Bella turned the meat on the barbeque and reached for a plate she’d prepared earlier, layered in fresh greens to make a bed for the koftas. “Okay, guys. Food’s up. Come and get it.” Jake had brought in a few willing off-duty firemen to help out and give everyone a chance to try her cooking. She handed over the food, while Jason wandered around taking shots.
“My wife would have loved this shoot. Everyone loves a fireman according to her.” Jason paused beside her and changed his camera lens.
“I think the locals do too by the look of things.” Bella indicated the small group of people gathered across the normally quiet street and grinned.
“Get a couple of them over here, Bella.” Jason nudged her. “You have plenty of food and I think it would work well. If we don’t get anything useful, we can put it down to a public relations exercise.”
“Okay.” She walked across the street and spoke to the gathered locals. “If any of you would like a taste test of my food, you’re more than welcome. I have to warn you though that there’s a possibility you may end up in my next cookbook. The photographer is rather snap happy today.”
“So long as I get to stand next to a hunky fireman, count me in.” An elderly lady with a blue perm marched over the road and wiggled in next to Jake, hooking her arm through his elbow much to his amusement.
“Any other takers?” Bella spied the two ladies she’d met the first day she arrived. “Ladies, how about it? I’d really like if you could join us.”
“If you’re sure, we’d love to.” They bustled over followed by a woman with two toddlers in a stroller. “May as well join in the party.”
“I appreciate it. The food isn’t too spicy for the children and I’ll help you with them if you like.”
“Thanks, they get to be a bit of a handful eating out so I rarely bother. This will be the closest I’ve come to a restaurant meal since I gave birth.”
*
Bella charmed the locals into relaxing in front of the camera. Tentative at first, they all eventually loosened up. When Jake looked up at Bella again, she stood with the young mother and had one of the children in her arms. The chubby twin had managed to shove most of the meat into his mouth and Bella was busy trying to pull it out so he didn’t choke. He wasn’t having it and threw back his head and cried in protest. She took it in her stride and he marveled at how calm she seemed.
With the locals and his family, she was a different person. No sign of the pretentious glitz and glamour of the Valentine’s Day party in front of her Hollywood friends.
“She’s great, isn’t she?” Jason aimed the lens at her and clicked, capturing her chucking the toddler under the chin, his little pudgy fists waving in the air as he bounced in her arms. “Don’t be fooled by the television Bella and the real one. Two very different people.”
Jake swallowed the meat he was chewing. Was he that obvious? “Yeah, I can see that.” She was a contradiction.
One he still hadn’t managed to figure out. It wasn’t as though she came across as unhappy with the fame nor as the girl next door. How could one person wear two hats and not get confused? His head reeled trying to keep up.
“I hope so, man, because she’s gone on you and I’d hate to see her get hurt. She deserves better.”
Just then, the alarm on the station wall rang and Jake ran for the truck, Ben already climbing in the driver’s door.
Bella jogged over to him, baby still in her arms and pulled his face down for a quick kiss. “Take care, my hero, love you.”
Jake climbed up and sat in his seat stunned at what had just happened. It was the first time she’d said the ‘L’ word. She waved as they headed to the call out and he wondered how he was going to respond when he got back.
Chapter Twenty-One
Bella lay on her stomach on the floor, shuffling photos in and out of her “must use” pile. There were so many good shots; making up her mind was driving her crazy. A fall of footsteps followed by a knock at the door gave her a moment’s reprieve. She bounced up and pulled open the door, coming face-to-face with Jake.
Bella reached up, wound her arms around his neck, leaned in for a lingering kiss. “I missed you.”
Jake slid his arms around her back, rested them against her hips. “Sorry I didn’t get back to see you. It was a tricky one, lots of combustibles in a factory fire. Once we got the fire under control, we had to stay and make sure everything was safe and there was no chance of it flaring up again before we left.” He marched her back and kicked the door closed, shutting out the dark evening. “Looks like you’ve been busy.” Jake indicated the pile of photos on her floor.
“Jason printed them out for me earlier. Fancy helping me decide? This is the part of the book that I find the most difficult. Jason takes such great photos, it’s hard to not want to include them all.”
“Not sure how much help I’ll be
