Free Twice Upon a Time by Kate Forster

brought them, a gift from his wife.
    ‘Ludo asked me to paint his portrait,’ said Cinda, licking her fingers and examining the dried turquoise paint that was under her fingernail.
    ‘Really?’ asked Jonas, looking over at her. ‘And you said . . . ?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ sighed Cinda. ‘I’m not great at painting people. You know that. He wants to give my painting to his mother for Christmas.’
    ‘Would you stay here?’ he asked, handing her another chocolate and popping one in his mouth.
    ‘I think so,’ said Cinda. ‘At least, for a few weeks.’
    ‘Lucky you,’ he sighed. ‘I love this world.’
    ‘I could do without the angry brother.’
    ‘He’s not so bad,’ said Jonas carefully.
    Cinda turned her face to him, incredulous. ‘Are you serious?’
    ‘I quite like him, I just think he’s misunderstood.’ Jonas grabbed her paint-stained hand and turned her palm over, running his finger along a line.
    ‘Yeah, so was Henry the Eighth.’ Cinda snorted.
    ‘You’re a tough woman, Cinda Bloom.’ Jonas studied her palm. ‘But I can see your future.’
    Cinda laughed and put the chocolate into her mouth. ‘And what does it look like?’
    ‘I see a crown, a throne, I see . . . ’ he looked closer. ‘I see me on the throne! This can’t be right.’
    Cinda screamed with laughter and hit Jonas with a pillow. ‘Don’t tell me you have the hots for the Angry Prince?’
    ‘Who wouldn’t? He’s gorgeous. But sadly he isn’t one of my people. He likes the girls.’
    ‘How do you know? You never know, he might be a closet mo.’
    ‘He’s not gay, sweets. I can tell.’
    ‘How?’ teased Cinda.
    ‘Because I’ve seen the way he looks at you and trust me, that ain’t the look of a guy who’s into boys.’
    ‘Bullshit,’ laughed Cinda. ‘You’re full of it. I’m going to have a shower.’
    She bounced off the bed and went back to her room. In the shower, Cinda thought through Ludo’s offer.
    She could stay at the villa as long as she liked while she painted him. And she wouldn’t feel like such a freeloader. He could come and do the sittings and they could spend time together, and he would pay her, even though she insisted it wasn’t necessary.
    And when she wasn’t painting him, she could paint all of Sardinia, as Ludo kept reminding her. He would give her a driver and a car, use of the royal chopper, anything she wanted.
    It’s almost too good to be true , Cinda thought as she dried herself with the plush white towel. Dressing in shorts and a purple T-shirt, she pulled on her sneakers and a baseball cap.
    She grabbed her easel, sketchbook and her backpack of paints, then went downstairs, heading through the olive grove and down towards the private beach at the bottom of the property.
    Ludo had pointed it out to them when they were on the ship. There is no other way to access that stretch of beach unless you go by boat – and even then you’d have to time it carefully with the tide. Get it wrong and you’d be ripped to shreds on those rocks.
    Cinda walked down the path, past the windswept shrubbery and towards the sand. Looking around, she saw the perfect spot looking over the idyllic beach.
    She set up her easel and pulled out a sketchbook and sat on a large log of driftwood.
    But she couldn’t get inspired, no matter how she long she stared at the view. She did some preliminary sketches but nothing felt quite right. She was just thinking about giving up when she heard a voice.
    ‘Nice day.’
    She looked up to see Gus at the top of the path.
    ‘Isn’t it,’ she said stiffly, turning back to her sketchpad. Jonas’s comment about the way Gus looked at her made things more awkward than ever. She went back to her sketching – anything was better than not knowing where to look or what to say.
    She started to move her hand over the page, finding the lines and small details of the coast and the waves breaking on the shore.
    Gus was now standing behind her, looking over her