From the way Beatrice’s nostrils flared in panic, it seemed like this was hardly low-stress. “Right,” she hedged. “It’s just … Telluride has always been our private place, where we get to be together as a family, and now you’ve invited someone who’s practically a stranger.”
“He’s not a stranger. We’ve known the Eatons for generations,” the king countered.
This was too much. Sam wasn’t sure why Beatrice didn’t want Teddy there, but whatever her reasons, they were in agreement for once. Sam had no desire to spend her New Year’s vacation watching Teddy on an extended date with her sister.
“This is moving a little fast,” she interjected. “From first date to a weekend away—what will people think? Maybe Beatrice should wait until we’re back, and then if she wants to ask Teddy out a second time, she can do it then.”
Beatrice shot Sam a grateful look, but the king waved away her protest. “Don’t worry about the message it sends. Teddy will be staying in the guest cottage, not the main house. The way Daphne used to.”
Daphne Deighton was the only significant other who’d ever gotten an invite to Telluride. It wasn’t lost on Samantha that her father had just equated Jeff’s three-year former relationship to the guy Beatrice had gone out with once.
“Besides,” the queen persisted, “we’re never there as a family, just us. Jeff is inviting Ethan this year, and Sam, aren’t you bringing Nina?”
“Yeah,” Sam admitted.
Beatrice nodded, having obviously realized that she wasn’t going to win this one. “No, you’re right. Bringing Teddy to Telluride is a good idea. Thank you for thinking of it.” She stood up, her movements stiff and jerky, almost robotic.
“Beatrice,” Sam ventured. Didn’t her sister want to finish talking about … well, whatever it was they were talking about?
Beatrice just shook her head, her eyes hollow-looking. “Good night, Sam.” She followed their parents out of the room, her white robe billowing in her wake. The door shut behind her with a resounding thud.
NINA
The Washingtons had gathered at the top of Bald Mountain, the breathtaking backdrop of the Rockies falling away behind them. Sunlight glittered over the pristine white snow. Watching them tease and torment one another, you might almost have thought they were any other family, posing for a quick picture before tearing down the slopes.
Except this wasn’t a normal vacation photo, but an all-press photo call.
The palace’s PR office had long ago struck a bargain with the various media outlets: the royal family would conduct an interview at the start of their annual trip to Telluride, in exchange for complete privacy thereafter. It was much like the deal that had protected Beatrice while she was in college, where she did an in-depth interview once a year, and otherwise was able to move around Cambridge relatively unbothered.
Nina still couldn’t quite believe that she’d come on this trip after all. Just a few weeks ago she’d been certain that she would stay in the capital: go to the party that Rachel was planning, have a normal New Year’s Eve for once. But that was before she went out with Jeff, and everything changed.
It hadn’t been easy keeping this a secret. At Christmas with her family, Nina had to constantly check herself to keep from mentioning the prince. She and Jeff were texting nonstop; Nina had even changed his name to Alex in her phone, just in case anyone happened to glance at her screen while she was typing. Who would ever expect the vaguely-labeled Alex was actually the prince?
They’d seen each other alone just a couple of times since that first date, always somewhere public where Jeff went incognito. Nina didn’t dare bring him to campus, where he would definitely get recognized, and she was too scared to hang out at the palace, in case Samantha caught them together.
They kept seeking excuses to attend the same events, if only for more chances to be near each other. Jefferson had even come to the theater for once, simply because Nina had told him she would be there with Sam.
Hiding it from Samantha was the worst part. So many times, Nina had felt herself on the verge of telling her best friend everything, but some innate cautiousness, or perhaps fear, restrained her. It wasn’t that Nina worried about Sam’s reaction. If anything, Sam would get too excited at the news, and end up spilling the secret to the rest of the world.
And Nina couldn’t help thinking that if she and Jeff weren’t going to last, she would rather Sam never find out at all. As weird as things would be for the three of them once Sam knew that Nina and Jeff were secretly together, it would be even weirder if they then broke up—and Sam had to deal with her brother and her best friend as exes.
Being in Telluride as Sam’s guest rather than Jeff’s was equal parts bliss and torture. Sometimes, when no one was looking, he would sneak up behind her and pull her into his arms, or spin her around to drop a lingering kiss on her lips. Just last night at dinner, the prince had taken the seat next to Nina. She’d been so distracted by the feel of his leg brushing against hers that she’d almost forgotten to eat.
He was standing now with the rest of his family, their skis and snowboards carefully posed before them, their boots crunching on the snow. Almost everyone was here: the king and queen and the twins. The king’s younger brother, Richard, Duke of Manchester, and his wife, Evelyn, along with their two small children, Annabel and Percy, who were currently drawing stick figures in the snow with the points of their ski poles. The king’s older sister, Samantha’s wild and controversial aunt Margaret, Duchess of Louisiana, and her husband, Nate. The Hollywood Hottie, the press liked to call him, because he was a soap-opera actor, and ten years younger than Margaret—luckily for her, he also happened to be the grandson of a viscount, otherwise their marriage wouldn’t have been approved. The Queen Mother had tried on numerous occasions to make Nate give up his work; she didn’t want members of the royal family engaged in something so openly commercial, so trashy. But Nate cheerfully ignored her complaints. Nina had always liked him for that.