‘All hail Hetty, most powerful queen of Karadow,’ said Ella. Hetty had been so resourceful in swapping her and Nick into the roles of Hortensia and Arthur at the last minute that everyone on set practically knelt in her presence. She was a brilliant director and super easy to work with.
‘You’re in a funny mood this morning,’ said Hetty.
Perched on the stone balustrade of the terrace and cradling a coffee in her hands, Ella pulled a face. ‘My knees are knocking and my stomach is on spin cycle.’
‘The seduction?’
‘Yes.’ Ella hid her face in her coffee cup, secretly wishing she could get out of doing it.
‘Don’t worry. I’ve been going over things with the intimacy coordinator, and I’ve decided to make some small changes.’
‘Are you scrapping the scene?’ Ella stood up and paced back and forth in her eighteenth-century petticoat. ‘I mean, it has nothing to add, right?’ She felt a tinge of prudishness, but cringed at the thought of Nick, or worse still Layla, objecting to the love scene, although in their shoes she wouldn’t blame them. ‘Did Nick ask for this?’
Hetty smiled kindly. ‘No, of course he didn’t. You’ve got the jitters. It’s been a crazy week. But, believe me, I’m pleased with the results. So far, the dailies are awesome. And the fact is the seduction is crucial. We’re filming it last, but it opens the movie, it’s the set-up, it’s incredibly important we get it right.’
Ella gritted her teeth.
‘However,’ said Hetty, ‘I think the scene will be more atmospheric and feed into the story’s mysterious paranormal elements if we film in a low, shadowy light. I have someone blacking out the windows in the room we’re using. We’ll turn day into twilight, and take it from there, keep things subtle and mostly implied. We’ll stick with the closed set – so no unnecessary by-standers. You’ve worked on a closed set before?’
Ella shook her head. ‘Will you give permission for Jessie to be there?’
‘Yes, if you like.’ She looked puzzled. ‘Whatever works.’
* * *
Ella and Nick were sitting together, wearing toweling robes over their eighteenth-century undergarments, waiting, during one of the long pauses while Hetty and the production crew considered camera angles and light conditions and whatever else they needed to discuss. They were doing one of Jessie’s crossword puzzles.
‘How did it go when your dad visited yesterday?’ Nick asked.
‘You’re not going to believe it. Get this, he’s written a song about me for his new album.’
Nick rubbed his temples and snort-laughed. ‘Don’t tell me. It’s terrible?’
‘He sent me a demo this morning.’ She got her phone out of a pocket and played the recording. ‘I quite like it.’
Nick listened and nodded approvingly.
‘What do you think?’ she said when the music stopped.
‘Cute melody. The lyrics are kind of nostalgic.’
‘He’s back into writing and producing. He’s doing something solo. I think he’s calmed down a lot. I’ve got a good feeling about his next marriage. I think it might actually last.’
Nick raised his eyebrows. He and Ella had high-maintenance parents in common. ‘Perhaps he’s changed. Sometimes people do.’
‘Did working with Drake get a thumbs-up?’
‘I wouldn’t say no to doing it again.’ Nick thought about it. Unlike his parents and his brother, he hadn’t trained to be an actor. That was another similarity between him and Ella. ‘All things considered, I suppose – yes.’ He went back to looking at the crossword. ‘Three across. Ghostly pachyderm. What’s that?’
‘It’s an animal. With a tough skin. Like a hippo.’
‘Ghostly though?’
‘Try rhinoceros.’
‘Not enough letters. Thirteen?’
‘Hippopotamus?’
He counted on his fingers. ‘That’s twelve.’
‘Let’s see.’ Jessie joined in. Even with minimum crew, no unnecessary by-standers, and the softer lighting, Ella found it hard to concentrate, and separate Nick from his character Arthur in her mind. She had hoped having Jessie on set would help ground her. Instead, she couldn’t forget her night with Callum, and everything about her current situation felt cringe-worthy. Jessie glanced over Nick’s shoulder at the half-completed puzzle. ‘White elephant,’ she said. ‘Like this blooming house.’
Ella didn’t understand. ‘Jessie, you love this house.’
The idea of buying Karadow Hall had been swirling around in Ella’s head, but as soon as she had spilled out her heart to Callum, her half-baked plan had turned sour. She felt deflated, and relieved that she hadn’t mentioned her thoughts to anyone else – especially Jessie.
‘It’s become a burden. I talked to an estate agent. She says the house is going to be difficult to sell.’
‘Surely developers will be queueing up to get their hands on it?’ Nick said.
‘The building’s listed. Turning it into holiday apartments, or anything like that, will cost a fortune. For there to be any profit in it for them, I’ll have to sell it for a song. I wasn’t expecting this. I thought when the time came the house would be my retirement plan, I have no other pension. Ella’s worked so hard…’
Her heart thumped. She hated to see Jessie disappointed.
‘The land around the house is protected, even some of the trees have preservation orders. And I won’t sell it for a boutique hotel, or anything like that, I couldn’t do that to Gary and Dylan. It wouldn’t be fair. I told that to the estate agent and she said it’s business and business isn’t fair. If only someone could follow through on Ella’s initiative, and turn it into a place for celebrating happy occasions. I’d love that.’
Ella hugged Jessie. ‘Don’t worry. There’s bound to be a solution.’ She mentally crossed her fingers that the right buyer would come along. It couldn’t be her though. Not anymore. If she stayed, she would always be thinking about Callum. It was time to put her unrealistic expectations behind her and start over, somewhere different.
Nick’s phone pinged. Layla had taken Evie to London for a few days to stay with Maggie and Alex and the twins. She’d messaged him with some photos of her and Maggie and the kids getting very messy with glitter and paint. And others, of the whole gang, including Nana Cassandra, feeding ducks in one of the London parks. He showed the pics to Jessie and Ella.
‘Places please, everyone.’
Nick switched off his phone and Jessie went back to her corner to continue the crossword puzzle.
After a quick once-over from the makeup artist, Ella and Nick shed their robes and took their positions on the four-poster bed.
The shoot wasn’t happening in the room Ella normally slept in, but the scenario gave her an odd feeling, and it wasn’t déjà vu. She shivered miserably.
‘Quiet on set please,’ called Hetty. ‘Three, two, one. And action!’
Nick leaned in close. His breath smelt of the mints he kept in the pocket of his robe. Hers did too. He said his line and his lips touched hers and she froze. They did the scene again and again and every single time she moved, or the bed creaked, or she giggled, or coughed, or forgot her words, until they’d done thirty-nine takes and she and Nick were in hysterics and the director was tearing her hair out.
‘Take forty. No. You know what? This isn’t working.’ Hetty looked weary.
‘Sorry,’ said Nick.
They both smiled at her apologetically.
Hetty looked at her watch. ‘I think you need a breather. In fact, we all do. Let’s break and pick this up after lunch.’
Muttering, the crew downed tools and left the room.
‘Heaven help us all,’ said Jessie. ‘No offence, but watching paint dry would be more fun. Do I have to come back this afternoon? I have a life, you know.’
‘Thanks for being here. But, no. You should go.’ Ella tied the belt on her robe, hugged Jessie, and turned to speak to Hetty. ‘I’m so sorry.’
Exasperated, Hetty pressed a hand to her forehead. ‘Please guys, figure out how to make this work. Because, with the utmost respect, I don’t know what’s happened, you used to be so good together onscreen. I thought the re-casting was a dream pairing. You’ve been pure gold until today.’
She looked about ready to jump off a cliff, and Ella felt terrible. ‘It’s not Nick. It’s me,’ she said.
Nick leapt to her defence. ‘A lot’s changed since we last worked together. Ella hasn’t worked on a scene like this before. She was more or less press-ganged into it.’
‘The same goes for you.’ Hetty’s face dropped, full of concern for them. ‘If that’s how you feel, maybe we should scrap the scene.’
‘Don’t do that. The opening will be messed up. It won’t have any impact,’ Nick said.
Hetty shrugged sadly. ‘We’ll cut around it.’
Ella felt dreadful. ‘I’m sorry, Hetty. I’ve been so featherbrained this morning. It’s not good enough.’ She needed to behave like a professional; otherwise, she shouldn’t have taken on the role in the first place. ‘A break’s a good idea. Don’t worry. We’ve got this.’
Ella and Nick collected some lunch from the catering caravan and sat together at a table away from everyone else.
‘I feel awful.’ She’d lost all the confidence she had earlier in the week. ‘The thing is Nick, I start kissing you, and then I keep thinking about Callum. And I get flustered and mess everything up.’
‘Aha. I knew it. I had a hunch about you and him. Where is he? Isn’t he joining us today?’
‘Nah.’ She shook her head. The couscous and Mediterranean vegetable salad on her plate looked tasty, but she wasn’t hungry.
‘Ella what’s happened? Spill the beans.’
‘He’s gone. I slept with him. It was a mistake. So, I asked him to leave.’ She lifted her water bottle, took a sip and set it down on the table with a clunk. He’d taken her to the edge of heaven. And she had tipped over and let in the joy of being with him. She felt so let down, by herself mainly. She couldn’t have got it more wrong if she’d been trying.
‘Are you crazy? Why’d you do that? You’re perfect together.’
She didn’t want to admit that she had gambled with her heart.
‘I’m too like my dad. Each one of his partners was “the one”. Until she wasn’t.’ In the past every time Wesley met someone new, they were made for each other until he got bored. ‘I lose my head too easily,’ she said dismissively.
‘That’s ridiculous. Do you really think that?’
‘What I think is – I’m not permanent relationship material. It’s not in my DNA.’
Nick raised a forkful of food to his mouth, but stopped halfway. ‘Rubbish.’ He lifted his fork and stopped again. ‘Suzi’s never been happier, and didn’t you just tell me Wesley is a new man?’
‘True. He’s making some big changes in the way he lives his life.’ Uncertainty nagged at her. ‘It’s all gone to pot with Callum. I can’t explain how that happened. Don’t ask me to.’ She picked up her fork and jabbed at the salad on her plate. ‘I’ll get over him. It’s no big deal. He’s not that special.’ She wanted to mean it. ‘Someone more special will come along. I’ll get a dating app.’
‘Wake up. Listen to yourself. There isn’t going to be a conveyor-belt delivering a line of Callum clones for you to choose from. He’s a one-off. And you know it. Call him.’
‘It’s hopeless. He doesn’t want anyone to fall in love with him and he’s going to live in China.’
‘Oh Ella!’
‘I know right?’ She got up from the table. ‘I’m going to take Juno to the cove.’
‘I’ll come with you.’
‘No. Stay there. I’ll see you later.’
Down on the beach, the tide was in, surrounding Callum’s rock, and a cormorant sat on the top, as still as a statue. She wondered what had happened to the rain that had been forecast.
Ella sat on the sand and watched the puppy scamper about, exploring the beach for the very first time. She was a fearless little thing, running around joyfully. She called her and Juno came bounding back. ‘Good girl. You know your name.’ Ella was impressed. Jessie, with help from Oliver and Callum, had been taking care of the puppy for the last few days. They’d done a good job. A bundle of brown and white fluff with a permanently waggy tail, Juno sat and looked up at Ella with eyes which she read as reproachful. ‘I know what you’re thinking. I shouldn’t have let Callum go like that.’ She got up reluctantly. Not quite ready to return to the set, she paced up and down on the spot scuffing the patch of sand under her feet.
Making her jump, Nick appeared next to her. ‘You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.’
‘I didn’t intend to.’
‘Why are you here?
‘Because the break ends in five minutes and I know you want to nail this scene.’ He put his arm around Ella’s shoulders. ‘When are you going to stop blaming yourself? For your dad failing you and your mum?’
She shrugged free. ‘I pick the wrong men.’
‘I’m sorry things didn’t work out with Callum.’
‘It’s not just him though, is it? He’s not my first bad choice.’
‘You mean Daniel? Oh, Ella! Stop it! You slipped up – once, I might add. You are not to blame because his wife got hurt. How could you be? You didn’t know she existed. And you got hurt too. He did that. Not you.’ He stopped for a second, and then spoke softly. ‘I haven’t said this before, but I think I’d better before it’s too late. The last couple of years it’s like you went into hiding. Why? Talk to me, Ella.’
Her mouth was as dry as if she’d eaten a handful of sand. Nick was right. She had been hiding, not just from being broken by love again, but from her life, all of it.
‘Look at me. I’m no good at anything. I can’t even get one stupid screen kiss right. I’m a has-been.’
‘Don’t talk bollocks.’ Nick laughed, which irritated her, even though he was trying to help.
‘You know what? I’ve had enough of this. You seem to think you know me better than I know myself.’
‘I know you pretty well.’
She stomped off towards the path to the house with Juno scampering along behind.
Catching up with her, like a magician, as if from out of nowhere, Nick produced a small bottle of scent and sprayed some in the air. Sweet and grassy, it wasn’t a fragrance she would choose for herself.
‘What is that?’
He handed her the bottle. ‘Work with me here. Spray some on your wrists and rub it into your pulse points.’
Huffily, she did as he said.
‘It’s the perfume Lily picked out for Hortensia. It was in the costume trailer. Must have got forgotten. I thought it might help.’
She sniffed her wrists and inhaled deeply. She got top notes of meadow flowers combined with wild summer grasses. She hadn’t been thinking straight. It was time to get the scene over and done with, and then she could put everything that had happened in Porthkara behind her. ‘Let’s get back on set and knock the crew’s socks off. One more take, that’s all they’re getting.
‘Believe me, that’s all they’ll need.’ Nick grinned conspiratorially, and scooped up Juno to carry her back up to the house. ‘Let’s do this.’
When they got back on set, makeup sorted, hair in place, and Hetty shouted “Action”, Ella lost herself in the part of ill-fated Hortensia seduced by the handsome, scheming squire.
Hetty yelled “Cut!” and whooped deliriously. ‘It’s a wrap. Well done everyone.’ The room erupted into enthusiastic – relieved – applause.
Ella pressed her fingers to her temples. ‘Phew,’ she said, ‘I’m glad that’s over.’
‘Same,’ said Nick.
They both laughed.
‘No offence.’
‘None taken.’
By the time Ella and Nick had changed and taken off their makeup, the dismantling of the set was well under way. Lights, cameras and equipment were being packed up and loaded into vans, the catering caravan and various other vehicles had already gone, and the area in front of Karadow Hall was steadily returning to normal.
‘Well done, guys, it was perfection, I couldn’t have asked for more.’ Hetty beamed, back to her usual, laid-back self, after her minor meltdown earlier.
‘I’m sorry it took so long,’ said Ella.
‘That’s alright. It happens.’ Hetty raised her eyebrows. ‘Actors, hey?’
Ella smiled. Until today she had stopped thinking of herself as an actor, still convinced that she was nothing more than a stand-in. That had changed. She had got her mojo back. And she wasn’t unhappy about it.
‘So. Where’s the wrap party?’ Nick smiled hopefully at Ella and Hetty.
Hetty looked sad. ‘There isn’t one.’
‘What? No party?’ Nick made a mock sulky face.
Hetty frowned. ‘The problem is we already had it. We celebrated at the other location with the lead actors. Drake’s back in Hollywood, and most everyone else has left or is about to.’ Across the “carpark” some of the crew were locked in a group hug, chanting something obscure which sounded like the oath of a bizarre secret sect. All of a sudden, they unlocked from what looked not unlike a rugby scrum, high-fived each other, practically bounced into a couple of four-by-fours, and headed off down the driveway. Lowering the windows, they waved as they went. From the steps at the front door Nick, Ella and Hetty waved back. ‘I should have thought. I have a seat booked on a train.’ She looked self-consciously at her watch. ‘I promised I’d be home tonight.’
‘It’s okay. Someone reminded me earlier that I’m not a big fan of parties generally.’
Embarrassed, Hetty began to back away. ‘I need to sort out some housekeeping.’
Nick reached out and shook Hetty’s hand. ‘Safe journey. And don’t worry about us. Me – and my friend who claims not to be a party animal, here – will think of something.’
‘Bye, Hetty.’ She hugged her. ‘Take care.’
After Hetty had walked away, Nick turned to Ella. ‘Since when do you not enjoy parties? You could have fooled me. What about my mother’s legendary charity galas?’
Ella would defy anyone not to have a good time at one of Cassandra’s parties and most of the wrap parties and red-carpet events she’d been to with Nick were fun. From now on she would put all her energy into the fun times. Her father’s house was sold. It was time that she was over the shambolic years there.
‘It’s not all parties. Forget I said it.’
Nick nodded thoughtfully. ‘So, it’s just you and me then. Dinner at mine?’
What she wanted was some peace and quiet and a long, hot soak in the bath and time to think. ‘There’s no need to organise anything on my account.’
Nick smiled. ‘I think there is. You’re stellar. And you deserve to be celebrated.’