Page 20 of Taking the Heat

‘Um, I just, well, out of all the girls here, you seem like the nicest, and I could really use someone to talk to, you know?’

Flattered by her assessment of my character, I motioned for her to follow me back along the walkway to a wooden bench. ‘What’s going on?’

‘You were talking to Callum today, right?’

The devilishly handsome redhead. ‘Yeah, we chatted after I knocked him out of the challenge, but only for about thirty seconds. Literally.’

‘Did he mention me?’ There was a strange pallor on her face, a sheen of desperation.

‘Um … well, we spoke about how you’re both from Ireland. And about you getting together last night.’

‘What did he say, exactly? Do you think he likes me? Should I go to him, do you think?’

Her words flowed out, needy and unchecked. I wanted to be gentle, but I also knew that the last thing any guy would enjoy was a one-time pash banging on his door, looking for love. ‘Look, Meghan, you probably don’t want to be the one doing the chasing. There’s so many other guys on the island—have you thought about maybe just seeing if anyone else strikes your fancy?’

She buried her face in her pale, freckled fingers. ‘He doesn’t remember me. I knew it. You must think I’m at total nitwit.’

‘I think you’re lovely. And I think any guy on this island would be lucky to spend time with you.’ I rubbed her back, thankful that the ‘no-touch’ laws only applied to the opposite sex. ‘Besides, last night was crazy—if he doesn’t remember you, that’s probably why.’

‘No! Not from last night!’ Meghan shot bolt upright in the bench. ‘He’s my childhood sweetheart!’

‘What? How is that possible?’

‘I don’t know,’ she groaned, holding herself as if she might fall apart. ‘I hadn’t seen him for fifteen years up until last night.’

‘Fifteen years!’

‘Yeah, I was a wee girl when I saw him last. We lived next door to each other—he practically lived at our house because his ma was a drunk and he didn’t have a pa. He was my first kiss.’ She smiled, staring off into the distance. My overactive brain started singing ‘Danny Boy’ in the background.

Focus.‘Are you sure it’s really him? I’m sure there’s more than one Callum in Ireland.’

‘I’m sure. When you see your soul mate, you know it, you know?’ Her expression convinced me that she believed it. I believed it; not because of soul-mate recognition, but because the producers of this show are wily sons-of-bitches. Young love, torn apart—that’s great TV.

Especially when one of them is oblivious. ‘Why don’t you say something to him? You guys seemed like you had a pretty good connection last night. If he knows who you are, maybe he’ll see things differently.’

She shook her head, the copper-coloured curls flying. ‘No. I’ve dreamed of Callum for the last decade. No man has ever come close to what we had together. If he doesn’t recognise me yet, I don’t want to force him. I’ll wait, and when he finally sees the little girl he loved in my eyes, ah …’

‘Meghan—’

‘It’ll be so beautiful. He’ll remember, you’ll see.’ She stood and reached for my hand, squeezing it in gratitude. ‘Thank you, Tara. You won’t say anything to him, will you?’

‘I won’t. I promise.’

Clattering feet drew our attention down the walkway. A cameraman, sound guy and unit manager ran towards us, dragging heavy bags of gear. ‘Wait! Don’t say another word until we’re rolling!’

‘Too late, we’re done.’ I couldn’t help but grin as their faces fell.

The manager said, ‘It’s fine. We’ll make do with the tree cameras.’ He pointed out several tiny black dots, nestled in the branches around us.

‘Uh, hullo?’ Henry’s fair head poked around behind the crew. ‘Tara, can I have a word, please?

Am I a bad person if I say no?It isn’t that I don’t like Henry, I just really wanted some time away from the drama.

‘Um … I’ll go and leave you to it, then?’ Meghan looked knowingly between us, a romantic glint in her eyes.

I rolled my own eyes. ‘Thanks, Meghan. Nice to chat with you.’

As she trotted back along the planks towards her own room, she winked at Henry. ‘You’ve got a good ’un there, Henry.’

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