“Well said,” chimed in Barbara. “And we here at ANS are thrilled to be a part of bringing you all together again.”
* * *
After the taping, they filed into the green room. Ariella felt shell-shocked. They’d all watched an edited montage of childhood photographs and background interviews and answered a few more questions. She was relieved it was over but also anxious to make sure she didn’t miss the opportunity to get to know her father and mother better.
Ted and Eleanor stood together, awkwardly silent, staring at each other. She wondered if she should say something to break the ice, but then she wondered if it wasn’t ice but something far warmer and maybe she should stay out of the way.
“You haven’t changed at all.” The president’s usually commanding voice sounded gruff with emotion.
“You, either. Though the gray at your temples makes you look more distinguished.” Eleanor’s eyes sparkled. “I wasn’t at all surprised to learn that you were running for president. I even obtained an absentee ballot for the first time so I could vote for you.”
Ted laughed. “It was a close race. I’m glad of the help.” He looked like he wanted to say so much more. He took her hands. “I know you did what you thought was best.” He spoke softly, as if they were all alone, though Ariella stood only a few feet away and production staff moved in the background.
“It doesn’t seem that way now, but you know what they say about hindsight.”
“I never loved anyone else.” Ted’s soft words shocked Ariella. She felt embarrassed to be eavesdropping, and wanted to disappear. But she knew how hard it was to engineer this meeting in the first place and who knew when she’d get another chance to spend time with her father. “I probably shouldn’t tell you that. I know you were married.”
“Greg was a good man.” Ellie didn’t seem so nervous and skittish anymore. Being in Ted’s presence seemed to calm her. “He was always so kind to me and we shared a good life together, even though we were never blessed with children.”
“I’m sorry to hear that he died.”
“Yes, it was very sudden and unexpected.” Their gazes were still locked on each other and they held hands as if afraid circumstances might suddenly tug them apart again.
It made her think of Simon. Circumstances certainly conspired to keep them apart. In fact it was odd that they’d ever met and managed to forge a few moments of intimacy. Some things just weren’t meant to be. She was almost at peace about it. It had been a fun fling, a wonderful whirlwind romance, and now she needed to get back to her regular life—whatever regular was these days—and try to forget about him.
“Do you think we could…have dinner together?” Ted Morrow asked with a touchingly hopeful expression.
“I’d like that very much.” Eleanor glowed. She looked so young and lovely standing there with Ted. Ariella would barely have recognized her as the white-lipped, anxious woman who’d met her in their secret London hiding place. “We have a lot to catch up on.”
They both seemed to suddenly remember her. “You will join us, won’t you?” Ted reached out and took Ariella’s hand, so that they were all linked. “It would mean so much to me to finally get to know you after all these years.”
“I’d be thrilled.”
* * *
The dinner was very emotional. Their happiness at meeting was thickened with sadness at all the things they’d missed sharing together. Ariella arrived home feeling literally sick with exhaustion, emotional and physical. She’d had her phone turned off since before the taping, and when she finally turned it on she saw that Simon had left a message.
“Great news. I’ve managed to engineer a series of meetings in D.C. next week. I’d like to put in my application now to take you out for dinner on Tuesday. Call me.”
Her heart constricted, partly with the familiar thrill of hearing his voice, and partly with the ugly knowledge that she needed to start weaning herself off him, not getting excited about dinners. Feeling dizzy, she lay down on her sofa, clutching the phone to her chest. She listened to another message from her partner, Scarlet, asking her to call and fill her in on the details. She decided that could wait until tomorrow because Scarlet had probably watched the taping like everyone else.
Her phone rang and she didn’t have the energy to come up with a strategy, so she answered it. “Were you ever going to call me, or what?”
“Hi, Scarlet.” Her voice sounded far away, like it belonged to someone else. “I’m wiped out.”
“I bet you are. That was quite a live reunion. I do believe your parents are still madly in love with each other.”
“Was that obvious on television, too? I felt like a third wheel.”
“You don’t sound good. Are you okay?”
“I’m feeling a little queasy. I’m probably dehydrated or something.” They’d been out for a big fancy dinner but she’d found herself barely able to eat. “And I need a good night’s sleep.”
“All right then. Don’t forget we have the Morelli meeting in the morning.”
Ariella groaned. She’d totally forgotten they were meeting with the extended Morelli clan to plan a huge fiftieth wedding anniversary. “Ten o’clock, right.”
“Call me if you’re not up for it, okay? I can handle it.”
“I’ll be fine.”
But she wasn’t.
When her alarm went off at eight her comforter felt like a lead blanket. Her eyes didn’t want to open. “Coffee. I need coffee,” she tried to convince herself. But the moment she managed to get her feet on the floor, a wave of nausea hit her.
Her phone rang on the dresser on the far side of the room, and she leaped to her feet to go answer it. Or at least she tried, but her ankles didn’t seem capable of holding weight so she found herself flopping back onto the bed, her breath coming in unsteady gasps.
After about five minutes of deep breathing she got the nausea under control, and managed to walk like a zombie to her phone. Scarlet had called again, so she dialed back without even listening to her message. “You know what you said about doing the meeting without me?”
“Not a problem. You sound terrible.”
Her voice did sound rather raspy. “I must have come down with something. I’d better lie in bed for a bit.”
“You stay right there and I’ll keep you posted on everything that happens.”
Ariella stayed in bed all morning. Every time she tried to do something useful the room started spinning or her stomach began to heave. She hadn’t been sick in so long she’d forgotten how miserable it was. It was probably from all the stress and anxiety leading up to the TV special. She probably needed a day or two in bed to recover.
Not that she had time for that. She had phone calls to make, menus and décor to approve and clients to meet. But maybe she could lie down for a few minutes first.
Ariella awoke with a start to the sound of the doorbell. A quick glance at the clock revealed she’d been asleep for four hours. She staggered to the door and opened it.
Scarlet stood on the threshold with a concerned look in her face. “I brought some chicken soup.” She thrust forward a container from the expensive bistro around the corner. “It has antibacterial properties.”
“What if it’s a virus?” Ariella couldn’t resist teasing her.
“Ah, so you’re not as sick as I thought. Let’s put it in bowls anyway. I need to grab some lunch before I meet with the manager of that new venue near the river.”
“I feel a lot better now. I think I’ve just been burning the candle too fast lately.”
“And Prince Simon has been helping you do it.” Scarlet lifted a brow. “But you had a few days to recover from your British romp before the taping.”
“Not enough, I guess.” She led Scarlet into the kitchen and pulled out two bowls and two spoons. “I usually fight everything off but maybe it’s catching up with me. At least I made it through the televised reunion.”
“What’s he like?” Scarlet poured the soup
into both bowls. “The president, I mean.”
Ariella paused. “I liked him.” She looked right at Scarlet. “I mean, I liked him before, enough to vote for him—which is lucky, I guess—but he’s very genuine and unpretentious in real life. You could tell he found the whole situation rather overwhelming, and that really touched me.”
“I saw you guys both weeping.”
“And I’d sworn I wouldn’t do that.” She grabbed a paper towel and wiped up some spilled drops of soup. “I can usually put a lid on any emotion.”
“I know. I’ve seen you in action with the nuttiest clients and guests.”
“But the whole thing blew me away. He’s my father. We have the same genes. We probably have some of the same likes and dislikes, and he has the same funnily shaped earlobes as I do.”
Scarlet peered at her earlobes. “Cool.”
“It’s frightening to think that I might never have met him. Simon was so right that this is a big life-changing opportunity for me.”
“I hear ya. We can plan some White House parties now.” Scarlet winked.
“You know what I mean. I have a new set of parents. They’ll never replace my parents who raised me, of course, but we’ll have new experiences together. We’ve already made plans to go up to his house in Maine for a few days in the fall.”
“Without consulting me?” Scarlet put her hands on her hips in mock indignation. “Just because your daddy’s the president and you’re dating a prince doesn’t mean we’re not still partners.”
They both laughed. Ariella shook her head. “What next?” A wave of nausea rolled through her. “I need to sit down.”
Scarlet followed her into the living room, brow furrowed with concern. “Have some soup.” She held out the bowl. “Have you eaten anything at all today?”
Ariella shook her head. Her throat slammed shut at the sight of the soup. “I have no appetite.”
“Maybe you’re pregnant.” Scarlet smiled. She was kidding.
“Sure, if Simon and I had sex.”
“You have though, haven’t you?” She leaned in. “Even though you won’t share the juicy details.”
“Barely a week ago. I couldn’t possibly be pregnant.”
“It only takes one time. And my mom said she started feeling symptoms right away. She took a test and it was positive less than two weeks later.”
“We used condoms.” Ariella’s nausea was getting worse. Scarlet was kidding, wasn’t she?
“Don’t they have a five percent failure rate?”
“What?” Her grip tightened on her unused spoon.
“That’s why most people use something else as well. Still, you’re probably not pregnant. You’ve had a lot on your plate.” Scarlet leaned back into the armchair and spooned some soup into her mouth. “Don’t worry about it.”
Ariella stared at the bowl of soup Scarlet had placed on the coffee table. There was no way she could eat that. There was also no way she could be pregnant.
No. Way. It simply wasn’t possible.
Was it?
Nine
Simon paused outside the building where his meeting was to take place and punched Ariella’s number into his phone. She was proving very elusive since she’d gone home to D.C. If he were more sensitive he might think she was trying to avoid him. The phone rang, and he leapt to his feet when he heard her tentative, “Hello.”
“How are you?” He managed not to ask where she’d been. Didn’t want to seem too oppressive.
“Um, fine. How are you?” She sounded oddly formal.
“I’d be a lot better if you were here.” He glanced around the busy London street. His imagination wanted to picture her darting along the pavement as she had been when he’d followed her on her secret assignation to meet her mother. “I can’t wait to see you next week.”
“Yeah.” Her voice was barely audible. “Me, either.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” The words shot into his ear so fast he almost jumped. “Great. Really busy with work. You know how it goes.”
“Absolutely.” There was so much he wanted to say to her but he knew now wasn’t the right time. He’d probably come on too strong already, and he was pretty sure that introducing her to his family had been a tactical error. He’d been so sure they’d be bowled over by her charms like he was that he couldn’t wait to get the introductions out of the way. Henry had been right. Poor Ariella. There was hardly anyone on earth who wasn’t intimidated by the queen, and Uncle Derek was a force of nature akin to a sinkhole. He should have introduced her to one or two family members on a one-on-one basis and let her get to know them before plunging her into their midst. “I did rather shove you into the middle of things here. I could tell you were a bit dazed by your visit.”
She laughed. “Was it that obvious? I was way out of my league.”
“You were fantastic. I’m sure they’ll adore you when they get to know you.” He’d caught a lot of flack for bringing her to such a public event with no warning. Pictures of the pair of them had been all over the papers for the next week and there’d been a lot of flapping about suitable relationships and time to settle down and stop playing the field.
He tried to ignore the naysayers. You couldn’t hold a sensible argument with fifteen hundred years of tradition so he’d learned to pick his battles and go about his business. If they wanted him to settle down, fine. But not with Sophia Alnwick. And if not her, then why not a fun, sexy, intelligent American girl? He generally preferred to just do stuff and explain it afterward, not get people all fired up over something that might not happen. “I can’t wait to see you.” Her face hovered in his mind all the time. He wished he could reach out and squeeze her. Traffic weaved along Regent Street in front of him, but time seemed to be standing still until he could see Ariella again.
“Me, neither.” She didn’t sound her usual self. Maybe she was in a room with other people, or rushing between appointments.
“I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.” For the first time she seemed to be speaking directly to him. “But I’m worried we’re getting into something that’s…too big.”
He froze. “That’s impossible.” Then he realized that he was pushing things along the way he tended to, and he tried to rein himself back. “We’re dating. That’s a perfectly normal thing for two healthy adults to do, don’t you think?”
“Well, yes, but…we’re both in the public eye. And your family, I don’t think they…”
“Don’t you worry about what they think. Sometimes they need a little convincing but believe me, I have years of experience in that department.”
“I don’t want things to move too fast.”
“I know. I’ve been telling myself to slow down. Sometimes I’m like a steam locomotive in motion, but I’m putting the brakes on, I promise you.” He was running late for his meeting. “When I get to Washington, we’ll do everything so slow it will be downright kinky.” He glanced about, suddenly remembering he was in a public street.
She chuckled, but again, it wasn’t her usual enthusiastic laugh. She must be getting cold feet now that they were apart. Which only made him more impatient to get there and warm them up for her.
“I’ve got a board meeting for UNICEF, so I have to go, but I’ll talk to you soon,” he said after a pause.
“Great. Thanks for calling.” She sounded a bit like she couldn’t wait to hang up. He was tempted to call her on it, then reminded himself not to be pushy.
“You’re more than welcome.” Telling her he loved her would be waaaay too much pressure, even if he was convinced it might be true. That could wait for a more intimate moment, preferably one where no one but Ariella was in earshot.
* * *
Ariella hung up the phone with her gut churning. In the last three days since Scarlet had planted the idea in her mind, she’d become more and more convinced that she was pregnant. She hadn’t paid much attention to her menstrual cycle before, but based on the la
st period she could remember, she was due for another one, and it wasn’t showing up.
Talking to Simon and trying to pretend everything was normal was agony. She could barely get words out of her mouth, let alone make polite conversation. How would his snooty family feel about the exciting surprise of an unplanned pregnancy? She’d bet that wouldn’t go over too well.
If she was pregnant, of course. There was no way to be sure until she took a test. Scarlet had brought one over for her yesterday and told her to take it whenever she felt ready. It sat on the shelf in the bathroom, in its unopened white-and-pink box, mocking her.
Was she too chicken to find out the truth? Possibly. If she confirmed a pregnancy, she’d have to deal with how to tell people. Scarlet, for a start. She had enough money saved to take some time off work, but you didn’t run a small business with someone then announce that you’d need a year of maternity leave. Then there was Simon….
She walked slowly into the bathroom and looked at the test. Picked up the box and read the directions. It sounded easy. Maybe she wasn’t pregnant? Maybe the nausea was just from stress and exhaustion as she’d first suspected. Or maybe she’d eaten something funny.
Her nipples had become very sensitive, but that could happen when she was expecting her period. Same with the sudden swings of emotion that made her weep over television coverage of the fund drive at a local dog shelter. She could simply be losing her mind. People had cracked under less extreme circumstances than she’d found herself in lately.
Her stomach contracted as she picked up the box and ripped it open. She was a big girl and could handle the consequence of her choices. She’d willingly had sex with Simon, and sex could lead to pregnancy. Everyone knew that.
But for some reason it hadn’t crossed her mind even once during those steamy nights in Simon’s bed. In his castle.
Go on. Do it.
Affairs of State Page 13