Petey looked down at the note on the table. “I wrote that so you’d know Iwantedto come back, if the show came back. It was pretty cowardly, really.”
I brushed it away. “It gave me so much hope. What made you come back now?”
Petey got to his feet and started pacing.
“Well, this is the awkward bit.”
“Is this where you tell me you’ve only popped back because you forgot your butt plug?”
“Oh shit, yes. I should probably grab that. I lent it to Bramley.”
I laughed. My God, it felt good to laugh. It felt good to be making jokes with Petey again. So it rather worried me when his face turned serious. That’s when he told me Indira was going to be recuperating for a couple of weeks at Aunty Karma’s retreat, and she’d insisted he oversee the edit ofThe Love Manorfrom Buckford Hall.
“But that’s wonderful news! She clearly trusts you.”
“Yes, but don’t you see,that’sthe reason I’m here.”
Ah. Yes, I did see.
“But I want you to know, I really, really did want to come back here,” he said. “I guess I needed fate to give me a little nudge. The courage. The excuse, maybe.”
“Fate?” I said. “Why would it make sense for you to edit the show from here?”
My mind was in full Sherlock Holmes mode now—which must have been pretty impressive stuff for Petey to witness.
“The retreat is only thirty minutes up the road. So I guess it’s not far for me to pop up there? But the equipment is still here, so…”
The old noodle was really whirring now, putting two and two together. “Seems a bit of a coincidence Indira’s going to Aunty Karma’s retreat, doesn’t it?”
Petey frowned. “Well, no. Buckford is paying for it. I assumed it was your idea.”
“My idea? I know nothing about it.”
“But I saw your mother leaving the hospital.”
I should have detected my mother’s hand from the start. “We’ve been played,” I said.
“We have?”
“Still, mustn’t be upset. Mum comes from a very long line of meddling mamas. We didn’t really stand a chance.”
Realisation dawned across Petey’s face. I nodded. He smiled.
“You’re not angry with me, then?” he asked. I reached out and grabbed his hands. Part of me wondered if he would have come back without my mother’s scheming, and whether I really would have had to wait a year to see him again. But he was standing here in front of me, and that counted for something.
“You’re here. That’s all I wanted.”
“You don’t mind if I stay?”
“Mind? I’d be delighted.” I pulled him towards me and wrapped my arms around him, his eyes meeting mine. “I do have a favour to ask, though.”
“Anything.”
“If you’re going to be sticking around for another few weeks, would you mind if we kept up the fake-engagement act a little longer? Only it’s the Newton Bardon village fair next weekend, and I have to go. I can’t bear the thought of everyone treating me like I’ve been jilted at the altar. I’d rather not spend the whole day being pulled aside for deep and meaningfuls and pretending to be heartbroken. Would you come along and play at being Lady Buckford for me?”
Petey smiled. “Of course! Do I get to judge jams or something?”
“There will be no shortage of things for you to judge. You’re going to shake a lot of hands, and you’re going to hand out a lot of little trophies.”
