“And the executive producer,” Odin explains, uncharacteristically flustered. “Camille had the idea to offer the island as a location for the show, and they took us up on it. Shooting begins in three days and Grayson is staying with us at the house. He just told us. He thought we knew!”
“He thought you knew—?” Bo begins just as Kalle joins us.
“That Lyra is going to be on the show.” Odin’s voice is loud enough for heads to turn but no one turns down the volume. “She’s going to be the Suitorette. She’s going to star in a reality show, dating twenty-five men. At the same time.”
“Oh, hell no,” Kalle growls.
“We’ve got to stop her,” Bo agrees.
Gunnar is laughing, and they all turn to me. “Spence?” Odin pleads. “You’ve got to— She can’t do this?”
“Why can’t she?” Abigail asks.
2
Lyra
“H
aveyoutoldthemyet?” Kate asks, her normally cheerful expression showing a little too much concern for this hour.
“I have a feeling someone else will do that for me.” The iPad is propped against the pillows on my bed, so it’s like Kate is here to help me pack.
Or pack for me, which she’s done in the past.
I love living in Chicago, but what I can’t get used to is that my second-favourite city doesn’t have Kate McKibbon. It’s not like we’re joined at the hip; I’ve been away from Battle Harbour for years now, but I did spend a few of those years bopping around, following Kate to school, and then on to Ottawa when she found work there.
But these days, Kate’s back in Battle Harbour and I’m still living in the Windy City, with no real reason to be here.
I throw a handful of underwear into the suitcase on the bed, taking a moment to stare out of the wall of windows at the sliver of Lake Michigan I can see from my bedroom.
Along with Kate, I miss the ocean.
“Have you thought this through?” Kate asks with all seriousness.
There’s a pause, and we both laugh.
A few weeks ago, Grayson Grant, the very attractive host of the reality dating show The Suitor, approached me at the wedding of a mutual friend and asked if I would consider becoming the next Suitorette.
I said yes, because why not?
Six weeks spent in the company of twenty-five men doesn’t need much thinking through.
I’ve been the focus of cameras my whole life, and while I doubt I’ll manage to find true love with one of the men—the ultimate goal of the show—it will be fun. There will be group dates, and one-on-one dates, and even overnight dates for the lucky few who manage to stick around.
It’s an added bonus that the season will take place on Saint Pierre. I’ll be able to explore the island, hang out at the beach and spend time with my brother Odin and sister-in-law, Camille who runs the place.
It’ll be fun. At least Ithinkit will be. Not that Camille isn’t amazing—she is—and the island of Saint Pierre is tiny and quaint, with a small-town Battle Harbour-like vibe mixed with a little Frenchje ne sais quoi.
But it is possible that living with my big brother when I’m supposed to be dating twenty-five men might be a bit of a challenge.
Odin thinks he knows what’s best for me. All of my brothers do. That’s what I get from being the youngest and the only girl.
Thanks, Mom and Dad.
I’m going to be the next Suitorette and I haven’t given it much thought since I signed the contract. There was a clause that I wasn’tallowed to tell anyone, so I used that as an excuse to push it out of my mind, and not tell my family.
The real reason I didn’t tell them, is that I may be many things—willful and wayward and sometimes naughty, stubborn and wild, and often uncontrollable, according to the world’s press—but I’ve never been a liar. And there’s no way I was about to tell my family the truth.
