Arthur opens his mouth, but Tessa puts her hand on his arm. “Let’s let Arabella continue, shall we?”
“Thank you,” I say to her. “Now, Will’s family is likely to be nervous about meeting you all. Apparently, someone sent them a stack of royal etiquette handbooks which hasn’t helped matters.”
There’s some general tsking and I hear someone mutter Mrs. Chapman’s name. I know it makes me a coward and an awful person not to tell them the truth, but technically, she did arrange to have them mailed, so…
So, I’m a coward and an awful person. “Anyway, let’s do our best to be really warm and friendly to them. They’re such good people, honestly. Salt of the earth. They don’t want anything from us. Just to see Will happy. So, best foot forward please everyone, and Gran,nohitting on any of the resort guests, staff, and/or Will’s friends, okay?”
Gran glares at me. “Perhaps I’ll just stay home…”
I let my shoulders drop. “Fine, you can hit on other resort guests if you want, but that’s it.”
“Who put you in charge?” she asks.
“I did. Now, let’s get going. We’ve got a long day ahead.” With that, I spin on my heel and stride toward the door, ignoring the fact that Arthur is trying to get my dad to take me on his plane and my dad is flatly refusing.
So, this is what I’ve become. A wedding pariah. One step shy of bridezilla. But I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures, right?
Chapter 18
The Knighting of Sir Cries-a-Lot
Will
"Welcome to Paradise Bay.I'm your host, Nigel Wood — fashion critic and co-host of ABN's Entertainment Weekly. As the entire kingdom is swept up in wedding fever, I have made a trip to Santa Valentina Island to spend some time getting to know Avonia’s latest royal groom, Will Banks. Most of you know him from his showThe Wild World, which also spent one season entitledPrincess in the Wild, which is, incidentally, the season in which he and Princess Arabella fell in love off-screen. For those of you who haven't seen that exhilarating and deliciously romantic season, tune in to ANN Monday through Wednesday from seven till nine p.m. as a lead up to the big day, Thursday, June third. As a huge fan of the show myself, I cannot recommend it enough."
I stand on the spot marked off for me in the shade of a palm tree, next to one of the pools at the resort, and wait for my introduction, not particularly excited about having to spend the entire day with Nigel Wood when perfect waves are rolling up to shore and my surfboard is waiting. To be honest, I’m a bit nervous. Well, maybe more than a bit actually. This is what you could call a high-stakes interview, because it’s my best chance to show the world I’m a good match for Arabella, and to prove I can fit into her world. And I’m bound and determined to lose that whole Knight of the No Shirt moniker.
Gregory spent the better part of two hours this morning prepping me, leaving my brain in a total swirl of words and phrases to use (and to avoid) so I can sound posh (which incidentally is one of the words to avoid if you want to sound posh). But I’ve done all I can to maneuver this interview into something that makes me look as good as possible. I’ve arranged to sail Nigel out to the Island of Eden for a sneak peek at the luxury island getaway where Arabella and I will spend a few days after the wedding. This has the added bonus of me showing off my sailing skills (always a manly thing to do) while showcasing one of the best things about the resort—Eden. So maybe they can call me Sir Skillful Sailor or Sir Manly—that would work too.
My phone buzzes in the pocket of my shorts, and I discreetly pull it out only to see a text from Arabella.Good luck today, darling. And whatever you do, don't let that nasty man make you cry.
Ha! As if that could ever happen. There is no way a man like him is going to manage to draw tears from someone like me. No sense in focussing on something that isn’t going to happen. I slide my phone back into my pocket just as Nigel is saying, "So let's meet our groom, shall we?"
The camera pans out as Nigel walks over to me and we exchange hellos and shake hands, even though we've spent the better part of an hour together already this morning, then Nigel gives me a little nod and starts with his questions. "So, William, what was it like growing up in literal paradise?"
"Well, I think you just described it yourself. For a person like me, who loves the outdoors and surfing, sailing, snorkeling, and playing sports, I couldn’t have asked for a better place to grow up."
"You weren't always the outdoorsman, were you? You did admit to Princess Arabella when you were out in the jungle that the first time you spent the night outside, you couldn't sleep and you had a big cry."
I give him an easy smile and nod. "Mind you, I was seven at the time."
Nigel chuckles, then says, "Why don't we start with the big tour of your old stomping grounds?”
“I’d love to,” I answer.
“We’re going to hop into a golf cart and Will is going to show us around the resort he calls home."
The tour takes over an hour, with me driving along the wide paved path of the grounds, trying to showcase anything I think will help convince people to book a stay. We start out on the southeast side of the resort and work our way around to the west where the staff housing is, eventually stopping in front of the tiny one-bedroom ground floor apartment that I sometimes call home.
Getting out of the golf cart, we walk to the front door. "So, this is where I stay when I'm not off filming or in Valcourt with Arabella."
We walk directly into the small living room, and it suddenly occurs to me how sparse and empty the place looks. Other than the older style couch and media centre that was added when the resort was renovated, there's only my surfboard to show that someone actually lives here.
"Well, this is rather sad, isn't it?" Nigel asks, looking around the room.
"To be honest, it's more of a place to store my things because I'm not here very often, and when I am, you won't find me inside unless I'm sleeping. Otherwise, I'm either helping out around the resort or off surfing or doing other fun things."
"Has Princess Arabella ever been in here?" he asks, his nose wrinkling up.
