The soprano was still droning on in Italian—his father’s idea, no doubt—when Alexi returned to the music room. Taking a seat at the back of the room, he scanned the crowd for Kerry. He couldn’t see her over the taller men and women, some with high, elaborate hairdos. So he sat and waited for the concert to end.
Minutes after the soprano ended with a crystal-shattering note, he learned that Kerry had gone upstairs with her mother to repair a minor dress problem. He wanted to see her, but could hardly burst into the room and tell her what had just transpired with his father.
He mingled and chatted with the important officials until he became irritated. He wanted to talk to Kerry, take her hand in his and announce to their guests that she would soon be his princess. This evening had not gone as planned, from the arrival of the contessa, to his father’s tirade, to this dress incident that was keeping him apart from the woman he loved.
Finally, as champagne and cordials were being served, he excused himself and went upstairs. Kerry and her mother had been gone long enough. People were getting restless to see the Americans again. He was getting restless.
He checked Kerry’s suite, but she wasn’t there. He then went to her mother’s room, and although the maids had seen the two women earlier, they weren’t there now. Frustrated, he returned to his guests and tried to put on a smile, making excuses for Kerry with the age-old excuse of a sudden headache.
Just before midnight, as most of the guests were departing, he found Gwendolyn in the entry hall, shaking hands with the minister of public affairs.
“May I speak to you, Lady Gwendolyn?” he asked politely. At the minister’s smile and nod, he pulled his friend off to the side.
“I cannot find Kerry and her mother. Have you seen them after dinner?”
Gwendolyn appeared nervous. She looked around, then pulled him farther back, behind the drapes separating the foyer from the front parlor.
“She’s gone.” She shook her head, obviously distressed. “They are both gone.”
“What?”
“Kerry said she can’t marry you. That she isn’t princess material and never will be, and your father won’t accept her. She was very upset and said she had to get away.”
“What nonsense!”
“It’s not nonsense if she believes it.”
“Why didn’t you set her straight?”
“Alexi, you’re not listening. Kerry wouldn’t give me the details, but apparently she heard something to make her worst fears come true. She doesn’t believe she can be your wife. She doesn’t believe your father or your country will accept her.”
“Where is she? I’ll tell her the truth. I’ll—”
“Alexi! She’s gone,” Gwendolyn said, her fists holding his lapels. “She and her mother went to the airport at least an hour ago for a flight to Paris.” She reached inside her pocket. “She asked me to give you this and tell you she was sorry.”
The heavy gold pendant, the traditional engagement jewelry of his ancestors, felt cold in his palm. His fingers closed over the ugly piece, remembering how excited she’d been when she’d thought about the history, the tradition. And then she’d rejected the role, running away.
How many times had he run away? Only, his episodes had been on a whim or from boredom, or to avoid some unpleasant event. Nothing like this. Nothing that hurt this much.
He stood there, feeling frozen inside. “Why?”
“I told you. Something happened tonight. She’d been so hopeful, but then—”
“She must have heard me arguing with my father. She ran away….”
“Whatever she heard made her feel very unwelcome here. And,” she said, smoothing her hands away from his lapels, “something else.”
“What?”
“She thinks you are only marrying her because of the baby.”
“I told her—”
“I don’t know what you said, but that’s not what she heard.”
He tried to think what part of the conversation she’d overheard. Certainly not the ending, when he’d declared his feelings very clearly. So clearly that his father could not misunderstand: Accept Kerry or lose him as a son and a prince.
“I’ll go after her.”
“You’d better take the royal jet. She’s got a head start, and she’s very determined to get out of your life.”
Alexi cursed all the way to the phone, where he ordered up the jet. Then, for the second time in a month, he stormed out of the palace to go after the woman he loved.
Chapter Fourteen
Kerry couldn’t remember being so exhausted. Every muscle in her body ached. Her head pounded, her feet were swollen and her stomach felt like turning flips all the way to the bathroom.
In twenty-four hours they’d flown from Belegovia to Paris, Paris to New York, New York to Dallas and Dallas to San Antonio, paying so much money for airfare that she’d need a year to pay off her credit card bill.
She’d called Hank from the airport and asked him to come and get them. He’d been shocked, trying to talk to her about what had happened, asking why Gwendolyn hadn’t come home with them. Why they hadn’t taken the royal jet.
She hadn’t been able to explain to Hank, even after he’d dropped her mother off at the house. All she could say was that Gwendolyn would be coming home later. The reason Kerry and her mother had come back earlier was personal. She might never be able to speak about Alexi to her friends.
Until maybe when the baby was older and wanted to know about his or her father. She’d force herself to speak of Alexi then. She’d tell their child that sometimes love isn’t enough. Sometimes fairy tales don’t come true.
But she wouldn’t think about that, not right now. She was too tired to think, too exhausted to feel…or so she tried to convince herself as she turned the lock on her apartment door.
She dropped her overnight bag on the floor and leaned back against the door, closing her eyes to the sunlight that streamed in through her living room miniblinds. She’d thought that she’d closed them before she’d left, but maybe not. In any case, she was too tired to think right now.
All she wanted to do was sleep for a week. When she woke up, her life would be better. It had to be better.
“Hello, Kerry.”
She dropped her purse and screamed.
In an instant he was there in front of her, his strong hands on her shoulders, his scent filling her with memories. Things she didn’t want to remember.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered, her voice hoarse from unshed tears. “How did you get in?”
“The manager was very accommodating.”
“How did you get here before me?”
“I have a royal jet, remember?”
“Oh, that’s right,” she said wearily, breaking away from his light grasp. “You can have anything, right?”
“Apparently I can’t keep what I thought I had—namely you.”
“I’m not some umbrella you misplaced at school.”
“I know that,” he said, walking up behind her. She felt his warmth and smelled his cologne, that scent that smelled rich and clean and powerful, just like him.
“I couldn’t stay, Alexi, not after what I heard your father say. Not after I understood…”
“What, Kerry?” He placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned close. She closed her burning eyes against the feel of him, the sensation she’d thought she’d never feel again. “What did you think you heard in the library?”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I heard you say that you were marrying me because I’m carrying your child. I heard your father say that I would never be suitable, not like the contessa.”
“You are nothing like the contessa, and for that, I am eternally grateful.”
“I’m a nobody from nowhere. That’s what your father thinks. That’s what everyone will think. That I trapped you into marriage by getting pregnant. That you might dress me up and put the jewelry on me, but it’s as though one of the peasants wandered
into the palace.”
“Kerry, that’s not true.”
“Yes, it is. I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to believe it.”
“My father is a snob. He might be the king, but he doesn’t know anything about what the Belegovian people will accept. He only knows what his friends back in England would have done.”
“They would have turned their snobby noses up at me.”
He leaned closer. “Did Gwendolyn turn her nose up at you? Did I?”
“That’s different.”
“Because we love you? Yes, that’s true, but it’s not the real reason. You are a special person, and I want everyone to know you. The real you.”
“As opposed to the stereotype of the gold-digging waitress who trapped you into marriage? Good luck. That’s what people will think. Even your own father believes I’m unsuitable. He invited a date for you to our engagement dinner!”
“My father is usually a good man, but sometimes he’s a fool.”
“Alexi, he’s right. I didn’t want to believe it, but it’s true.”
“It’s not true!” he said, his hands tightening on her shoulders. “You are strong and worthy and brave, and everyone who knows you will love you, too.”
“I’m not going to do that to you or your family. I’m not going to tear your family apart, or make your country ashamed of their prince’s commoner wife.”
“Kerry, I love you. You love me, too, don’t you?”
She nodded, unable to speak.
“I don’t want to marry anyone else. Yes, I came back to Texas because I heard about the baby, but you don’t know how many times I wanted to return. How many times I almost finished dialing your phone number, only to remind myself that I wasn’t being fair to you. Kerry, I didn’t stay away because I was ashamed of you. I stayed away because I didn’t think I would be fair to you, asking you to conform to my life after you had finally achieved your dream.”
“What do you mean?”
“You went to school for ten years and worked hard to help your family and support yourself. You were so excited about your new job, your first apartment. I didn’t think it was fair to ask you to give that up, especially for life in the palace.”
“But you were going to marry the contessa.”
“Temporary insanity,” he claimed, turning her around. “Yes, I gave in to my father’s demands that I marry when I was thirty. I thought I was doing the right thing, for my family, myself and my country. How could I have known it was wrong? I’d never been in love before. But then I met you, and I was falling in love with you, and I thought how free and spirited you are. I didn’t want to change you. I thought that if I asked you to live in my world, you’d be unhappy.”
“What changed your mind?” she whispered.
“You did. I underestimated you. I didn’t realize that you could be happy someplace else. That we could compromise. That we would become even closer because of the baby.”
“I won’t marry you because of the baby.”
“Then marry me because I love you. Marry me because you love me. I know you do. You love me enough to walk away, just because you thought you were doing what was best.”
“It would be better for you to marry someone suitable. That would be best for your family and your country,” she said weakly.
“But not for me.” He leaned down and kissed her lightly. “I realized something on the long flight to Texas,” he said with a smile that made the butterflies in her stomach flutter like crazy.
“What?”
“That I want you to be my wife more than I want you to be my princess.”
“What do you mean?”
“That I would rather be your husband than my country’s prince. If you don’t want to be a princess, I’ll learn to be a Texan.”
“No, Alexi, you can’t! You’ve done so much for your country. The people love you, and there’s so much more to do. So many more plans that you have to improve their lives.”
“I have a brother and a sister who can keep up the good work and the family name. Yes, I’d miss it, but I’m serious, Kerry. I’d rather have you than the throne.”
She stared at him in disbelief, then threw her arms around his neck, sobbing so hard her body shook. “You can’t give up your title. You are a prince, no matter what.”
“I’m not giving you up, so we need to compromise again.”
“How?”
“Come back to Belegovia. Let me prove that my people will accept you. My family—at least my sister and brother—already loves you. I know my mother will love you, too. We’ll go see her soon in England. You’ll like England, especially in the summer.”
“Wait! This is too much.”
“I’m sorry, but I need to tell you everything. I need you to believe that we can work out whatever doubts you have.”
She put her finger on his lips. “Your father asked you if you really wanted your children to be descended from a commoner like me. Can you honestly say that it doesn’t matter?”
“Kerry,” he said, pulling her close, “of course it matters. It matters that you are everything I could ever want in a woman. Everything a child could ever admire in a parent. Everything a country could ever expect from a princess. You are, in short, the perfect princess bride.”
THIS RIDE from the airport to the palace was vastly different than the last one. Instead of hiding behind dark glass so no one could tell who was inside, Alexi rolled down the windows. Kerry waved to the crowds from one side, and he waved from the other.
He looked happy. Truly, deliriously happy. She still couldn’t believe he’d offered to give up the throne for her. He belonged to her, but also to the people.
“That must have been some press release Gwendolyn wrote,” Kerry said as they neared the palace.
“She just told the truth.”
“I don’t know about that, but I’m grateful.”
“The reports from the social and political leaders didn’t hurt. They were all singing your praises. I only wish your mother was here to see what a success you are.”
“She said she couldn’t face another transatlantic flight, and I don’t blame her. Besides, she wanted to tell all of her friends at the Four Square Café about her trip abroad.”
“And her princess daughter.”
Kerry grinned. “She is excited about that.” On the third finger of her left hand, her brand-new engagement ring sparkled in the sunlight filtering in through the canopy of trees. As Alexi had promised, they’d stopped to get her a ring, only, she’d insisted on San Antonio, not Paris or Antwerp. Her blue-collar roots screamed “Buy American” even as she was catching a jet back to Belegovia.
She settled back against the seat as they crossed the bridge to the palace. “Did I mention what the owner and my mother are planning for the apartment over the café?”
“No. Please don’t tell me they’re going to hang the sheets out the window. That’s an old custom I would just as soon do without.”
Kerry giggled. “No, but they are planning on turning it into a museum. Mama asked me what old clothes and memorabilia she could put on display, and wondered if you had some photos and maybe a suit or something to contribute.”
“As one of your country’s beloved cartoon characters said, good grief.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Kerry grinned. “I promised we’d be home for the grand opening.”
Alexi moaned, but she knew he wasn’t upset. Now that they’d faced losing each other for good, everything else had fallen into perspective. The idea of living in Belegovia didn’t bother her because she knew she could always go back to visit Ranger Springs. And Alexi didn’t feel the need to run away anymore because he had what he wanted and needed to be happy.
The limo pulled to a stop beside the front door. Radko stepped forward before the driver had a chance to open the door.
“Welcome home, Your Highness.” His normally dour expression broke into a smile. “Welcome back, Miss Jacks. May I say for all the st
aff that we are very glad you have returned.”
Darn her hormones, but she felt teary-eyed again. “Thank you very much. I’m glad to be here.” She looked around at the stone walls of the palace, the ivy climbing toward the tall trees, the bright blue sky and white puffy clouds overhead. Birds chirped and insects buzzed around the many flowers.
Belegovia wasn’t all that different than Texas, she supposed.
She looked at Alexi, her real-life prince and soon-to-be husband. The father of her child, the love of her life. “I’m glad to be home.”
Epilogue
“Going home for the grand opening of that silly museum was not a good idea,” Alexi said as he watched Kerry struggle to get comfortable on one of the chairs in the Four Square Café. She had to sit at the table because she couldn’t fit in a booth. The baby was due in two weeks and Kerry had convinced her doctor that she could travel safely in the royal jet.
No one was going to believe this baby was premature. They would just have to let people count back nine months—which would lend even more status to the apartment overhead as the “royal love nest.” He still couldn’t believe the tabloids had done a spread on his visit to Texas last May.
Now, the royal wedding…He could believe the press coverage of that event. He and Kerry had been married in the cathedral in Belegovia in September. Her side had been filled with friends and family flown over from Ranger Springs, plus many admirers and new friends in her adopted country.
Just as he’d predicted, the people had loved her as soon as they knew her. Of course, Gwendolyn had helped. He really appreciated the way she’d come through for him, despite her career in Texas and her recent marriage to Hank McCauley, which Alexi and Kerry had attended in October.
“Mama, my back is killing me,” Kerry complained to Charlene Jacks. “I think I need to lie down for a while.”
“Um, Kerry, are you feeling any tingles in your abdomen?” her mother asked with a frown.
“Sometimes. I guess it’s those Brax-whatever contractions I read about.”
“Maybe not. I think you should see Dr. Amy right away.”
“Why?”
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