Chapter 72 Too Much Publicity
“The news! Oh, no!” Vivian exclaimed, “I can’t go on camera. I don’t have my hair done!”
Hallie just rolled her eyes at this because her mama’s wavy hair was perfectly fine. What Vivian usually termed ‘having her hair done’ was to smooth it out at the salon so that she looked like she had been drenched in a heavy downpour.
“I’m not camera-ready either,” Sam mumbled.
He didn’t care that much about his appearance, but he was shy when it came to publicity.
Gigi looked amused, and Bob Masone pronounced, “I wonder if they heard about my prize chicken.”
“Yeah, why are they here?” Gigi wondered.
Luke seemed terrified, like that night at the dance when he ran to hide from Miss Santer. The only thing that probably kept him rooted to his seat was not wanting to lose his reputation as the perfectly-in-control guy who was on the level.
“I’m going to go see what they want,” Hallie said, springing out of her seat.
She was pretty sure Terry had summoned the news team, but she didn’t know if this latest offense was directed against her or Luke. She just hoped she could forestall it before things got out of hand.
“Oh, Perry, it’s you!” she exclaimed, sighting her old high school friend who was one of the local news reporters, though music was his real passion.
Perry was approaching with a microphone in his hand and a camera man behind him. “I didn’t know you were home!” he said, blushing. He still had a crush on her in spite of everything.
“Please tell me you’re not doing a report on our ranch,” Hallie said, putting on her most charming smile, “You know how camera-shy my folks are.”
“I know, but this story is just too good to pass up.”
“What’s the story about then?” she asked.
“I can’t tell you. It would ruin the surprise!”
“Surprises are overrated. Uh-uh,” she warned as he made a move to walk towards the house, “I’m not letting you in there until I know exactly what this is about.”
“You’re gonna play hardball, huh?” Perry stopped and motioned for his camera man to wait. “Okay, but you have to promise you won’t tell anyone ahead of time. I need to get a candid reaction.”
“What the hell is it about, anyway?” Hallie asked, though she feared she already knew.
Perry leaned towards her in a conspirational manner. “All right, you know this bad boy prince of Sarkadia, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of him.”
“Well, I got a tip-off that he might be here, in Texas, at your house.”
“You don’t say! Well, you’re not going in there.” She stood firmly between him and the house, hoping that he wouldn’t try to get past her.
The others would probably let him inside if he knocked on the door, especially if Terry got her way. She was probably the same helpful person who gave him the tip-off.
“Why not?” Perry asked, eyeing her curiously. “Did you already know about the prince?”
“There is no prince,” Hallie said. “This was all just a hoax. Was Terry the one who called you?”
“I’m afraid I can’t reveal my sources,” he replied, being intentionally stubborn.
“Then you’re definitely not allowed in the house.”
“Okay, Hallie, I won’t go in the house if it’s against your wishes,” he said with an air of noble resignation, “but if anyone wants to come out and talk to me, you can’t stop that from happening.”
“Please, just go away! You know this is just Terry putting you on.”
“I guess that’s for me to find out. They don’t assign me these important news jobs for nothing.
” He patted the side of the van as if it gave him a special sense of authority.
“But I still have the feeling there’s something more going on here.
If there’s no story, why are you so eager to keep me out of the house? ”
Hallie sighed, realizing he was going to be impossible to get rid of. She had to tell him something.