Daniel noticed Libby’s mood suddenly shift and she fell silent, appearing to be deep in thought. She looked up towards the cloudless sky then walked away towards the shade of a huge palm tree.
‘That must have been a culture shock from ER in a major hospital?’ Libby said as she sat down, smoothing her dress out on the sand and crossing her ankles. ‘I mean, one day you’re in an inner-city emergency room and the next you’re travelling the world on a yacht or cruise liner.’
One day in your bed and the next on a plane to the other side of the country, Daniel thought. He suspected the question was not just about the culture shock but more about the shock of his hasty departure.
‘Libby,’ he began as he sat down beside her, ‘everything about the time with you in San Francisco was unexpected. You have to believe me, I didn’t plan for any of it to happen and I wanted to explain everything to you but as I told you before, my life is complicated.’
‘Perhaps we should leave that alone, Daniel,’ she cut in without turning to face him. ‘But I do want you to know that I would never have slept with you if I thought it was going to be a casual one-night stand and that you’d be gone before the sun came up. That’s not who I am.’
‘It wasn’t just a casual one-night stand.’
Libby looked out across the water, saying nothing.
‘It meant so much more to me than that,’ he told her.
‘Let’s not go there, Daniel. I really don’t want to spend the day talking about the past,’ she said, turning to face him. ‘That was not my intention. We need to make peace with whatever it was that happened between us.’
‘Libby, believe me when I say that I’m truly sorry I caused you pain. I swear that if I could take it back I would.’
‘Which part, sleeping with me or leaving in the middle of the night?’
‘Leaving,’ he told her honestly, not sure if she had heard him. ‘Until my dying day I will never regret making love to you.’
CHAPTER TEN
LIBBY WOKE UP THE next day remembering Daniel’s words but not knowing whether to believe them.
‘Until my dying day I will never regret making love to you, Libby.’
Goddamn it, why did he have to say that?
None of it made sense to her and now he was making her life even more complicated. Whatever he said, it didn’t change anything. His life was apparently complicated.
Well, life was complicated, for so many people, including her. Daniel didn’t have the monopoly on a complicated life.
And he had no clue just how complicated hers had become because of him.
They had returned to the yacht without saying anything else to each other. She had to find the right time to tell Daniel about Billy and at the same time ensure she set ground rules. Billy deserved that. She wished her son had a daddy who would kiss him goodnight every evening and hug him every morning. While Daniel clearly couldn’t be that man, she hoped he would find a way to be a part of Billy’s life. Not be someone who might show up every few years or who Billy might bump into occasionally on an exotic island in the Caribbean.
There was a hurried knock on the door and Libby jumped out of bed, threw on her robe and rushed to open it.
Georgie was standing there with a look of panic on her face. ‘I’m so sorry to bother you this early but Alexandra’s throwing up again and I can’t have her near the food, particularly not the engagement cake.’
‘Come in,’ Libby said, opening the door wider. ‘Of course, it’s the engagement party tonight. I’ll help you in any way I can. I just need to check on Walter...’
‘Daniel’s already doing that,’ Georgie cut in as she closed the door. ‘He said he’ll look after Walter, get him dressed and to the party on time. The other guests can make their own way there and the lovebirds flew in last night. They’re staying at the resort already with the rest of the UK guests who also flew in late yesterday. The party is on the beach near the resort and the event planner arrived two days ago and has a local team already setting up before we dock.’
Libby curled her unruly bed hair into a makeshift bun and reached for a hair tie on the nearby table to keep it in place. ‘It sounds like it’s all organised, a bit like a military exercise. Let me know what you need and I’m there.’
Georgie gave her the biggest hug. ‘I knew I could count on you.’
‘Always.’
‘Okay, we dock in San Lucia in a few hours so perhaps have your shower, get ready and pack a dress for the party...’
‘I’m not going to the party,’ Libby corrected her friend. ‘I’m going to help you so I can wear shorts and a T-shirt because I’ll be out of sight.’
‘That’s just it. I only need you to help me with some dessert preparation in the galley as I’m such an annoying perfectionist and I have to have someone I trust to manage quality control. Alexandra is as fussy as me but, as I said, unfortunately she’s out of the picture, so you’re my go-to. I’ll also need you to help me put the cake together when we get to the party. It’s baked and decorated but I have to assemble it on the beach.’
‘We can’t do that on the yacht?’
Georgie laughed. ‘Can you imagine what could go wrong carrying a five-tier cake across the sand?’
‘Five tiers? How many guests are coming?’
‘I think close to a hundred and fifty. Some are sailing in and others have flown in. It’s quite the social event. There are whispers that a couple of Hollywood A-listers will be there too.’
‘Goodness, it sounds like all the more reason for me to stay in the background and look after the last-minute bits and pieces for you.’
Georgie appeared to ignore Libby’s remark and, making her way to the closet, she opened the doors where there were only uniforms. ‘Where are all your clothes?’
‘In my suitcase,’ Libby replied matter-of-factly.
‘But you have a huge space in this stateroom. Why on earth are you not using it?’
‘Because I wear my uniform most days and the rest of my clothes I can pull out of my suitcase and throw on.’
‘Do you have anything glamorous in said suitcase?’
‘Glamorous? But it’s an island party. Wouldn’t shorts or a cotton dress be okay?’
Georgie shook her head. ‘No, they wouldn’t. There will be the most fabulously dressed people at the party and you are absolutely not going to look like Orphan Annie. You, my friend, have to look equally fabulous.’
Libby suddenly thought Georgie sounded decidedly like Bradley.
‘Where’s your suitcase?’ Georgie asked as she looked around the room.
Libby pointed to the second closet on the other side of the dressing table. ‘It’s in that one.’
Without wasting a second, Georgie sprang into action, crossed the room and found the suitcase lying inside the closet. She dragged it out onto the carpeted floor, opened it and began looking through the clothes like a woman on a mission. Within seconds she came upon the emerald-green silk dress. ‘This,’ she announced, climbing to her feet with the dress in her hands like a triumphant explorer with a golden chalice, ‘is perfect. Just perfect. Do you have any shoes?’
‘There are some gold strappy sandals in there somewhere but honestly, Georgie, please just let me help out in the kitchen and leave the party to the guests. I won’t know anyone anyway.’
Georgie ignored Libby’s pleas and continued to rummage around until she found the gold shoes in a plastic bag at the bottom of the suitcase. She unzipped the bag and held them up. ‘Gorgeous. Not too high for navigating the walkways that are being erected on the sand leading to the floating pontoon.’
‘A floating pontoon?’
‘Yes, a floating pontoon with a Caribbean band. I’m not sure if you’re aware that Walter is one of the wealthiest men in the UK, if not the world and he doesn’t do things by halves—neither d
oes his niece Sophia, I’ve heard. That’s why I have to get this cake to be just perfect and you will be responsible for ensuring no one, and I mean no one, including those strange family members sharing the yacht with us, goes near the cake before the lovebirds cut it. I don’t want anyone hovering too close and being tempted to touch it. That’s why you must be dressed up and looking your gorgeous self so you can blend in and still be on cake duty.
‘There was a strict direction from the event planner that they did not want anyone snapped in photos not looking the part. Alexandra even brought a lovely dress with her but I can’t risk her throwing up at the party. Can you imagine Walter’s reaction to that? Not to mention the guests having a fit and jumping into the water to get away. Now, that would make the front page of the tabloids!’
Libby could see Georgie’s point and agreed to help her friend out. ‘Okay, I’ll pack my things into...actually, I don’t know what to pack them in but I’ll find something and then I’ll jump in the shower, get dressed and head down to the galley to help you.’
‘You’re the best friend ever,’ Georgie said, hugging Libby again and then making her way to the door. ‘Don’t rush. We don’t dock for a few hours so there’s plenty of time to do the prep work on the desserts. And you will be my pseudo apprentice sous chef.’
Libby thought that sounded outside her skill set but she could definitely manage some simple prep work in the galley and guard the cake, but that was her limit. She had only been cooking for Billy and herself for the last few years so her repertoire consisted of simple healthy food with lots of vitamins but no fancy plating. She hoped Georgie wasn’t going to expect too much.
About thirty minutes later there was another knock on the door and Libby, still dressed in a towel and drying the mop of her hair, rushed to open it. ‘I won’t be long, Georgie—’ she began, and then, lifting her head, realised it wasn’t Georgie. It was Daniel standing there with a suit bag in his hand.
‘Georgie asked me to drop this off to you for your dress. The stewards are all busy.’
Libby wanted to slam the door shut, partly from embarrassment and lingering anger but mainly from feelings she wished she didn’t have for the man. But she knew that would be bad manners considering he had brought her the suit bag to transport her dress to the party. Words had temporarily escaped her but suddenly she realised that if she reached for the bag, there was a very real possibility she might lose her towel. Libby had no choice but to invite Daniel into her stateroom.
‘Um...er...please come in. You can leave the bag over there,’ she said, motioning towards the chair beside the desk. ‘I’ll just finish getting ready so please let yourself out.’ With that, Libby crossed the room, her heart racing and her head spinning again, and stepped inside the bathroom. She slipped on the large guest bathrobe behind the door to make her feel less exposed as she stepped back out, determined to send him on his way. She had to be firm and set boundaries—for her own good because she was scared by her reaction to him.
‘I appreciate you bringing the suit bag, but I don’t want to hold you up,’ she told him, trying to hide how self-conscious she felt. ‘Georgie told me you’re tending to Walter today while I’m helping her so it looks like we’ll both be busy.’
‘Yes, we will,’ he began. ‘But it wasn’t just the bag that brought me here. We need to talk.’
‘I think we did that yesterday and nothing really changed. Lunch was lovely and I enjoyed your company, but you have a complicated life. And that makes two of us,’ she said, closing her robe even tighter around her otherwise naked body. She felt vulnerable to her own feelings with Daniel so close. ‘Let’s leave it at that, Daniel, for the moment. There’s something I want to talk to you about but now is not the time.’
‘I agree. Yesterday proved to me that we need to talk about what happened so we can have closure.’
‘Fine, whatever you think, Daniel. Please just go. We can talk about it another day. I have to help Georgie prepare for the party and I’m running late.’
Libby shut the bathroom door on Daniel as her fingers reached for the locket around her neck. Her heart was racing as she accepted that all hope for them was gone in an instant. He wanted closure. Not that it should have come as a surprise since he had not reached out since leaving but it did sound very final. She held the locket tightly in her clasped hands, praying that she was doing the right thing for Billy’s sake by telling Daniel he was a father. Perhaps that closure would include walking away from the son he had never met but if so it would be best to know now.
* * *
Disappointed he had not been able to speak with Libby, Daniel headed back to the bridge to check the arrival time with the captain. He needed to have Walter ready for the party and had offered to assist him to dress. Daniel had lain awake until the early hours of the morning, thinking about Libby. She was so close and yet so far from his reach. He wanted to step back in time and do everything differently but that wasn’t possible. He had allowed himself to fall for her when he’d had no right to do so. And no right to let Libby believe he was free.
Each moment in such close proximity to her had been torture to him. Knowing she was in the suite next to his, breathing softly as she’d slept, had made his body ache to hold her. He’d ached to tell her how much she meant to him and that his feelings would never change, no matter how far apart they were, but that was unfair. She needed to be free to move on.
He’d tossed and turned in the huge lonely bed as he’d thought back to how natural it would have felt to reach for her hand as they’d strolled around Martinique. How easily he could have kissed her while waiting to order their food and how much he’d wanted to pull her into his arms as they’d walked barefoot across the warm sand. She was everything he wanted and couldn’t have.
It had been three a.m., the yacht being tossed about in unruly waves, and Daniel had been no closer to sleep than when he’d climbed into bed four hours before. The Caribbean seas could be temperamental but that had never bothered him before. He had become accustomed to rough water and strong winds. Sleep had never evaded him in bad weather the way it had for the last five days in the calmest of waters. Thoughts of Libby had been keeping him awake. Thoughts of what he had done and how much he continued to hurt her by keeping the truth from her.
Daniel had decided, before finally succumbing to sleep, that he could not live with himself knowing he had caused the sadness and confusion so evident in Libby’s beautiful eyes. It would be unfair to let that continue when he had the power to change it. Or at least temper it a little. He would let Libby know enough about his life so that she understood his feelings were real and that the reason he had left was just as real. He would explain his role in Chezlovinka and the need for him to return to take over from his father.
Just spending a few days with Libby had made Daniel realise he could trust her to keep the secret of his father’s illness and that it was imperative he return to his homeland—a principality so obscure she would know nothing about it. But at least she would know he did care for her and that what they had shared had been real. It just couldn’t be for ever. Her life was in San Francisco, his was a life of serving his people on another continent but the time they had spent together would always be in his heart. She deserved to know that much.
He just had to find the perfect time to tell her before that time ran out.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
LIBBY DRESSED QUICKLY in shorts and a T-shirt and hung her party dress in the suit bag behind the door with her gold sandals, a small gold evening clutch and some long emerald costume jewellery earrings that Bradley had packed. All the while, Libby was thinking about Daniel and wishing that anyone but him had been the ship’s doctor.
Her life could have remained simple but at least there were a few days until she told Daniel everything...and he told her whatever it was he had kept from her.
Then they would both, according to him,
have closure. Libby wasn’t so sure.
As she zipped up the suit bag, she thought that Georgie and Bradley should have their own make-over show called ‘How to save the poor nurse with zero styling ability and a million things on her mind’.
Georgie was already under way with the desserts when Libby arrived in the galley.
‘How many tarts have you baked?’ Libby asked, astonished at the sight of a galley stacked to the ceiling with handmade individual pastry cases.
‘Two hundred.’
‘For one hundred and fifty guests?’
‘You never know, they may like a second and Walter doesn’t want anyone missing out on his favourite dessert—Persian custard tartlet with mango, papaya and guava.’
‘That sounds exotic and delicious. What can I do to help?’
‘It would be wonderful if you could cut up the fruit the way I have done as an example,’ Georgie said as she began to make the custard filling with more cream and eggs being taken from the cool room than Libby had seen in her entire local supermarket.
Libby spied the cut fruit resting on a chopping board. It looked perfectly presented. Libby knew her work was cut out for her to ensure her fruit looked as lovely. She reached for an apron and began to peel the first of dozens of mangoes. ‘What about the savoury food? Please tell me you’re—or we’re—not preparing that as well?’
‘Good God no.’ Georgie laughed. ‘The chefs in the resort are preparing that part of the menu.’
‘That’s a relief,’ Libby said as she put the first peeled mango in the huge bowl in front of her and tried to push away thoughts of Daniel and the conversation they would have before the end of the cruise.
The two women and a galley hand spent the next few hours preparing the different elements of the fruit tarts and packing them away in the cool room for transportation to the resort when they docked. Libby had seen the engagement cake resting in the cool room and it was magnificent. Once upon a time she had dreamed of an engagement party and a wedding, both with stunning cakes and all the trimmings, but now she didn’t believe in happily ever after.
Reunited with Her Secret Prince Page 12