Page 50 of Rivals
“Marshall broke up with me,” she said flatly.
“Oh, Sam.” Beatrice sank onto the sand and put an arm around her, pulling her close. Sam leaned gratefully against her sister’s shoulder.
Through her sobs, she explained what had happened—that there was no possible future for them, because Marshall would have to give up his future as Duke of Orange.
Beatrice nodded. “I know this is hard to hear, but maybe it’s for the best. If you were going to break up, it’s better that it happened now, before…”
“Before I got hurt?” Sam asked sarcastically, and Beatrice winced.
“Sorry. That was a dumb thing to say; of course you’re hurting. I just meant, before you got any more hurt than you are now.” She hesitated. “Marshall was going to have to choose between you and his family eventually.”
“And you didn’t think to warn me?” Sam asked wearily.
“I guess I thought you knew. And I didn’t realize that you and Marshall were in love.”
Sam scooped up a handful of sand and let it sift through her fingers. “You know what? Being a princess isn’t really that great.”
“Wise words. Should I embroider them on a throw pillow for your sitting room?”
Sam laughed, but it came out as more of a sob.
“I’m sorry,” Beatrice said again. “Trust me when I say thatI know how hard it is, losing someone you love because of who we are.”
Sam swallowed; her throat still felt raw. She shrugged forward and looped her arms around her knees.
“Can I do anything to help? Would you like, um…ice cream? Tequila?” Beatrice offered.
Sam’s eyes drifted to the ink-dark ocean, and she spoke without thinking. “I know what you can do. You can go in the water with me.”
Beatrice made a funny noise in her throat. “The ocean?”
“Why not?” She needed to do something bold and a little bit reckless right now, something to distract her from the ache that was tearing through her body.
“It will be freezing!”
“That’s the point!” The cold water seemed suddenly appealing, as if it might wash all this pain from her, let her start over fresh.
Sam rose to her feet and started toward the ocean, not pausing to take off her jeans and black silk top. Soon the water was frothing around her calves, then her waist; she waded forward, arms stretched out. When a huge wave crested before her, she closed her eyes and dove straight into it.
The air burned in her lungs. It was dark under the surface, and turbulent, and bitterly cold. But most of all it was quiet. For the first time all night, Sam couldn’t hear the roaring of her own heartache.
Beatrice was in her office the next morning when Teddy knocked on the door. Franklin, who’d been dozing at her feet, lifted his head at the noise.
“Hey, Bee.” Teddy adjusted the backpack slung over his shoulder. “I just wanted to say goodbye before I head to the airport.”
“You’re leaving already?”
He nodded. “Before I go, I was wondering…can we talk about something?”
“Of course.” Beatrice headed to one of the armchairs by the fireplace, and Franklin trotted along in her wake, to settle on the carpet with an eager thump of his tail.
Teddy cleared his throat. “I was wondering if you’ve given any more thought to my suggestions about initiatives I could take on.”
“I’m sorry, Teddy. I’ve been so busy lately.”
“You’re always busy.”
“Well, yes. There’s a lot to my job.”
