Page 176 of Rags to Royals

I put my hand on her head now. “You’ll handle it. This is a great chance for you to show them all who you really are now. Just like you wanted.”

I wish they’d suffer even more for the lies and nastiness, but I know that’s not very generous of me. Scarlett will do the right thing and be a bigger person.

She’s awesome that way.

"Oh, and tell them the other thing,” Saoirse says. "Then we need to take the selfie that we’re going to send. "

"What other thing? What selfie?" I ask my niece.

"The podcast wants to interview us. And they want us to send a photo of us together,” Saoirse replies.

“That’s great.”

These two are going to be a force to be reckoned with together. But the podcast would be really fun for them. I look at Scarlett, though. It’s her call. I’m the stepdad. This is new. I don’t get to make big decisions about these kinds of things involving Mariah.

Scarlett looks up at me. "Can we trust them? I mean the podcast women?"

"For sure," I say. "We can also go with the girls. Or maybe, better yet, send Linnea with them."

Scarlett nods quickly. "That would be fantastic. I know Linnea will protect them from any inappropriate questions or topics of conversation."

"Of course I will," Linnea says, breezing through our doorway with Jonah right behind her.

"She told me to let her know if I saw you guys out of the room," Saoirse says. "I texted her because I figured this kind of counted."

I round the couch and sink down onto the cushion next to Scarlett. I reach for her hand, threading our fingers together. We are probably going to be here for a while.

Fifteen minutes later, Henry arrives, looking confused as if he’s been searching for everyone. "Didn’t think we’d be welcome across this threshold for a few more days," he says.

"Welcome is a strong word," I tell him.

No one in the room seems at all offended by that.

"I was just filling them in on the trip to Portland to open up the new moms’ community there,” Linnea says. “And telling them how excited Christopher is to have us come to New York and open one. He’d like to sit down and meet. He has some great input on some good locations.”

Apparently Linnea is hoping to have Declan and Astrid involved with the Portland site, and Christopher Waite, one of the senators from New York, involved with the one there.

"Of course he is," Jonah says, his hand moving from the back of the loveseat where he and Linnea are sitting to the back of her neck in a very possessive though almost second-nature gesture.

I know that Christopher had some interest in Linnea in the past and that she actually went on a date with him when she and Jonah were in Washington, DC, just a few months ago.

That could be interesting.

"Anyway,” Linnea says. "The trips are all planned. There are a couple of interviews I think would be interesting for you as well, but we can check on those as we go. And I love the idea of talking to the podcast. In fact, I’m going to pitch to them having Mariah come back after we’ve gone around the country and opened some of these homes. I’m sure they would love to have a young woman’s perspective on this kind of work."

Mariah sits up straighter. "That would be really neat."

Linnea smiles at her. "You’re going to be so great at all of this. As an ambassador for the royal family, but also for all of the wonderful things your mom and Cian are doing."

Mariah looks over at us, almost as if she’s stunned.

"As much as you want to do," I assure her. "Your call."

Saoirse leans over and nudges Mariah with an elbow. "It gets easier as you go along."

My chest feels tight as I look around this room. This is exactly what I wanted to give my girls. A family, a community, a place where others would see how amazing they are and where they could really shine. This feels so damned good.

"Where is Ruby?" Henry asks me underneath the rest of the conversation.

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