“You think I should grow carrots?”
Petey’s head was in his hands.
“Don’t think of it as one lump sum,” he said. “Every little bit of cash you can bring in chips away at the total. Every penny you get is a penny you don’t have to find. You need to raise cash now, then you need to find long-term diversified revenue streams.”
That made sense.
“I do have a couple of ideas for you,” Petey continued. “You don’t have to agree, but I think you should.”
“Spoken like a TV producer.”
“You remember I said Chatsworth House cancelled on my father’s car club? Well, the club is still looking for somewhere to go. They were going to pay Chatsworth two thousand pounds. That could be two thousand pounds in your pocket.”
“It’s not a lot of cash, though, is it.”
“It’s a shitload of carrots, William.”
He looked impatient. My panicked brain caught up with his reasoning.
“Would it be OK, though? I mean, you don’t like your father.”
“Why would I care? I won’t be here. It’s after the show wraps. I’ll be back in London.”
My chest tightened, like a fist had gripped my heart. Of course Petey would be back in London by then—and beyond my reach. He didn’t live here. He had his own life. But… I didn’t want him to leave. Jonty had been right—our time here together was short and precious. I had to do it. I had to kiss him now. He needed to know how I felt about him. I stood, grabbing his hand, ready to pounce.
“Petey, I?—”
A loud, insistent chorus of quacks split the night air. I looked around to see Derek’s duck shagging his girlfriend. I dropped Petey’s hand and let my shoulders fall. This was not going to be the moment I had hoped it would be.
“What were you going to say?” Petey asked when the feathered fornication had finished.
“Nothing. I suppose Bramley could do the tea.”
“If you have a different car club come every weekend, that’s one hundred and four thousand pounds a year—all money for doing basically sod all.”
“And I love earning money for doing sod all,” I said, choosing enthusiasm. “Petey, this is genius. Get the telephone book. How many car clubs are there in England?”
“Telephone book? Listen, can we head back? I’ve got one more idea I want to put to you, and I really need to get back to my pitch.”
I felt completely deflated. I’d failed to kiss him. Failed to achieve what my father had achieved with my mother on this very spot. Which was starting to feel like the story of my life. But I had gained something else: an understanding that thisfinancial mess wasn’t going to go away unless I fixed it. Thanks to Petey, I felt for the first time like perhaps I could actually fix it. At least I had to try.
“What’s this other idea?” I said as we shuffled down the stone steps to the path that would take us home to the folly.
“How do you feel about weddings?” he said.
Chapter 23
Petey
“Drone up! Get the bloody drone up!” Indira shouted. “They’re going to shag in the hedge maze.”
We were in the production office in the Old Coach House, watching the footage from the fixed cameras in the house. Ridhi and Armando had been getting closer for days, but Armando had made a special trip to the dining room to raid the punchbowl full of condoms, and he and Ridhi were now hightailing it across the Great Lawn to the yew hedge maze. Indira was bouncing on her feet, pumping her fists.
“Has anyone in the cast clocked it?”
“I don’t think so,” I said. “Now Tom’s gone, Armando’s lost his little buddy to confess to.”
“Damn. Is there anyone we can tip off? I want that fucking wedding.”
