Page 15 of Shy Innocent In The Spotlight

CHAPTER FIVE

MACKGAVEONEof the most discreet of his household staff directions on packing up Elodie’s things and transferring them to his car, along with food and drink for an overnight stay. He then tracked down his brother in his suite of rooms. Fraser was pacing the floor and swung to face Mack as he came in.

‘You have to talk to Sabine, Mack. You have to convince her to change her mind. Her father’s threatening to pull the plug on my career. I need to get her to reconsider, otherwise I’m doomed. That crazy Campbell bitch is behind this, I just know it. It’s why she agreed to be bridesmaid.’ He clenched his fists, his expression thunderous. ‘She wanted this to happen. She planned it from the start.’

Mack was having trouble aligning his view of Elodie with that of his brother. It was as if they were talking about two different people. The Elodie he’d spent time with was feisty at times, yes, but underneath that was a warm and sweet person who seemed to care about others more than she did herself.

Two different people...

The thought got a little more traction in his mind. Those alarm bells had rung and rung and rung inside his head until he was almost deaf with the sound of them. Why hadn’t he thought of it before? The answer was so obvious. What if he was dealing with two different people? Was it possible the young woman he had almost kissed in the library yesterday, the young woman he had convinced to go away with him overnight, was not the real Elodie Campbell? He whipped out his phone, pointedly ignoring his brother’s continued ranting, and quickly did a search of press releases about Elodie Campbell’s called-off wedding. His search proved fruitless until he typed in Lincoln Lancaster’s name and then a couple of articles loaded, one with a picture. He stared at the grainy image of three bridesmaids gathered outside the church. One of them had her face slightly turned away but Mack would recognise that profile anywhere. The younger sister of Elodie Campbell was not just a younger sister but a twin. An identical twin.

‘Are you listening to me?’ Fraser said. ‘I said I need you to talk to Sabine. Tell her she’s making a terrible mistake.’

Mack put his phone in his jacket pocket. He decided to keep his new discovery to himself a little bit longer. He wanted to find out the reason for the switch, wanted to understand the motivations behind the decision to stand in for her twin. Wanted to know how far the beautiful little imposter was going to take this charade. ‘I’m inclined to agree with Sabine. If she married you, it would be her making the terrible mistake.’

‘How can you say that? I love her.’

‘You don’t love her. You love how she made you feel. She worshipped you, got her father to give you a great job, told you all the things your male ego wanted to hear. But you don’t love her. If you did, you wouldn’t have betrayed her.’

‘It was Elodie Campbell’s fault. I wouldn’t have looked twice at her but she—’

‘I’m tired of hearing how it’s always everyone else’s fault when you stuff up,’ Mack said. ‘I can’t fix this for you, Fraser. This is your mess and for once I’m not going to untangle it for you.’ He had been doing way too much enabling of his brother, he realised now. Stepping in when he should have stepped back. His fears over Fraser taking the path of their father were real fears but he couldn’t spend his life babysitting his younger brother. The cancelled wedding was a huge wake-up call for Fraser and if Mack tried to intervene, it might lessen the impact. It was time for his brother to grow up and take responsibility for the mess he had made.

Besides, Mack had a little mess of his own to untangle.

While Mack went to see about the transfer of her luggage to his car, Elspeth took the opportunity to call her twin. ‘Elodie? You’ll never guess what happened.’

‘I was about to call you. I just saw it on social media,’ Elodie said. ‘Whatever you do, don’t say anything to the press. God, I don’t need this right now.’

‘But what about me?’ Elspeth said. ‘I’m still pretending to be you. How long do you think I can keep this up?’

‘You can come home any time you like now the wedding’s been called off. But you’ll have to lie low, and, come to think of it, so will I.’

‘Well, here’s the thing—Mack MacDiarmid is insisting I go away with him overnight.’

There was a short silence.

‘And you said yes?’ Elodie’s tone was incredulous.

‘You’re always telling me I need to be more adventurous, so that’s what I’m going to do. Go with the flow.’

‘But you’re going as me, right?’

‘Well, yes, because I can’t exactly tell him I’m not you now, can I?’ Elspeth couldn’t imagine how she could ever reveal her true identity to Mack. Not after all the lies she had told. No, she would go away with Mack and enjoy the little adventure for what it was—a chance to live a little before she went back to her normal quiet life.

‘No, I guess not but it’s kind of tricky...’ Elodie’s tone contained a note of something Elspeth hadn’t heard in it before.

‘Tricky in what way?’

‘What if the press see you together? I mean, while you’re pretending to be me?’

Elspeth frowned. ‘Hello? You’re the one who insisted I stand in for you at a society wedding, remember? Heaps of photos have been taken all weekend, so—’

‘Yes, but if you’re having a one-night stand with Mack MacDiarmid, then—’

‘I’m not having any such thing with him. He’s just keen to keep me away from the press.’

‘But you’re seriously tempted.’ Her twin stated it rather than posed it as a question.

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