Shirley Jump - The Princess Test

“I don’t want an angle. I want something that says wow. Something like …” He twirled the pen some more, and then his face brightened in a way that Daniel knew meant something bad was coming out of Matt’s mouth. “A test.”

“A test?”

“Yeah, like that fairy tale. What is the name of it again?” He smacked the arm of the young male intern beside him. The kid—no older than twenty—jumped.

“Uh … . Cinderella?” he said in a squeaky voice.

“No, no, the other one.”

“Snow White,” Emily, the female half of the cohost team, volunteered.

“No. God. I work with a bunch of idiots.” Matt cursed. “What the hell is the name of that fairy tale? The one where they test the princess. Make sure she’s Grade A.”

“The Princess and the Pea,” Daniel said, then hated himself for supplying the answer. He could already see the road ahead and he didn’t like the direction Matt was traveling. As much as anyone, he wanted to prove—or disprove—Carrie’s claim, but not in some sensationalized circus.

“Yes! That’s it!” Matt pointed at Daniel and beamed. “New guy, you just earned your keep. I think you’ve got the best story idea out of all these idiots. You run with your princess and get a little background on her. We’ll work on developing the test to prove she’s royalty.”

“What possible test could there be?”

Matt grinned, the kind of grin that Daniel knew meant this was going in the wrong direction. Dread filled the pit of Daniel’s stomach and he wondered if it was too late to retract the story.

“Oh, we’ll think of something,” Matt said. “But whatever we think of, I can guarantee one thing.”

“What’s that?” Daniel asked.

“It’ll be great TV.” Matt grinned. “Great, memorable, big bucks TV.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Daniel muttered as he gathered his things and left the production meeting. And tried like hell to think of a way to tell Carrie about this without her wanting to shove that tiara down his throat.

Annabelle skipped in a circle around the kitchen. She had on her plastic tiara and a purple dress that blossomed out from her waist in a wide bell. He’d tried like hell to talk her out of the tiara, but Annabelle had insisted, and Daniel hadn’t wanted to see a frown on his little girl’s face. Not when she’d just started smiling again.

“You ready, pumpkin?”

She stopped twirling and turned to face him. “Uh-huh.”

She’d been ready and waiting when he got home from the production meeting. Now her excitement shimmered on her face, danced in her eyes. “All right then, let’s go.” He put out his hand for Annabelle. She started toward him, then stopped and grabbed a bright pink bag sitting on the kitchen table. “What’s that?”

“I can’t tell you, Daddy. It’s a s’prise.” An impish grin spread across her pixie features.

“A surprise, huh?” He bent down and pretended to try to peek inside the bag. “For me?”

She jerked the silky bag away. “No peeking, Daddy! It’s not for you.”

“For Grandma?”

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