Crowns & Courtships Compilation Volume 1

by Carol Moncado

  Mrs. Lachapelle patted her hand. “We’ve got it under control. But, yes. Everyone gets a number from one to ten. Ones have no chance at getting hired. Tens will be, and on down the list until all the slots are filled.”

  Good. It wasn’t quite how Anabelle had been doing it, but she could tweak her system. Mr. Lachapelle had his own. She suspected it mirrored his wife’s.

  The intercom buzzed. “Your next interviews are here.”

  “Thank you,” Anabelle called. “Tell them it’ll be just a minute.” She took a deep breath and blew it out. “Time to do some more of this.”

  The security office buzzed with activity. Until recently, that wasn’t normal. It had always been active, but not like this. Not until Gracie disappeared.

  “What’s new?” Kensington asked the security chief.

  The man shook his head. “Nothing. That’s puzzling. We’d have expected some movement or something that would give us some indication she was being taken out of the country, but nothing.”

  Kensington’s father sat at the head of the conference room table. “What do we think that is indicative of?”

  “That they’re laying low. Perhaps waiting for the initial furor to die down before trying to move her. Based on the note we found with Jenny, they’re likely taking good care of her, but want her in their physical custody.”

  Kensington tapped a pen against his other hand. “Anabelle asked me something the other night. Is there any reason why we can’t or shouldn’t pursue adoption? Legally, in Eyjania, Anabelle has guardianship, I think, but Gracie has no legal parents. Would doing that give us some sort of benefit? Can we adopt her?”

  The head of security shook his head. “That’s a question for lawyers, not me. I suppose, when she’s found, whoever has her could claim they’re the rightful guardians and having legal paperwork here in San Majoria could help mitigate any claims of that nature, but that’s really outside my purview.”

  His father scratched something onto a piece of paper. “I’ll have my attorneys on it as soon as this meeting ends.”

  “Thanks.” Kensington wasn’t sure what the point of the meeting was. All they did was sit around, find out there was nothing to report, occasionally a specific lead that didn’t pan out was mentioned, but nothing else.

  A knock on the glass caused them all to turn. The man Bertrand had told him was in charge of the employment agency investigation walked in. He gave a slight bow in the direction of the king. “I have something I think you should see, but I’m not sure yet what to make of it.”

  He plugged his computer in to the projector and the screen popped up. “It’s not in a presentation or anything. I’ll just be clicking around and showing you what I’ve found so far.”

  “It will be fine,” the king said.

  “I haven’t gotten very far on the owners of the agency yet. I’m waiting on some information to come back on them, but since lunchtime yesterday, the duchess has sent me a list of about fifteen names. All of them are suspicious. Petty criminals associated with a local gang. Nothing outrageous. Mostly stealing credit card information and petty theft, things like that.”

  “Stealing identities?” Kensington asked.

  “Nothing that elaborate, that they’ve been caught for, anyway. What they’ve been convicted of is more along the lines of using card skimmers to obtain data then use the data to buy gift cards or other things easy to resell. Why? Have you heard something?”

  Kensington shook his head. “No. Just curious after learning that Anabelle’s grandfather is likely involved in more elaborate crimes of a similar nature.”

  “I do know one of the owners of the management agency has some connections in Eyjania, but that’s as far as we’ve gotten at this point.”

  “Keep pursuing all of it,” Kensington’s father told the man. “I’d like you in these update meetings from now on as well.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  A minute later, Kensington and his father were walking back toward the offices. “I know we think she’s being well taken care of, but I hate the thought of her alone and scared.”

  “We all do.” They reached the king’s office, and he motioned for his assistant to follow them in. “I need to speak with my attorneys and the best family attorney in the country as soon as possible.”

  “Yes, sir.” The man hurried out of the office to make some calls, Kensington presumed.

  “Is it legal for me to adopt her?” he asked his father as they took a seat on either side of the desk.

  “I need to check the legislation passed last year after Jordan married Astrid. I believe it included language that said a member of the family a certain number of spots down the line of succession could adopt, but the child would not be added to the line. I’m not sure what that number was, though. You’re third right now. It may need to wait until after the baby is born.” He typed on his computer and scanned the screen. “This is one of the articles written about it, so we’ll have to verify it, but I think you’re okay.”

  A small weight lifted off Kensington. “I am?”

  “According to the article, Astrid, as the heir apparent, cannot adopt regardless. A royal child can be adopted by the other non-royal parent. If something were to happen to Astrid, Sofia and any other children could not be adopted by Jordan’s new wife. Since you are not the heir apparent, you can adopt Gracie, but she will not be added to the line of succession.”

  “I’d like to start that process right away. I’m sure Anabelle will, too.”

  “I’ll get in touch with Benjamin and make certain any legalities are dealt with expeditiously.”

  “His reaction could tell us for certain if he’s Gracie’s biological father. If he’s not, but someone close to him is, we might figure that out too.”

  “Good point.” With a smile, his father leaned back in his chair. “You’ll figure this diplomatic thing out yet, even if you did run off and elope, causing a minor international incident.”

  “What did you say to Benjamin and Isaiah to get them to back off?”

  His father rocked softly in his chair as he stared into space. “You know, I’m not sure Benjamin actually cared.”

  “That fits with what Anabelle told me about their meeting. He looked her up and down, shrugged, and said she’d do.”

  His father’s eyebrows knit together. “That’s what he said?”

  “That’s Anabelle’s version. I have no reason not to believe her.”

  “Odd,” his father muttered. “Regardless, the terms of the deal are between myself and Benjamin for the time being.”

  “Is that why Esther hasn’t been around? Did she have something to do with it?”

  The sharp glance told Kensington not to question it any further.

  They discussed several other matters of interest regarding the Games. His father was impressed with the way Anabelle was handling her new role. As they wrapped up, two men entered the room. Kensington wasn’t sure of their names, but knew they were two of his father’s lawyers.

  Once they were all seated, the king outlined the issues at hand.

  “Yes,” the older one confirmed. “That is how the adoption rules were written. There’s no legal issue with Prince Kensington adopting the Lady, at least not as far as his royal stature is concerned.”

  “If something should happen to Astrid and her children, making Kensington the heir apparent, would he, in effect, need to unadopt Gracie?”

  The morbid thought wouldn’t have occurred to Kensington, but he supposed it was his father’s job to think of those things.

  “Once the adoption is final, there would be no reason for him to disown her, as it were. However, the Lady would not be the heir apparent, or even the heir presumptive. Princess Jacqueline Grace would become the heir presumptive until such a time as Prince Kensington has a child who would become the heir apparent.”

  Clear as mud.

  But it meant Kensington could adopt Gracie.

  He needed to tell Anabelle.
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br />   Holding up a hand, Anabelle stopped Kensington mid-sentence. “Let’s start with what’s the difference between heir apparent and heir presumptive?” As a member of the royal family, she should probably know this.

  “Heir apparent is next in line for the throne,” Kensington explained.

  “I knew that much.”

  “But,” he went on, “Astrid, for instance, can’t be pushed down the line by someone else’s birth.”

  “Right.”

  “Queen Elizabeth was always her father’s heir presumptive. It was presumed she would be the heir, but Great Britain had male primogeniture until a few years ago. If her father had a legitimate son before his death, or even after his death, that son would have supplanted Princess Elizabeth as the heir. They passed absolute primogeniture shortly before Prince George was born. If he’d been born a girl, she would have retained her place in line, regardless of any younger male siblings. As it stands it won’t come into play until Prince George has children at the earliest.”

  “Okay.” She went back to her home country to see if she understood. “So Princess Genevieve is King Benjamin’s heir presumptive, but when he has a child of his own, that child will be the heir apparent.”

  “Correct. If it’s a boy. If it’s a girl, it depends on if they’ve adopted absolute primogeniture yet, and I’m not sure if they have. San Majoria did when my mother was pregnant with Astrid. In Sweden, Princess Victoria was heir presumptive until Prince Carl Philip was born. He was the heir apparent for a few months. They passed retroactive absolute primogeniture, promoting Princess Victoria to heir apparent.”

  Anabelle waved a hand. “I’m kind of sorry I asked. What does it boil down to?”

  “Since Astrid is the heir apparent, and has a child who is her heir apparent, I can adopt Gracie. She will not be added to the line of succession despite the adoption, but otherwise, she’ll be considered my daughter in all other aspects.”

  “Good. When can we file the paperwork? What has to happen?”

  “My father’s lawyers are figuring it out. He’s going to call Benjamin and make sure there’s no legal sticking points.”

  “And if he is Gracie’s father?”

  “This should smoke out that information.”

  Anabelle nodded and tried to get her shoulders to relax. “Good.”

  “Tell me how your day went.”

  “I think we’ve got our list of people to hire together. These people will be managers, more or less, and will take care of the hiring fair for the general staff members this weekend. That means we have less than two days to get them up to speed on what everything entails. That won’t be easy since I have no idea what all is involved. There’s some information in the files, but I haven’t looked at it yet.”

  “Let me know if you need any more assistants.”

  “I don’t think so. We interviewed just over a hundred people between us. We need ten venue managers and thirty assistant managers. Most of the ones who made it to the list were well-qualified, except for the names I already passed on.” She kicked off her shoes and sank into a chair. “I’m already ready for it to be over. I can’t imagine how long you’ve been working on this.”

  “Fortunately, my aunt took care of it the last round, and we don’t have another Games here for six years. The next two will be in Islas del Sargasso.” Kensington leaned back and closed his eyes. “There isn’t any news on the Gracie front.”

  Anabelle’s heart ached. “I didn’t figure there was. You would have told me.”

  “Immediately,” he confirmed. “I have a question, though. As far as you know, does your grandfather have any connections here in San Majoria? Business associates, that kind of thing.”

  She thought about it as she tucked her feet underneath her. “I’m sure he does. He would have dinner parties that I had to attend. There were often business associates from around the world, but always from the four countries.” One in particular sprang to mind. “There was this one guy. He always seemed creepy to me.”

  “Do you know his name?”

  Anabelle shook her head. “He had a big scar on the back of his right hand that disappeared under his long sleeve dress shirts. A thick one.”

  Kensington made a note in his phone. “I’ll let them know. It may ring a bell for someone and give us some direction.”

  She pulled a blanket over her legs. “I’ll keep thinking. If I remember anything else, I’ll let you know.”

  “How’re you feeling?”

  Such a loaded question. “About what?”

  “Anything. Everything.”

  “I miss Gracie so much it physically hurts when I have the time to think about it. I’m glad for this job because it gives me something productive to occupy my mind and my time, but it also overwhelms me to be in charge of staffing for all these venues. I know the revenue from the Games is huge for the local economy, and I really don’t want to screw it all up.”

  “You won’t.” Kensington’s voice was firm, but his look was surprisingly gentle. “Truth is that if we didn’t sell one souvenir, it wouldn’t grossly affect the overall income from tourism. Yes, it’s a lot of money, but the food and hotels and everything else has a much greater impact than the souvenirs.”

  Relief washed over Anabelle. “That makes me feel better.”

  He stood up and stopped in front of her, holding out his hands to help her up. Once she stood in front of him, he wrapped his arms around her. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t have complete faith in you. You can do this.”

  “I know.” She thought she knew. How could he be so certain of her abilities? They’d only known each other a couple of months, and really hadn’t spent much time together for most of that.

  Kensington crooked a finger under her chin and tilted her face toward his. “I’m proud of you for so many things, love. I’m so glad you’re here.” He kissed her softly. “I’m so glad you’re my wife.”

  Overwhelmed, Anabelle kissed him back, letting the intensity build until it was just the two of them in her world, and she could forget about the crippling fear over Gracie and the anxiety over this job, and everything else except Kensington and the good between them.

  20

  Despite all the work he had to do, Kensington couldn’t say no to an engagement that had been on his calendar for years. Every summer, a surf competition took an afternoon where the competitors taught local kids how to surf, kids who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity. Even in an island nation there were those who couldn’t afford it or for a myriad of other reasons didn’t have the chance.

  Since he was old enough to hold a boogie board, Kensington had been on the waves. By six, he was surfing on his own, though he didn’t have the strength to paddle out by himself for a few more years. At thirteen, he’d been a guest at the exhibition. That’s when he first learned about the San Majorian Surfers Give Back afternoon.

  Every year, he spent time with the kids and took part in the exhibition. But as he grew older, he wasn’t able to just put on a pair of board shorts and a t-shirt and show up. Eventually, he had to arrive in dress slacks and a button-down shirt with loafers and change into a wetsuit right before going into the water. Part of the whole formal public persona of the royal family.

  He tugged the zipper all the way up his back and went outside, scanning the beach as the organizer stood next to him with a clipboard.

  “As usual, we have you working with the young teens today, sir.” The organizer had become something of a friend over the years.

  Kensington hesitated. Rarely did he throw his weight around, but he also knew if he requested it, he could get pretty much whatever he wanted.

  “Is something wrong, sir?”

  “I’d rather work with the boogie boarders this year, if it’s all the same.” He couldn’t explain it but as he saw the smaller children, something called to him.

  “Of course, sir.” She made a few notes on her clipboard. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  Ken
sington walked toward the younger children as applause sounded around the beach. He waved to the scattered crowds until he reached the younger children.

  “Who wants to boogie board?” he asked the eager young ones.

  “Me!” came from all of them except for one little girl. She bit her lip and looked scared.

  In fact, though she was a little older, her skin was naturally a little darker, and her hair so brown it was nearly black, she reminded him of Gracie when he first met her.

  “Boogie boards to the water!” one of the other instructors called. “Right at the edge. Don’t go in yet.”

  The little girl hung back. Kensington knelt next to her. “Do you want to boogie board?”

  She nodded.

  He held out a hand. “I’m Kenny. What’s your name?”

  Her small fingers gripped his. “Mary.”

  “Hi, Mary.” He sat on the sand next to her. “You want to boogie board?”

  Mary nodded again.

  Kensington leaned toward her. “Are you a little scared?”

  Another nod.

  “Would you like me to go with you?”

  One more nod.

  Kensington stood and reached out his hands. “Come on then.”

  She took both hands, and he made a big show of helping her stand. Mary gripped his hand as they started toward the ocean. His feet dug into the soft sand until it gave way to the wet hard packed sand near the waves.

  Mary stopped walking as they neared the ripples of water.

  “You don’t want to go any further yet?”

  She shook her head.

  “How about just a tiny bit, and we’ll get our feet wet?”

  Mary shuffled forward until the water just barely lapped at her feet. The “big” wave came all the way to her ankles.