Chapter 12 #3
‘Gee, thanks Pop. It’s been a roller-coaster, actually. Selina’s hit and miss, and her default setting is surly. See that guy over there?’
She told him about the irate customer, who had finally settled down now that he’d received the correct meal, free of charge.
‘Give it time, love. Your grandmother would be cursing me if I let you fire your own cousin. It’ll make Christmas with Jean awkward too.’ He covered her hand with his, and suddenly Clem wanted to press her head into his shoulder and cry like she had as a teenager.
‘It’ll sort itself out, my girl. I’m still impressed that you’ve achieved so much in such a short space of time. Adding those dumplings to the menu was a deft move, and if you want a new flavour bomb for the summer menu, Mrs Singh is offering up her samosa recipe.’
Art offered to connect her with more of his retirement village friends, which was lovely, but when the conversation turned to Love on the Land, Clem felt swamped with indecision.
She wasn’t ready to share anything about Spencer, and she also wasn’t sure she wanted to hear any more about the show.
‘I’ve got to get back to my paperwork,’ she said, stretching against the vacant chair.
‘I wonder if the cafe’s spike in business has anything to do with the media flash on the Love on the Land trailers.’
Clem snapped to attention at that. ‘Trailers?’
‘You know, the adverts for the show. It airs soon, surely you’ve seen the previews? If you’re hot on the pause button, there’s a shot of Farmer Spencer unpacking your catering boxes for his candlelit dinner.’
Clem marched to her office as quickly as she could, shut the door behind her and opened her laptop. But after watching the first advert, she wished she hadn’t.
Sure enough, her catering and the Sunny Cross branding was fleetingly in frame, but what concerned her were the dozens of glamazons falling all over themselves to be matched with the five farmers. How on earth could she even begin to compete with that?
‘How are the old sets looking, reckon you’ll be able to reuse anything in the new play?’
Spencer looked up from the text he’d been writing Clem. October was almost over and so far his efforts to focus on the moment, instead of worrying about the forthcoming TV show, had been pretty successful.
Had Ian noticed him smiling like a man besotted? He hoped his poker face was better than his golf handicap, otherwise Ian would know something was up. He slipped the phone into his pocket and surveyed the room at the back of the hall.
‘Well, we need to create a ship-related backdrop for starters, and a bunch of waves to signify the ocean. Maybe a palm tree or two for the scenes when they reach the island. Ship cabins, and the skies too.’
Ian sorted through the props.
‘Thanks again for all your help—with the props, the script and everything. I know you’ve got a lot going on in your own life.
My golf buddies warned me you’ll be getting more attention now that you’re on TV.
They think it would’ve been a fabulous gig, having a handful of fine young fillies to choose from. ’
Spencer picked up the jar of paintbrushes, teasing apart the bristles, which were stiff from disuse. ‘It wasn’t as fun as it looked.’
Anything that transpired between him and Clem had to stay secret until the show had finished airing, but apart from that caveat, what was unfolding between them felt more natural than the challenge dates and fast-tracked connections on the show.
Ian’s face crinkled with amusement. ‘Yeah, not my bag either. There was only ever one girl for me, and she’s still the love of my life.
Watching Louisa running the cast through lines every year, walking them through the scenes and demonstrating the vocal exercises to get them theatre-ready …
’ He sighed happily. ‘It reminds me of the days I used to watch from backstage as she performed. She always stole the show, even in rehearsals.’
Spencer thought of the devotion Clem showed to her daughters, the mix of pride and professionalism in her voice when she spoke about her cafe, new menus and business goals, and the way their bond had deepened over the last few weeks.
He wanted to help Clem secure new contracts so her cafe could flourish, and to cheer young Harriet on as she tried out for the lead role in her school play.
If nothing else, Love on the Land had jolted him out of his comfort zone, and brought him closer to Clem, and for that he’d always be grateful.
‘Theatre has a way of bringing people together much more convincingly than reality TV,’ Spencer said, getting a laugh from his father-in-law.
Spencer’s phone was full of notifications when he arrived home on the evening the show premiered, later that week.
And while he was pleased to see a barrage of alerts from the South Giddi Giddi website, including a staggering $3000 order for honey from a cafe in Melbourne, which put a smile on his face, the social media alerts had the opposite effect.
Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the remote and flicked on the TV, keeping one eye on the program as he heated up some leftovers for dinner.
The others were all legitimate farmers, with dairy farms, vineyards, cattle studs and thousands of acres to their names, not to mention sheds brimming full of machinery and a true love for farming.
There was a reason he’d dreaded watching it.
He knew they’d home in on scenes of him flying across the paddock on the quad bike, wearing his roughest work gear, with a lamb on his lap and one of the contestants pressed against his back.
Footage of him checking beehives, checking water pumps, shifting sheep …
jobs that were normally Ian and Louisa’s domain.
He managed another five minutes before he switched it off.
Would Clem be watching too?
His pulse accelerated thinking of their kiss in the car park. She was smart, sexy and driven, and he could barely believe he’d wasted the last few years ignoring her on a technicality.
Clem picked up on the first ring. ‘Did you watch it?’
She laughed. ‘Nope, I’m planning to ignore that show as long as I can. But I’m looking forward to hanging out at the play rehearsals. I wonder if anyone would mind rehearsals increasing to twice weekly?’
‘I think they’ll notice if we suddenly appear at the end of every rehearsal with red lips and flushed cheeks.’
Clem laughed. ‘I’ll brush up on my painting skills so I’ve got a legitimate excuse for being squirrelled away in that back room with you.’
‘I like the sound of that,’ he said, making a mental note to pack a picnic next time.
‘Though I’d be pushing my luck to think Indi would be happily occupied with a colouring-in book and stickers through each and every rehearsal.’
Make that a picnic, a sticker book, a jigsaw puzzle and some new colouring books.
The smile stayed on his lips long after he’d set the phone down. There was no doubt about it, real life was way better than anything you saw on television.