Page 46 of Always You (A Lilac Bay Novel)

“Well, let’s talk about the first feature,” Gina said once we were all sitting at the pub. I’d instructed Cora to save her largest table for us, and it was a good thing I’d thought of it. Half the town seemed to be crowded into the pub, everyone alternating between loud, staged voices as they tried to look natural and silence as they tried to listen into our conversation.Real smooth, guys,I thought.

“For the first episode, we’re mostly looking for an overview,” Gina continued. “We’ll do some interviews with locals and tourists and show some footage of the island itself. And then we’ll take some footage at your event.” She looked over at me. “Do you have an idea of what you’d like to highlight?”

I explained to her about the Fish Fry and its significance for the island.

“So much of our life is focused on the tourism season,” I told her. From the corner of my eye I could see the red light of one of the cameras turn on and I did my best to ignore it, to speak naturally. “The Fish Fry is our chance to pause before all the craziness, to enjoy each other’s company and remember why we love Lilac Bay so much.”

I swallowed, feeling completely self-conscious, but determined all the same.

“It’s the last event of the year that’s really just for us. As much as we love the people who visit our island, this is our time to just be together. And to enjoy our home and everything it gives us.”

“Absolutely,” Rose said, nodding at me. “All of the fish for the event is caught right here in the bay, by islanders who live here all year long. The Fry has always been a reminder of how much we rely on the water around our home—and each other—for sustenance.”

“That sounds perfect,” Gina said, scribbling something in a notebook. “And you can do this next Saturday?”

I agreed, and she went through some of the more technical details of the shoot—what times we would need to be available, how much outside lighting they would need to bring in, how we would help them to select who to interview.

“This first feature is the easiest,” she said. “All we want to do in the first episode is let the audience get to know you and decide if they want to see more.”

“The harder work will come next,” Chris said, breaking her silence. “Assuming you get through.”

“Harder?” Jenny asked, looking nervous.

“The next four features will have some kind of task you’ll have to do,” Gina said. “It might be things we can give you time to prepare for, or it might be something you find out about the day of.”

“What kind of tasks?” Rose asked.

The mayor sat up straighter, smoothing his tie. “Will they be athletic in nature? Because, as you may know, I happen to be a former National Champion and All-American athlete.”

“Maybe,” Gina said cheerily. “But they’ll mostly be things you have to do to show off your teamwork skills as a community.”

Immediately my brain started to spin, wondering what they might have us do.

“Assuming,” Chris said again, “you get through to the next rounds.”

Something about the tone of her voice had my stomach plummeting. Did she not expect us to do well?

“How does the voting work?” Libby asked.

“It’s all online,” Gina said. “People will go to our website and vote for the towns they’d like to see continue. They’ll be able to vote as often as they want for twenty-four hours after the show airs. We’ll announce the winners at the start of the next episode.” She looked around at us. “Which gets a little tricky, because obviously we’ll have already shot the episode before we’re able to announce.”

“How does that work then?” I asked.

“We’ll be taping two weeks ahead,” she explained. “That’s the time we need for editing. Which means you very well might tape features that don’t air.”

“Because we won’t know if we’re voted out until later,” I said, frowning. That seemed a little depressing. To have the camera crew here taping us and having no idea if we were even still in the running.

“Let’s not worry about that too much,” Gina said, leaning across the table a little as she lowered her voice. “I’m supposed to be neutral, but you guys are totally my team. This is the only town I’m producing, so you know I’m going to do my best for you. And we’re going to kill this!”

Everyone at the table—and several of those sitting close enough to hear—applauded at that. Chris pursed her lips but didn’t say anything.

Gina talked a little more about what we should expect when the real shooting started; most of the pub quieted down as no one even pretended to not be listening anymore. My head was spinning with everything there was to plan. We only had a week until they came back for the Fish Fry, and the second feature would be shot a week after that—whether we were still in the game or not.

I looked around the pub at the intent faces, everyone hanging on Gina’s every word.

My sister was a few tables away, Aiden in her lap, Jake next to her. Edward and Zane were nearby with Posey and her mother. I could make out several of the Libbies in the crowd—Iris and Sherry and Margo. Even Millie had snuck away from work to get a glimpse of the crew, though she hovered by the door as if ready to escape the moment she was recognized. They all looked so excited, so eager. This could change our town, change our lives.

They’re counting on you, I thought, my stomach dipping again.You have to be on your game.