“Are you all right?” asked her father after a moment, his irritation replaced by genuine concern. “You know my main priority is you, right?”
Scarlett shot him a sideways glance. “Not when you’re jumping straight in with ‘Alastair’s devastated.’”
He blinked several times and nodded. “I apologize. You’re right. I should have checked in with you before telling you about him. Now, how are you doing?” He moved across the cabin to sit next to her and pulled her into his arms.
She leaned into him, inhaling the familiar smell of his vanilla-and-leather-scented cologne, and the embrace melted away her irritation. After a few seconds she sat up and gave him a small smile. “I’ll be fine.” Hesitant to tell him her news so soon after their charged exchange, she asked instead, “Are you ready for your speech?”
“You know me—I’ll probably run through it once more in my office. Mind listening and telling me what you think? Someday, it’ll be you giving a Remembrance Day speech.”
Scarlett smiled, deciding not to mention she’d already heard the bulk of it through his study door. “I’d love to listen. Did you know Beni wanted to come today? He wasn’t happy to be dragged to the Buckland luncheon.”
“Yes. It’s a shame he and your stepmother aren’t coming, but Laylani insisted she had to be at that luncheon. Thankfully, I have you to keep me company. Once the speech is over and I can relax a little bit, I want to hear all about what you want to do now that you’re not with Alastair. You might want a new flat closer to Parliament—that would be a livelier part of town for a single career woman. You need some excitement away from the family home.” He was trying hard to be upbeat for her, and she appreciated it.
Before she could reply, his phone rang.
While her dad spoke to his chief of staff, Scarlett imagined herself a year from now moving into a new flat. Maybe by then, the border would be down and Brayden could come to see her in her new place. Her vision of the future wasn’t incompatible with her dad’s, if only they could agree on an adjusted timeline.
He’ll say yes to the year abroad.
Wouldn’t he?
CHAPTER
THREE
In her father’s office at Parliament, Scarlett listened as Lord Jules Heroux rehearsed his Remembrance Day speech.
“…let us also celebrate the future they gave us.” He turned to Scarlett. “How did I do?”
“You sound great,” she said. Her father was a born orator. “No notes from me.”
“Excellent. We have about twenty minutes. Would you like a drink?”
Her dad kept his whiskey decanter and his crystal glasses inside an ornate globe in his office. He’d told Scarlett more than once that his best political partnerships were forged and fortified over drinks. She hoped booze would help put him in an amenable mood.
“Why not?” she said as her heart rate sped up. “While we’re imbibing, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Oh?” He handed her a glass filled with two fingers of amber liquid, and they sat in the leather armchairs on either side of the globe.
Scarlett forced herself to breathe. “I know you were hoping I’d join your staff now that I’ve finished university, but I’ve decided to spend a year abroad touring the embassies. It’ll be great forme to build some political alliances, and if you think about it, now’s the perfect time for me to go. It’ll take some time to gear up for the border opening once your legislation passes, and I’ll be back before the most intense work begins.” She bit her lip and waited for his reaction.
Her father couldn’t stop her, exactly, but his disapproval would settle in her stomach like a stone, dragging her under the surface until she drowned. Trying to please him by being like him was ingrained in her. If her dad put his foot down about her leaving, her relationship with him would be at risk.
Jules sighed as his demeanor changed from bright to resigned. “I had a feeling you’d go. Your ideas were too detailed to be theoretical. Are you still planning to begin in Sigur Viður?” When she nodded, he shook his head. “I wish you’d reconsider beginning your travels in a country we have such poor relations with. You don’t know a soul there, and you have no idea how to live in a magic-using country.”
She had more of an idea than he knew, from Brayden and her grandmother, but she couldn’t tell him that.
Scarlett moved to the edge of her seat and turned to face her father, determined to make him understand how badly she wanted this. She looked directly into his eyes as she spoke. “I want to see more of the world before you retire and I take your seat.”
Her father’s brow furrowed as he took a long sip of his drink. “Is there no chance of you reconciling with Alastair and him going along with you?”
And there it was—what he really wanted for her. To get back with Alastair.
Scarlett took a deep breath, trying to rid herself of the desire to scream. Her father meant well and didn’t know her relationship with Alastair had fit like a dress half a size too small. Her need for his approval had never been more at odds with her owndesire. Shehadto be honest.
“No.”
He frowned and cocked his head to one side. “I’m still not clear on what changed. You two seemed so solid. What made you change your mind about him?”
