“But that’s great news.” And it was.The Love Manorwould already be going to air by then, which was excellent publicity, and it gave the cheques time to clear before Halloween, when William had to pay HMRC.
“They want me to do some press for the release of the catalogue.”
“OK.” That seemed logical. I waited for the great revelation that explained William’s mouth looking like someone had pissed in it.
“I’m not doing it.”
“William—”
“I don’t know anything about the art. What am I supposed to say?”
“You say whatever you need to say to generate interest in the auction. Tell your story?—”
“Everyone’s already heard my story,” William snapped.
I stepped back.Thiswasn’t the William I was used to. “If you want to save Buckford, you have to tackle the hard stuff.”
His arms flew wide, his face red. “What do you think I’ve been doing day in and day out?”
I tried to hug him, but he pulled away.
“I want a quiet life,” he said.
“You can have one. Once we get through the auction.”
“Don’t you remember what Sunny said? If we go seeking media attention, we give them carte blanche to invade our lives forever.”
“That’s not exactly what he said?—”
“I can’t risk it.”
“It’s a few interviews about some paintings. You don’t have to talk about us, your family, or?—”
“It won’t be enough. They’ll want more. I’ll end up piling on more lies to cover the ridiculous lie we’re already caught in. I’m trying to protect us before things get worse. One of us has to.”
The words landed like a slap. My kindness evaporated.
“I don’t need you to protect me.”
“You do, Petey.” He was agitated, arms flailing. “Have you got the injunction Sunny mentioned? Have you called your father?”
My jaw clenched. I hadn’t. He knew that. We hadn’t spoken about it, but he knew it.
“How dare you?” If I could have picked him up and flung him into his dung cart, I would have.
“I’m not judging you for it,” he said, hands pumping invisible brakes.
“You just did. What do you know about it? What do you know about any of it?”
“I know that you can’t ask for his help.” William’s stormy eyes softened. “And I don’t blame you for that. I don’t question it. But if that door is closed to us, then the only door open to us is privacy. So no, I don’t want to do any interviews.”
My God. This arsehole. Even when he was being a total dick, he was trying to be honourable. He’d white-knighted me into a corner right as I was dialling up my fire-breathing-dragon setting to “toasty.”
“William, I’m sorry, I wasn’t?—”
But he was already shaking his head, already backing toward the stables.
“I need to clear my head. I’m going for a ride.”
