Page 10 of The Prince Who Loved Me

He took her hand, stopping her. “Are you sure this is what you want to do? There are surely others in this town who want to go out with you.”

She gave him a squeeze and loosened her grip. He released her immediately.

“Small towns have long memories. I’m the party girl. The one who always has a good time. You wouldn’t believe how often I get asked out after playing Pansy Hamilton in the historical festival every year.” She sighed. “My mom had me so hung up on not being alone that I was always lonely, even when I was with someone. All a guy had to do was show me a modicum of attention and I was his. The only thing that saved me, other than you, Jordan, and Wendy, was softball.”

“You never needed saving.”

She laughed. “You’re sweet, but we both know I was a hot mess. I don’t know how you all put up with me.”

“Because we love you.” His throat tightened at the words. He loved her.

“I love you guys, too. Which is why I trust you to help me with this profile. Seriously, though.” She turned back to her tablet. “You’ll never find a woman for yourself if you’re always hanging out with us.”

“Maybe I was testing the waters. Seeing if any of you would make a proper princess.”

She gave a muffled snort. “You waited too long. I’m the only one still single.”

“Looks like I’m stuck with you, then.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t mind that at all.”

“I don’t know.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “My wild past might be too indelicate for you proper and pristine royal lot.”

She didn’t know how often he heard undertones in what she said. She played off her personal history as a lighthearted joke, but the wistfulness beneath it pierced his heart.

Well, he wasn’t going to let her laugh it off this time. “Do you know how many people let their past define their present? You’re not. You’re breaking from the script and forging a new chapter.”

He waited for her to make a joke about it, surprised and pleased when it didn’t come.

“I’m trying.” She ran her finger along the smooth wood of the table. “How could you stand me back then? I was such a mess. And so needy, geez.”

“But you were also nice and funny and smart when you chose to show it. You just had bad taste in men, that’s all.”

Brandi laughed. “Hey, you must remember I tried my feminine wiles on you, too. So what does that say about you?”

Sebastien swallowed and used the same line he had told Wendy and Jordan many times before. “You weren’t ready forme yet.”

He made sure he kept his tone light and teasing, and it worked. She gave a giggle.

Should he ask her to dinner again? She wasn’t giving any indication that she was picking up on his hints. Or maybe not acknowledging it was her way of answering.

He caught the picture of Caroline Clayton with more of Brandi and Wendy’s ancestors hanging on the cream colored walls. She would have been their great aunt many times over. The woman who had found love in an unlikely place. The woman who had brought Rob and Wendy together in a strange, roundabout way. The woman whose unusual eyes were repeated in the angel in front of him.

He ran his fingers through his hair, sure that Caroline was watching him now. “So what do we have to do?”

***

Brandi sat at a small wooden table in the Inn’s office while waiting for the meeting with the lawyer to start. A lot of changes had been made in the nine months since Grandma’s passing and Wendy took over Fountenoy Hall.

The table was a new addition, along with the extra chairs and a whiteboard with several lists carefully written in Wendy’s neat hand and the social coordinator’s scrawl. Wedding schedules for each month. Maintenance work. Vegetable growing seasons. The old cherry-patterned curtains remained, letting in the afternoon light onto Grandma’s antique Chippendale chair, but the cardboard boxes that had been stacked on the floor were gone, their contents distributed into the new filing cabinets.

Wendy jumped to her feet and embraced her mom whenLeslie walked into the room. Rob held out his hand, but Leslie ignored it and went in for the hug. Hope flared within Brandi that her mom would greet her the same way, but it was a dream. Carolann was very much aware of herself, but her emotional bonds were broken. Another trait Brandi had to thank her for.

“How’s it going, sweetie?” Wendy’s mom leaned forward to give Brandi a kiss on the forehead.

“It’s fine, Aunt Leslie.” Brandi always appreciated when Leslie included her. It had annoyed Wendy to no end when they were younger, thinking Brandi got all of the attention. She was probably right.

Brandi’s mom had texted half an hour ago and said she would be on time when the rest of Grandma’s will was read. Brandi sat on her hands to keep from rubbing her thumb against her fingers.

Leslie sniffed the air, her eyebrows furrowed. “It smells like grits in here.”