He'd asked whether she would stay, but he couldn't imagine her playing at politics the way Tirith did.
Maybe it was why he liked her so much. He opened his mouth to tell her so, but Guinevere had begun her trek back to them and interrupted.
Maybe it was for the best. Maggie was leaving, and if he was very lucky, he'd be working on Ernest's funding for the next year.
7
"Wow."
Maggie swiveled at the voice and came face-to-face with her twin for the second time in less than two weeks.
Tirith closed the door to her suite behind her. "You look incredible."
Maggie had spent a quarter hour staring at herself in the mirror. She didn't recognize the woman looking back at her. The elegant up-do they'd tamed her hair into, the darker makeup.
Mostly the dress. Floor-length, off-the-shoulder, and a pale ice blue. She looked like a princess.
She felt like a fraud.
Where was the cowgirl who lived in jeans and worn-out boots?
What was real? The cowgirl she'd left behind or the princess looking back at her?
Or, could she be both?
She didn't want to leave her life in Texas behind. She loved the horses. Loved her father.
But she hadn't known how it would feel to come home to Glorvaird. So many delightful childhood memories had returned along with her. Things she hadn't thought about in years.
Being in the public eye hadn't been as difficult as she'd feared.
And then there was Luc.
Luc, who'd charmed her and listened to her andkissedher.
Her whirling thoughts hadn't resolved when Tirith entered the apartment.
She wasn't sure she hid her surprise. "I thought you weren't coming in until tomorrow."
There were still shadows in Tirith's eyes, though she looked more at peace than when Maggie had left her in Texas. "I need to find a way to make reparations for what happened. The girl's father..." She pinched her lips together. "And... I wanted to be here for the gala tonight. I promised, after all."
For Luc. It couldn't be clearer, though Tirith didn't come out and say it.
Tirith was back. and that meant Maggie didn't need to attend the gala at all.
She sat on the tufted velvet sofa, her stomach roiling. She'd thought she would have one more night with Luc. But now… Now Tirith would be by his side.
A knock at the door revealed Tirith's personal assistant, who delivered two pieces of luggage and glanced between the sisters. She was trained well enough to keep her silence as she left the room.
Tirith removed something small and red from her purse and smoothed it out on the small table beneath the wall-mounted mirror. A bandana.
"How's Dad?" Maggie asked. "Did he discover the switch?"
"In the first five minutes," Tirith admitted with a little laugh. "I convinced him not to tell."
"He called Mother."
Tirith looked up sharply at this information. "Does she know?"
