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Daphne looked at the camera operator. “The clip looks great. Thank you.”
“Oh, that’s not why we’re showing you,” Sofia said.
Sofia pointed at the stats—the likes and shares and comments. Daphne glanced at them, blinked, and looked again. The numbers weren’t just climbing—they were zooming up so fast she felt dizzy watching.
“A hundred thousand likes?” she said, not sure she was seeing right.
“And that’s only one website,” Sofia said.
“I know a few influencers,” the operator said. “I gave one of them an exclusive.”
“Your bear stare-down is going viral, Zane,” Sofia said. “Welcome to your fifteen minutes of fame.”
CHAPTER TEN
CHRIS
After lunch, the mist rolled back in, and Sofia decided that was the perfect time to bring out the guns. Even Chris knew fog meant it was the worst possible time for any shooting, but he had to admit they did get good footage. Also, the mist meant no one expected him to actually fire the gun.
Daphne showed him how to hold it, and the crew got a few moody shots of him aiming at something in the fog. It was pure kitsch, but if it sold books for Daphne, he’d wade knee-deep in the icy water and pretend to take shots at nonexistent waterfowl.
Then the filming was done, and it was time for the crew to leave, right?
Ha! Don’t be silly. Why would you leave this gorgeous piece of Canadian scenery for a tiny motel room, when that piece of scenery came with a roaring propane fire to ward off the chill, free Wi-Fi to monitor stats on your viral video, and a selection of ice-cold beers and coolers.
Personally, Chris wouldn’t have brought out the beer and coolers. Or the charcuterie board with artisanal cheese and wild-game salami. But, in Daphne’s defense, it wasn’t as if she offered that while the crew was making moves to leave. They were clearly planning to hang out here until their flight, and so she had to play good hostess. He did enjoy his beer and plate of goodies; he’d just have enjoyed them more without three-quarters of the company.
It was Daphne who finally did the Oh, would you look at the time? bit. As the crew was packing away their equipment, something caught Daphne’s ear, her attention yanked toward the driveway.
“Everything okay?” he murmured.
She hesitated. Then she said, “Can you help them pack?”
He grinned. “Happily.”
“I’ll be right back.”
DAPHNE
It’d been Tika who’d heard someone arriving. There was no crunch of gravel, which meant the visitor came on foot. The lack of a growl or warning bark—just a curious lift of Tika’s head—meant it was someone she knew.
Daphne hurried down the steps and around the side of the house in time to see Robbie strolling along the driveway. Tika spotted his canine companion and took off.
Daphne broke into a jog, running up the driveway to cut Robbie off before he got any closer to the house.
“Well, someone’s happy to see me.” He waggled his brows. “Getting tired of your little friend already?”
Did he mean Tika?
He waved toward the crew’s truck. “Least he got himself a proper rental.”
Chris was her little friend? She could have laughed. He outsized Robbie by about two inches in height and twenty pounds in muscle.
She settled for shaking her head. “We took his rental back.” She nodded at the truck. “That’s business clients.”
His brows rose. It seemed to take a while for the wheels to turn. “Oh, right, you draw houses.”
“I’m an architect,” she said.
