments, a camera tripod was locked into position and the sound guy was holding the fluffy microphone above Spencer’s head.
