Once Upon a Princess

She did.

Her mother was the sweetest, most easygoing woman Parker had ever known.

Unfortunately Parker hadn’t inherited any of those qualities from her mom.

She tried to recognize her own virtues…and laid-back wasn’t one of them. Parker knew she was as hard-headed and sure of herself as her father and brother.

She smiled as she thought of them all.

She adored them, even her bossy father. And to be honest, she missed them terribly.

But loving her family and living with them were two distinctly different things. There were so many burdens associated with her family name.

Parker wasn’t shy, but being the focus of so much public scrutiny was trying. Endless appearances that were little more than photo ops. And press who found even the most private details of her life to be fair game, as well. Being followed, hounded… A claustrophobic feeling pressed on her chest, making her pulse start to race.

Parker forced herself to draw in a long, slow breath and release it as she pushed unpleasant memories aside.

No, she wasn’t going back to that life, but that didn’t mean she didn’t miss her family. Despite everything, she knew she was lucky to have them all.

Look at Shey.

Shey didn’t have anyone except for her and Cara. The three of them were truly sisters of the heart. But Parker knew that Shey longed for more. That her friend would give anything for a real family, even if they came with unwanted baggage.

“I’ll call tonight,” she promised. “But right now, I’m off to work on my waitressing skills.”

“Ask Mr. Tall, Dark and Yummy if the two of you have met.”

“Maybe,” Parker said, hefting the tray and trying to balance it. “Maybe I will.”

“Maybe I won’t tell if you promise not to follow me again,” Jace O’Donnell told his niece and nephew.

The twins looked stubborn.

“You know your mother will ground you, right? Your mom is tough.”

Jace knew that was stretching the truth more than a little. His sister liked to pretend she was tough, but to be honest, she had a soft heart.

It’s what made her special.

It’s also what had caused her so much pain recently.

“We eat, then you leave,” Jace continued. “And maybe, just maybe, I won’t tell.”

“Come on, Uncle Jace,” Amanda whined. She reminded him of her mother. Shelly had the same brown hair with streaks of blond, the same inquisitive blue eyes as the twins…she’d also been a huge pain when they were growing up. Her kids were carrying on the tradition.

Chalk one up for genetics.

Part of Jace wanted to hug his pretty little niece. The other part knew that if he didn’t come down on them hard now, he’d spend the rest of the twins’ summer vacation checking over his shoulder to see if they were tailing him.

“You know better,” he said sternly. “You could have blown this case.”

“We wouldn’t,” Bobby assured him. “We’re practicing. Next year we’re in high school. Four years after that and we can come work for you full-time as P.I.s.”

Jace stifled a groan and reminded himself that he was flattered the twins wanted to work for him. They wanted to be like him because they looked up to him.

But occasionally their admiration was too much.

This was one of those times.

“This is an important case,” he said. “I can’t afford to lose it.”

“Tell us all about it,” Amanda said, clearly intrigued. “We can help you.”

“No.”

“Four years, Uncle Jace,” Bobby said. “That’s only forty-eight months. We need to train now.”

“Not four years.” The kids’ faces fell and Jace felt like a heel. They’d been through so much lately, and now he’d made them feel worse.

“Eight,” he corrected. “You each get your college degree first. Then, if you still want, you can have a job.”

“We don’t need college,” Bobby said. “We want to work for you. You can teach us everything we need to know. Starting now with this case. Who are we spying on?”

Jace ignored their questions about the case and focused on their reluctance to attend college. “Unfortunately I only hire college graduates. As for my case—”

Parker Dillon was heading their way, a tray balanced precariously on one hand.

“Shh,” Jace said, not wanting their waitress to hear the conversation about his case—mainly because she was the case. Not that he was telling the kids that.

Her tray wobbled as she approached their table and the huge puddle of water their very wet feet had made.

Visions of coffee and hot chocolates falling prompted Jace to jump to his feet and grab the tray just as she skidded through the puddle.

“My hero,” she said with a grin as she righted herself. “That could have been a mess.”

She took the tray back.

“No problem,” Jace said as he slid back into the booth.

“It would have been a problem if it had spilled, so as a thanks for saving me from certain disaster, your order’s on me.”

He frowned. He knew from his report that Parker Dillon didn’t have money to spend on their breakfast. Last week her father had cut off her trust fund, and Parker didn’t have two plug nickels to rub together. She’d be scrambling to make this month’s rent and to pay the stores’ monthly bills if she hadn’t sold her car.

He wondered if her father knew. He’d have to include the information in his next report.

“You don’t have to do that,” Jace said.

“It’s my pleasure. It’s not every day a girl meets a hero.”