Page 87 of Royal Reluctance

“You never FaceTime me,” she accuses. “You hardly even text. What happened?”

But she doesn’t seem upset. She almost seems… happy.

And Tema definitely takes after her aunt. It’s not just the smile, but the way her nose turns up at the end is the same. And the tilt of her chin. It’s the direct way she looks at me.

Lyra is an aunt. That’s going to blow her mind.

“Everything’s okay,” I assure her. “There’s a few things I needed to talk to you about.”

“Is Dad okay?” Ever since his attack of appendicitis in the summer, we’ve needed more frequent updates about him.

“He’s fine. He’s good. He’s—it’s about me,” I begin awkwardly. “Hettie’sback in town.”

I’ve done a lot of talking today, and for a moment, I wish I could save this for another day. Spread it out a bit.

But no. This needs to be sorted out now. Explained. I need to know things, but before that, Lyra deserves to know what’s going on.

“Hettie? As in Hettie Crow, former love of your life, who broke your heart when she skipped town?” Lyra’s eyes darken, and for a moment she looks scarily like Dad when he has to give someone bad news. “That Hettie? Can’t wait to catch up with her.”

“Don’t be like that.”

“Don’t be protective of my big brother? Jeez, I wonder who taught me to be like that?”

I laugh, suddenly remembering fourteen-year-old Lyra getting her heart broken by Michael Murphy and me pushing the poor kid up against the wall, Kalle right behind me.

He might have soiled his pants and definitely he never spoke to Lyra again.

She was very angry at us for that.

“Fair enough, but there’s more going on,” I relent.

“Please tell me you didn’t welcome her back with open arms? Bo, don’t be a doofus. She broke your heart right after Mom died. Who does that?”

“My wife?”

On screen, Lyra rears back. “Excuse me? What did you just say?”

“I married her—”

“No one tells me anything!”Lyra cries.

“No body knew,” I say quickly. “Except Spencer and Abigail Locke—”

“Spencerknew?” Those eyes darken again. Lyra holds the screen far enough away so I can see her torso, and the way she fists her hand on her hip makes me think Spencer might be on the receiving end of her anger more than me.

I definitely need to warn him after this.

“Let me just say it, and then you can freak out,” I plead. “Please? This was years ago. I married Hettie two days before the accident.”

“The accident…”

“Mom dying. That one. We got married, Mom died, and Hettie left because I couldn’t deal. With any of it.”

“Okay…” She frowns. “That time is still a bit hazy for me, but she shouldn’t have left.”

“I think it’s my fault that Mom died.”

Lyra stares at me. And then she laughs.

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