The camera cut to a clip of Spencer and Emily in bee suits, the tiny snippet they’d captured before Emily’s headache had put an end to that day’s filming.
Dolly looked up from the plush bed as he threw his hands into the air after the next line.
‘I didn’t say that.’ He felt wrong-footed.
His voice continued, more confident as they overlaid B-roll footage from his challenge date with Emily, the pair of them in swimsuits, kissing in the outdoor spa overlooking her family’s orchard. ‘But love’s got a way of sneaking in when you least expect it,’ he said on screen.
Spencer’s stomach lurched. They hadn’t exactly dubbed his words, but the sentences were from several different conversations. The way they’d strung those two lines together made it seem as if he’d said them in the same breath.
He reached for the phone, relieved when Clem answered immediately.
‘It’s even worse than I thought,’ Clem said, her voice thick. From the sound of things, she was blocked up. Or was she crying?
‘I’m sorry, Clem, they’ve edited me. I never said I was falling for her, and I don’t know how much you want to know about what went on in the show, but seeing a Franken-edit like that makes me sick.’
‘Well, it isn’t exactly fun watching you snuggling with someone else. My decision to avoid watching was a wise one.’
He wished he could wrap his arms around her, see her face, gauge her reaction in person.
‘Please remember, Clem, this happened before things developed between you and me, and now it’s feeling like it might wreck everything. And we’re not even up to the final episodes yet.’
Clem was silent, and he wasn’t at all sure that was a good thing.
‘If it’s any consolation, Emily and I only kissed once or twice in the whole seven weeks of filming.’
Spencer felt like a scumbag, and though he didn’t elaborate on the fortnightafterthe final commitment ceremony, he and Clem both knew more had occurred then.
‘I don’t know why I’m surprised. I was there, feeding people, and obviously I knew that was the whole point of the program. I figured I might be in for a few shocks when it went to air, but thinking about it and watching it are two different things.’
She sneezed, then went on. ‘I really like you, Spencer, maybe that’s why it hit me so hard seeing you two in the spa.’
He felt desperately hopeful at her words. ‘I wish you could come around to my place.’
Clem’s soft laugh was soothing. ‘Not with two sleeping kiddos at home. Besides, you don’t want to come near me with this cold.’
By the time they finished talking, the credits were rolling. Why was he worrying about things he had no control over? Whatever the producers had created, they were going to air it, whether he was on board or not. It wasn’t real life, it was just constructed storylines and drama running under the dubious banner of reality TV. Just like Clem had predicted.
The important things, like his students, family, theatre group, his relationship with Clem, deserved so much more of his time and energy, not some trashy program that only vaguely resembled real life. Spencer reached for the remote and switched off the television.
Despite the conversation she’d had with Spencer on Monday night, Clem spent the following day in bed feeling sick and sorry for herself, and before long, the temptation to watch the previous episodes ofLove on the Landproved too hard to resist.
When the latest episode had finished, feeling thoroughly miserable, she pulled on a dressing gown, shoved tissues up her nose to save having to blow it constantly, and limped her aching body to the bathroom.
Harriet knew to get the bus home tonight, but Jack hadn’t responded to her SOS for Indi’s daycare pick-up.
Must be out of range,she groaned, swallowing another two Codral. She messaged Mia, who was in Adelaide, Isobel, who was babysitting in Mount Gambier, and then Hazel, who didn’t respond.
Clem groaned at the sight of her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She certainly wasn’t going to ask Sebastian, not when he was dark on her for rostering Selina on to help him with last night’s catering job.
I’d be mad at me as well, if I were him.She ran through her overflowing mental list.
Could I ask Spencer to collect Indi?
Clem shook her head. Those TV contestants had been gorgeous, even when they were in dirty work clothes, being put to the test with less-than-flattering duties around the farm. And after watching them on screen all day, there was no way she needed Spencer seeing her in this state.
When the bus came and went with no sign of Harriet, Clem had no choice. She switched her dressing gown for a jacket, tugged the zip up over her PJs and ditched the tissues before braving the outdoors.
‘Brrr, it’s like ice out here.’ She shivered, putting the Jeep’s heaters on high.
