It was definitely time to move out.
“Some mistakes can’t be fixed,” she said finally, sitting down to start eating.
Alix looked like she wanted to say more, but she started talking about what colors to use in the new apartment instead. Stella let out a grateful sigh as Alix listed the numerous health benefits of muted colors on the psyche.
After eating, they went back to packing. As they were going through her shoes, sorting them by color, Alix brought up the topic of Yannick.
“What happened after the party?”
“What do you mean?” Stella felt herself blush.
“I saw you sneak out with him.”
Stella put several pairs of yellow shoes to one side. What had she been thinking? Yellow stilettos?
“He’s nice. We went to the bar in his hotel to talk.”
“Talk?” Alix attempted to waggle her eyebrows, but she’d never been very good at it. Stella burst out laughing.
“You look like you’re in pain!”
“Stop changing the subject! You just talked, huh? Are you sure you’re not going to be my cousin-in-law?” She tried kissy faces instead.
Stella sighed.
“No, I don’t think so, Alix. I’m sorry.”
Alix stopped making faces and rushed over to give her a hug.
“No, I’m sorry, Stella,” she said, embracing her friend. “I was just hoping maybe that’s why you weren’t up for forgiving Anton. Because you’ve moved on and were going to be happy with someone else.”
“I’ll be happy again soon,” she said, leaning into the hug. “But it’ll be on my own for awhile. I’ve been with him too long. I just need to be me for awhile.”
Alix nodded in understanding and they went back to their halfhearted attempt at weeding through the endless mountain of Stella’s clothes.
Once Alix had left for the night, Stella opened up the envelope and looked at the invitation. She traced Anton’s name with her fingers, wondering how all of the pieces she’d seen glimpses of would look when they were finished. Amazing, of course.
She went to her room to place the invitation with the others. Why should this time be any different? Why would he want her there when he didn’t before? What had changed?
She had changed. She was moving on with her life, past the silly dreams her younger self had had for her life.
Chapter 21
Stella wished Alix had been able to stay one day more. Then Alix could have made the decision to go or not for her. She’d walked to her door and then back to her room at least five times already, not quite ready to commit to going. Jean-Michel watched without comment, opening the door for her silently each time, but his frown deepened with each new attempt at leaving.
Her phone buzzed. She hesitated, worrying it might be Anton. Would seeing something from him make her want to go more or less?
Sitting on her bed, she put her head in her hands. She’d been so sure that she was done this time. He’d hurt her beyond anything that she’d thought possible. She hadn’t realized how much she’d opened up to him already until it happened. She didn’t want to rush into something else so quickly after that first taste of total rejection. That why poor Yannick had never been an option no matter what Alix had hoped.
She pulled out the invitation from her bag. It was already getting tattered from the number of times she’d looked at since the night Alix had helped her pack.
They hadn’t gotten that far that night. Stella looked around the room at the half-dozen, half-filled boxes. They’d found a collection of pictures from one summer their parents had all decided to spend in Switzerland together. Instead of packing, they’d taken a long trip down memory lane. They talked about all the friends they used to have back then and Stella caught Alix up on what had happened to them. So and so was married to a lawyer now, and what’s her name had three kids already. It felt good to share all of what she knew about people with Alix. It wasn’t really gossip. Not the way she used to do it. She didn’t miss it at all.
The gossip had never been about hurting people; just getting attention. She could totally understand why Anton thought she’d still want that now. But she didn’t. Despite everything, all she wanted was him.
He had come here, in person, to invite her to the show. He must have realized she hadn’t done anything. And he must really want her there. But that small voice inside her couldn’t help but whisper—what if he didn’t?
When Stella’s phone buzzed again, she finally looked down at it. It wasn’t Anton. Helena’s name flashed on the screen. With a swipe, she looked at the message.
Are you coming tonight?
She hesitated. She hadn’t been able to see Helena since the engagement party, where they’d only spoken briefly. Had she been the one to urge Anton to invite her? Did that matter to Stella?
Duncan had needed that push from his siblings to figure out what he needed. Stella didn’t want Anton to be pushed towards her. If he couldn’t figure it out on his own, then it wasn’t something he really wanted.
I don’t think so. She wrote back to Helena as she felt a tear fall down her cheek.
Anton hoped the smile on his face was big enough to hide his breaking heart.
He knew he should have called her. Talked to her. He’d been thrown off by seeing Alix at her apartment. It sounded like Stella didn’t want to hear from him and he didn’t want to risk pushing her even further away. She needed space. She’d given him so much over the past few years, and he’d always found his way back. He hoped she’d do the same.
But as the minutes turned into hours, it wasn’t looking good for him. He’d had it all planned so well in his mind. He knew Duncan would have asked Helena to plan the whole thing, and he’d never been tempted to do the same until now. She knew Stella in a different way than he did.
He looked around the room. Marcella was smiling, pleased at the turnout and the growing number of marks she was able to place in her catalog next to the works sold. He was still uncertain about what to do. Her family owned so many galleries and he didn’t want to burn any bridges. But she had to know that what she’d done wasn’t okay.
He narrowed his eyes as she looked his way. After this show, it would be over. He needed to know that he could trust those around him. And the one person he could trust more than anyone, he’d betrayed. He was hoping to make it up to her tonight, if only she’d take that first step and let him know she still wanted him to try.
He glanced across the room at his sister. She was standing near his favorite piece, talking to a very pretty brunette. He sighed. He hoped she wasn’t getting into as much trouble as he was in right now.
Helena looked up and caught his eye. He raised his eyebrows in a silent question. She shook her head just a little, her mouth turned down and her eyes annoyingly pitying.
He’d finally caved and asked his sister for help, hoping that a message from her would be the push Stella needed to come. But it must have been the wrong choice. Like every other choice he’d been making recently.
He circled around the room slowly, stopping to talk to a few people and accepting their compliments with a subdued smile. He was getting more praise than he ever had, but he didn’t seem to care. He sighed and leaned against a wall, tossing back his third–or was it his fourth?–drink of the evening.
When he looked up, suddenly, she was there.
Conversations continued around him, but all he could hear was the pounding of his heart inside his chest. The result of months of work melted away, and the only thing in focus was her. Nothing else mattered.
He took a deep breath and looked around the room, his vision clearing. He was anxious about what he knew he had to do next. He wasn’t nervous speaking in front of crowds. It was what he had to say that was making his heart beat at a hundred kilometers an hour.
Moving towards the center of the room, he raised his glass high above his head.
“I’d like to say a few words.”
All eyes turned to
him. He saw Stella move away from the door to stand in the back of the crowd. He searched for her blonde hair in the sea of heads around him.
“It’s recently come to my attention that my latest work has been more emotional than my older stuff.” His eyes flicked to Marcella. It had been in part her harsh words at the engagement party that had initiated this idea.
“There’s a reason for the change. I was hiding it from myself, but as you can see around you, it came out anyway.”
He turned to look right at Stella. The crowd parted slightly and he could finally see her face. She was perfect.
“I’m in love. I have been for months, and I couldn’t admit it to myself. All I knew was that she inspired me. I thought it was just her body.”
He saw her face color the tiniest bit as the gaze of dozens of people suddenly swept over her.
Idiot, that’s not what you wanted to say. You’re making it worse.
“But I came to realize that I love her. All of her. I’ve trusted her to keep so much private, but this I want the world to know. Stella, I love you. I’m sorry.”
A few gasps and whispered comments floated through the air, but all he could hear was the frantic thumping of his heart that had crept its way up into his throat. She was motionless across the room, her face a blank canvas.
He waited.
The tiniest smile appeared at the corner of her lips.
Epilogue
Stella reached for the keys in her bag—her keys, she thought happily—and let herself in.
There hadn’t been too many changes to Anton’s penthouse since she moved in three months ago, and the ones that were there were subtle. She hadn’t wanted to totally take over his space, despite his proclamations that everything that was his was now hers. She’d left a half-decorated apartment in order to move everything here, and she was still making her way through the boxes still left at her parents’ apartment.
The first things she’d brought over were her photos. Then there was her mirror for the bedroom. Now the second bedroom had become her closet, and she was slowly moving her clothes over. While enormous, even by Prynessian royal standards, she hadn’t realized quite how much stuff she really had. She thought of Alix leaving for a year to volunteer in Jordan with only one small bag. Maybe Stella could stand to cut down a little bit.
One thing they hadn’t cut down on since moving in together were nights out. The attention from the press and the public now that their status was official hadn’t been nearly as intense as they’d feared. With Alix and Duncan’s wedding coming up, all eyes were on them. It turned out neither Stella or Anton minded that much. It left them lots of energy for more private entertainment.
Still, it had been an adjustment after living with her parents for so long. But waking up next to him every day and seeing him every night was like a dream. One she’d never dared let herself imagine before.
She made her way through the living room, her favorite throw on the couch and an extra slingback chair in a coordinating but brighter color than the rest of the room. Touches of color here and there were traces of her permanent presence.
She walked into the bedroom to find a note on the bed. It was a single word surrounded by the penciled outline of a heart.
Studio.
Anton was still amazed that Stella hadn’t run out of the gallery in an embarrassed and furious huff three months ago.
But she’d stayed. She’d been at his side with her head held high the rest of the evening, her face lit up like a chandelier. She was incredible. He wasn’t sure how he’d ever thought his life was somehow better without her in it.
Not that life was entirely easy. He still got lost in his thoughts and disappeared to his studio for hours on end. He felt guilty about it sometimes. Having her move in had been the second best decision he ever made. It was reassuring to know she was just a few rooms away, waiting patiently for him to finish.
Now Anton was the one waiting patiently. He’d been setting things up all day. He’d even asked Helena for advice. She’d looked smug as hell, but she’d come through. His studio was cleared out with just a few key pieces remaining. He’d been working on them for weeks, wanting them to be perfect for tonight. He’d considered doing this in a more public space, to give her the attention he knew she still needed to get from time to time.
In the end, he’d decided to wait to make it public until after Duncan’s wedding in a few months. Helena assured him that Stella would have no problem keeping this private a little longer. Anton checked his pocket one more time to make sure the ring was there.
She’d been patient enough.
Thank you for reading!
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Acknowledgments
Thanks to beta readers, family, and friends for their support and patience. This was a harder book to write and having people who kept urging me to finish made all the difference.
About Daphne James Huff
In the summer before she turned 11, Daphne James Huff had a dream that there'd be a new boy in her class named Justin. And there was. Not long after that she wrote the first page of what would become, many years later, I Dream of Fire. She finds her biggest inspirations come from the dreams she never forgets.
Daphne works in the non-profit sector during the day, and spends her nights writing, reading, doing yoga, baking cookies, and hanging out with her husband, son, and cat.
Read about her adventures in self-publishing and find out when her next books will be released by visiting her website, www.daphnejameshuff.com
Also by Daphne James Huff
The Princes of Prynesse:
A Royal Distraction
A Royal Decision
A Royal Departure
Dreamers Series:
I Dream of Fire: Parts 1 & 2
The Magician’s Test (get it for free!)
The Devil’s Trial
The Nurse’s Secret
Sweet Young Adult:
Leah’s Song
Home for Christmas (get it for free!)
A Royal Departure Preview
Chapter 1
Prynessian Women’s Daily
Her Majesty Queen Annabelle isn’t one to sit around the house. Between her countless charities and other royal duties, she’s been spotted at over twenty different events this month alone. When she’s not hard at work smiling for the cameras, she enjoys walks in the royal gardens, which much be quite a change from the small yard she had growing up in Grinsberg Province.
With already two children to look after under the age of 3, one could imagine that she spends hours running around after them inside the palace. Though our inside source tells us she rarely makes time for them, preferring to leave their care to nannies and others more suited to care-taking roles.
Annabelle was tired. She’d been tired for the past three years but today she felt it more than ever. She had slept badly the night before, tossing and turning without Leo in the bed next to her. He had been so busy the past few months; he usually slept in his office. He hadn’t even eaten dinner with them the past week. It was like they were roommates, never seeing each other for more than a few minutes at a time when they passed each other in the hall. When they did see each other, it seemed like they were always fighting.
She had been hoping that this week at least they’d be able to see him more. She had cleared her schedule and given the nanny a few days off. But when she asked Leo’s private secretary if he’d be joining them for lunch, he simply shook his head. Now, as much as she had been looking forward to this time as a “real” mom, she was ready for a break.
So now here they were outside, and it felt like every bone in her body was exhausted from the morning alone with the two of them. Felix would only spend a few minutes playing with one toy before de
manding the next. Sophia was pulling up on every single piece of furniture, which wouldn’t be a problem except most things were 16th century antiques. Annabelle had struggled to keep them both entertained without breaking anything.
The sun glared down on her upturned face, as she breathed in the scent of flowers in the garden.
“Would you like some help, your majesty?” a page asked as she paused at the top of the stairs towards the gardens. She’d put Sophia in her pram, and held Felix by the hand.
She simply nodded, not wanting him to see how difficult this was for her. Never let them see you break, had been the advice of the former queen.
She’d debated putting Sophia in the baby carrier and now wished she had. The pram was a bit impractical on the gravel. But Sophia was nearly a year old and getting heavier. Felix had demanded to be carried down the stairs as well when he’d seen his sister in Annabelle’s arms. Somehow she’d gotten everyone downstairs and outside in one piece.
She let Felix run ahead, smelling the flowers, and pointing out different bugs. She walked slowly, tugging the pram out of the gravel every few feet. After a few minutes, she finally gave up and took Sophia out and let her crawl around on the ground. Annabelle looked around anxiously. They were alone, the gardens on the south side of the palace grounds, far from the front entrance and the prying eyes of the press.
She thought about her last visit to her sister’s house, in her home province, nearly four years ago. Her niece had been about Sophia’s age, and had been happy as a clam to scoot around on the ground.
But Clara wasn’t a princess, and Johanna wasn’t the queen. Annabelle was safe from the press for the moment, but what were the pages and guards thinking about seeing her royal highness getting her perfect white tights dirty?
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