Spring Romance: NINE Happily Ever Afters

by Tessa Bailey

  “Ooh, it’s dirty,” Anna says, turning to Gabriel. “They’ve got dirty jokes.”

  “Parlor,” Gabriel says sternly.

  I’m not sure what that means. He wants her to join him in the parlor? A hint at parlor manners?

  Anna reaches under the table, and Gabriel jumps. “You okay, honey?” she asks. “Did a gator sneak up on you?”

  Ruby laughs. “We have a lot of alligators in Florida. Always have to be careful not to leave small dogs out in the yard or the gator will sneak up and eat ’em.”

  Gabriel glowers at Anna. She smiles back sweetly.

  She’s perfect for him. Just like Ruby is perfect for me. All I have to do is make it clear that our lives can work toward a greater calling together.

  * * *

  Ruby

  Our first stop is Tanzania. We’re fortunate to take the private jet, so the travel part is not a slog at all. First we meet up with the Global Sun Water people, who are from England. Their NGO started from a university’s engineering department. Phillip greets them warmly and introduces me as his “girlfriend and supporter of the cause.” I’m immediately welcomed in. They need all hands on deck. We’ll be visiting villages where solar water pumps were previously installed to check on them and perform repairs where needed, along with villages getting a pump for the first time. They explain that they’ve trained locals on maintenance, but it’s not always easy to get parts delivered. Many parts are stolen before they reach their destination.

  Before the trip to the village, I go with Phillip to meet the president of Tanzania and some important people in his administration. We have a formal lunch and Phillip appears to be in his element. I do my best to blend and take his lead on manners and proper greetings. But it’s not until we reach the first village after a long journey in a Jeep through dusty hot savannahs that I see Phillip step out from behind the prince persona. It’s a revelation.

  Children race toward our Jeep as we approach the village, and Phillip smiles and waves at them. We park and the guards, Henry and Rafe, exit first, urging the children back. The adults in the village hang back watching us. There’s a large open shelter and several homes with no doors or windows, just a roof overhead. In the distance, the sun shines off the solar panels powering the water pump.

  Phillip steps out of the Jeep, helps me out, and then urges Rafe back in a low command before greeting the children. “Hello! How’s everyone doing?” He reaches out both hands and the children rush to high-five him. He’s done this before, probably taught them the high five too. “This pretty lady is Ruby. Say hi, Ruby!”

  “Hi, Ruby!” the children chorus.

  “Hi, everyone.” I smile and wave. I’m already drenched in sweat, even wearing a linen dress, hat, and sandals. Phillip is sweating too in his linen shirt and pants.

  Phillip smiles at me and then looks toward a small figure in the shade of the shelter’s porch. “David!” He turns to me. “Come meet David.” He strides over to the shelter, where a young boy in a wheelchair waits. The boy smiles shyly. He’s probably five or six. His legs end at the knees.

  Phillip drops to his haunches so they’re eye to eye. “So good to see you again, David. I brought my friend Ruby.”

  David smiles at me and turns to Phillip. “I can read a chapter. I’ve been practicing.”

  “Well, let’s hear it. Have you got the tablet with you?”

  David nods and points behind him.

  Phillip stands and checks the pouch on the back of the wheelchair, pulling a digital tablet out. He hands it over to David and drops to one knee to listen, his head bowed toward the ground.

  David presses a few buttons and begins to read about a mischievous puppy. It’s painfully slow and he stops a few times in the beginning, stuttering over a tough word. Phillip lifts his head once David sounds confident, listening in rapt attention, occasionally nodding to encourage him.

  Finally David finishes and puts the tablet down on his lap.

  “Brilliant!” Phillip exclaims. “Very impressive. I wasn’t reading that well until I was six and you’re only five.”

  David beams.

  “Keep at it,” Phillip says. “Remember what we talked about. Education means opportunity, and what does opportunity mean?”

  “A good job,” David says.

  “That’s right. You want to see the pump’s guts? We’re going to tinker with it.”

  “Yeah!” David exclaims.

  Phillip tucks the tablet back in the pouch and pushes him toward the pump, inclining his head for me to join them. More kids gather round to watch, only now they’re carrying their own tablets and telling Phillip what they’re learning with them.

  I hang back, watching as Phillip talks to the kids and some of the adults who are helping with maintenance on the pump. He makes each kid feel special. My ovaries are bursting. He remembers a lot of their names, and he subtly keeps them out of the way of the workers. The press secretary snaps some pictures and urges me to get closer to Phillip.

  I work my way through the crowd of admirers. Phillip turns to me. “Check out what Emmanuel’s been doing online. He’s already up to algebra. And he’s ten!”

  “Wow, that’s great! So you’re all learning online? Or do you go to school?”

  “It’s both,” a woman says. “Hi, I’m Irene. I run the school, and now with the computers and tablets His Highness, Prince Phillip, has provided, we can go further, learning more online.”

  “That’s wonderful.” I turn to Phillip, and he smiles modestly. He never mentioned he was doing a technology-in-schools program.

  “It is,” Irene says enthusiastically. “And now the girls are in school as well.”

  My eyes widen. “They weren’t before?”

  She lowers her voice. “They were needed to fetch the water.” She gestures toward the pump. “Now the machine does it, so they can go to school.”

  “I’m so glad to hear it,” I say, though I’m a little stunned. It hadn’t occurred to me girls couldn’t attend school because they had to get water for their village. It’s sexist and unfair, which angers me as a woman. At the same time, it’s basic survival, which I have never had to contend with in my life. Probably everyone in the village has a specific role so they can all survive. My whole life I’ve taken for granted food, water, and shelter, even school. My world just shifted, my eyes open for the first time to the realities of a very different kind of life.

  We leave an hour later, heading to another village. This next one will be getting a solar water pump for the first time.

  I take my seat in the back of the Jeep with Phillip. He’s waving bye to the kids, who are running alongside the car for a bit. Finally we’re too far and the kids hang back.

  “I didn’t know the water was connected to education for girls,” I tell him. “That blew my mind.”

  He nods. “It’s one of the best benefits, beyond the basic need for water. Normally the villagers depend on the girls to walk every day to fetch water from far-off sources and carry it back in large heavy jugs. It takes several trips of backbreaking hard labor to get the needed water, which means they have no time for school. One of the other crucial benefits is the dramatic drop in waterborne diseases.”

  “And the educational technology part, was that your idea?”

  He takes my hand. “It was a natural fit once I realized how water and education connected.”

  “And who funds that?”

  “Me, at first, but I’ve managed to connect a few foundation grants with Global Sun Water’s efforts.”

  “I’m sorry I said you had a big head before.”

  He smiles at me. “Maybe I do.”

  “What you have is a big heart.” I put my hand over his heart. “You’re amazing.”

  “Oh, well, now I really am going to get a big head.”

  “Don’t joke. I’m being serious. This work you’re doing is incredible, and your part in it is so impressive. I’m in awe.”

  He shakes his head. “
Don’t be. I’m mostly just a facilitator. But you see now why I feel so strongly about this work. It’s become like a calling for me.”

  “Yes, I can see that.”

  “Good.”

  “Do you stay in a tent, or with one of the villagers as a guest in their home?”

  He flashes a bright smile that lights up his face. “Is that what you thought? And you were still willing to spend five weeks with me, roughing it? Wow. And no. We stay in the closest city in a hotel. We’re a visitor to their world. I don’t want to impose on their resources. They’ll feel obligated to offer food, which could mean some would go hungry.”

  I’m secretly glad we’re going to be in a hotel and feel terribly guilty at the same time, knowing how far removed it is from their survivalist existence.

  “Plus I need the security of a hotel with the guards,” he says. “There are some who would put a ransom on me.”

  “Then I’m glad about the hotel.”

  He gives me a knowing look. “Changes your perspective, doesn’t it? Makes you appreciate things more.”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “I’m glad you’re here, Ruby.”

  “Me too.”

  He lifts my hand and kisses the knuckles, his eyes intent on mine. I’m enthralled, feeling closer to him than ever before. Being so far from everything I know and having the welcome familiarity of Phillip by my side creates a deep intimacy. I don’t know how I’m going to say goodbye to him. I’m not sure I can.

  Chapter Twelve

  Ruby

  Four weeks on the road with Phillip has been a whirlwind of people and places. It’s been eye-opening in more ways than one—seeing poverty up close at a level I previously didn’t know existed, the resilience and surprising joy of the people we’ve met, the contrast in the disparity of wealth between the leaders of a country and their people. In each country, we’ve visited with heads of state, diplomats, and government leaders and been welcomed with fancy formal dinners and elaborate teas. We’ve also been welcomed in far-flung villages, slums, and rural farmland. Phillip surprised me with the ease he handles the different environments. What it’s shown me is the kind of man he is deep down, a warm charismatic man who loves people, all people, no matter their station in life.

  He remains affectionate, attentive, and considerate of me, making sure I’m comfortable wherever we land. No matter where we are during the day, at night we return to the best hotel in town. I’m not complaining. We’ve had many sexy nights together. I’ve even gotten used to sleeping with him. He’s a spooner. I want to tell him I love him, but I can’t seem to get the words out. He hasn’t said it either. I can feel it, though. The love between us grows stronger every day.

  In six days, we return to Villroy and I fly home the next day from there. That’s the end for us, unless we attempt a long-distance relationship. I fear a year or more of distance would make us more miserable than a clean break. I’m not sure what to do. We have to have The Talk soon.

  Now we’re on our way back to the hotel in New Delhi, India, accompanied by Henry and Rafe, our constant security shadows. I still feel awkward talking freely to Phillip with two burly men sitting nearby, one in the backseat of the Mercedes with us, the other in the front seat. It’s easier to forget about them when they’re out of sight.

  Phillip holds up his phone to me, showing me a picture of the two of us at last night’s charity dinner on Global Sun Water’s behalf. It was a black-tie event, and my elegant silk gown was provided by Phillip. He had me measured before we left Villroy, and the appropriate clothes for our itinerary were forwarded to our hotel at the first opportunity. He’s a little like the fairy godfather to my Cinderella, not that I’d tell him that. Ha-ha. I don’t think he’d like the comparison to a sparkly fairy.

  “They love us together,” he says. “They’re calling us a power couple.”

  My stomach rolls. I’m not famous, rich, or powerful. That’s all Phillip. My parents are beside themselves seeing me in the press with Phillip. I’ve kept in touch. They’re proud of the charitable work I’m involved with and, at the same time, worried about my safety. The security guards only make them imagine terrible scenarios where they’ll be needed. I’ve assured them I’ve never felt unsafe. My mom is dying to meet Phillip. She and I were both his fangirl followers when he was more fantasy man than reality. It’s different, though, when you’re the one caught up in the whirlwind of Phillip’s life. I can’t help but feel like an appendage to him, lost in his big shadow, and this power couple moniker doesn’t sit well. It’s a little too close to Phillip and Lana being dubbed the golden couple, part of the reason he was so into the relationship. I don’t want or need others to comment on our relationship. He relishes it.

  I turn to him. “I’m not really part of the power, but I’m glad you’ve gotten good press.”

  “Good? It’s been fantastic! I may never be called the royal hottie again. Ruby, this is huge. And you are part of the power. They’re calling us the power couple because our humanitarian efforts get results. I’m thrilled. It’s pointing the spotlight where it’s needed most.” He squeezes my thigh. “We’re a great team.”

  “I don’t know how much credit I can take. I feel like I’ve just been along for the ride. This is your show.”

  He takes my hand, lifts it and brushes a kiss across my knuckles. His aquamarine eyes are warm and tender on mine. I melt like always. “It’s ours. Together.”

  My throat tightens, and I press my lips together. “We need to talk.”

  A look of alarm crosses his face before he covers with a neutral expression. “When we get back to the room.”

  I nod and look out the window at the passing scenery. Downtown New Delhi, like many of the cities we’ve visited, is hot, fragrant, and crowded. We pass high-rise buildings and street-level shops, along with traffic, but the traffic here isn’t just cars, it’s pedicabs, taxis, bicycles, and pedestrians all crammed together on narrow streets. A man pushing a cart veers in front of our car, crossing the street. The slow pace gives me plenty of time to think on what the next step should be with Phillip. We’ve gotten close in a way we might not have been if we hadn’t been traveling through so many foreign lands. He was the most familiar person to me when I often felt overwhelmed, either by the pomp and circumstance of high-level meetings or the abject poverty that tore at my heart. Through it all was Phillip, always warm and smiling, a steady familiar presence.

  We’re nearly at the hotel when he says excitedly, “I just got an email from the UN. They’ve seen all the good press around us and think together we can do a lot to draw attention to the cause.” His eyes are intent on mine. “Together, Ruby.”

  I see his future with clarity in that moment and it is not my future. Traveling like this as a full-time job around the world, speaking at the UN and other foreign diplomatic meetings, giving interviews, drawing people together. That’s what he’s good at. And I would just be part of the background, not contributing in any way besides photo opportunities. I want to go home. I want to meet my baby sister, run my own business, be back in the country I love.

  I blink back tears and look away. I can’t break down here, can’t have a heartfelt talk either, telling him goodbye. I have to hang on until we get to the privacy of our hotel room.

  He cups my jaw, turning me toward him. “It’s our shared press that’s gotten me to this level. Ruby, come with me. This is our shared honor.”

  “I’m just background.” My voice cracks.

  He drops his hand and scowls. “You’re much more than that.”

  I’m quiet. I don’t want to disappoint him, but this is not my life.

  He goes on in an urgent voice. “You’ve been connecting with the women in a way that I can’t.”

  I shake my head, my voice strained by the tight lump of emotion caught in my throat. “They connect with you fine. They love you.”

  He frowns. “We’ll talk more later.”

  The moment we’re in the privacy of ou
r hotel room, he takes my hand and guides me to the plush beige sofa in the palatial formal living room of our suite. We’re staying at a hotel called Leela Palace, and it lives up to its name. I take some deep breaths, trying to calm the riot of emotions that erupted when I realized I have to tell him goodbye. I don’t want to say goodbye.

  He gives my hand a squeeze. “I thought you enjoyed your time on this tour. Why wouldn’t you want to continue it?”

  I hesitate, trying to figure out the best way to explain. “I have enjoyed myself, mostly because of you, but this isn’t my thing. It’s yours. My life is back in the US. My family, my new sister, building a career doing what I love.”

  “You won’t be leaving your family forever. We can visit.”

  “It’s not the same. I want to be a big part of my sister’s life. I don’t want to just pop in and out of it. And I’m starting a new business, which looks very promising, if I could just get back and follow up on all my new prospects.”

  “So you choose a job over a calling?”

  I don’t know what to say to that. Is one type of work more important than the other? I applaud his work, but I don’t know that I want to be his helper. I want something of my own. And I do love interior design. There’s no room for doing what I love in his future life. “I know it’s hard to understand because what you’re doing is so important, and I support it one hundred percent, but it’s your calling not mine.”

  He stares at me. “I don’t understand. I thought you believed in the cause.”

  “What about my job?”

  His brows draw together. “Why do you persist in talking about your job? If you’re with me, you don’t have to work. After all we’ve seen on this trip, I’m sure you can see how important clean water efforts are. It raises the quality of life beyond mere survival. By comparison, decorating is meaningless, frivolous fluff.”

  I suck in air, my heart stopping for a moment and then lurching forward. All this time I thought he respected me and what I do. I cross my arms, hugging myself. “Well, it means something to me.”