Crowning His Unlikely Princess

She’d arrived home on a red-eye flight from Arrantino and found Dan waiting to pick her up. It had been such a relief to see him that she’d promptly collapsed in his arms and cried her heart out. All during the flight home she hadn’t let herself think about actually having left Logan but as soon as she’d arrived on home turf it had become real and tiredness and emotional overload had overwhelmed her.

Dan had ushered her into his jeep and gunned it for the house, covering her with his jacket as they’d pushed their way through the mob of journalists outside her tiny Brooklyn home. The only upside, Peta had said, was that a few of their neighbours were loving every minute of the notoriety, dressing up and parading around just to see themselves on camera. Causing a distraction.

And telling the press that neither she nor Peta had ever been ‘any trouble’.

If only that made her feel better.

‘You’re going to have to get up. You haven’t eaten in twelve hours.’

And she might not eat eve

r again. It seemed like a viable solution to fixing the hole in her heart. Not to mention her reputation. Within twenty-four hours she had quit her job, slept with her boss, and become internationally unemployable. Quite a feat really, but not something that would look good on any future job applications. ‘I’ll get up soon.’

Peta perched on the end of her bed. They’d talked a little the night before, and Cassidy had apologised profusely, but her sister was holding up better than she’d thought she would be.

‘I don’t believe you,’ Peta said. ‘The girls will start to know that this is more than jet-lag if you don’t show your face because it’s not like you not to be able to pull it together.’

‘I know.’ She never let anything get to her, or at least to let it show that it got to her, but she had no superpowers left. She was like Superman without his cape, or Batman without his tool belt.

Of course she knew she’d be all right. She knew once the dust settled, life would return to normal and she’d be able to push her feelings for Logan to one side and move on. It’s what she did best. But she could see by the look on her sister’s face that she was going to have some trouble convincing her of that.

‘Sorry.’ She pushed to a sitting position and shoved her tangled hair out of her face, grabbing her glasses from her nightstand to put them on before picking up her phone.

‘No you don’t.’ Peta grabbed her cell from her. ‘You’ve done enough Internet searches for the time being. It will only depress you.’

Knowing her sister was right, she subsided back against her pillow.

‘I’m just so sorry you got dragged into it,’ she said in a small voice.

‘Don’t sweat it.’ Peta put on a brave face. ‘And none of this guilt. I might not like having my life splashed all over the papers, but I’ve never lied to the twins about where they came from. They know their father abandoned them.’

‘Yes, but now all their school friends will know. And your work.’

‘We’ll deal with it just the way we’ve always dealt with it. We’ll start again.’

‘But what about Dan?’

‘He already knew everything, of course, but he said that he’d stand by me. He said he’ll go wherever the girls and I go.’

‘Oh, Peta.’ Cassidy had to fight back a wave of tears. ‘I love you so much.’

Peta hugged her tight, stroking her hair. ‘Half the reason this has been such a big deal is because of my wild teenage years. Seriously, you have to stop blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong.’

‘You weren’t responsible for that awful photo of me everyone is laughing at.’

‘You were only eighteen, and a little too trusting at the time. And you could have been wearing a bikini. Really, Cass. No one will care in a day or two. Maybe a month.’

Cassidy tried to smile. She knew someone who would care. Logan.

‘You’ll see I’m right,’ Peta said.

Cassidy tried to smile. ‘I hope so.’

‘The only question is what you do with yourself once that happens.’

‘Move to Siberia.’

Peta laughed, wiping away a tear that had leaked out of Cassidy’s eye without permission.