Twin Roses: A Beau Rivage Short Story Read Online Free PDF Page A

his neck. It was something Royal guys did when they wanted to broadcast their status. Ruby had always found the trend obnoxious. It was one thing if you wanted people to know about your curse, but if you needed them to know your family tree had noble blood coursing through its branches, you were probably a jackass. The guy waswearing a red T-shirt, shorts, and red sneakers—casual, but everything looked expensive.
    When he finally turned, and she saw his face …
    He looked like Theo. If Theo had grown up surrounded by guys who shaved crowns into the backs of their heads.
    She wanted to hand him off to someone else, but the only other employee in the café was Pearl. And asking Pearl to use the register was like asking Ruby to frost a cake.
    Theo came in then, and together the boys approached the counter. The older Trevathan brother scanned the signs, the chalkboard menu with the little roses and bears Pearl had sketched, the Twin Roses mugs for sale. He looked everywhere but at Ruby.
    Theo stood admiring the pastry case. The bounty of frosted, glazed, and otherwise sugary treats was kind of amazing if you’d been living in the woods for ten years. “Did Pearl make all of these?”
    “Pearl or my mom,” Ruby said. “What would you like? Yours is on the house. No freebies for your friend, though.”
    “Brother,” Theo corrected. “Thurston’s my brother.”
    “I hear I’m your boyfriend now,” Thurston said, finally looking at her. “That doesn’t get me a free cupcake?”
    “Any guy who wants the world to know he’s a Royal as much as you do can afford to pay for a cupcake.”
    Thurston leaned over to check out the display. “I don’t know if these are worth it. They’re probably straight out of a box.”
    “Pearl made them,” Theo said. “Didn’t you hear Ruby?”
    “She’s in the kitchen,” Ruby said, pointing the way. “If you want to say hi.”
    “I can go back there?”
    “Yeah, just don’t startle her and make her break something. You don’t have paws anymore, so she’ll make you clean it up.”
    Theo laughed. “That’s right. I never had to help out at your house. Whenever I tried, I just made a bigger mess.”
    Ruby would have liked to talk to Theo—to have him to herself for once—but it wasn’t like they could have a quality conversation while Thurston was there.
    She turned to Thurston. “So do you want a coffee? Or were you just dropping him off?”
    “Is she prettier than you? Your sister?”
    “We’re
twins
.”
    “I just wondered if there was a reason Theo didn’t pick you.”
    “No one’s picked anyone.” She’d already disliked him because of the crown, but now he was earning it. He had to know that would be a sore spot for her—after all, being second-best was his role in the curse, too.
    Thurston pointed to a row of raspberry sodas in the refrigerator. “One of those.”
    “Anything else?”
    “No. Just waiting for Theo.”
    He paid, dropped a dime in the tip jar—cheap-ass Royals—then picked a table and angled his chair toward the counter, watching Ruby like she was a TV in a sports bar. She did her best to ignore him.
    She put on some noisier music and turned it up—her usual tactic when she wanted lingering customers to leave. The ones who came to read the paper were the first to clear out. Jewel and Luxe stayed put—Jewel was in a rock band, so she probably enjoyed the change. The students, desperate for the steadystream of caffeine from free refills, hunched over and focused harder on every page.
    Ruby was tempted to drop by the kitchen. She told herself it was because she wanted to see how Pearl and Theo were getting along, but the truth was that she didn’t want to be left out. She’d never felt awkward about inserting herself into Pearl’s life before; it was
their
life, and anyone who befriended them was drawn into
their
world.
    Now she worried Pearl and Theo might form a new world—one she could only visit.
    “Do you think it’s worse