Page 95 of Loyally, Luke
Ellie:You’re right. In fact, I was just contemplating the idea before you texted. If I want more visibility for what I care about, I need to make it more visible so the media will focus on the good.
Ellie:And I need to distance myself from Luke. He will finish with the renovations next week and then the following week is the banquet. Then he’ll be gone from Crieff to finish up another project near Skern, and I’ll have no reason to see him ever again.
Maeve:That is one way to look at the problem.
Ellie:Why do I feel as if you have something else you want to say?
Maeve:If someone I cared about was going to leave—and I knew I would probably never see them again—I’d try to find ways to spend as much time with them as I could.
Ellie:You’re thinking about your mother, aren’t you?
Maeve:I would do just about anything to have her back, El. She’s been gone a year and I still think she’ll show up at my flat to ask if I’d like to join her on some ridiculous shopping excursion.
Ellie:You were with her, Maeve. All the way to the end.
Maeve:And I have those memories, along with all the others I’ve collected through my life. I would rather have those memories and the love wrapped within them than have “spared” myself the hurt by creating more distance than necessary.
Ellie:It’s so risky.
Maeve:Do you want to know what I’d tell you as my friend? Or as a princess?
Ellie:Why do they have to be so different?
Maeve:They just do. It’s your life and, now, your choice.
Ellie:Then, as my friend.
Maeve:Is he worth the risk, El? Even for just this little while? He’s not going to be a prince. You’re not going to leave your country. But which will you regret more? Making memories and then having to say goodbye or never trying at all?
***
Luke had expected Ellie to be AWOL at Cambric the next few days. She’d told him after taking full advantage of their one-day date with a lip-on-lip reward that she had responsibilities to attend to in Mara.
But the thing he hadn’t expected was his sudden popularity.
As he exited Gordon and Nessa’s shop Saturday evening after dinner with them, a half dozen reporters stopped him on the main street of Crieff, bombarding him with questions.
He’d never been a fan of attention, unless it involved the very thorough private attention of a princess (evidently), or the attention to detail needed to build something the right way. But this type of attention fit neither of those criteria.
Though, from the look on Pete’s face, you would have thought he’d won the popularity lottery.
From what Luke could make out from the multiple reporters talking at the same time, mixed with their accent, the questions all revolved around one thing: him and Princess Elliana.
“Are you dating the princess?”
“Sources say you two are on intimate terms. Is that true?”
“What do her parents have to say about her dating a foreigner?”
“Are you considering relocating to maintain your relationship?”
Half the questions he didn’t even know how to answer. The last one, he did, but he refused to give them the satisfaction. Blocking people’s way to their car was just rude and he didn’t care much to appease rude people.
Luke tried to push through the crowd and was making slow progress when Gordon burst from the front door of his shop, yelling threats in Caedric, Gaelic, and English. Evidently, he wasn’t too keen on rude people either.
With some help from a few of the other Crieff residents, the crowd dispersed and Luke and Pete made their way back to the cabin.
And as weird as it sounded, Luke kept a look over his shoulder to ensure no one was following them to their secluded location. Of course, why on earth would someone followhim? It wasn’t like he’d get captured and the royal family would receive a ransom note or something. That was just ridiculous.
