“Wouldyoucome back?” He turned to face me, his eyes burning with sincerity. My heart stopped. This was the question he wanted an answer to.
“Would you want me to come back?”
A short huff of air accompanied William’s smirk.
“Of course.”
He jostled his shoulder into mine, sending me swaying in the other direction. I nudged back into him on the recoil and let my shoulder rest against his. He didn’t pull away, so I stayed there, the heat of his thick bicep burning into my arm. Our eyes were locked together. The sea of bluebells, the hum of the bumblebees, the cool soft light of the ancient forest—the producer in me was screamingThis is the perfect place for the most magical first kiss ever. But the boy inside me was too scared to go for it, in case William pulled away. So I didn’t. However, in that moment, I realised if coming back in a year’s time was what it would take to earn William’s kiss, then I would be back. It was one more excellent reason to make sureThe Love Manorwas a success.
“Then yes, of course I’d come back.”
William grinned like an idiot. “Good.” Then he popped the entire boiled egg in his mouth. “Thaa maygths me tho hhhhhappy.”
Chapter 20
William
The village pub, the Hooray Henry, was standing room only for the big England v Scotland match, but I’d managed to nab a table with a first-rate view of the big screen. I sat on my own, watching the pre-game with three pints of real Leicestershire ale in front of me, looking both like Nobby No-Mates and a certified alcoholic. Petey Boy was outside, making the most of the phone reception to call his gran. The other beer was for Bramley, who had never heard of the termthird wheel, and had also never taken less than forty minutes to pee. When the pub door opened and Petey’s face appeared, I threw my hand in the air, perhaps a little too eagerly, to get his attention over the hubbub. He was walking gingerly, like he still had a horse under him.
“That’s why I gave you the yoga pants,” I said as he slid in beside me. “Wear anything with an inner seam and you’ll be red raw.”
I pushed his beer towards him. He winced. “Last time I found myself walking like this, I was staggering back to my hotel from the Folsom Street Fair.”
“Is that like a village fair? You know the Newton Bardon fair is coming up soon?”
Petey Boy stared at me. I couldn’t read the expression.
“How’s your gran?”
“Fuming. She reckons one of the other inmates swapped their dentures while she was asleep, because her teeth don’t fit right anymore and someone called Doris now has an eerily familiar smile.”
“Did you say inmates?”
“She’s in a home. She’s not a fan. Still, it ain’t all bad news. Chatsworth House cancelled a visit from my father’s car club, and he’s furious. So that’s delicious.”
This took me aback.
“I had the impression your father was probably serving twenty-five years to life for the Hatton Garden robbery.”
“Sir Edward Topham, KC?”
“A King’s Counsel?” I was rapidly reassessing everything I thought I knew about Petey Boy. “So, he’s not even a barrow boy, then, let alone a notorious East End gangster?”
“Afraid not.”
I let this information settle for a moment. Pennies were starting to drop. All this “bruv” talk didn’t sit right because, well, it wasn’t really who Petey Boy was. But why the facade?
“Do I get the impression you don’t get on with your old man?”
“My parents… disapprove.”
“Of?”
Petey Boy waved a hand up and down the length of himself. “All of it.”
The family’s black sheep, Jonty had said.
I took a cautious stab. “Rebelling against your class?”
