Gran, who is now wide awake and ready to party, is heard next. “Yes, well, what can you expect? All brawn, no brains in that family.” She pauses, then adds. “Is this the yacht we bought them?”
“Uh-huh,” Arthur answers.
“I can’t believe it would be worth what Arabella paid for it. It’s more rickety than I am.”
Libby scoffs and I stammer, not knowing what to say to fix this. “I am….I’m…that is…”
She holds up one hand and storms out, presumably going in search of Harrison. The director sounds positively gleeful as he says, “Make sure you follow the big pregnant one. It’s about to go down.”
I stand at the tiny sink and take a deep breath, trying to figure out how to salvage this and ordering myself not to cry. Arthur and Gran’s words slap around inside my head, physically hurting my grey matter. Sucking back my entire mule in one go, I slam the glass down and hurry outside.
But it’s too late. Libby is now telling Harrison everything she overheard and now the yacht is making a sharp turn. Shit. I rush over to Will, who is chuckling away with Emma and Pierce. I stand behind the cameraman and wave urgently at him while mouthing, “Code Red! Code Red!”
He squints his eyes at me, then says, “Can you excuse me for a second?” He slides out of the booth and hurries over to me. I grab his hand and take him around the corner, but the crew follows us, of course. I’m just about to tell him what happened, but he’s now getting the full picture because Harrison and Arthur are in a full-on argument. Harrison’s voice is raised as he stands behind the wheel. “…our hospitality, but clearly it’s not up to your standards, so you might as well get back on your fancy jet and go home!”
“Listen, we’re very sorry,” Tessa says, clearly trying to calm things down. “It was definitely taken out of context.”
“Oh, yeah?” Libby asks, sticking her huge pregnant belly out and using it (quite effectively, I might add) to intimidate Tessa. “Which part was ‘out of context?’” Air quotes, of course. “The bit where you said my daughter’s in for a rude awakening when the baby comes or when your nasty grandmother said my husband and his family are all brawn and no brains?!”
Tessa opens her mouth, then closes it. Libby gives her a ‘yeah, that’s right, shut your mouth’ nod, then turns to Gran, who is currently looking up at the sky innocently. “I heard you and I won’t forget it.”
“All right now,” Arthur says. “Gran is eighty-nine years old, and she has a heart condition, so I’ll thank you to go easy on her.”
“Oh, like as easy as she went on us?” Libby asks.
“Okay, fair point,” Arthur says.
“YES, IT MOST CERTAINLY IS!” Libby shouts. “And you know what? Dolphins are mammals, so who’s the dumb bum now? Not my kid!!!”
Oh fuck.
All three of the kids have stopped playing and are watching the scene unfold.
My dad has finally left his lounge chair and hurries over to put his diplomacy skills to use. “Libby, my dear, allow me to apologize on behalf of my family. Our behaviour has been—"
Ignoring him, Libby continues. “I sure hope your daughter was born first because I’m not sure your son has the brain power to rule a kingdom.”
“No, you didn’t,” my father says, his voice rising to a boom. “That’s enough, madame! We will not allow insults to be hurled at the children!”
Libby swivels on him, knocking him back with her belly, and my dad loses his balance, circling his arms wildly as he tries to propel himself forward, but it’s no use. He lets out a high-pitched yelp as he tips overboard, headfirst.
And that’s when things really start to get ugly.
Chapter 23
Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall…
Will
Breaking News from the ABN News Center with Giles Bigly
“Good evening,I'm Giles Bigly with the ABN news desk. We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you a breaking story from Santa Valentina Island, where it has been a near-tragic day at sea for our beloved monarch, King Winston. I’ve got ANN producer, Miranda MacEwan, joining us live via the telephone. Miranda, you were on the yacht at the time of the incident, is that true?”
Footage of King Winston bobbing up and down in the ocean begins as Miranda begins to talk. “Yes, Giles. We were filming a pre-wedding special on what was meant to be a relaxing morning sail aboard the Waltzing Matilda, Will Banks’ famed yacht—a gift from Princess Arabella actually.”
“My goodness,” Giles says. “Miranda, I’m going to interrupt you for a second because I’m seeing this footage for the first time. Can you please explain to the viewers what exactly is happening in this clip?”
“Certainly. Here we see Will, as well as the king’s head of security, jumping into the water to save King Winston. Now, the next gentleman to jump in is Will’s security guard, presumably to save Will perhaps, although, as you can see, he’s not exactly a strong swimmer, so his attempt at bravery resulted in Will’s brother, Harrison, jumping in to save him. On the far right of the screen, you can see two speedboats coming onto the scene with two more teams of security officers while Will holds King Winston up under his armpits.”
