“If you’re referring to me, that’s the second or third time tonight you’ve called me beautiful.”
“Then I’ll be sure to check myself in the future.”
“Good” She turned away, facing the breeze.“We shan’t cross any professional lines.”
Shan’t?Scottie laughed.She never saidshan’t.And the lines had already blurred, but only for fun.She’d be gone soon.
Michael glanced over.“You make yourself available to people.At the Garden Party, here, at this party.People love you for it, especially my cousins.You do that, you know—invite people into your world.They gather round you before you even ask.”
“I inherited something intangible from Kate and her mum, Queen Rosemunde.”
“We want you to love it here, Scottie.More people than not support you.”
We?Did he include himself in that plural pronoun, or was he merely employing the royalwe?
“Possibly not Hamish Fickle,” she said.
“He’s a flash in the pan.Forget him,” Michael said.
“I doubt it,” Scottie said.
“You’re probably right.”Michael sighed “I forget how peaceful it is here.Nothing but crags covered in endless wild grasses and the lights of the city.”
“What happened back there?”Scottie asked.“Why’d you walk off?”
“Just a memory.”
“Purnell?”Again, she took advantage of the dark to ask the vulnerable question.
“We’d have been married a year by now.We wanted kids right away, so…” He gulped down half the water.
“You hoped to announce another great-grandchild at this celebration.”
“Or hand one to Granddad to hold.”The wind whistled past, stealing away the rest of his words.“Now you know the real reason why I didn’t want to come.Plus, Mum always bears down on me with her Pratt Printing plans.Sometimes I think it’s more about beating my father than actually finding me fit for the business.”
“I’ve wondered that a time or two myself.Am I the Creative Director because I’m good or because I bear the name?It took me forever to learn to draw.My gift is for colors and fabrics.Marketing.”She laughed softly.“A couple years ago, I started experimenting with smart materials.How technology could improve our clothes.Then I learned my mother, the queen, took the lead in Lauchtenland technology.”
“Careful, you might just conclude you belong here.”
Scottie shook her head, gulping sea air.“Nah.O’Shay, men’s fashion, Hearts Bend, Tennessee—they’re in my veins.They hold me together.”
“How’d you meet your chap, Cap?”
“At the big Fourth of July celebration on the Scott farm, which the Castle family owns now, but everyone still calls it the Scott farm.Cap had retired from the Army Rangers and took over the family farm outside town.”
“Love at first sight?”
“Ha.No.But we saw something worth exploring in each other.What about you and Purnell?Was it love at first sight?”
“Yes.She knocked my boots off—and believe me, I never thought I could feel that way about anyone.After my parents’ divorce, I tossed true love into the rubbish bin.It was a myth curated by poets and songwriters.”
“Yet Purnell made you believe and that can never be taken away, Michael Cross.Even in death.Love’s an enduring gift.”
Michael studied her through the haze of light in a way that made her look away.After a long moment, he said, “Finn had invited me to one of his school programs.Purnell was his teacher.When I clapped eyes on her, my heart started pounding, my palms went clammy.I’ve had less nerves and weakness facing terrorists.”
He turned at a sound from the dance tent.A group of men had gathered, cigars lit, port in hand.
“Uncle Mick!”Finn ran toward them, kicking a football.“Will you show us the scissor kick?Please?”
