Crowns & Courtships Compilation Volume 1

by Carol Moncado

  “No. She’s with Jacqueline Grace right now.” Anabelle stopped as she crossed into the bedroom. Amma sat upright in the bed, covers pulled up to her waist. “Oh, Amma!” It only took a couple seconds to cross the room and wrap her grandmother in a hug. “I didn’t even know you were missing,” she whispered. “How could I not know?”

  “You’ve been very busy, child. Looking for Gracie, running the Games, and everything else on your plate.” Amma held her close. “I am very glad you didn’t know. You didn’t need to be worried about me when your mind was already so overloaded. I was just fine.”

  “They didn’t hurt you?”

  Amma motioned for Anabelle to join her on the bed. Anabelle kicked off her shoes and stuck her legs under the covers, pulling them up as she sat next to Amma.

  “No, they didn’t hurt me. They needed someone Gracie would trust. She’d been giving the other person, a woman, a very difficult time. Gracie knew who I was immediately, though she didn’t know I was her grandmother. She remembered me from Rachel’s store.”

  “I’ve even talked to Rachel several times. She never said anything.”

  “Of course not. You couldn’t do anything except give yourself an ulcer. They didn’t want that for you and knew I wouldn’t have either.”

  Anabelle was torn between gratefulness that she hadn’t known and annoyance that someone else had made the decision for her. Amma was right. She would have worried herself even sicker than she already was over Gracie.

  “I talked to Afi as soon as they would let me. He’s on his way.”

  “I know.” Tears came from a well Anabelle thought should have dried up long ago. “Oh, Amma, I’m so glad you were with Gracie.” She laid her head on her grandmother’s shoulder, only to find herself being urged further down until she curled into the embrace that comforted her own mother as a child.

  “I am, too, love. If she couldn’t have you or either of her mothers, I’m glad I could be there.”

  Lying there, soaking up her grandmother’s strength and love, Anabelle knew what she’d been missing her whole life. Her mother had tried, and done well for the most part, but knowing what she knew now about Grandfather, her mother was under a strain Anabelle couldn’t have imagined.

  “Don’t you have work to do today?” Amma asked softly. “I promise I’ll be here when you get back.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  It was well after dinner when Kensington made it back to the palace. News of Gracie’s rescue still hadn’t made the news, though a press conference had been called for first thing in the morning. Rumors were flying that Astrid was back in the hospital or that Gracie had been found, but the outcome wasn’t nearly as good as the reality.

  In two days, they had tickets for the three of them to see the “‘nastics” as Gracie called it. Kensington would have to clear it with security and make sure Gracie was okay with it. Despite having nearly everyone in custody, security would be heavier than normal. Amma had seen the man with the scar. He’d been in the house, but she’d been in another room and didn’t get a good look. She’d seen the scar and had seen him again from a distance.

  Her description matched Anabelle’s, but not enough for an ID. Perhaps enough to put out a call for help, though that hadn’t been determined last he heard.

  “Kenny!”

  Even before he reached the apartment, he heard Gracie calling to him. He turned to see her running down the hall toward him. A few seconds later, he’d swung her up in his arms. “How was your day, sweet girl?”

  “My play with Annie an’ Amma an’ Mimi an’ Gigi.”

  He looked at Anabelle. “Who’s Mimi?”

  “Your mother.” The three of them walked into the apartment together. “She can’t say Miriam, and your mother sort of loves it as much as your grandmother loves being Gigi.”

  Kensington chuckled. “I can see that.”

  For an hour, he played with Gracie, amazed at how well she seemed to be readapting to her home. Anabelle gave her a bath then together they tucked her into their bed. Anabelle didn’t want her anywhere else for a few days. Kensington didn’t blame her.

  They talked quietly about how the Games were going.

  “We still have those tickets for gymnastics in a couple days. Do you still want to go?”

  Her face lit up. “Could we?”

  “I can talk to security if you want.”

  “If they say we can, I’d love to go, and I know Gracie would love it, too.”

  “Then we’ll see what we can do.” He pulled her into his arms and leaned down to kiss her. “There’s a press conference in the morning. We have to be there.”

  “I know. Gracie will stay with Amma tomorrow. I can’t stay home again, unfortunately.”

  “She’ll be well taken care of.” Kensington kissed Anabelle again. “But you need to get some sleep. As do I.”

  With another kiss, they got ready for bed. The next morning, they stood next to his father as he told the country Gracie had been found, and shared the information about Amma. The head of security shared the description of the man with the scar, though no one actually believed he was still in the country.

  The head of security and local police chief stayed behind to answer questions while Kensington and Anabelle headed for the Games. He knew she wanted to stay behind, to spend more time with Afi, Rachel, and the others who had arrived late the day before.

  Instead, Kensington spoke with Holly to make sure Anabelle would be able to leave in time to spend the evening with all of them and Gracie. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to.

  He was able to do some PR, though.

  This time when he walked through the concourse of the track and field venue, he wouldn’t be rushed off. For nearly half an hour, he talked with attendees before the ones he’d been waiting for arrived.

  Crouching down, he held out his hand to the little girl. “Hi. I’m Kensington.”

  She shook it. “I know. I’m sorry you had to leave so fast.”

  Kensington shook his head. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I know you were scared when they dragged me away the other day.”

  “Mama said it was because they finally found your little girl, but Daddy doesn’t think so. He said you didn’t find her until the next day.”

  He leaned closer. “Want me to tell you who’s right?”

  She nodded quite seriously.

  “Your mama is right. My assistant found her near the Athlete’s Village, not very far away from here. Because my bodyguards didn’t know what had happened yet, they made sure to stick close while they got me to Gracie as fast as they could, but I am sorry you were scared by it.”

  With a shrug, the girl lifted a small weight off his shoulders. “I’m okay. I’m really glad your little girl is all right.”

  “She is just fine. In fact, she’s coming to see gymnastics in a couple days.” He’d just gotten word that security had cleared it. “I would love it if you and your mama and daddy would join us.” He glanced up at her mother. “My treat.”

  She looked up at her mother, too. “Can we, Mama?”

  “If Prince Kensington really has enough tickets without any of his other friends not going, then yes.”

  He grinned. “We actually have a suite, so there’s plenty of room. Given everything, we decided it would be easier for all of us to enjoy it rather than in the seats. If you’d rather have seats, though, I have three tickets we aren’t going to use now.”

  “Thank you. We would love to join you in the suite, if that’s all right. I think we’d prefer that as well.”

  Kensington stood. “My wife and I would love to have you join us.” He hadn’t discussed it with her yet. He meant to, but it slipped his mind the night before with the arrival of Afi and the others. She would, though. “My assistant will contact you with more details.”

  After another minute or two with the family, he returned to work. He prayed diligently for no emergencies that would keep him from returning to the pa
lace for dinner with his little family and their guests.

  But as they finished their dessert, his phone buzzed with something that needed his attention, so he kissed his wife, hugged his little girl, and went back to work.

  “Ready?” Butterflies the size of Emperor Penguins had taken up residence in Anabelle’s gut. Their first outing since Gracie’s return.

  “‘Nastics!” Gracie squealed as they took their seats in the car.

  The transition home, so far, had been much smoother than Anabelle feared, but this outing could stretch her sanity to the breaking point.

  At least Kensington had arranged for a private suite. More likely security had insisted. Regardless, it made her feel a little better.

  Amma and Afi would be joining them, along with Rachel, Clari, and Joel. Anabelle had enjoyed getting to know Clari better. After all, they were cousins. Their relationship made her tangentially related to Rachel, which was kind of fun.

  The car pulled up to the front of the venue. A small crowd had gathered to wait for them. Their itinerary hadn’t officially been announced, but word had gotten out a little bit. Security knew this would happen, which was why everyone else was arriving separately.

  Their path was roped off. A member of the enhanced security team opened her door, and Anabelle climbed out after releasing Gracie from her car seat. Holding tight to the little hand, Anabelle and Gracie started for the building, only to find Kensington walking toward them.

  Gracie held up her arms for Kensington to pick her up, which he did. The pictures of the two of them would be all over the Internet before long.

  They waved at the crowds but didn’t stop to talk to any of them. Once inside, in a secure area, surrounded by security, Anabelle started to relax a little bit.

  “I don’t think I ever had a chance to mention this to you, but the little girl I was talking with when security grabbed me and her family are coming. We tracked them down from social media posts. I met with her the other day and wanted to make sure her last personalized memory of the family with the Games wasn’t a scary one.”

  “That’s fine. Another kid for Gracie to play with would be good.” She’d wanted to invite Caitlin and Jenny, but though they’d talked by phone a few times, they hadn’t seen each other yet. Jenny had strep throat and was still a bit too far under the weather.

  But another little girl would also be present.

  The still-unidentified child had been released from the hospital earlier in the day. She’d only been kept that long for security reasons. All of her tests came back completely normal, except she refused to talk to anyone as far as Anabelle knew.

  But she’d taken to Jacqueline Grace, and Jacqueline Grace had taken to the little girl, going so far as to name her.

  Kiara.

  She’d indicated that wasn’t her name, but when asked if she liked it, the girl nodded so it stuck.

  They were being brought in more secretively. No one knew Jacqueline Grace was bringing Kiara to the palace to live for the time being. If Jacqueline Grace had her way, she’d adopt the little girl, but Anabelle wasn’t sure if she’d be able to without knowing who the little girl actually was.

  “Right here.” Kensington set Gracie down and opened the door.

  Gracie ran in and pressed her nose against the glass. “‘Nastics! Annie, it’s ‘nastics!”

  “Think she’d like to do gymnastics?” Kensington asked, his arms sliding around Anabelle from behind.

  She leaned her head back against his chest. “I bet she would.”

  “Once things calm down, we should see about it.”

  “Do things ever calm down in this family?” She tried to keep her exhale to a minimum, but failed.

  “Good point. It does seem like one thing after another sometimes. I meant after the Games are wrapped up.”

  At least life had been fairly predictable before meeting Kensington, though it would have been much more difficult to get out of marrying Benjamin.

  “Annie! Look!” Gracie pointed out the window to something on the floor. “I wanna do that.”

  Anabelle watched a girl do a tumbling run. “You can learn how if you want.” Kensington had nailed it. “There’s going to be two new friends with us today.”

  “‘Fia?”

  “I don’t think Sofia can come, but a girl named Kiara will be here, and so will another girl who’s a little older. I don’t know what her name is.” She glanced at Kensington who winced and shrugged.

  The door opened to let in Amma, Afi, Rachel, Clari, and Joel.

  “Amma!”

  Her appearance was enough to make Gracie forget all about gymnastics. Anabelle had been worried seeing her grandmother would be difficult for Gracie, a reminder of her time in captivity, but instead she adored her newfound amma.

  With hugs all around, and the arrival of Jacqueline Grace and Kiara followed by several others, including the family Kensington had invited, Anabelle found herself separated from Gracie for an extended time.

  But this time, the little girl was within sight at all times. Surrounded by family and friends who were on high alert.

  They didn’t stay for the whole event, but Gracie got her fill of tumbling and aerobatics and balance. She and Kiara hit it off, as they both did with the other girl who was a little older, but Anabelle never heard her name.

  By the time they left for the palace, darkness had fallen.

  “It pretty, Kenny.” Gracie held his hand from her car seat as she looked at the palace lit up in the darkness.

  “It is.” He leaned closer. “You know what’s prettier?”

  Gracie shook her head.

  “My two girls are prettier. You and Annie.” He glanced at her, but Anabelle couldn’t read the look. “Gracie, what would you think if Annie and I adopted you, so we were your mama and daddy? We wouldn’t ever want you to forget your first real mama and daddy, but it would mean you belong to us forever.”

  Gracie didn’t answer immediately. “You be my daddy, Kenny?”

  Anabelle bit her bottom lip. It wasn’t too late to stop the process, but it was already in motion and would likely go through, regardless.

  “I would be your daddy,” he confirmed. “Annie would be your mama. If we ever have any other kids, they’d be your brothers and sisters.”

  She hadn’t told him about her nearly confirmed suspicion yet either.

  Anabelle looked more closely at Gracie. Were her eyes filled with tears?

  “No one ever take me away again?”

  29

  The fear in Gracie’s voice tore at Kensington’s heart. “Sweet girl, even if you don’t want me and Annie to adopt you, we will always, always, do our very best to make sure no one ever takes you away again. We love you too much. I can’t promise nothing bad will ever happen, but I can promise that I, and Annie, and all the big bodyguards will always do our best to make sure you never go away again.”

  The tears spilled down Gracie’s cheeks as the car slowed to a stop under the portico.

  Kensington unbuckled Gracie from her seat. “Let’s go upstairs, and we’ll talk all about it okay?”

  Gracie nodded, but clung tightly to him as they walked up the stairs toward the private quarters.

  Once there, Kensington settled on the bed with his back against the headboard, and Gracie curled against him.

  “Do you know what kind of house this is, Gracie?”

  “A castle.”

  “That’s right. Do you know who my father is?”

  “King.”

  “Right again.” Kensington tightened his hold on her as Anabelle sat cross-legged on the other end of the bed and looked worried. “My father is the king. Some day, Sofia’s mama will be queen. One day a long time after that when you and Sofia are all grown up, Sofia will be queen. I’m a prince and so is Harrison. Jacqueline Grace and Esther are princesses.”

  “If you ‘dopt me will I be a princess?”

  He knew this question would hurt. He didn’t know how much. “No,
but you are a Lady already and will be a duchess someday. Unfortunately, the way the rules are, you can only be a princess if you’re not adopted. You will always be our princess though.”

  She nodded slightly against him.

  “So, here’s the thing. Because my father is the king, and I’m a prince, and my whole family is a royal family, sometimes people don’t like us very much and every once in a while, someone tries to hurt us. I don’t even remember the last time someone really, really tried to hurt my family. But sometimes they do. And this time, they tried to hurt us by taking you away.”

  “Did it hurt?” Her voice sounded so tiny and broken.

  “Oh, Gracie.” Tears fell onto the top of her head. “It hurt more than you can imagine. Anabelle didn’t stop crying for days and never stopped praying. My heart never stopped aching. Neither of us ever stopped looking for you, even though we had to do other things sometimes. We met with the police every day to see what they found. We prayed constantly. Finally, our prayers were answered when Bertrand found you.”

  Gracie seemed to curl further into herself.

  “What is it, sweetie?” Anabelle asked softly.

  “He show me pictures.” Kensington could barely hear her words.

  “What kind of pictures?” he pressed.

  “You an’ Annie.”

  The realization dawned on him and Anabelle at the same time. “He showed you pictures of us, and it didn’t look like we cared that you were gone?”

  Gracie nodded.

  Kensington shifted. “Let me get my phone out, okay?”

  His little girl scrambled over to Anabelle as he dug his phone from his pocket. With just a few taps, he pulled up a picture from the first press conference.

  “This is the day after you went missing, before we found Jenny.” He turned his phone around. “What do you think?”

  Anabelle took the phone and studied the picture. “You an’ Annie look sad.”

  Sad didn’t begin to describe it. Anabelle had refused to let a stylist work on her, instead choosing to present to the world just how distraught they were over Gracie’s disappearance.