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‘Exactly!’ She beamed, relieved that he understood.

A check-in desk had been set up under a canopy by the ranch house. She presumed the talent and ‘higher ups’ would be staying inside the larger house, while the rest of the cast and crew would be in the cabins. There was a large row by the main house with paths and wooden signposts leading to other blocks of cabins within the woods.

They approached the desk where Kirra was sat with Lexi from the production office.

‘Hey Kirra, you part of the welcoming party now?’ asked Hannah curiously.

Kirra grunted, unamused. ‘The runner has the shits and I’m helping out for the next half hour. Got nothing better to do apparently.’

‘You two are in ranch block Crocodile. They’re all named after animals,’ said Lexi, handing Hannah a radio and both sets of keys as Kirra ticked their names off a long list. ‘Breakfast is between five thirty and six thirty. Snacks for the day are provided at breakfast. Lunch is at twelve for an hour. We recommend you stay out of the sun or use plenty of sun protection between ten a.m. and four p.m. Dinner is at six p.m. – again, for an hour.’

Kirra handed Caleb a stapled information booklet, her voice even more deadpan than usual. ‘In here, you’ll find emergency numbers, itinerary, map and information about the local area. Your cabin has a bathroom – lucky you – but the main toilets and shower blocks are all highlighted in the booklet. See you at dinner.’

Caleb and Hannah knew they’d been dismissed and were shuffling to the side when Kirra added, ‘Hannah, you’re first aider for the ranch house and blocks Koala, Crocodile and Python. I’m covering the others. The medical trailer will be near the film site, but you have your general medkit with you, right?’

‘It’s in the car.’

Kirra frowned but nodded. ‘Make sure you have it on you at all times, as well as the radio. This isn’t an excuse for a vacation.’

Hannah nodded, a little surprised by the censure in Kirra’s voice. ‘I know,’ she said, and Kirra gave a stern nod of acceptance.

‘Good.’

As they moved away to get their luggage out of the car, Hannah muttered, ‘What was that about?’

Caleb shrugged. ‘Maybe she says that to all the crew who’ve never worked location before. Sometimes people forget that we’re still technically working out here.’

‘Oh, okay.’ But Hannah couldn’t shake the feeling she’d been given a reprimand for a mistake she’d had no idea about making.

‘Hey, Hannah! How’s it diddling?’ shouted a familiar Essex accent that had her heart racing, and not in a good way.

‘What the—?’ Hannah began to say, but an overly friendly clap to her shoulder had her stumbling forward a step before she could turn around.

Patrick, aka Pat Down Under, leapt around her to stand in their way. ‘SURPRISE!’ he bellowed, making her flinch. ‘So good to see you, Han-babe! This is such an awesome opportunity!’

‘What?’ She felt like she was in the airport again, seeing an unexpected blast from her past. Except this one she most definitely wouldn’t be taking a sneaky photo of. She’d hoped to erase this man from her life entirely, starting with her profile grid. Damn it! She should have deleted that sunset picture after all – stop him from returning to haunt her. Why the hell was Patrick acting like any of this was okay?

‘Hey! You’re Lucas Richards’s double, right?’ Patrick stuck out his hand, and when Caleb nodded and clasped it back with a confused expression, Patrick gave it a hard shake with an additional bicep grab that reminded her of a sleazy politician trying to out-man another man.

Caleb stared down at his gyrating arm, unimpressed.

Eventually, to everyone’s relief, Patrick let go and grinned idiotically in that ‘cheeky chappy’ Essex-lad way of his – it was infuriating. ‘Honour to meet you, big fella! I’m Patrick, Pat Down Under? You might have heard of me. Hannah and I were mates in Sydney. Wow! The make-up guys are really good, aren’t they? I mean other than being ripped – you aren’t exactly Lucas’s twin, are ya?’

He laughed again, and Hannah seemed to return to her body with a bang.

Hannah and I were mates in Sydney? What? Mates?

As if they’d been nothing more than a friendly interlude. Perhaps to Patrick, that’s all they’d been. And was Patrick calling Caleb ugly? Would Caleb think she’d made up her relationship with Patrick? That she was a sad loser who couldn’t accept a friends with benefits situationship?

Was she going mad? Was she dead and in hell?

Patrick certainly was her idea of the fiery pit.

‘What are you doing here?’ she squeaked, and she almost added for Caleb’s benefit, I had nothing to do with this!

‘Well, you looked like you were having such a great time. I had to come and join you!’

‘As a medic?’ asked Caleb, and she could tell by the deepening lines on his brow and the downturn of his mouth that he was also less than impressed to be staying on the same ranch as Pat Down Under.