Free Raindrops on Roses: Book One of the Favorite Things Trilogy by Millenia Black

want to do it. We've also been asked to sit down
with Sir Gregory Appleton, one of England's most respected
journalists, and I've agreed to do that one too."
    "Yes, but do you know how many times she
turned down these same requests? Consistently, year after year?
She's always said that once she'd left the business, that was it,
she was done, and she didn't owe the public any answers or any
insight into her life."
    "Well, this isn't really
about Gran, though, is it? It's about us ."
    "How can you say that? Of
course it's not about us. We're not in the public
eye— she is. She's
the name people know. We'll only become known once you start
feeding the public interest in her life, giving TV interv—."
Priscilla's phone chimed on the desk. She picked it up and read the
text. "It's Paula. Hang on a sec," she said, shooting off a quick
reply.
    When she hit send, she fell back into her
grandmother's chair, biting her lip. "She wants me to get out, go
to the park or something but I told her she should just come on
over. I'm not up for it yet."
    "Well, that's
understandable," said Doug. "But you should at least try to keep up
with your work, Cilla. Don't wallow in grief. Gran wouldn't want
that—she wouldn't stand for it. She lived a full, rich life and
accomplished a lot . She wanted the same for you. Just think...together we could
take Favorite Things to the next level. For them and for us."
    "I know," Priscilla said quietly.
    Doug smiled. "I won't stop pushing you to
come across the pond, you know. I can show you the ropes and get
your input on things. We'll be a dynamic duo. So start brushing up
on your French."
    "Well, I do want to come over,"
she replied. "I want to get involved. This is our inheritance and I
know we have to do right by it. I definitely want to keep their
legacy alive, so please don't think it's not important to me—it
is." She exhaled deeply. "But again, just give me some time to
register that Gran's actually gone . Please. It hasn't even been
three weeks, Doug. It's so strange being here without her...I'm not
ready to go anywhere ...not yet. But I must admit," she chuckled, "the idea of
being thousands of miles away from Charlotte tempts me daily to
reconsider."
    "Well, I do understand," said Doug, nodding.
"And I'll be waiting for you, sis."
    He rose up from the bookcase and they got
back to work.

    •~•

    When Paula came by, she gave Priscilla a
great big, warm hug and said, "A walk in the park would do you some
good, Cilla. I'm just worried about you being cooped up in the
house all this time."
    "I'll get out soon, P. Truth is, all the
paparazzi at the funeral kind of freaked me out a little bit. We've
never had that before. Gran was very low key, and you know how
serious she was about leaving all that stuff behind. So it was
freaky, you know?"
    "I hadn't thought about that," said Paula.
She laughed. "Sometimes I just forget who you guys are."
    Paula Fleischman was the twenty-six-year-old
daughter of one of their closest neighbors in Mayfair. Her family
owned an adjacent estate and was big on the international real
estate scene. They'd been living on the island a long time, even
before the Bauers.
    "I just don't want to go down that road,"
Priscilla said. "And I'm worried about Douglas agreeing to sit down
with Ginger Wallford so soon. Can you believe it? Gran's barely
cold in the ground and the media trolls are coming out in full
force."
    "I've never exactly seen
Ginger Wallford as a troll, Cilla. I doubt anyone does. She's as respected as
they get."
    "Oh, please," said
Priscilla. "All those TV people are the same. You really think
she cares about
Douglas and me?"
    Just then, Priscilla's phone chimed. She
smiled when she saw that it was Michael.
    He must be
back , she thought, opening the
message.

    Hi there. Home safe. Need
to talk to u. Call when u can. — M. Frost —

    "Haven't seen that smile in a while," said
Paula, watching her face. "Who's the guy?"
    Priscilla glanced up with
a sheepish grin.