My stomach growls. I could go for a slice of pizza after this ordeal.
“Did Hammer say camp or glamp? Maybe it’ll be at a luxury spa,” I say offhandedly.
“You’d like that.” Wolf elbows me in the ribs.
“We work hard. Nothing wrong with a little pampering. A massage...” My phone pings and I swipe to my email. “I just got the travel info from Coach’s assistant. Sounds like a fancy school of some sort. Finishing school.”
“Like old-school etiquette?”
“Like sipping tea with our pinkies turned out.” I demonstrate.
Grey swats me.
“What? I had three sisters. You’d better believe they made me sit in on their tea parties. Maybe this isn’t going to be half bad...” I imagine a countryside spa getaway...away from my father’s admonishments and ultimatums.
Sorry, Dad, can’t talk now.Have to go get a hot stone, mud scrub, body polish, something-or-other. I mean, learn to mind my P’s and Q’s. But don’t worry, I’ll do as you say when I’m done.
Oh no. There she is again.Pizzacomes to mind along with the guilt about the times I did not mind my manners...and have regretted it ever since.
“But it’s not the same as the field time and practice that’s going to get us ready for the season,” Grey says.
“It says here that we’ll still be training. They’re sending a specialist or something,” I say, skimming the email.
“Yeah, I feel special,” Wolf says darkly.
I clap him on the shoulder.
“Oh, you are special,” Grey teases.
“Guys, we have just enough time to go home, pack, and meet up to take the flight to the finishing school in a remote country called Concordia. Ever hear of the place?” I ask.
I’ve never visited, but have heard it’s a classy place with trains that run on time, mountain vistas, seaside resorts, and great food. Perhaps it’s not going to be that bad.
Wolf turns on his heel and starts back the way we came.
“Where are you going?” Declan asks.
“Going to talk to Hammer,” Wolf hollers over his shoulder.
We grab hold of him. I eye the guys, asking if this is going to result in a team tackle. Grey shakes his head subtly. So we march our lone wolf in the other direction as he hems and haws.
“No, we’re a team. We stick together,” Grey says with the final word.
Then my cell phone rings. It’s my father. Nope, he’s always the one with the last word. Nerves zing through me as I brace myself for a verbal tackling.
5
PIPPA
Relief swells through me like a warm wave. Mum kisses me on both cheeks in the European style, cooing and fussing over me.
Libby Thompson may be well-to-do and one-of-a-kind, but she’s a mother through and through. She’d never throw me to the lions, however, throwing me at marriage material is another story.
She holds my hand and then steps back to get a good look at me—probably since we haven’t seen each other in a few months now that I work in Concordia.
“You look lovely, darling, but what happened to your dress?” Without waiting for my answer, she removes the silk scarf draped over her shoulders and strategically arranges it around my waist to disguise the wet patch. “You were always such a tidy child. How do you manage to get into fixes like this?”
The fact that it’s possible that I haven’t always had weird luck gives me hope. Then again, Freddie, Phoebe, and I had a nanny and Mum’s perception has always been a little skewed in our favor—she laughed off Freddie’s high school shenanigansas boys being boys and she coddled twelve-year-old Phoebe through her irrational fear of peacocks.
