A royal second chance su.., p.13
A Royal Second Chance Summer, page 13
Owner, bah. He would barely call the woman that. She had worked herself into his grandfather’s confidence, taking the box away with her.
But now, having met Lizzie, having fallen for her, did he understand how his grandfather had felt? Why he had sacrificed a family heirloom, something special, to this woman whom he had believed he loved?
Who he had thought returned his feelings?
Nicolas exhaled slowly. He understood better than he cared to admit. His heart was heavy at the idea of seeing Lizzie again—this time without a welcoming smile on her face or a softness in her eyes. At the idea that she could no longer care for him because of something not his fault. Could he change the fact that he had been born royal?
He didn’t even want to change it. He was proud of his country, of his role in the monarchy—of all he might still accomplish. But he wanted her to be a part of that.
And she didn’t want to. Understandably. It was not an easy life to choose. Better to avoid it if you could.
Okay. He tried to breathe evenly, placing his feet apart to return balance to his body. He would go see the contact she had about the bird of paradise. If it was the genuine article and he could buy it, he’d take it back home first thing. He’d give it to his grandfather, and it would all be over and done with. His American adventure would soon be forgotten. He would bury himself in work and…
His hand formed into a fist by his side. This was the last thing he wanted, needed. Everything inside him ached for her, ached to go see her and tell her how much he wanted her by his side. Here in Wood Creek for the duration of his vacation, but also later, back at home. But he couldn’t do it. Shouldn’t do it. The kiss had been a mistake. It had worked in an enchanted forest, but not in real life. He had to forget about it. Finish what he had come to do and go home.
Chapter Twelve
It’s just another business meeting, Lizzie told herself. I’ll take Nicolas to the bird of paradise and he can see whether it’s what he’s looking for. Hopefully it is, and then it will all be over. I’ll never need to see him again.
Never.
It sounded like the last stroke of midnight, ruining Cinderella’s ball, her dance in the arms of the prince. Turning her back into the person she was: a commoner, not a princess. Not eligible.
It should make her angry, but instead it pressed on her like a heavy weight. Why had she fallen for the wrong man? Someone so impossibly out of reach?
Because he had been so near to her, so easy to talk to, to touch. Because he had almost seemed…
Like a real person?
But he was. The fact that he was a prince didn’t change that. She had been able to experience that firsthand. She had even kissed him.
The idea could still turn her face on fire. It had been impertinent to kiss a customer, even in the best of scenarios, and this was, to be honest, the worst. She felt like she had stumbled from one blunder to the next: first getting him picked up by the police, then having ice cream and waffles at a simple stand by the roadside… He was used to eating caviar with the crowned heads of Europe. He had more money and more influence than she could ever imagine.
And Casey made him a knight, slapping him in the face with a tree branch!
She could just crawl into a hole in the ground.
“You’re very silent,” he said.
Her hands clutched the wheel. “I have to focus on driving.”
“Look. I’m sorry you had to find out that way.”
“Or I had to find out at all?” Anger rushed through her veins. “You should have told me, at least dropped a hint, or… It feels like you hid the truth.”
He didn’t deny it. Sadness replaced the anger. She bit her lip. “I can’t say that you didn’t think it was important, because you must see that it is important. I can only conclude that…” You played a game with me? Wanted to enjoy our romance while it lasted and then you would go home again, leaving me behind?
No, I won’t say it, I won’t make an even bigger fool out of myself. I’ll play it cool.
“I did mean to tell you. The moment was never right.” He sounded pleading, as if she should understand.
But she didn’t want to understand. Didn’t even want to try. She nodded at a sign they passed. “Almost there. I told Ms. Thornton that you’re looking for the box and want to buy it. She did mention that she doesn’t want to part with it, but she agreed to a meeting anyway. I think you should be careful how to approach this. I mean, you’re not in your own country here.”
“I don’t intend to march in and take it. I want to pay for it.”
“But she might not want to sell it. No matter how much money you offer her. Some things have emotional value or… I’ve had customers want to use me as mediator to get a valuable piece when the owner didn’t want to give it up. I don’t put pressure on people to sell if they don’t want to.”
“This is very important to me. To my family. And my grandfather is turning eighty. It’s a momentous occasion and the bird of paradise will be there.” He sounded determined, almost grim.
She glanced at him. His expression was tight, cold. What did he have in mind?
A thought formed in her head, like a snake rearing its head from the grass. What if he had only been friendly to her, shown his soft and charming side, to use her to get to this woman and take the bird of paradise away from her? What if he was ruthless when it came to taking what he wanted?
She swallowed. “I’m negotiating this meeting, this deal. The reputation of my business is at stake. I hope you’ll keep that in mind. I don’t want people whispering that I’m robbing old ladies.”
“Robbing?” He laughed. “If anyone did any robbing, it was her, taking the bird of paradise away from my country.”
Lizzie blinked. “I asked right at the start when you gave me the assignment whether it had been stolen and you said it hadn’t been.” Her heart beat fast. “Are you now telling me that was a lie?”
“No. It wasn’t stolen. My grandfather gave it away. But if that woman had had a bit of sense, she would have refused such a gift.” He added after a short silence, “You refused the gift I wanted to make you, of that antique at Mr. Reeves’s. It’s worth a fraction of what the bird of paradise is worth.”
Lizzie’s cheeks flamed. “I refused it because you don’t have to give me anything.” I was in love with you anyway, no gifts required. She clenched the wheel even harder. “We’re almost there now. One more turn to the left…” She carefully steered the car into the driveway. “If she met your grandfather in Belfort and he’s close to eighty, she can’t be much younger. Please try and take it easy with her. Elderly people can get a shock if…”
“I’ll handle it my way. I’ve thought long and hard about this. I know what I’m doing.”
That didn’t sound very reassuring, but she had stopped the car and he had unbuckled and stepped out. He stood and rolled back his shoulders, a tall, imposing figure in his blue suit. A suit. So businesslike all of a sudden. This is what he came for, the voice in the back of her head whispered. This was what it was all about. I never mattered. He only used me to his end.
She slammed the car door shut. Her fingers trembled as she locked it. People laughed at her for still having a car whose doors you locked with a key, not a push-button remote. But she loved older cars. People assumed that she simply didn’t have the money to buy a new one. Maybe Nicolas had also thought she had no money? That she would agree to his scheme of getting an old lady to sell a precious piece she owned because of the commission?
What had he been thinking?
She didn’t know. It was all so confusing.
She followed him up the path to the front door. Roses bloomed on either side of the gravel path, yellow, white, pink, red. Their sweet scent filled the air. Bumblebees flitted from flower to flower.
The front door opened, and a frail elderly lady appeared. She wore a chiffon dress in bright blue, matching the color of her eyes. Although she was clearly not young anymore, her eyes were alive with fire. She looked Nicolas over and reached out her hand. “Pleased to meet you. Do come in.”
Lizzie wasn’t sure whether she should introduce Nicolas as the crown prince of Belfort at this point or let him take the lead and do it his way?
Her knees were jittery as she followed the pair inside. In the cool living room, cups stood ready on the table. Cakes and chocolates sat on a cake stand. As though they were going to have a cozy tea party.
“Do sit down,” Ms. Thornton invited them, then started to fuss with the tea things. “I was very surprised when you called. You see, not many people know I have the bird of paradise. It’s in my bedroom. I couldn’t imagine for a moment who had seen it. But then I do have a cleaning lady. She might have admired it. It’s very beautiful.”
“And very valuable.” Nicolas sounded reproachful. “It shouldn’t be here, in a bedroom.”
“Then where should it be?” she asked, turning her bright blue eyes on him. “In a safe at the bank where no one can enjoy it?”
Before he could respond, she added, “Or in a palace, as the next precious object in a long, long row, almost forgotten but kept there because that is the rule? The tradition?”
Nicolas’s eyes flared. “There’s nothing wrong with tradition.”
She smiled softly.
He continued, “You mentioned the palace, so you know who I am.”
Lizzie shrank inside. He was a prince. He lived in a palace. Every time it hit her, she got a new shock. How had this happened to her?
“I recognized you the moment you stepped from the car.” She handed him a cup. “You look just like your grandfather.”
Nicolas didn’t meet her eyes. He accepted the cup and stared into it. “You know, then, what I’m here for.”
“I can guess.” She gave a cup to Lizzie.
Lizzie smiled up at her. “You don’t have to hand over the bird of paradise if you don’t want to. Nicolas here assured me that it was given to you by his grandfather, of his own free will.”
Nicolas shot her a scorching look. He said hurriedly, “My grandfather is turning eighty soon. I want to give the bird of paradise to him as a special present. He still misses it. It belongs with our family.”
When he said “He still misses it”, something flashed across Ms. Thornton’s features. Sadness? Tenderness? Lizzie couldn’t quite tell.
Nicolas said, “I’m willing to pay you a good price for it. It isn’t yours, really, as my grandfather shouldn’t have given it away, but since you have had it for such a long time…”
“Sixty years. That is a long time, for sure.” She eyed him. “You honestly want me to part with it? I listen to it play every day.”
“That may be, but it is a national treasure. It belongs to Belfort.”
“And Belfort is all that matters?”
For a moment their gazes were locked, it seemed, in a silent battle. Lizzie had the impression that more passed between them than a difference of opinion about the ownership of the bird of paradise. What had Ms. Thornton been doing in Belfort? How had she come to know Nicolas’s grandfather? What had there been between them for him to give her such a valuable gift? On what occasion?
“Belfort is all that matters now,” Nicolas said, with careful emphasis on the now. “Because the past is over and done with.”
Ms. Thornton shrank back. Her hands seemed to tremble before she steadied herself on the edge of the table. “That is your opinion.”
“My grandfather doesn’t know I am here. I want this to be a surprise.”
“You’ll hand him the bird of paradise and say…” She looked at him. “That you got it from me? That I sold it to you? It will look like I need money. Except that I have needed money in the past, desperately needed it, and have never parted with the bird of paradise.”
Nicolas blinked. As if he was undone a moment, touched by the emotion in her voice. “That’s a good thing then, for me. You still have it and I found you.”
She nodded. “But I don’t understand why you came looking for me, if the past is over and done with?”
“I didn’t come looking for you, but for the bird box.”
“I see.”
“I might not even tell my grandfather that you still had it. I can tell him I got it through an antiques dealer.” He gestured to Lizzie. “He’ll believe that. We do not need to mention your name.”
He added, more softly, “That might be easier for you.”
“No, you’re mistaken.” She sat down abruptly. “It won’t be easier for me. Then he’ll think I parted with it. I gave up on it.” It sounded as if the mere idea was pure horror to her.
“You can’t do that, Nicolas,” Lizzie found herself saying. “If she kept it for all of her life, not even selling it when she needed money, you can’t take it now and give it to your grandfather with some tale about how you merely found it somewhere.”
“You know nothing about the situation.”
“No. You engaged my services, but you told me absolutely nothing.” Not even who you are.
Ms. Thornton said, “Let’s not quarrel. What do you want, Nicolas?”
She called him simply by his given name, not resorting to Your Royal Highness, although she had made it very clear she knew who he was.
“I want the bird of paradise to return to my family. For my grandfather’s birthday party. I…” He hesitated a moment. “I’ll tell him it came from you if you insist on it.”
Lizzie relaxed a little. See, he wasn’t unreasonable.
Ms. Thornton looked at her hands, which were folded in her lap. She seemed to be torn.
Lizzie said, “Maybe you need to think about this.”
…
Nicolas glanced at her. “No, she doesn’t need to think about this. I want to know her answer now.” He focused on the old lady again. “Are you angry with me for asking for it? My grandfather should have never given it to you.”
“Why not?” She looked up, her electric blue eyes flashing. “Because it wasn’t his to give to me? Or because of why he gave it to me?”
Nicolas sat up. “Both. He should never have given the impression that—”
“He cared for me? But he did.”
No, no, no. I’m not getting into this discussion. Certainly not with Lizzie present. “It’s a long time ago. We have to deal with the situation today. I would appreciate it if you would cooperate and help me return the bird of paradise to its rightful place. With my grandfather, in Belfort.”
“He didn’t keep his word. Why should I feel any need to”—her voice trembled a moment—“think of what he wants? Or what the country wants? Which is it, Your Royal Highness? Have you come for your grandfather’s sake, or because some council told you to? The council was very powerful when I was around.”
Anger flashed through him. “The council watches over the well-being of the country. The monarch is there to serve his people. Not to think of his own—”
“Happiness?” she provided with a raised eyebrow. “We were in love.”
Nicolas’s muscles tightened. His memory swept him back into the magical moment when Lizzie had kissed him. When he had felt so alive, so different from how he usually did. But it couldn’t be. He had to ignore it, to move on.
“You were in love?” Lizzie asked. “You were Nicolas’s grandfather’s girlfriend?”
“It was never that serious,” Nicolas rushed to say. “They met when she came to Belfort for her studies. Art history, I think?” He didn’t glance at the old woman for confirmation but kept his eyes on Lizzie. “They met a few times and then she had to go back home again. He gave her the bird of paradise. On impulse, I suppose.”
“He never told you why?” Ms. Thornton asked.
Nicolas kept looking at Lizzie. “They didn’t know each other well. It’s not as if—”
Disappointment flashed in her eyes. Because he was diminishing what might have been between Ms. Thornton and his grandfather? Because Lizzie was a romantic at heart and wanted to believe in some fairytale story of a beautiful young American art history student falling for a dashing prince, and him loving her back and promising something?
Or was it because, with the words “They didn’t know each other well,” he was also throwing away what had formed between them in the little time they had had to get to know each other?
Ms. Thornton said, “He promised me he’d come and see me in the States the next year. Then we would decide whether our love for each other was strong enough to risk it all. I said I’d wait for him. I did wait for him.”
Lizzie glanced at her. Her voice was shrill when she said, “But he didn’t come.”
Nicolas formed his hand into a fist. He wasn’t going to say anything to defend his grandfather’s behavior. It had been the right decision. A relationship with a commoner wouldn’t have worked, would have harmed the monarchy. He had done the right thing getting engaged to someone else, a princess from a neighboring country.
“No,” Ms. Thornton said. “He didn’t come. He didn’t write to me. And then I read in the newspaper that he was getting married. To someone else.”
Lizzie turned to him as if looking for an answer. “Why?” she asked breathlessly. “He had given her the bird of paradise. He must have felt something for her.”
“At the time, yes, on the spur of the moment maybe, but that’s not real life. It would never have worked. He had to make another choice. The council told him…”
“Oh, the council.” Ms. Thornton laughed bitterly. “I knew they were behind it. They never liked me.”
“It’s not a matter of liking. It’s not personal.” Nicolas leaned toward her. “They have to decide whether a marriage is good for the country. Whether the chosen partner can contribute to what is needed on the throne. You were young, still studying, you came from abroad. You had no experience of living at court, of having to adjust to rules and regulations, to bend to another’s wishes. You had no idea of what a life like that is really like. My mother…” He bit back the rest. It was none of her business. “They thought,” he continued, “that a marriage between you and my grandfather would surely end in disaster. They advised against it, and justly so. He got engaged someone else, not just because the council told him to, but because he himself realized that he had been led astray by a superficial feeling.”
