Chapter 16

The Daily Edge: Social Tattle from One Edge of Skymar to the Other

It looks like our reformed rebel is at it again, except this time she's juggling an earl and a... carpenter? We all know she has a past of enjoying the romantic journey, but all her previous exploits have been more in line with aristocracy or "Hollywood" royalty, not some unknown carpenter from an unknown place in the U.S. And has she left Stoic Styles behind? Because Princess Elliana was spotted having lunch with the introverted and camera-shy Earl of Tallon yesterday. Perhaps the earl is more open to sharing? It certainly looks as if our princess hasn't shaken off as much of her former life as she's claimed. Or is she only taking after her father in searching for love in the most unlikely places? It seems as if there's something magical in the North Country air that woos royalty to color outside the lines. What are your thoughts? Team Styles, Tallon, or Edgewood?

Text from Maeve to Ellie:Now I really hate that Dad got sick and we missed the luncheon. Luscious Luke looks fantastic in green.

Ellie:Oh no! Have photos already found their way into print? How bad is it?

Maeve:If we're talking about Luke in green, so bad I think you ought to give him to me. If we're talking about the "news," then... you'd better not read it.

Maeve:Those shoulders, El. Those shoulders. Can you imagine how well he'd fill out a tux?

Ellie:I do not need help with my imagination on that score, Maeve.

Maeve:And what's this about Timid Tallon? You didn't tell me you were meeting him. Did he talk at all?

Ellie:He was on the list, so Mother suggested I ask him to be my escort to the Hyacinth. I feel as though he'll prove less dull than Christopher, which suits me better too, and he's been a good friend for most of my life.

Maeve:Why don't you shake things up and ask a certain builder?

Ellie:Maeve! He is not interested in royal life, and I can't imagine anything would induce him to attend a royal ball. He's already had to deal with paparazzi finding him in Crieff. I don't want to make things worse for him. Besides, why would I encourage something that cannot continue? I've already gotten my heart too entangled as it is.

Maeve:Because seeing him in a tux would be worth it?

Maeve:Ignoring me, are you? Or daydreaming about Legendary Luke in a tux?

Ellie:Oh heavens! The Edge is already suggesting I've fallen back to my old ways after three years because of ONE meeting where I touch a man's arm???!! This is ridiculous.

Maeve:It's what tabloids are all about, friend. Besides, the real problem probably has more to do with the way you're looking at him, rather than a touch to the arm. Maverick Maxim must have gotten a glimpse of something.

Ellie:He'll do anything for a story.

Ellie:And I probably need to contact Luke to warn him.

Maeve:You've got to learn to ignore the tabloids like your family usually does. (Well, everyone except Arran, who seems to enjoy them a little too much.) I mean, you've always said that one-time stories like this aren't really the problem—it's when the same ones keep happening over and over that it becomes an issue.

Ellie:True. I need to take a deep breath and not look for a catastrophe behind every headline. It's just so difficult to retrain my brain.

Maeve:Here's the thing, people are going to look for a story, and they have the freedom to spin it any way they want. So do you. Have you ever considered that you can use the media as a tool? They may not bite on everything you put out there, but it will give you a semblance of control to have your own version for people to consider.

Ellie:You're right. In fact, I was just contemplating the idea before you texted. If I want more visibility for what I care about, I need to make it more visible so the media will focus on the good.

Ellie:And I need to distance myself from Luke. He will finish with the renovations next week and then the following week is the banquet. Then he'll be gone from Crieff to finish up another project near Skern, and I'll have no reason to see him ever again.

Maeve:That is one way to look at the problem.

Ellie:Why do I feel as if you have something else you want to say?

Maeve:If someone I cared about was going to leave—and I knew I would probably never see them again—I'd try to find ways to spend as much time with them as I could.

Ellie:You're thinking about your mother, aren't you?

Maeve:I would do just about anything to have her back, El. She's been gone a year and I still think she'll show up at my flat to ask if I'd like to join her on some ridiculous shopping excursion.

Ellie:You were with her, Maeve. All the way to the end.

Maeve:And I have those memories, along with all the others I've collected through my life. I would rather have those memories and the love wrapped within them than have "spared" myself the hurt by creating more distance than necessary.

Ellie:It's so risky.

Maeve:Do you want to know what I'd tell you as my friend? Or as a princess?

Ellie:Why do they have to be so different?

Maeve:They just do. It's your life and, now, your choice.

Ellie:Then, as my friend.

Maeve:Is he worth the risk, El? Even for just this little while? He's not going to be a prince. You're not going to leave your country. But which will you regret more? Making memories and then having to say goodbye or never trying at all?

***

Luke had expected Ellie to be AWOL at Cambric the next few days. She'd told him after taking full advantage of their one-day date with a lip-on-lip reward that she had responsibilities to attend to in Mara.

But the thing he hadn't expected was his sudden popularity.

As he exited Gordon and Nessa's shop Saturday evening after dinner with them, a half dozen reporters stopped him on the main street of Crieff, bombarding him with questions.

He'd never been a fan of attention, unless it involved the very thorough private attention of a princess (evidently), or the attention to detail needed to build something the right way. But this type of attention fit neither of those criteria.

Though, from the look on Pete's face, you would have thought he'd won the popularity lottery.

From what Luke could make out from the multiple reporters talking at the same time, mixed with their accent, the questions all revolved around one thing: him and Princess Elliana.

"Are you dating the princess?"

"Sources say you two are on intimate terms. Is that true?"

"What do her parents have to say about her dating a foreigner?"

"Are you considering relocating to maintain your relationship?"

Half the questions he didn't even know how to answer. The last one, he did, but he refused to give them the satisfaction. Blocking people's way to their car was just rude and he didn't care much to appease rude people.

Luke tried to push through the crowd and was making slow progress when Gordon burst from the front door of his shop, yelling threats in Caedric, Gaelic, and English. Evidently, he wasn't too keen on rude people either.

With some help from a few of the other Crieff residents, the crowd dispersed and Luke and Pete made their way back to the cabin.

And as weird as it sounded, Luke kept a look over his shoulder to ensure no one was following them to their secluded location. Of course, why on earth would someone follow him? It wasn't like he'd get captured and the royal family would receive a ransom note or something. That was just ridiculous.

But at the current moment, his life looked a little too much like a movie to discard caution, even the ridiculous kind.

"You're all over the news, mate." Pete sat up from his reclined position on the couch, where he'd been looking at his phone. "This one photo from the luncheon does make it look like the two of you are close."

Luke moved from the finished banquette to peer at the photo on Pete's phone. Someone, likely Monster Maxim, had taken a picture of the moment when Ellie placed her hand on his arm and leaned close. From their position, one could almost guess she was leaning in for a kiss.

Luke rolled his eyes and took a giant bite of his sandwich to keep his words from offending his own ears. No wonder Ellie wanted to seclude herself back in Crieff. Dealing with this all the time would drive anyone batty.

He took another large bite of sandwich.

Another item to add to his list of reasons for avoiding social media.

"What are you going to do?" Pete looked up from his phone.

"What is there to do? Isn't it some sort of usual royal protocol to keep a stiff upper lip and go on? Keep quiet?" He raised the rest of his sandwich as if toasting a glass. "That I can do."

"And what if..." Pete's smile took a mischievous turn. "What if she wants you to be her prince?"

Every bone in Luke's body revolted against the idea of him and the word prince in the same sentence. "She's not going to ask."

At Pete's skeptical expression, Luke sighed and rested his hip against the back of the couch. "Ever watch the Mission: Impossible movies? Or Indiana Jones?"

Pete only blinked.

"Rambo?"

Nothing.

Pain pinched in Luke's chest at what Pete had been missing in his life. "Well, they're not romance movies. They're adventure movies. And in those, the guy doesn't usually get to keep the girl. Or maybe the girl doesn't get to keep the guy. It's not that they stop caring about each other, but life happens and hard choices have to be made." Luke shrugged. "Well, in Indie's case, he's just really bad at choosing the right woman, but anyway, the point is, just because two people care about each other—and I'm not saying Ellie cares about me in the way you're implying—doesn't mean they get to choose to be together."

"And you're going to be okay with that?"

"Life's full of hard choices, Pete." Luke looked down at his half-eaten sandwich, his appetite gone. "Sometimes, between two good choices, you have to pray, consider, and hope you choose the best one for all the right reasons."

"And if you don't?"

"You make the best of your choice and do the next right thing." The weight of the declaration pressed him to sit on the back of the couch. "I'm not going to say it doesn't feel awful. I feel like someone's repeatedly punched me in the stomach, but I'm also not so shortsighted or hopeless to think that God can't turn choices—the best or not—into something good and right."

"Even if you missed your soul mate?" Pete looked utterly horrified.

Luke gave his beard a scratch as he pondered how to answer. Not the most popular opinion either. "My granny once said that love is much stronger than any feeling. It's a choice you make over and over again. Choosing her and what's best for her every day." He shrugged, sifting through his own words for consolation and strength. "It's real nice to think of all the magic of finding that one person in the whole universe who will make you happy, but I feel that's going about it inside out."

"Really?"

"Focusing on what I can get out of it? Doesn't sound like real love to me. Does it to you? If I'm spending so much time stewing over my own happiness, I'm bound to cook up a whole lot of discontent, self-focus, hurt feelings, and pride—and to be honest, I don't know if any of us need to spend too much time inside our own heads." Luke shuddered. "Scary place in there."

Pete's grin quirked.

"But real love isn't so much looking out for myself as it is the other person's best. Helping them shine."

"Like what you want for the princess?"

Love? Yes. He did love her. Luke looked away. But there was no way he was going to say it out loud. Especially to Pete, the chatterbox.

Luke's phone buzzed in his pocket, so he pulled it up to view.

An email? From HRHStClare?

HRH?

What business did he know that used those initials? St.Clare? Wasn't that Ellie's last name?

Did princesses have last names?

He groaned. He was in way over his head.

But the email wasn't from Ellie.

It was from her dad.

Was it okay to call a king "Dad," or did he immediately warrant the name "Father"? His head started to ache.

And then the realization hit him. The king of Skymar had sent him an email? Why would... The press! And the implications for Ellie!

His face went cold. This was much worse than the principal's office.

"What is it?" Pete's voice broke through Luke's mental chaos. "You look like you just got hit in the stomach."

"Not sure." He opened the email and skimmed across the few short lines.

Thanks for the meeting... grateful for your thoughts...

Luke froze.

There is a current situation I'd like to discuss with you. If you are open to meeting with me, I can have my secretary contact you to set a time within the next few days. I feel in-person would be best. I shall be residing at Carlstern Castle leading up to the Donors' Banquet at Cambric Hall. It is an hour drive from Crieff. Would you have available transportation to meet or should I send a car?

Gratefully,

HRH Aleksander

"What is it?" Pete had moved from his place on the couch and attempted to peer over Luke's shoulder, but since the man stood several inches below Luke, he wasn't succeeding.

Luke swallowed through the lump in his throat and released a sigh. "Do you think Carlstern Castle has a dungeon?"

***

Text from Ellie to Luke:Hi, Luke. It's Ellie. Nessa contacted me and told me about the reporters in Crieff. I'm sorry for involving you in this way.

Luke:How did you get my number?

Luke:Not that I mind. It's just, I think I would have remembered if we exchanged numbers because... well, I had to fight the urge to ask you for yours about twenty times before I found out about the whole princess thing.

Ellie:I'm one of the royals of Skymar. I have my ways of getting the information I need.

Ellie:However, all I really had to do was ask Holton.

Luke:Clever. And I'm not sure how to react to such power. It might be a little intimidating.

Ellie:I adore the idea of being intimidating. You ought to see me when I shoot pistols with Father.

Luke:Ellie, if you're trying to create emotional distance between us, you shouldn't mention shooting pistols to me. It only makes you more attractive.

Ellie:What would you do if I told you I'm currently taking your advice and watching Hacksaw Ridge?

Luke:You're not playing fair right now, Princess.

Ellie stared down at the phone, almost able to hear him say what he'd just written. The ache that began the moment he responded to her first text branched throughout her chest. Her breath shook from her effort to control her emotions.

She knew what she had to do, but everything within her rebelled against it. Was Maeve right? Could she spend time with him as friends just to make the best of what they had left?

Luke:I have a feeling you won't be visiting Crieff anytime soon, will you?

Her eyes burned. He knew.

Ellie:It will be better if I keep my distance until the banquet.

She slid her fingers beneath one damp eye. She'd never imagined anyone like him in her life. Wouldn't have even known how to imagine him, but here he was, caring for her with such genuineness and goodness.

Helping her realize how good life could be, how fun.

Luke:I imagine it would.

His simple admission redirected every plan she'd made for the conversation.

Ellie:But I don't quit so easily on a job when I start one, so I suppose I'll be a gofer for a little longer.

Luke:A lady who shoots a pistol, watches good movies, and finishes what she starts? Woman, you're not helping my mind stay on the friendly path at all.

Her grin stretched wide, and the sweet warmth of attraction bloomed through her chest.

Ellie:It's only a few more days. Hopefully I won't tempt you over the edge in that time.

Though, judging by her pulse, her heart had already galloped over the edge and right into his arms without one look back.

Ellie:And I'll really only be there for one of those days since I have other business to attend to.

Luke:Well, at least I can get some distraction-free work done sometime this week. That's awful friendly of you.

Oh, how she wanted to hold on to this as long as possible. Even if only as friends.

Ellie:I'd rather have your friendship than nothing at all.

Luke:Oh, you got my friendship, Ellie. And anytime you want to tiptoe over into the gray area of kissing friends, I'll gladly be your friend then too.