by Laura Kenyon
Today’s breakfast had gone well enough—with only one spill and two special orders—but her work was just getting started. Still on the schedule: stripping the beds in all five guestrooms, changing the towels, planning next week’s menu, ordering groceries, prepping tomorrow’s breakfast, bleaching the cranberry juice from this morning’s tablecloth, fixing the running toilet in the Candlelight Room, and cleaning the Sunflower Suite for its next guest.
Right now, thanks to a turquoise sky and the final leg of those August temperatures, all her guests were out exploring the Braddax Hills. Some would straggle back for four o’clock tea, but then they’d disappear again for dinner among the bright lights of downtown Carpale or a Braddax bistro overlooking the West River. Either way, Belle would only see them in passing for the rest of the day. They’d come here to escape from the world, after all—not to see firsthand how far the spurned queen had fallen.
“Are you sure the pre-nup’s legit?” Rapunzel asked, hopping up onto the breakfast bar and topping off her mimosa.
“I don’t think he’d lie about that.”
“No. Of course not. After all, nothing says virtuous like your husband.”
Belle gave her a look and inhaled some more coffee fumes. “I don’t think he’s lying, because it’s exactly the kind of sneaky thing his mother would do. And I wouldn’t have thought twice about signing it at the time. Don’t forget, that was when I believed in true love and everlasting commitment and all that crap.”
Rapunzel raised an eyebrow, but didn’t take the bait. A few months ago, she would have given Belle a huge pat on the back for this statement. But then again, a few months ago, Belle never would have spoken such blasphemy in the first place. How quickly people could change.
“So how come you’re not at home having wild reunion sex with Ethan?” Belle asked in an attempt to change the subject. “I didn’t expect to see you for at least a week.”
“Oh, we’ll start round two in a bit,” Rapunzel hummed. “But even fighter jets have to let their engines cool at some point. Seventy-two hours of straight friction is more than the average lube can—”
“All right, all right.” Belle shook the unwanted image from her head. “Sorry I asked.”
Rapunzel grinned and slipped off the countertop. “Besides, what kind of partner would I be if I didn’t at least make an appearance during our opening week? You know I’m not the type of woman who forgets everyone else the second she finds a man.”
Belle nodded and gulped the rest of her coffee. She was thrilled for Rapunzel. Truly. She loved that the anti-relationship crusader had finally met her match. And she loved Ethan, too. She’d felt fully responsible when they broke up—right after Rapunzel found out he was a private investigator … and Belle had hired him to find all of Donner’s harlots … and a misstep on his part had led her to accuse Rapunzel of being one of them. It was a bad night for everyone. She’d spent weeks hoping they’d find their way back together.
But his turning out to be Rapunzel’s long-lost rescuer—suffering in blindness for years rather than burdening her—well, that was a lot to take in. Suddenly, the woman who’d never wanted an epic love story had one. And Belle, who thought she’d achieved hers years ago, was alone.
“Mind-blowing sex or not, you should have called me,” her friend said, grabbing a pile of hand-wash only plates and slamming them into dishwasher. The door shut with a disconcerting crunch. “Donner broke in here three days ago. What if I hadn’t come by till next week? How long were you going to keep his little felony a secret?”
Belle floated calmly to the dishwasher, pulled it open, and began transferring the dishes to the sink. She made a show of washing them gently, hoping Rapunzel might make the connection.
Instead, she grabbed a forgotten saucer and tossed it—airborne for a good two seconds—onto the pile.
“Careful!” Belle yelled, somehow managing to soften the collision with her hand.
“I knew it was a bad idea for you to live here alone,” Rapunzel continued, completely oblivious.
Belle rolled her eyes and thought back to the night they first stumbled upon this place—back when it was floundering and run by an 80-year-old widow. “There’s nothing wrong with me living here. Trudy did it.”
“Yeah,” Rapunzel scoffed, holding the champagne bottle upside down over her glass and jostling it for every last drop. “Trudy was a feisty old lady with no customers and a shotgun beside her bed. You, on the other hand, have five rooms filled with strangers, no way to defend yourself, and the sort of celebrity status that crazy people like to target. You need a man here.”
“I have a man here,” she said, referring to the concierge she’d somehow swiped from the prestigious Capitol Park Plaza in downtown Carpale. He had years of experience, impeccable taste, and the sort of know-it-all diva attitude that was usually reserved for A-list movie stars and her husband.
“Nathan doesn’t count.”
“Why not?”
Rapunzel stared at her, as if trying to telepathically impart the answer. “For one thing, he’s only here from nine to three. And I’ve seen him run away shrieking over a dragonfly.”
Belle bit her lip. She’d seen that too. “Well, I have Beast. He’s here all the time.”
Rapunzel’s pop of laughter could have burst an eardrum. “Beast? That dog might bark at an intruder, sure. Right before wagging his tail and dropping a bone on top of the guy’s shoe.”
“So?” Belle shrugged. “Have you held one of those bones lately? They could do some serious damage. Probably break a few toes.”
Rapunzel shot her a look that clearly said she wasn’t amused. “If someone breaks in here while you’re defenseless, it’s not his toes I’d be worried about.”
“Okay then. How about you move in if you care so much? We are business partners, after all. You could have that whole cabin all to yourself.”
Rapunzel responded by crossing her arms and glaring. “I live in a luxury penthouse with a rooftop terrace overlooking Capitol Park, Carpale Castle, and the West River. I’m three blocks from a dozen bars, restaurants, dance clubs, and my salon. The day I consider moving to a cabin in the woods is the day you should have me institutionalized.”
Belle knew this was meant to inspire a laugh, but she didn’t particularly feel like giving one. Rapunzel was probably right, but now wasn’t the time to spend money on security systems or extra employees. Not after Donner’s news.
“I thought our deal was that you take care of the homemaker-y stuff, and I market the heck out of this place,” Rapunzel continued.
Belle nodded and resumed her tidying. “Exactly. So let me handle the—”
“And I also thought the whole reason we renovated that cabin was so we could have an onsite handyman. Someone we could pay cheap because we’d be providing lodging. Someone to step in when the water heater bursts or a tree falls over the driveway or the fuse box blows. And if he happens to be a good shot or a martial arts enthusiast, all the better.”
The kitchen was starting to reverberate from all of Belle’s dish-clanging. In all honesty, it wasn’t just the money that was holding her back. It was the thought of living with a man again—even if it would be under a separate roof. Before Donner, she’d been as self-sufficient as they come—having essentially taken over her family’s hovel when she was eight, after her father’s financial disgrace and her mother’s abandonment. But she’d lost that part of herself during her years at Braddax Castle. Donner disapproved of her treating the help like equals, and made a huge fuss every time she wanted to cook or clean something on her own.
If she had some stranger waiting around to fix everything the moment it went wrong, how much further would she have to slip to become Donner’s helpless wife again? To become the sort of woman who let her husband choose her outfits and generally do whatever he wanted?
“For one thing,” she said, “we updated the electrical system when we bought the place, so it’s not a fuse box. It’s a circui
t breaker. And I know how to fix that. I don’t need a man to do it for me.” She poured three scraps of bacon into a blue ceramic bowl with Beast printed on the front. “And why would it have to be a he, anyway? I was just reading an article about the Marestam Guard’s first female commander. She seems pretty tough to me. I certainly wouldn’t want to mess with —”
“Don’t change the subj—”
“I can do this on my—”
“You can’t possibly do all of this on your own!” Rapunzel exploded. “You’re pregnant, for goodness sake. In the middle of the woods. With a dozen mouths to feed and a crazy quasi-husband who’s hell-bent on dragging you back at all costs. How can you do all that and have even the tiniest semblance of a life—all with the help of just one whiny, skinny, over-cologned prima donna?”
Right on cue, the kitchen door flew open a few inches and then paused without letting anyone through. Rapunzel whipped around and called after the intruder, who’d apparently heard their spat a few seconds too late.
Slowly, the door opened another few inches and Nathan begrudgingly slipped through. With a face tight as his designer jeans, he stopped, smoothed his black button-down with the palm of his hand, and cleared his throat. “You bellowed?” he asked, not even attempting to mask his contempt for Rapunzel.
“Nathan,” she said, ignoring his attitude. “Do you think it’s safe for a young pregnant woman to be sleeping alone in the middle of the woods with ten total strangers and no protection?”
His lips flattened in boredom. “Well, forgiving the misuse of the word alone with ten strangers, I’ll say it’s moderately unwise.” Seemingly content with his contribution to the matter, he turned to leave.
“Maybe you’d like to stay here then?” Belle spoke up, eager to get Rapunzel off her back. “We do have that cabin out back and I wouldn’t charge you any—”
“Flattered,” he said, pressing one hand into the door and holding the other up, “but if it were not for my quiet, aromatherapeutic evenings at home, I wouldn’t be nearly as pleasant and attentive here during the day.”
Rapunzel choked back a laugh. “Pleasant? What scent are you using? Arsenic? Is that how you get your face to stay all puckered up like that?”
Nathan sighed and twirled back around. “If you’re so concerned about Belle’s protection, perhaps you should move in. That’s one way to guarantee a constant flow of men and screams louder than any alarm system.” He paused and gave Rapunzel an icy stare. “Cheaper too.”
Recognizing the signs of impending war, Belle jumped in and directed Nathan back to the front desk. He and Rapunzel had been clawing at each other since the moment they met. Frankly, Nathan didn’t seem to like anyone very much, but he at least tolerated Belle.
Rapunzel glared at the door for a moment and then plopped down at the table in the corner. “Why that man ever decided to work in hospitality astounds me. He should be in a glass box somewhere, far away from any people.” She drummed her fingers on the wood before spotting the activities schedule Belle had been working on. So far, she was thinking movies for Tuesdays and Sundays, dominoes Mondays and Thursdays, and a wine tasting every other Friday. “Dominoes?” she scoffed as Beast came bounding into the kitchen and made a beeline for his bowl. He scarfed up the bacon in seconds, then thwacked his tail excitedly against Rapunzel’s legs. “Is this an inn or a retirement home? I see you’ve got two empty days. How about mahjong? Or bingo?”
Belle snatched the schedule away, pulled out a second chair, and began scratching the dip behind Beast’s ears. “It was just an idea to keep the guests entertained. I probably won’t even do it. This little guy needs his evening cuddle time.”
Rapunzel looked down, prompting Beast to lurch up and lick her chin. “Ugh. Little? How the heck much does he weigh?”
“Eighty-six pounds last time I checked. Probably ninety now.”
“Ninety pounds of muscle. Too bad he’s so oblivious.”
Belle leaned forward and gave the dog a huge kiss on the head. She’d rescued him only a few days after her final breakup with Donner—the same night Ethan disappeared on Rapunzel. Like her, he’d been abandoned by those who were supposed to love him and needed a fresh start. It was love at first sight. And even though Rapunzel still played icy, deep down Belle knew she loved the big goof too.
“He’s a wonderful dog,” she said. “He’s just more lover than fighter.”
“Yeah, well, when that baby comes, you’re gonna need both. I’m serious, Belle. You need someone in that cabin. Forget about having an extra hand. Forget your own security even. When that little tiny baby gets here, don’t you want her—or him—to be as safe as possible?”
The question hung in the air, which had a light scent of lavender potpourri. But with each passing second, it seemed to take on more and more weight, more and more mass, until it swelled from one wall to the other. Belle didn’t want to say it, but recent events had made it very possible that she’d either be living at Braddax Castle when her baby came … or Donner would be here to do all that “protecting.”
During moments like this, Belle wished Rapunzel really was as flighty as she so often pretended to be. That way she could just change the subject and move on.
Instead, Belle began to squirm as two giant green eyes stared curiously into hers … and then began to pulse. The whites around them began to grow, and grow, until Rapunzel finally pitched back in her chair.
“No.” Her tone was cold, matter-of-fact, and final. “No, no, no, no, NO.”
“Pun, I—”
“No! Belle, you’re so much smarter than that! You cannot give everything up again just because some greedy fairy and possessive asshole say so.”
Belle felt Beast’s ears fall back against his head. He didn’t react well to raised voices. Even when she and Rapunzel were living together, they couldn’t bicker, gossip, or speak loudly at the television without him getting upset. At the slightest sign of tension, he would lower his ears, press his tail between his legs, and burrow uneasily between them—as if trying to clog the place from which the vile noise was flowing. If they actually were arguing, one look at him was enough to lower the heat by at least half. Belle fully believed Parliament should give all newlyweds a puppy with their marriage license.
“Lower your voice,” she said, injecting as much false cheer into her tone as she could muster. Beast smacked his chops but didn’t budge. “And give me a break. I haven’t gone back to him, have I?”
“No. But you’re contemplating it. Otherwise you would have burned the bridge completely.”
Belle shifted in her seat. A few days ago, her friends had watched her rip up the divorce papers she’d intended to sign and serve to Donner. She couldn’t exactly deny that. “Geez, Pun. A pureblood fairy says divorcing Donner will bring back every curse that’s ever been broken—maybe even killing Dawn and Snow. What was I supposed to do? Gamble?”
“So you actually believe Ruby’s story then?”
Belle lifted Beast’s ears and rubbed them between her fingers. They were flimsy and smooth, like silk matted to velvet. “I still hope she’s wrong. But I don’t think she’s intentionally lying, if that’s what you mean.”
Rapunzel rolled her eyes. “Come on. Your life is your life. How can ending one relationship ruin everyone else’s? May-be that could have happened centuries ago, but this is the modern age. Magic is, like, three breaths from being completely obsolete. Ruby just wants to keep her perfect little fairy tale world, and you’re an easy target. It’s like telling a kid they’ll turn into a frog if they don’t eat their broccoli.”
Belle smirked in spite of herself. “Look, I know Ruby might have an ulterior motive.”
“Might?”
“But I don’t think she’d force me to be miserable unless she really believed it was for some greater good. And Donner’s behavior last night just makes it seem more plausible.”
Rapunzel flicked the air with her palm. “That’s just in your head.”
&nbs
p; “Is it?”
“I dunno, let’s see. Did he have fangs? Was he covered in fur? Could you have mistaken him for your loyal, bacon-scarfing companion here?”
“Well, obviously not, but—”
“Then where is this defeatist attitude coming from? I was so proud when you finally sent that creep packing. I thought it was finally over. You told him that you were never meant to be, and your version of happiness didn’t include him, and then you bought this inn and said come what may. That was amazing, Belle! What happened to that woman?”
Belle’s eyes were filling with water and her heart was beginning to pound. The truth was simple. Fear happened. Guilt happened. The need to be with her child at all costs happened. Her eyes traced a band of sunlight that stretched across the table, bent over Rapunzel’s chair, and drew an elongated box on the floor between them.
“He said I could keep the inn if I went back now.”
“Gee, what a sweetheart.”
“I’m trying to think rationally here.” Beast let out a whimper. Evidently her tone wasn’t fooling anyone. “I know I’d be miserable. I know he wouldn’t really change. But everything else has changed. Whether Ruby’s right or not doesn’t really matter anymore. I thought I could bend her rule by staying married in name only, but Donner’s made it clear he won’t let that happen. He will divorce me if I don’t come back. And if he does, this pre-nup will take everything.” She covered her baby bump with both arms and finally let the tears flow.
Rapunzel was on it instantly, wrapping her arms around her friend and hooking her chin over Belle’s shoulder. “There’s no way that would stand up in court. I don’t think anyone can pre-allocate the fate of an unborn child.”
“But Donner’s not anyone,” Belle hiccupped between sobs. She pushed away and began clawing at her arms. She was burning hot and freezing cold at the same time. The air was starting to crush her. “He’s a king and his mother’s a—” She paused and looked around. “Well, you know.”