“Yes, thank you, I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes, I do,” I snap, then hang up and stand. “I have to go.”
“Up-do for the shindig?”
“Yes.”
“Listen, Arabella, I love you like you were my own flesh and blood, and that means I have to nag you until you do what’s right for you,” Tessa says. “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s the Sharpe family way.”
Sighing, I say, “Yes, I’ve gotten to know your mum quite well. But it’s the Langdon family way to get pissy about anyone sticking their nose in our business.”
I walk over to the edge of the pool and reach my hand out. Flora reaches up and I touch her chubby little fingers. “Auntie loves you.”
“Wuv you too,” she says.
I blow James a kiss, since I can’t reach him without falling into the water. “I love you, James.”
He gives me a big nod and blows me a kiss back. My heart squeezes. Oh, I want one. Or two.
When I stand and turn, Tessa’s giving me a meaningful look. “You want one, don’t you?”
“No,” I say, feeling my cheeks heat up. “Well, someday, maybe, yes. But not with a man who doesn’t also want one with me.”
Tessa shakes her head. “So disappointing, really.”
Balling up my fists, I rest them on my hips. “What is?”
“You had this one burst of incredible power and courage, and now …” she shrugs. “Meh.”
I sigh and let my head roll back like an irritated teenager. “Could you please refrain from busting my ovaries? I’m really not in the mood.”
“Sure, sure,” she says, nodding. “It’s fine. You go back to being as unremarkable as Gran said you were. You’re already letting Mrs. Chapman boss you around again. It’s fine, really. If being a doormat makes you comfortable, you just go back to that.”
“I’m lying low for a while until this scandal dies down!” I hiss. “It’s the least I can do after all the trouble I caused the family.”
“That story is long dead. Like your moment of being fierce.”
“What do you want me to do? Rush to Santa Valentina, sweep him off his feet, and twirl him in the air?”
“How about just go to him and start with ‘hello’ and see where it goes from there?”
“No, because I’m not pathetic.”
“Pathetic is not taking any risks and spending your entire life pining for a man you could be with.”
“I can’t even …” I say, shaking my head. “I have to go.”
“Yes, go. Be a very good girl,” she says, taking another bite of celery.
“Please do everyone a favour and eat a donut or something,” I say. “We can only really use one snarly woman dishing out advice around here.”
“Oh, no, don’t do that, Your Highness,” Xavier tells her. “You’ve worked so hard and even a single donut would be a huge setback.”
I walk toward the door as guilt clouds move in over me. I turn back and say, “Tessa, I still love you.”
She turns and smiles at me. “I love you, too. Sorry I’m being such a snaggle-toothed witch.”
“It’s fine. I am too.”
“You know what you need?” she asks, then she whisper-yells. “To get—”
“Not the answer to all life’s problems,” I say, holding up one hand.
“But it helps.”
I stalk through the palace toward the back entrance where my car will be waiting. Bellford walks along behind me, saying nothing, which is his normal state. But before I escaped and made him look like the world’s worst security officer, his silence was comforting. Now, it’s got an edge to it that makes me feel very guilty. I apologized to him when I first got back, but all he said was, “You don’t need to explain yourself to me, Your Highness. I work for you, and not the other way around.”
When I tried to press the issue, his tone became unusually sharp, and he told me “What’s done is done. Anything more on the subject is unnecessary.”
I stop when I reach the door and take a deep breath. That’s it. This is my life. I’m going to live it, by God. Spinning on my foot, I say, “Quick detour.”
I hurry to my office, finding Mrs. Chapman at her desk, poring over my schedule. She looks up. “You’re going to be late for your appointment.”
“I’m sure they’ll fit me in,” I say. “I have a job for you.”
Picking up a pen and paper, I write down, Waltzing Matilda, Santa Valentina Islands. “I need you to track down the owner of this yacht and get me his phone number.”
She opens her mouth, but I speak over her. “It’s top priority. Do nothing else until this is completed.”
With that, I walk away with a little smile. Go, Furiosa.
A few minutes later, I settle myself into the back of the limo and pull my phone out of my handbag. I send Tessa a text: Taking your advice. I’ve decided to live in the twenty-first century, after all.
34
The Unmistakable Flavour of Humble Pie
Will - Three Weeks Later
“Two minutes to air. Will, are you ready?” Veronica Platt’s smiling face fills my laptop screen.
My heart pounds in my chest. “Yes, all set.”
“You sure you want to do this?” she asks. “I mean, it’s great television, but after what happened …” She winces and sucks in some air.
“I’m sure.” That’s a lie. I’m not in any way sure.
“Okay, I’ll be back with you in a bit.” She mutes her microphone, leaving me to sit and bounce my left leg nervously. My phone buzzes and I pick it up to silence it, my heart rising, then falling, as it does when it’s not Arabella’s name that appears. It’s a text from Stew Milner: One of my employees was cleaning Matilda for her new owner, and he found a box of your uncle’s stuff in a cupboard. You have exactly one hour to pick it up or it gets tossed.
Muttering under my breath that he’s a total wanker, I quickly write him back: Please don’t throw anything out. I’ll be there as soon as I can.
Oh, wonderful. That is just the perfect time to rub salt in the wound—when I’m about to go on international television, admit I’m a total failure, and hopefully find a way to let Arabella know I’m in love with her without letting anyone else in on that little secret. My stomach flips for the millionth time since I set this interview up. The only thing that’s going to get me through it is the remote possibility that she might feel the same way.
Okay, Will. Focus. I stare into the screen and watch Veronica talk to someone off camera. She’s smiling and looking very relaxed. Yes, I like Veronica. This will go well.
I hope.
The sound comes back on and she says, “Welcome to ABN’s Entertainment News. I’m Veronica Platt. Joining me live from his home in Paradise Bay is the star of “The Wild World,” Will Banks, who is recovering from a traumatic on-set accident. Will, how are you doing after your near-death experience?”