Page 33 of All For You

The cameraman glanced at his watch. “The farmer is expecting you in fifteen minutes for the hay baling, so we’d better head over now. You can bring the dogs, apparently.”

I stiffened.

“Farmwork wasn’t on the schedule.” I could hear the grumpy tone in my voice. “It only said farm tour.”

Emma appeared in the kitchen dressed in a gingham outfit and white sneakers that did not say farmwork.

The cameraman frowned. “Don’t blame me, mate. Scheduling is above my pay grade. All I know is I’m following you over there. And we need to leave now.”

“Oh no, I’ve had my nails done,” Emma said. “And my eyelashes. And my—um… No, it doesn’t affect that. Okay, I’m in,” Emma added. She was always game; I’d give her that.

“I need to change,” I said and trudged upstairs, followed by the others.

I was kicking myself for losing my cool while cooking and knowing it was caught on camera. I dreaded checking my phone for their socials. How quickly was that stuff uploaded? I opened the door to my bedroom. Standing still, a sick feeling in my gut,I gathered all my courage to check. My finger hovered over the button. How did it take so much fortitude to make one click? I thumped down on my bed and pressed my index finger to the screen.

My face flashed up—but from last night. I looked positively rabid, when I’d only been annoyed. How did the camera intensify your emotions like that, so you looked bonkers? Hurriedly, I clicked out. So nothing—not yet. But I was under no illusion they weren’t going to hurry those scenes on to their socials. Ugh.

A text flashed up.

Shay

How’s it going?

Total rubbish was how it was going. Now they had footage of me being an arse about the cooking. But it didn’t sound like my blunder had made it broader online yet.

Me

All under control, don’t worry! Farmwork next! Can’t wait!

Clearly, I was on a campaign to use up my exclamation mark allotment for the year. No matter what happened this afternoon, I needed to be the most helpful and kind person out there on that farm. Lizzy had a tendency to distract me, and I couldn’t let that happen.

Shay

Keep it that way. Donors are still uneasy, and it’s taking fancy footwork to keep them hooked. You can’t make any more mistakes.

Shit. And they hadn’t seen the kitchen scene yet.

Grumpily, I changed into athletic shorts and sneakers, slathered sunscreen on my face, and met everyone downstairs.

We filed out across the fields, the cameraman in the back behind me, carrying his camera. The cameraman whose name I didn’t know. Okay, this wasn’t me.

“Hey.” I held out a hand. “I’m sorry I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Darcy.”

He gave me a wary nod. “I know who you are.”

“What’s your name?”

“Harry.”

“Harry, nice to meet you. Backing the best, I see?” I indicated his Arsenal gear.

He shrugged, still wary, probably because he thought I was insincerely engaging with him. “I’d back them however they played. This kind of love is for a lifetime.”

Something inside me folded, humbled by the simplicity and sincerity of his words. “Look, I’m sorry I sniped at you about the farmwork. I’m sorry I didn’t know your name. Nothing about how I’ve acted is your fault.”

He seemed to look at me with a new…respect? “Appreciate you saying that, mate.”

“I can’t get a grip on things this weekend. Look, I know you have a specific job to do, and I suspect part of that is being an impartial observer, but I need a bit of a win.” It wasn’t fair to tell him that donors were threatening to pull their donations because of my rudeness. Still, I was putting him on the spot,but I was desperate at this stage. “How should I approach this farmwork so I can repair my image a bit?”