Frankie laughed. She splayed a hand on her chest. A title. That wasn’t anything to write home about. So Clara was fancy. “Are you trying to tell me that your husband is a lord and you’re a lady? Because if you are, that’s amazing!”
Clara didn’t laugh. “Not exactly . . . David’s a little higher up on the ladder.”
Her eyes widened. “Help me out here. I’m not good with this. What’s higher than a lord?”
“David was born a prince, but these days, he’s better known as the Duke of Leeds.”
“Oh.” All the air left Frankie’s body. Her brain went into overdrive trying to process all the information. Her sister was married to a prince. Her brother-in-law was a royal. Did that make her a royal by extension? Was Clara a princess? Or was she a duchess? She’d have to ask her to clarify.
“Frankie? Are you still there?”
“Oh . . . um, yeah. I am. It’s just . . . wow. That’s not what I expected to hear from you.”
“I know it’s a lot of information to take in. I had a hard time at first, too, when I found out.” Clara spoke slowly. “On the surface it may seem amazing. People think about the glitz and the glamor that come with the royal lifestyle—the title, the jewelry, the money, and the palaces. They never realize that everything comes at a hefty price. I’ve had to pretty much give up on ever having a private life. I can’t do anything that I did before I was married. I’m photographed everywhere I go. People analyze my clothing choices, my hair, my jewelry, even my shoes. I have to be on guard twenty-four-seven.”
Hearing Clara share a small glimpse into her life helped Frankie to understand just a little bit about the type of life her sister lived. She was a bird in a gilded cage. A goldfish in a fishbowl.
“Wow, Clara. I can’t even imagine.”
She sighed. “There are days I ask myself if it’s worth it all. But then . . . I remember that I didn’t fall in love with a prince or a duke. I fell in love with David. Even if he were a penniless shoemaker, I’d still love him to bits.”
Frankie scratched her forehead. “A shoemaker?”
“Yes. That’s one of David’s hobbies. He makes men’s dress shoes, although, he’s branching out a little more these days.”
“My boyfriend is into woodworking. I have a feeling if he ever stopped by your husband’s workshop, they’d disappear for hours, and we’d have a hard time getting them back.”
Clara laughed. “That, I fully believe.”
Frankie and Clara chatted for three hours before they disconnected the call. The two sisters agreed that for now, they would keep the people who knew Clara’s secret to a minimum.
* * *
“Didn’t I tell you that life always has a funny way of working out?” Charlie bragged a few days later. “You just never know what’s around the corner.”
Frankie rolled her eyes. “Dad, Suzy, Gemma, and Leslie are the only people who we can tell about Clara’s secret. We both agreed that it would be a nightmare publicly if we were ever to acknowledge that we’re siblings at all.”
“I’m only teasing.” Charlie secured his skate lace, pulled his pant leg over it, and stood. “I hate attention. I like our life just the way it is. Quiet.”
Frankie zipped up her jacket. “Clara said the constant media attention is something she’ll never get used to, but she’s happy to pay the price to have a husband like David.”
“I can’t wrap my head around the fact that we have an open invite to stay in an actual palace.”
“Neither can I.” They walked out of the pros’ room to the rink. “I told her we wouldn’t have a date until sometime after regionals.”
“You mean nationals,” Charlie corrected.
“Char-lie . . . we’ve been through this. Don’t get too far ahead of yourself. We onlyjustfound out that I passed my senior test.”
Charlie removed his skate guards. “We’ll make it to regionals. Trust me. You had like a perfect score on your test. The judges gave you almost all plus-fives out of a possible five on all your skating skills.”
“That was different. That was a virtual test. I haven’t competed inyears.”
Charlie puffed out his chest. “With me as a partner, you’ll be fine.”
Frankie resisted the urge to toss a skate guard in his direction, although she did admire his fighting spirit and his cheeky grin.
“Come on. Let’s get to work. Once you have more practice under your belt and our program feels like second nature, you’ll be fine.”
