Alicia Martinez is determined to keep a low profile. After a tough year, she deletes all of her social media and retreats to the small coastal town of St Andrews in the hopes of starting over - and avoiding her tumultuous past.
Oliver Hogarth is a...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"I can't believe you wore that."
Alicia looked at her younger sister skeptically. Tess smiled, taking an innocent bite of her pancakes. She was dressed in the red dress with the slit, her dark hair pulled up in a nest of curls to reveal her slender neck. She was also wearing six-inch stiletto heels, Alicia noted wryly: a statement at any time of the day, but especially at 10 o'clock in the morning.
"It's in fashion," Tess said mildly.
"For brunch?"
"For any time of the day."
"Ah," Alicia said dryly. "And it has nothing to do with the fact that a whole horde of press are just outside the window?"
"Oh, no." Tess waved a hand. "Nothing at all."
Alicia exchanged a look with her mother. They were sitting at a snug restaurant on Market Street, crammed into a booth made of patchwork quilting. The wooden table groaned under a variety of dishes: saffron and feta eggs, fluffy buttermilk pancakes, crisp, salty bacon, and a selection of rocket and roasted tomatoes.
Outside, photographers clicked their cameras. But it didn't bother Alicia as much these days; the press had snapped a picture of her taking out the bins in her rabbit onesie with a fluffy tail on it. It didn't get worse than that.
"You know," her mother said, "Oliver sent a car to bring us to the airport today." She scooped up a forkful of eggs. "And he paid for a security team to accompany us."
Her head snapped up. "He did?"
"Mmmm."
"And he upgraded us to first class," Tess added smugly. "We get free champagne and everything."
Her mother set down her fork. "I wish you'd give Oliver another chance, mija. He's such a lovely boy."
"Mum," Alicia said in exasperation. "Just a few weeks ago, you were telling me not to trust Oliver. Now you want me to date him?" She shook her head, stabbing a piece of bacon. "Anyway, Ollie doesn't seem all that bothered. He didn't even come to see me after the tournament."
She couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. Her mother pursed her lips.
"Maybe he's been busy."
"For six days?"
"Maybe he's a secret agent," Tess suggested. "And he was on a mission in Greece where he had to assassinate a beautiful princess."
Alicia decided to ignore this.
"Promise you'll call me when you land," she said, changing the subject. "And when you get home safely. And when you unpack."
"We will."
"I'm going to miss you." Alicia's throat was tight. "Both of you."
She reached her hand across the table. Her mother placed her hand on top of it. They both shot a pointed look at Tess, who huffed, flinging her hand on top of the pile. "Yes, alright," she sighed. "I'll miss you too, Leese."
