‘You’ve done all you can. So has Gran, so have I. The rest is up to her.’
‘I think a good counsellor wouldn’t go amiss.’
‘Baby steps, Princess.’
‘Maybe your father could take on that battle?’
‘Maybe. But tell me something: what did you mean when you told her you’d progressed from being a foolish child?’
She falters before me and I know she wishes I hadn’t asked. But I had to. I had to know...
‘Did my mother call you that?’
She swallows, hooks her arms around my neck. ‘Do we have to talk about her any more? Can’t we just—?’
‘Summer...tell me.’
Her lashes flutter and I lose her gaze to the past...some memory she’s never disclosed...
‘Do you remember the last time we saw one another?’
I frown. ‘Of course. It was the day of the Christmas party. We’d been helping prepare the presents and you’d left to get ready. But then you never showed up.’
‘I showed up.’ Her throat bobs. ‘I saw you at the party.’
‘But—but Gran said you had a headache, that you’d gone to bed.’
She wets her lips. ‘Heartache, more like.’
Heartache...
My stomach twists, my frown deepens. ‘But I don’t—’
‘I was there, Edward. I saw you with Charlotte and your mother saw me. She took great delight in pointing out my inadequacies, and the fact that I would never stack up to her...’
‘To who? My mother?’
‘No. To Charlotte. Though I guess in hindsight she meant both.’
‘But there was never anything between Charlotte and me. She was simply the daughter of one of my mother’s friends. We never shared anything more than polite pleasantries at social functions.’
‘I... I didn’t know that. And your mother...well, she noticed the way I was looking at you and saw fit to intervene and put me in my place.’
My heart pulses. ‘The way you were looking at me?’
‘Apparently my feelings for you were written in my face.’
Oh, God. I can scarcely breathe, let alone speak. ‘Your feelings?’
She nods.
‘What are you saying, Summer?’
‘That once upon a time this teen dared to believe in her own fairy tale and fancied herself in love with the Prince.’
I wet my lips. ‘You mean me?’
She doesn’t confirm or deny, and I feel I’ve lost her wholly to the past now.