Page 66 of Ruthless Prince

Logan chuckled. “You caught me,” he said. “Anyway, the reason I’m calling… did Willow tell you where she was going thisweekend?”

“Some sort of college retreat for pre-lawstudents.”

“She told me the same thing, but then she showed up here in the middle of the night. She was crying and babbling about something. Totally hysterical. Obviously something went wrong at the retreat and she wanted to get away. I tried to convince her to go home, and her security detail did the same, but she dug her heels in andrefused.”

“Oh no.” Mom sighed. “She’s been having a lot of emotional issueslately.”

“I know. She’s been telling me all about it for the last few months. First there was something about a stalker she thought she had, and then a whole lot of other stuff. Breaks my heart, to be honest. It’sterrible.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line before Mom spoke up again. “You know, I honestly never thought I’d say this to a member of the Thorne family, but I’m glad Willow’s talking to you about these issues. She needs to share them with someone, and I know she hasn’t said a word to any of her friends. She doesn’t talk to me, either. Not that I have much time, but still…” She trailed off and let out another deepsigh.

“I’m trying to be there for her as much as I can. Anyway, on that note, I wanted to run something by you after tonight’s littlebreakdown.”

“What?”

“I think the stress of being in the public eye is getting to her. Making things worse. So I want to get her away from the White House for a while. Just for a couple of weeks orso.”

“That’s a nice thought, Logan, but it won’t make a difference. People will follow her wherever she goes. It comes with the territory,unfortunately.”

“Not if I take her to one of my family’s private estates. She’ll be safe and secluded there. No media, no public scrutiny. Just fresh air and gardens. I think it would be good for her. Also, her Secret Service detail is here already, so the security aspect will be easy to sortout.”

Mom clucked her tongue reluctantly. “Well… this is highly irregular, but you have a good point. Shecould use some timeaway.”

Logan smiled. “I knew you’d want to do what’s best for her, MadamPresident.”

“Yes. Of course. The thing is, people will ask questions if she goes away all of asudden.”

“Like I said, it wouldn’t be for long. You could just say she’s gone to visit familysomewhere.”

“I suppose so. But what about her collegework?”

Logan casually waved a hand. “I can arrange to have her assignments and readings sent out to her. It’s not aproblem.”

I heard my mom stifle a yawn on her end. “I suppose that could work. Is your family okay with having her stay at one of theirestates?”

“They’re fine with it. If it makes you feel better, you can speak to my father about ittomorrow.”

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary. I’ll need to speak to Willow’s Secret Service agents,though.”

“Of course.” Logan nodded slowly. “I know this is rough timing, because you probably had big plans for tomorrow night, but I’m sure you can do all that anothertime.”

“Tomorrownight?”

“Willow’s birthday istomorrow.”

“Oh, shit. I forgot. My secretary reminded me, but even then…” My mother sighed and trailed off. “I didn’t have anything planned. Please don’t tell her. She already thinks I’m a terriblemother.”

“She doesn’t. She knows how busy you are, MadamPresident.”

“Stephen and Jared would’ve had something in the works. I’ll have to tell them to cancel, but that won’t be a problem. Like you said, we can reschedule it when Willow is ready to come back. Her health is far more important than a silly birthdaydinner.”

“Exactly.” Logan paused for a beat. “I’ll send a staff member to pick up some of her things tomorrow, if that’sokay.”

“Of course. Can you ask her to call me when she’s feeling up toit?”

“Sure. As soon aspossible.”

“Thank you, Logan. Please keep me updated on your plans, and remember to have her agents contactme.”