Page 54 of At the Heart of It
“So are we good now?” Viv asked.
Her voice sounded oddly small, and Jonah felt a stab of guilt followed by a flicker of anger, which just pissed him off. At what point did exes stop having the power to jerk your emotions around like a paddleball?
“We’re good,” he said, and took another bite of scone.
They didn’t say anything for several minutes, both feigning intense interest in their pastries. When Viv’s voice broke the silence, Jonah nearly jumped off the couch.
“Here they are!”
She bounded out of her chair like it was on fire, dusting nonexistent scone crumbs off her shirt.
Jonah glanced toward the front window and watched a nondescript sedan pull into Viv’s circular driveway. He looked at Kate behind the wheel, her dark hair smoothed back from her face and held tight at the nape of her neck with a silver clasp. Her fingers looked long and graceful on the steering wheel, and he remembered what they’d felt like tunneling through his hair.
His heart did a stupid little shiver in the center of his chest, and he hoped to God Viv wasn’t looking at him. He turned away, annoyed with himself, and took a fierce bite of scone.
Kate walked into the makeshift hair and makeup studio and glanced at the clock on the wall. They had fifteen minutes before the crew would start to get cranky, and Elena still had half her head covered with hot rollers.
Ginger, the makeup artist, glanced at Kate and gave a nervous smile. “Sorry. I know we’re running behind, but we had a little flatiron mishap. Don’t ask.”
“I won’t,” Kate assured her, though she did sort of wonder. “You’re not making her look dramatically different than yesterday, are you?”
“Relax. She’ll still look like the same person from the B-roll footage. Just a little glammed up for the in-studio shots, that’s all.”
Lead cameraman Pete Waller lumbered into the room looking like a kindly grizzly bear in a khaki vest. “Ladies.” He set a cardboard drink holder on the dressing table and nodded to Kate. “Hot chocolate,” he said. “Figured I’d grab some for you before the lugheads on my crew started filling their thermoses.”
“You’re a lifesaver.” Kate picked up a paper cup and peeled back the lid to blow inside. “Oh my God, I love you. There’s whipped cream and cinnamon.”
Pete nodded, then turned to look at Elena in the mirror. Scratching his beard, he studied her with a thoughtful expression. “When you and your husband go out to the sunroom to talk about how the day went, we’re gonna have cameras stashed all over,” he said. “Just act natural and have a normal conversation. But don’t say anything you wouldn’t want on TV.”
Elena nodded and gave him a nervous smile. “Thank you.”
Pete grunted and walked out of the room. Kate took a sip of cocoa, grateful they’d landed him for this show. He’d worked on some of the most scandalous reality TV programs in the business, but there were lines he wouldn’t cross. Filming people without their knowledge was one of them, not even when participants had signed ridiculously broad agreements like the ones required for this show.
“Kate! There you are!”
She turned to see Amy hustling into the room, her blond curls a bit more disheveled than normal. “Craft services wants to know if they can set up lunch in the kitchen or if we need to shoot in there.”
“That’s fine, we’re not doing the cooking sequence until late afternoon or maybe tomorrow.” She glanced at her watch again and felt her nerves jittering in time with the second hand. “Are Viv and Jonah ready to go?”
“Jonah’s been sitting in the parlor reading for at least an hour,” she said. “I think Viv’s meditating or something.”
“She’d better not mess up her hair,” Ginger muttered as she unfurled a hot roller from Elena’s head and finger-combed the fresh waves.
“Okay.” Kate took a deep breath, tamping down the butterflies that threatened to surge up her throat. “Did the sound guys fix whatever was wrong with that boom mic?”
“No, but they had a spare. Oh! And we got Sam to cry in his side interview, so that’s golden.”
Kate stole a nervous glance at Sam’s wife. Elena seemed unperturbed as Ginger unfastened another roller from her hair. She caught Kate’s eye in the mirror and nodded. “Don’t worry. I can cry on command, too.”
“Right.” Kate took another breath. “It’s important to just be yourself, okay? Let the emotions flow, even if they’re not pretty. Authenticity is key here.”
“The mascara’s bulletproof,” Ginger added helpfully. “Just try not to rub your eyes too much.”
Gripping her cocoa in one hand, Kate edged toward the door. “Will you excuse us a moment?”
She pushed her way into the hall and Amy followed, pulling the door closed behind her. Kate reached down and switched off her two-way radio, then waited for Amy to do the same.
“How does he seem?” Kate whispered. She didn’t say Jonah’s name, but she didn’t have to.
