10. Scarlett
Chapter 10
Scarlett
Jen: So, we’ve been informed that Lady Linnea and Jonah Greene are off on their honeymoon. No one is telling us where they went, which is just fine. I guess. We get it. Linnea has sent us a few photos and it looks gorgeous. Anyone want to guess based on the photos we posted?
Lindsey: People have already guessed that they are back in North Carolina. Which makes sense. I don’t think that Jonah's parents have probably met Linnea.
Jen: Oh, good point. Well, that's fun. We won’t share anything more specific than that. They deserve their privacy on their honeymoon. But we hope they’ll share details when they get back.
Lindsey: Well, not all of the details.
Jen: Speak for yourself. I wouldn’t mind some shirtless photos of Jonah Greene sunbathing or something.
Lindsey: Okay, when you put it that way… Also, we’ve had a lot of comments asking if we know anything more about Prince Cian and Henry. We have in fact gotten confirmation that they are completely fine and back in the US. Apparently it was just a big miscommunication about who was going where and when. We assume they’re back in Louisiana, though our source didn’t specify.
Jen: Well, where else would they be if they’re in the US? If you told me they were skiing or white-water rafting or something I wouldn’t have been surprised and would’ve assumed they were not in Louisiana, but if they’re just hanging out and back to their usual life, it has to be Louisiana.
Lindsey: Exactly.
Mariah stops reading and looks up at us. “But you told people in the family where you really are, right?” She's directing this to Henry. We’re all gathered around the kitchen table with two big pizzas spread out in the middle. Cian and Henry sprung for dinner tonight. I did insist the girls make a salad at least, but they never get pizza on a regular weeknight so they’re treating this like some kind of special occasion.
Or maybe it’s just Cian and Henry being here that makes it a special occasion. Though I don’t want to admit it, that’s how it feels to me.
The girls were amazed and delighted by Cian’s and Henry's makeovers and the fact that they’re going undercover in our little town. Until it sank in that they can’t let on that they know either of them.
Henry swallows a bite of pizza. “I told who needs to know. “
“But a lot of Cian's family is in Louisiana. They would know if he's not there,” Mariah says.
Henry nods. “Like I said, I tell the people who need to know.”
“Everyone just keeps everyone else's secrets?” Greta asks. “There's no worries about leaks or anything?”
“Everyone is very invested in keeping Cian safe. None of them would jeopardize that. Besides, I told them he's with me and that we’re fine. And that we’re in the US. Only a few people know exactly where we are. Everyone else is just content knowing that I’m with him.”
Greta gets a goofy smile on her face. “That is so nice.” She looks at me. “If we just disappeared one night, but then I called you and said don’t worry, we are fine, Mariah is with me, would that make you totally feel fine?”
I arch my brows. “I wouldn’t say totally fine, no. So don’t get any ideas. But, knowing you are together would make me feel better than thinking she was somewhere alone.”
Greta smiles and nods. “Plus when we’re older, like Cian and Henry, it would be different.”
I concede that point. “True. I hope you’re both always the best of friends.”
She loops an arm around Mariah's neck and gives her a little hug. “Of course we will be.”
I look across the island at Cian and find him watching the girls with a smile. He apparently feels my gaze, though, because his eyes come to mine. I turn my attention back to my pizza. He and Henry are both so good with the girls and I’d be a huge liar if I said it didn’t affect me.
Greta’s dad is fully involved in her life and she has a younger brother, but she loves being at our house and there is a lot of estrogen around here. Mariah has never had a steady male in her life. She loved my stepdad, Brian—we all did—but she didn’t know him very well since we lived away from Emerald. Far away. Sometimes I think we should have kept it that way.
“So you’re staying for eighteen more days, and you’re going to spend time with Scarlett,” Greta says to Cian, pulling my attention back to our pizza party. “Our story is that you’re a professor and your car broke down.”
“Right,” Cian confirms. “You’re definitely part of the inner circle now.”
Greta and Mariah share a grin. It's obvious how exciting they find that.
“What happens after the eighteen days?” Greta asks.
Cian's eyes lock on mine. “I get engaged.”
Both girls gasp.
“ What ?” Mariah asks. Her eyes bounce between Cian and me
Cian sets down his piece of pizza and dusts his hands together. “That's the deal. I’m here because I’m supposed to get married in a couple of months. But I had to see your mom first. If we spend eighteen days together and end up being just friends, I go back to Cara and marry the woman my grandfather has picked.”
Greta's eyes are enormous. “But what happens after eighteen days if you really like each other? What if you don’t get over Scarlett?”
The corner of Cian’s mouth curls up. He’s looking at me again. “Then I think Scarlett should marry me.”
The next gasp is even bigger and more dramatic than the first. I’m hoping they don’t have food in their mouths or they might choke to death.
I look at him with wide eyes, but he’s already grimacing. “Should I have not said that in front of your daughter? You all kind of hang out as friends and for a second there I forgot…” He shrugs. “And it’s what’s on my mind.”
“ Marrying Scarlett is on your mind?” Greta asks.
He gives me a look that’s almost but not quite apologetic. “Yeah,” he admits.
I almost laugh. What am I supposed to do with him?
I look at Mariah, who is grinning like Cian just told her she can have four puppies, two ponies, and a new car for Christmas. “We talk about everything around here,” I tell him. “Probably more than we should sometimes.” I roll my eyes. “Like I often think about how my fifteen-year-old daughter and her best friend should probably not know about my weekend tryst with the undercover prince in New Orleans.” I give the girls a pointed look.
They both just giggle.
“Yeah, she would have told me that you proposed anyway,” Mariah tells Cian.
“He didn’t propose ,” I say quickly.
“I can ,” he says. “If you’d like me to. There’d be a big ring.” He gives Mariah a wink. “And a crown.”
I shoot him a look that I know he knows means knock it off . He just grins.
Then he says to Mariah. “I just told your mom the situation with my grandfather and everything.”
“That you need to get married. And that you really like her ?” Mariah clarifies.
He nods. “Yeah.”
Oh my God. Does he know what ‘knock it off’ means? I look at Henry. He just shakes his head. Which clearly means ‘no, he doesn’t’. Henry is a bit of a mind-reader, I think.
But I truly don’t think that Cian O’Grady very often has thoughts, feelings, plans, or intentions that he isn’t comfortable sharing out loud with whoever is around. Sure, he's used to keeping his true identity a secret, but his heart is on his sleeve. If I’d realized that in New Orleans, I would have also understood that I was being romanced by a real prince with real money and power way back then. Because it's becoming clear he didn’t lie to me about a thing. That ‘oh I intend to be your prince charming in every way and come to your rescue however you need me’ was the full truth. Just like the ‘I know it’s crazy but I’m falling in love with you, Scarlett,’ was how he truly believed he felt.
Those memories are doing me no favors. Especially when I’m able to conjure the exact timbre of his voice when he said it, and how his hands felt on my skin when he said it, and how good it freaking felt when he said it.
“Don’t get all worked up,” I tell Mariah and Greta. “Eighteen days is more than enough for Cian to realize that I am not princess material.”
“But, Mom ,” Mariah says, leaning toward me. “You could so do that! I mean Abigail is the one that lives at the palace and has to do the official stuff.”
She glances at Cian and he nods. I sigh.
“You wouldn’t have to do that boring stuff or like wear dresses all the time or anything. But think of all the important people you’d meet!” Mariah gushes. “All the cool places you could go. And all the money you’d have! You could do so much charity work!” She leans further, her butt coming off her chair seat. “It would be so, so cool! Cian would be my stepdad!”
Greta is bouncing in her seat. “You would be a princess! Oh my God! Princess Mariah! That sounds so great! ”
I can’t even look at Cian. I give them both a frown. “Mariah, Greta, that’s enough. This shouldn’t be about Cian’s money and title or you being a princess.”
God, that is all so bizarre. What world am I in?
“No,” Mariah says quickly. “I mean, yes, it would be awesome to be a princess and be able to finally prove to Leah that I wasn’t lying about any of this. But—” She reaches out and grabs my arm. “I’m talking about the amazing things we could do . And the people we’d get to know! Look at Abigail! Her indoor farms are going to feed so many kids! And Princess Fiona saves endangered animals! And Linnea is working on green energy projects! And even Princess Saoirse has started doing some work as a spokesperson for a youth climate change group!”
I stare at my daughter. Then I look at Cian.
“Well, that’s more because she knows a senator and he’s big into climate change and wanted an enthusiastic young person who knows all about social media and doesn’t have trouble talking in front of groups or on camera,” Cian says. “Not so much because Saoirse is a princess.”
Mariah looks at me with a “told you” look. “She knows a senator?” Mariah asks Cian.
“She does. One of her mom’s friends is married to one of the senators from Louisiana. In fact, her bodyguard, Colin, also works for the senator.”
Mariah looks at Greta and they both mouth Oh. My. God silently to one another.
I’m not surprised that she knows Cian’s sister’s name or even his niece’s name, I suppose. I know them both because of the podcast and web searches I’ve done. But it sounds like Mariah knows things about them. And she’s not just impressed with their relation to royalty. She’s not talking about their clothes, or the private jets, or the palace in Cara that we got a look at through photos on the podcast’s site. She’s talking about the work they do.
I’m…proud of her. And I love her enthusiasm about the projects they’re working on.
“I just—” I start.
“Oh!” Mariah cuts me off. “If Cian was my stepdad, I could do stuff like that!” Her eyes are round and she’s nearly bouncing now. She turns to Cian, then back to Greta who is watching her as if Mariah has just announced that she is going to be on the next space mission. “Oh my God , I’m sure Linnea knows people who work for WHO!”
“Who?” Ruby asks.
“The World Health Organization,” Mariah says. “I think I might want to be an infectious disease specialist and travel around the world helping with epidemics and stuff.”
I look from my daughter to my sister. Ruby is watching Mariah with clear pride.
“You should totally do that,” Ruby says. “You would be amazing at that.”
“Or I might want to work on clean water initiatives,” Mariah says. “Or building schools. Or I might stay here and run for President.”
We all just grin at her.
Henry looks at Cian. “She and Saoirse are going to get along great.”
Cian nods. “Not sure the world is ready, but we definitely need to get you two together.”
Mariah looks thrilled.
I sigh. They’re making plans. For the future. That involves Cian’s family.
And I want to see these two girls together. Ugh.
“We’d be cousins, right?” Mariah asks. “If you and Mom get married.”
Cian coughs and shifts on his chair. Oh, did someone finally surprise him ? He looks at me and gives me a slow smile.
“You would,” he confirms. “And even if your mom and I didn’t stay married, you would still be an O’Grady princess.”
I frown. “What? How?”
Do not encourage him . But I tell myself that too late.
“Once a part of our family, always a part of our family,” he says simply.
Henry nods.
“But that’s not legally true,” I feel the need to protest, for some reason.
“Oh, it will be,” Cian says. “My grandfather and brother will love Mariah.”
“What’s that have to do with it?” I ask, leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms.
Henry chuckles and I look at him. He shrugs. “One of them will be the king. The king makes the laws in Cara. If they want her to keep her title, she will.”
I roll my eyes. Royalty is so…weird.
But also, that’s really nice.
“Really?” Mariah asks. “You think they’ll love me?”
“Of course they will,” Cian says.
“Definitely,” Henry agrees.
Oh dammit. They’re talking as if it’s going to happen for sure. That she will meet these people. That they will love her. That Cian and I will be married.
“Like Brian with you and Ruby, Mom.”
“Yeah, I know,” I say past the tightness in my throat. Our stepfather, Brian, and our mother got married when we were eight and divorced when we were in high school, but he was still a part of our lives afterward. We saw him all the time, he came to all of our events, we went to his house for dinner once a week, and we knew we could call him anytime for any reason. And then he gave us this house and my business. Brian didn’t stop being our stepfather just because he wasn’t married to our mother.
Yeah. I definitely know.
“But…” Greta says, clearly working something through. “If Scarlett and Cian get married, and you become a princess, and everything… we can’t tell anyone here.”
“Why not?” Mariah demands. She shoots a look at Cian. “I swear I don’t like you just because you’re a prince, but I would want people to know.”
He laughs. “I believe you.”
Mariah turns back to Greta. “But why?”
“Because then they’ll know we all lied to them about everything,” Greta says. “That would be really bad.”
Mariah slumps in her chair. “Ugh. We’d have to keep telling them he’s a professor? And when we make trips to Cara, we have to make up someplace we’re going for vacation? That sucks.” She sits up. “What if the podcast talks about it though?”
“See?” I say. “This would be way too complicated.”
No one even acknowledges me. Except Cian. Who just gives me a raised eyebrow.
“How are you going to keep telling people you’re a professor?” Greta asks Cian. “You’ll have to go to Columbus every day and pretend you’re going to the college.”
He laughs. “I don’t know. I didn’t think about that.”
I roll my eyes. Imagine that.
“What are you actually going to do for work?” Greta says.
Cian shrugs. “I don’t know.”
“But how will you make money? You’ll have to work somewhere that people in Emerald never go.”
“I don’t really need to make money,” Cian says.
I roll my eyes again . Exactly and that is a big part of why we’re not getting married.
“People will wonder,” Greta says. “They wonder about everything in this town.”
I look around the table, waiting for one of the grown-ups to suggest that we could move. It’s all hypothetical anyway and not going to happen, but the idea of Mariah moving away would kill Greta. She’d think and worry about it every day for the next eighteen days.
Though she might just help me with my mission to turn Cian off of this whole idea…
“Linnea says she definitely knows people who work with W.H.O.,” Henry says, holding his phone up.
Mariah’s mouth falls open. “You just texted her? Just now?”
“Yeah.”
“But… she’s on her honeymoon !”
He laughs. “She wouldn’t have answered if she couldn’t.”
“But it’s like two in the morning in Cara!” Greta adds. Yes, she knows as much about Cian’s family and home country as we do.
“She and Jonah are here in the states visiting his family,” Henry says. “The podcast was right.” He winks. “But don’t tell anyone.”
Mariah and Greta giggle. They are in heaven right now and I feel myself smiling just watching them. I’m going to have to talk to them about getting their expectations built up around me and Cian and everything, but I’ll let them enjoy this for now.
My phone starts ringing, and I pull it from my pocket as Henry tells the girls about the time he met Jonah’s parents. Expecting to see my mother’s name on my screen, I frown when it’s a local number I don’t recognize. But this happens all the time. I’m not the only mechanic in the area, but I am the only one right in Emerald.
“This is Scarlett,” I say, standing up and stepping away from the table so I don’t interrupt the conversation.
“Hi, Scarlett, it’s Amanda Brown.”
Amanda Brown is Mariah’s principal. I try to keep my sigh inaudible. “Hi, Ms. Brown, what can I do for you?”
I’d responded to her email but, as with Hannah, I did not apologize for Mariah’s words and I didn’t make Mariah do so either.
“I’m actually hoping you have a phone number I need. I’m trying to get a hold of Dean Brady. They tell me you’re fixing his car and I assume you have his number?”
I pause. Then I turn slowly back to face my kitchen table.
Where “Dean Brady” is laughing with my family over pizza.
“I do,” I say. “I can give him the message to call you. I think that would be better than giving out his number without his consent.”
Cian seems to sense my gaze on him and looks up. He gives me a smile that makes my stomach swoop. Why does he have to look so good in my kitchen with three of my favorite people in the world and my favorite pizza?
Yes, I like pineapple on my pizza and my chicken sandwiches.
“That would be great,” Ms. Brown says. “Would you be able to do that right away? I need to speak to him about something that’s a bit of an emergency.”
I frown. How can the principal of my daughter’s school need to speak to Cian’s fake persona about something that’s an emergency?
“I’ll text him right now. Maybe he’ll be able to still call you tonight.”
I’m going to make sure he calls her tonight. I have to know what this is about.
And if she’s going to ask him out, to be her date to some ‘last minute’ function or something, I am going to…
I’m not sure. But I won’t be happy.
Over the guy I don’t want to date and cannot marry. Even though he did kind of ask me.
So there, Amanda.
“Thanks so much, Scarlett. I really appreciate it.”
“You bet.”
We disconnect and I walk to the table. “Amanda Brown, the high school principal, would like you to call her. She says it’s a ‘bit of an emergency’.”
Cian straightens in his chair. “ Me ?”
“Well, Dean Brady.”
Henry frowns. “What did you do? How could you have possibly gotten in trouble with the principal of the school here? How does she even know about you?”
“Because he introduced himself to the town at the cafe ,” Ruby says. “Nothing that happens there is ever a secret for more than five minutes. And you two are new to town. Of course people were paying attention.”
It’s amazing that no one recognizes Henry from past visits to Emerald, but honestly, every time he’s been here, he’s pretty much stayed here, with us.
Cian shakes his head. “No way am I in trouble. I’ve been with you every minute,” he says to Henry.
“What’s it about?” Henry asks me.
I shrug. “No idea.” I totally sound normal and not at all too curious or, worse, jealous.
Everyone at the table is completely quiet, watching as Cian pulls his phone out. I hold my phone so he can see her number. He taps the numbers, then lifts his phone to his ear.
“Hi. Is this Amanda?”
His voice sounds flirty. Why does his voice sound flirty? I frown.
“Yes, this is Dean Brady. I understand you needed to get a hold of me?”
He pauses, listening. Then he looks surprised. Then he smiles. “I see. Well, that’s very interesting.”
It’s interesting that she needs him to escort her to her niece's wedding this weekend? Amanda is easily ten years older than Cian. Hell, I’m six years older than him.
God, I’m six years older than this young, hot prince who thinks he’s in love with me and thinks maybe we should just get married if he still likes me at the end of eighteen days.
“Yes, definitely,” he says to Amanda.
Yes ? He said yes ?
“I’m glad you thought to ask me,” he tells her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He disconnects and I just stare at him.
I guess I thought the eighteen days we’d be spending together would be monogamous days. But, we didn’t really specify that, did we? And I’m the one fighting the idea. Why am I upset about this?
“She wants me to substitute teach at the high school,” he says, grinning.
That takes a little too long to sink in for me, so it’s Henry that responds first.
“Substitute teach ?”
“Yep. She heard about my history and poli-sci degrees, and it turns out that their history teacher is having some kind of hernia repair? They’re expecting him to be out two to three weeks.”
“Wow,” Ruby says. “Just like that? They hear some guy is in town and they’ll let him teach the kids for three weeks?”
“Well, I have a degree,” Cian says, looking mildly offended. “And I assume they’ll do a background check.” He looks at Henry. “We have all of that in the system for Dean, right?”
“Yeah,” Henry says. He glances at Ruby. “It’s legit. Cian’s fine. Perfectly safe to work around kids.”
She laughs. “I’m not questioning that. I’m more curious about how he thinks he can teach history for three weeks.”
“He can totally teach high school history for a few weeks,” Henry says. “He’s overqualified in fact.”
“Well, I need to get a substitute teaching license and do employment paperwork, but I’m going in tomorrow to do all of that. Amanda said they’ll help me with it and fast track it. They’re in a tight spot here, so she’s confident they can get it all approved before next Monday.”
Ruby and I exchange a look.
“You’re going to be able to fake it for three weeks ?” I finally say. “I mean, one day, maybe. But you’ll have to actually teach them something.”
“That’s Mr. Emerson,” Greta says. “Me and Mariah have him.”
I look at Cian. “You cannot fake teach my daughter, Cian.”
He grins. “I’m going to teach them so much cool shit, I will be their favorite teacher ever and someone in that class will go on to major in world history just because of me.”
“But—” Ruby starts.
“He actually has the degree,” Henry says.
“What degree?” Ruby asks.
“The world history major. And the poli sci major. He’s also got a few minors. And speaks French and Spanish along with English and Irish.”
Ruby and I look at each other again, then look at Cian.
“You have a degree in world history?” I ask.
“Of course,” he says. “Love history. Though to be fair, the classes were very easy. I knew so much of it before I even got to college here in the US. Cara’s education system is vastly superior to the American system.”
“Why did you get so many degrees?” Mariah asks.
He shrugs. “Kept waiting to find The One.”
“The one what?”
“The spark. The thing . That thing that I was just born to do. So I tried a bunch of different things. And by the time I realized I wasn’t going to find it in college, I’d collected enough hours for a few degrees.”
I stare at him.
I had no idea he’d actually gone to college. I don’t know why that surprises me. And I feel kind of bad that it does.
“So you’re going to be my teacher and maybe my stepdad and you are a prince and I can’t tell anyone that I even know you ?” Mariah says.
But Cian and Henry are either used to young woman dramatics or they have just already figured Mariah and Greta out because they just nod, grinning, and say, “Yep.”
She tips her head back. “This is so unfair!”
Mariah has no idea about unfair.
Unfair is having the man who gave me the best sex I’d ever even imagined, who also listens and shares the connections with his family that I feel with mine, and who makes me feel brilliant and creative and inspiring sitting right there …and not trusting myself to reach out and take what he is offering.
But I’ve been spontaneous three times in my life. Three times I followed my gut and just went for it, selfishly letting my feelings lead me instead of my head.
And three times there were bad consequences. Not just for me, but for people I cared about, too.
So no, no matter how tempting Cian is, no matter how amazing he seems, I’m not going to let my feelings lead me here. It’s all about my head and being rational and doing the common-sense thing.
Which is definitely not marrying the handsome prince with the great laugh who is completely pulling off the hot teacher vibe.
Definitely not.
Though if he keeps making my daughter and her best friend gasp and lean in and laugh as he shares facts and stories about world history in a naturally compelling and almost joyful style, I might have to tattoo DEFINITELY NOT on the back of one of my hands so I’ll remember it.