CHAPTER THIRTY
I was in position, reclining on a bench, fluttering my fan – and Wyatt was standing on the opposite side of the lake, backed by a crowd of people waiting to see him perform that famous dive into the water.
I could see him limbering up for his swim, unbuttoning his coat. Oh, God, he was doing press-ups on the grass now, and his adoring crowd of autograph hunters had started whooping and cheering, egging him on to perform some more.
I half-covered my eyes in shame to think I’d put up with this unscrupulous, egotistical show-off for so long. And yes, he was running on the spot now while removing his coat to reveal that he was wearing just a white frilly undershirt beneath it.
I stared in surprise. I’d thought he was going to be wearing a wetsuit to help keep out the chills. But typical Wyatt, he had to go one better than that and prove what a slave to method acing he actually was!
There were more cheers and whoops. The crowd was certainly appreciating his efforts.
And to be fair, I could see why the general consensus might be that he looked hot, posing there in just a pair of thigh-clinging breeches and a sexy shirt, open almost to the waist, ready to perform his watery stunt.
One last pose for the crowd.
And he was in!
He started slicing through the water, doing a slow crawl, and I was shivering just watching him, thinking how cold it must be in there.
‘He’s fantastic, isn’t he?’ murmured someone in earshot. ‘Swimming in such freezing water.’
‘I know,’ said her friend. ‘What a hero.’
‘I wouldn’t mind rubbing him down when he gets out.’
The friend laughed. ‘Too right. He’s apparently going out with someone really mousey and ordinary, but I suppose there’s no accounting for taste.’
‘You’d think he’d have a stunner on his arm, being so gorgeous himself.’
‘Ah, well, they’ll be lining up after this display.’
‘And you’ll be at the front of the queue, I suppose!’
They exploded into cackles of laughter, while I sat there and seethed. If only they knew what a scumbag Wyatt really was.
I turned away, unable to watch him performing to the crowd for a moment longer . . .
‘Ooh, what’s happening now?’ gasped the first woman.
‘Where is he? Is he doing some kind of a stunt?’
I looked up. And then I sat up straight. I couldn’t see Wyatt at all.
Then suddenly, he popped up in the centre of the lake, waving his arms about and . . . oh, God, not content with posing lakeside and doing press-ups, he was now pretending to be in difficulties!
I groaned. Talk about over-acting! No wonder he hadn’t managed to land any more speaking parts on telly after that milkman role in that soap years ago . . .
He was really going for it now, gasping and waving frantically, and the crowd were loving it, cheering him on.
Then a man in the crowd suddenly yelled, ‘Hey, he’s not waving. He’s drowning!’
I went rigid with fear. God, he was right!
I stood up and ran to the edge of the lake. Wyatt was genuinely in difficulties, desperately trying to thrust his head above the water and spluttering for help in between efforts.
Was it cramp? Wyatt was always getting cramp in his calf muscles.
Several people around me who’d also run to the edge were now stripping off and preparing to dive in.
But one man got there ahead of the rest.
He’d thrown off his coat and shoes and was now stripping off his sweatshirt beside me, revealing the very fit body beneath.
Dan?
I watched open-mouthed as he executed the perfect dive, entering the water with barely a splash, and then began powering across the lake. Wyatt had disappeared now beneath the surface of the water, and this time, it looked as if he wasn’t coming up.
Go, Dan!
I was urging him on in my head.
Please get to him before he drowns . . .
I might hate the man but I definitely didn’t want him dead!
Reaching the centre of the lake, Dan dived under, disappearing from view, and my heart went into over-drive. I held my breath. And after a heart-stopping few seconds, he burst back through the surface holding Wyatt above the water.
The crowd started urging Dan on as he began swimming with Wyatt in my direction, performing a textbook life-saving rescue and receiving a round of hearty applause when they both finally reached the edge.
People were crowding around Wyatt, who was back on dry land and being helped by a woman in the crowd who was apparently a doctor.
Dan stood beside me, watching, hands on hips, breathing heavily. He was dripping lake water from head to foot.
‘You need to get inside,’ I told him, as a woman came over offering him a picnic blanket, which I helped drape around his shoulders.
‘You’re the real hero,’ the woman said, smiling admiringly at him. ‘When I remember today, it will be you who I think of as Mr Darcy.’
*****
Dan had retreated to the manor with Amanda in search of a hot shower and some dry clothes, and Wyatt was getting up.
I noticed his gaggle of young fans were nowhere to be seen now.
He was shivering uncontrollably, looking really quite pathetic, and despite everything, I took pity on him.
I stepped forward and took charge. ‘Are you okay to walk back to the house? Was it cramp?’
He nodded.
‘Come on, then. Hang onto me.’ I took hold of his arm. He was red in the face, still breathing heavily after his efforts to stay alive in the water. It had obviously really frightened him.
I’d been planning to break up with him as soon as I’d done my speech and our vignette was over. But obviously it was already over.
I was hardly going to kick the man while he was down, though.
‘Stop mothering me, Lizzie,’ he snapped, shaking off my arm. ‘Almost drowning is bad enough for my image. The last thing I need is to be photographed with some woman having to help me back to the house.’
I stared at him. Some woman? The cheek of the man, when I was trying to help him!
He was striding along now, pushing back his wet hair and smiling for the benefit of people with phones who were recording the unexpected drama.
It was the final straw.
I’d offered to help when he didn’t deserve it. But he’d pushed me away so he could show his best side to the cameras!
What a vain and shallow man he was . . .
‘Look, Wyatt, it’s over, okay?’ I was marching alongside him, determined to keep up.
He looked at me. And he actually laughed.
‘I’m serious, Wyatt.’
‘You’re breaking up with me?’ He slowed his pace a little.
‘Yes. I am. For God’s sake, Wyatt, what sort of a man are you? Seducing a young teenager and then refusing to acknowledge you have a daughter? And then lying to me about the whole thing?’
If I was expecting him to look remorseful, I was disappointed. He just frowned, looked away and said, ‘Oh, so you know about that, do you?’
‘Yes, I know about that!’
He nodded with a sneer. ‘I expect it was the marvellous, saintly Dan who told you, then?’
‘It doesn’t matter who told me. I think you’re disgusting what you did to Judith and that lovely little girl. Rowena. That’s her name, by the way.’
He shrugged. ‘Probably just as well you said it first.’
‘Said what first?’
‘That we’re finished.’
‘What do you mean?’
He sighed. ‘Well, me and Caitlyn . . .’
‘You and Caitlyn?’
‘Yeah, she wanted some guidance finding an agent . . . getting her acting career off the ground, you know? So I was helping her and we sort of got closer – and well, we’ve realised we care about each other.’
‘Right. So when were you actually going to tell me this?’
‘No need to get annoyed about it, Lizzie.’ He frowned, like it was me who was the unreasonable one. ‘You’re breaking up with me, remember?’
‘And not a bloody moment too soon, by the sounds of things!’ I shouted for the benefit of the crowd, some of whom were hurrying alongside us, presumably enjoying the spectacle.
‘I gave you the benefit of the doubt all the way through our relationship but now I find I’ve been going out with the biggest, most conniving, self-serving knob in the history of knobs!
And that’s definitely not me being complimentary about your man parts, by the way.
Because well, let’s face it . . .’ I let my words hang in the air for a second.
‘But hey, let’s not go there. You’ve been embarrassed enough today already.
Suffice to say you are dumped from an enormous height, Wyatt, so you and your teenage groupies can walk happily off into the sunset together.
And good luck to you. And by the way, I hope they shrivel up and fall off! ’
As I marched away, a smattering of laughter and applause followed in my wake.
But I wasn’t bothered about Wyatt any longer. I just wanted to find Dan and tell him how sorry I was that I hadn’t believed him when he’d told me the truth about my delightful boyfriend.
I got changed quickly and then I went downstairs to find him.
I spoke to one of the organisers of the event but he said I was too late.
The man who’d dived into the lake to save Wyatt had changed into dry clothes and left straight afterwards with his sister . . .