Summer in Scotland (Prince Harry #1)

Chapter Fifty-Three

The weekend with Harry passed uneventfully. It was quiet at Balmoral. The two had stayed at Loch Builg as long as possible, but eventually the darkness won out and Meredith didn't camp. Only a few fish were caught, and then released back into the loch. Meredith read aloud to him, but he remembered Meredith's reading of "Sonnet 43" from Sonnets from the Portuguese.

The drive back to Dalkeith was shorter, and a train wasn't taken. Though as soon as Harry reached more public area, he was careful. Eyes watched everywhere. No paparazzi were around, but Harry was still incredibly careful.

After dropping her off, Meredith was back to her normal life. With Harry, it was odd; she didn't feel real. She felt like she was walking on air. Sometimes it felt like hot coals or eggshells, but most times it was air. Those hot coals or eggshells was growing pains, trying to figure out boundaries. Most of it was air, surreal, and then it came back to real life, where homework and boredom was normal.

Sometimes boredom was necessary, Meredith knew by now. At some point you had to come down from the high.

"How did you two spend your weekend?" Meredith asked Chloe and Rachel, walking into the golden conference room.

Last module, the hangout spot was the game room, which was now transformed into the art room. It was hard to move in there with so many art things. Now the conference room was a good layout with a TV and a long table. It was a good place to hide from the other residents in the palace, and Lindsay never bothered them. Rachel played the piano and Chloe drew different landscapes.

"We've been here," Chloe said.

"We watched Netflix too," Rachel said.

Meredith rolled her eyes.

On Monday, Meredith left her friends and her class began at the Scottish Writing Museum. With two weeks left with her time in Scotland, it was a rush to get everything in. Every moment needed to be savored. It felt like much hadn't been done when Meredith had gone many places, whether with Rachel and Chloe or with Harry. But now it felt like everything needed to be experienced again.

At the Writing Museum, Meredith was forced to keep a slow pace. Though she liked to hear about Robert Burns and Robert Louis Stevenson, there was only so much she could hear. She already knew. Meredith also itched to get out because Chloe and Rachel were coming into Edinburgh. The day was promised to them, no Harry, which Harry agreed to do. Meredith was going to ignore him, whether or not he agreed, because the saying was chicks before dicks. As well as, Meredith got along better with girls than she ever did with boys.

It was nice to spend a weekend with Harry, but time apart was good too. The saying was time made the heart grow fonder, right? It didn't matter now, because as soon as the tour finished and Meredith was free to go, she stepped out onto the Royal Mile with Rachel and Chloe waiting there.

"You ready?" Meredith asked.

"Mary's Milk Bar," Rachel said, already starting down to get to the ice cream shoppe.

Meredith stopped. Jack walked up behind Rachel, draping one arm around her shoulders. "Jack, what are you doing here?"

"I came into Edinburgh too." He gave her head jerk. "I thought I might hang out with you guys."

"You thought wrong," she responded.

"Mer," Rachel warned.

"No," Meredith cut her off, anger growing over Rachel not listening to Meredith's warning. "Jack, you can't come with us, sorry." The word tasted sour in her mouth. "It's a girls' day. Chicks over dicks, right?"

"I understand." He took his arm away from Rachel and walked toward Meredith, meeting her gaze unevenly. "Bros over hoes."

Meredith smiled, shrugging. His words seemed a bit too familiar.

"Plus, I know where you've been," Jack whispered. "Be careful, Mere. You should watch your tracks better. There are cameras everywhere."

Keeping her eyes even with him, Meredith felt anger flare within her, burning bright. Her nostrils undoubtedly flared too. Through all of this, she kept the smile. "Of course. I'll be careful. Don't want to be photobombed. All eyes should be on me."

He laughed. "That's all you want: your fifteen minutes of fame."

"Like you do." Meredith stepped forward, whispering directly in his ear, "You be careful now, Jack. You don't know what could jump out and scare you. You could roll all the way down the Royal Mile."

He laughed. "You're not that scary, Mere."

"You haven't seen me at my worst." Meredith stepped back. "Have a good day, Jack. Try not to be run over by a double decker bus." Gripping the arms of Rachel and Chloe, she pulled them away, down the street. If Jack said something, no one could hear it. The crowds coming in for the Fringe Festival only made Edinburgh more crowded.

"Mer, seriously?" Rachel asked aspirated.

"Why didn't you listen to me?" she practically screeched. Before Rachel could respond, Meredith continued, "Jack knows somehow about Harry and me. All the little comments he makes are basically just little jabs at it. I can't trust him with the information, obviously, and he gives me the creeps." None of this was evidence. "I swear, half the time I think he's threatening something. We cannot trust him; he's only using you, Rach."

Rachel looked directly at her tall counterpart. "I believe you, Mer, but he's so charming."

"He's attractive but a dumbass. All of his charming sentiments are either sexual or something he googled." Meredith sighed. "Is that something you really want to deal with? Rachel, is it?"

"No."

Meredith nodded. "He's up to something."

"What?" Chloe asked. "I think he might just be rude."

"No, he's up to something. I know." Pulling out her phone, she immediately started to text.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked.

"Asking Harry to ask Bodyguard Bill to look into Jack Campbell." If Meredith needed a reason not to trust Jack, it was that: his last name. "Hopefully we can learn something from that." She put her mobile back in her purse.

"Mer, that's creepy," Chloe said.

Shrugging, Meredith started off down the hill. "Mary's Milk Bar, Primark, what else?" The hill was steep going down and worse coming back up, but worth it. Rachel and Chloe followed after their friend. Whatever Meredith had in mind, she was about to make things incredibly worse.