“I believe that she was acting out of frustration, because she’s so accustomed to getting her own way that she doesn’t know how to cope when she doesn’t.”
He was silent for a moment, as if he was actually considering her words. And when he spoke, his question gave her hope that he had finally heard what she was saying. “So what am I supposed to do?”
“You need to make some changes.” She spoke gently but firmly.
“What kind of changes?” he asked warily.
Before Hannah could respond, his BlackBerry buzzed.
“That’s the first one,” she said, as he automatically unclipped the device from his belt to check the display.
“It’s my secretary. I have to—”
“You have to stop putting your business before your daughter.”
“That statement is neither fair nor accurate,” he told her, as the phone buzzed again. “There is nothing more important to me than my daughter.”
“And yet, when I’m trying to talk to you about her, it’s killing you not to take that call, isn’t it?”
Even as he shook his head in denial, his gaze dropped to the instrument again.
“Answer the phone, Your Highness.” She turned toward the door. “I’ll set up an appointment to continue this discussion when it’s more convenient for you.”
Hannah’s words were still echoing in the back of his mind while Michael gathered the files and documents that he needed for his meetings in Port Augustine. He didn’t expect her to understand how important his business was, why he felt the need to keep such a close eye on all of the details.
He did it for himself—the business was a way to be self-supporting rather than living off of his title and inheritance, and it was something to keep him busy while his daughter was occupied with her numerous lessons and activities. He also did it for Sam—to ensure that the business they’d built together continued not just to survive but to thrive. And while it did, his sense of satisfaction was bittersweet because his wife wasn’t around to celebrate with him.
Ironically, the company’s success was one of the reasons that Sam had been anxious to start a family. The business didn’t need her anymore, she’d claimed, but a baby would. Michael had assured her that he still needed her, and she’d smiled and promised to always be there for him. But she’d lied. She’d given birth to their daughter, and then she’d abandoned both of them.
He knew that she would never have chosen to leave them, that she would never have wanted Riley to grow up without a mother. But that knowledge had done little to ease his grief, and so he’d buried himself in his work, as if keeping his mind and his hands occupied could make his heart ache for her less.
Except that he rarely did any hands-on work himself anymore, aside from occasional projects for a few of the firm’s original clients, his pro bono work for the National Diabetes Association and a few other charitable causes. For the most part, he supervised his employees and worked his connections to bring in new clients. And although he’d claimed that he was too busy to take a two-month vacation, the truth was, he could easily do so and know that his business was in good hands. The knowledge should have filled him with pride and satisfaction, but he only felt…empty.
Truthfully, his greatest pride was his daughter. She was also his biggest concern. After almost four years, he felt as if he was still trying to find his way with her. Their relationship would be different, he was certain, if Sam had been around. Everything would be different if Sam was still around.
Your daughter needs more than a nanny—she needs a mother.
He knew it was probably true. But he had no intention of marrying again just to give Riley a mother. He had no intention of marrying again, period.
You are still young—you have many years to live, much love to give.
While he appreciated Caridad’s faith in him, he wasn’t sure that was true. He’d given his whole heart to Sam—and when he’d lost her, he’d been certain that there wasn’t anything left to share with anyone else.
Of course, Riley had changed that. He’d never understood the all-encompassing love of a parent for a child until he’d held his baby girl in his arms. And as Riley had grown, so had the depth and breadth of his feelings for her. But knowing what to do with a baby didn’t come as instinctively as the loving, and for the first year of her life, he’d relied on Marissa and Brigitte to tend to most of Riley’s needs.
And then, just when he’d thought he was getting the hang of fatherhood, he’d realized that Riley needed so much more than he could give her. So he made sure that there were people around to meet her needs—tutors and caregivers—and he turned his focus back to his business.
When he told Hannah about his intended trip back to Port Augustine after lunch on Sunday, she just nodded, as if she wasn’t at all surprised that he was leaving. Of course, she probably wasn’t. She’d made it more than clear the previous night that she thought he valued RAM above all else. While that wasn’t anywhere close to being the truth, he wasn’t prepared to walk away from the company, either.
“I’m the president and CEO,” the prince reminded her. “Fulfilling those positions requires a lot of work and extended hours at the office.”
“I didn’t ask, Your Highness,” she said evenly.
“No, you’d rather disapprove than understand.”
“Maybe because I can’t understand why you don’t want to spend any time with your daughter,” she admitted.
“It’s not a question of want.”
“Isn’t it?” she challenged.
He frowned. “Of course not.”
“Because it seems to me that a man who is the president and CEO of his own company—not to mention a member of the royal family—would be able to delegate some of his responsibilities.”
“I do delegate,” he insisted. “But ultimately, I’m the one who’s responsible.”
“But it’s your wife’s name on the door, isn’t it?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
She shrugged. “Maybe nothing. Maybe everything.”
“Could you be a little more indecisive?” he asked dryly.
“I just can’t help wondering if your obsession with the business isn’t really about holding on to the last part of the woman you loved.”
“That’s ridiculous,” he said, startled as much by the bluntness of the statement as the accusation.
“I agree,” she said evenly. “Because the business isn’t the only part you have left of your wife. It’s not even the best part—your daughter is.”
“And my daughter is the reason you’re here,” he reminded her. “So you should focus on taking care of her and not lecturing me.”
She snapped her mouth shut. “You’re right.”
“Especially when you couldn’t be more off base.”
“I apologized for speaking candidly, but I was only speaking the truth as I see it, Your Highness.”
“Then your vision is skewed,” he insisted.
“Maybe it is,” she allowed.
“The potential client is only going to be in town a few days,” he said, wanting to make her understand. “If the meeting goes well, it could turn into a big contract for RAM.”
“What would happen if you skipped the meeting?” she challenged. “Or let one of your associates handle it instead?”
“The client specifically asked to deal with me.”
“And if you said you were unavailable?”
“We would lose the account,” he told her.
“And then what?” she pressed.
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Would you miss a mortgage payment? Would the bank foreclose on your home?”
“Of course not, but—”
“But somehow this meeting is more important than the vacation you’re supposed to be sharing with your daughter?”
She was wrong, of course. But he could see how it appeared that way, from her perspective.
“The timing of the meeting is unfortunate and unchangeable,” he told her, “which is why you’re here to take care of Riley in my absence.”
“Don’t you think it would be better if Riley had more than a week to get to know me before you left?”
“I agree the circumstances aren’t ideal,” he acknowledged. “But I trust that you can manage for a few days.”
That was apparently her job—to manage. While her lack of experience had given her some concern about taking a job as a nanny, Hannah had sincerely looked forward to spending time with the young princess. But the truth was, she spent less time with Riley than did any of the little girl’s instructors.
And while she rarely saw the prince outside of mealtimes, their weekend beach outing aside, just knowing he had gone back to Port Augustine somehow made the house seem emptier, lonelier. Or maybe it was the weather that was responsible for her melancholy mood. The day was gray and rainy, Riley was busy with one of her countless lessons, leaving Hannah on her own.
After wandering the halls for a while—she’d spent hours just exploring and admiring the numerous rooms of Cielo del Norte—she decided to spend some time with Caridad. Although she’d only been at the house for a week, she’d gotten to know the housekeeper quite well and enjoyed talking with her. But Caridad was up to her elbows in dough with flour all over the counters, so she shooed Hannah out of her way.
Hannah felt as if she should be doing something, but when she finally accepted that there was nothing she had to do and considered what she wanted to do instead, she headed for the library.
It was, admittedly, her absolute favorite space in the whole house. She had always been a voracious reader, and on her first visit to the room she’d been thrilled to find that the floor-to-ceiling bookcases were stocked with an eclectic assortment of materials. There were essays and biographies; textbooks and travel guides; volumes of short stories, poetry and plays; there were leather-bound classics, hardback copies of current bestsellers and dog-eared paperbacks. She spent several minutes just perusing the offerings, until a recent title by one of her favorite thriller writers caught her eye.
She settled into the antique camelback sofa with her feet tucked up under her and cracked open the cover. As always, the author’s storytelling technique drew her right in, and her heart was already pounding in anticipation as the killer approached his next victim when a knock sounded on the door.
The knock was immediately followed by the entrance of a visitor and, with a startled gasp, Hannah jumped to her feet and dropped a quick—and probably awkward—curtsy.
“I beg your pardon, Your Highness, you caught me—”
“In the middle of a good book,” the princess finished with a smile, as she offered her hand. “I’m Marissa Leandres, Michael’s sister.”
Of course, Hannah had recognized her immediately. Although the princess kept a rather low profile and wasn’t a usual target of the paparazzi, she made frequent public appearances for her favorite charities and causes.
“I recently read that one myself and couldn’t put it down,” Marissa admitted. “So if I’m interrupting a good part, please tell me so, and I’ll take my tea in the kitchen with Caridad.”
“Of course not,” Hannah lied, because after being banished by the housekeeper, the prospect of actual human company was even more enticing than the book still in her hand.
“Good,” the princess said, settling into a balloon-back chair near the sofa. “Because I would love for you to join me, if you have a few minutes to spare.”
“I have a lot more minutes to spare than I would have anticipated when I took this job,” Hannah admitted.
The other woman’s smile was wry. “I guess that means that my brother, once again, chose to ignore my advice.”
“What was your advice?”
“To give Riley a break from her lessons, at least for the summer.”
“So I’m not the only one who thinks that her schedule is a little over the top for a not-quite-four-year-old?” Even as the words spilled out of her mouth, Hannah winced, recognizing the inappropriateness of criticizing a member of the royal family—and to his sister, no less.
“Please don’t censor your thoughts on my account,” Marissa said. “And I absolutely agree with you about Riley’s schedule. Although, in his defence, Michael believes he is doing what’s best for Riley.”
“I’m sure he does,” she agreed, even if she still disagreed with his decision to leave Cielo del Norte—and his daughter. Thinking of that now, she apologized to the princess. “And I’m sure the prince must not have known of your plans to visit today because he went back to Port Augustine this morning.”
Marissa waved a hand. “I didn’t come to see him, anyway. I came to meet you. And I would have come sooner, but I’ve been tied up in meetings at the hospital, trying to get final approval for the expansion of the neonatal department at PACH.”
“The Juno Project.”
Marissa smiled. “Of course you would know about it—your uncle has been one of my staunchest allies on the board.”
“He believes very strongly in what you’re doing.”
“Don’t encourage me,” the princess warned. “Because if I start talking about what we want to do, I won’t be able to stop, and that really isn’t why I’m here.”
Another knock on the door preceded Caridad’s entrance. She pushed a fancy cart set with a silver tea service, elegant gold-rimmed cups and saucers, and a plate of freshly baked scones with little pots of jam and clotted cream.
“Thank you,” Marissa said to the housekeeper. “Those scones look marvelous.”
Though she didn’t actually smile, Caridad looked pleased by the compliment. “Would you like me to serve, Your Highness?”
“No, I think we can handle it.”
“Very well then.” She bobbed a curtsy and exited the room, closing the door again behind her.
“She makes that curtsying thing look so easy,” Hannah mused. “I always feel like I’m going to tip over.”
Marissa smiled as she poured the tea.
“It does take some practice,” she agreed. “But I wouldn’t worry about it. We don’t stand on ceremony too much in my family—well, none of us but my mother. And it’s not likely you’ll have occasion to cross paths with her while you’re here.”
The statement piqued Hannah’s curiosity, but she didn’t feel it was her place to ask and, thankfully, the princess didn’t seem to expect a response.
“So how are you getting along with my brother?” Marissa asked, passing a cup of tea to her.
“I don’t really see a lot of the prince,” Hannah admitted.
“Is he hiding out in his office all the time?”
“He’s working in his office all of the time,” she clarified.
“He does have the National Diabetes Awareness Campaign coming up in the fall,” the princess acknowledged. “He always gives that a lot of time and attention—and pro bono, too.”
Her surprise must have shown on her face, because Marissa said, “I know Michael sometimes acts like it’s all about making money, but he does a lot of work for charities—Literacy, Alzheimer’s, the Cancer Society—and never bills for it.”
Hannah knew that his wife had been diabetic, so she should have expected that awareness of the disease was a cause close to his heart, but she hadn’t expected to learn that he had such a kind and generous heart.
“I didn’t know he did any of that,” she admitted.
“Michael doesn’t think it’s a big deal,” the princess confided. “But giving back is important to him. After Sam died…I don’t know how much you know about his history, but he went through a really tough time then.”
“I can’t even begin to imagine,” Hannah murmured.
“Neither can I,” Marissa confided, “and I was there. I saw how losing her completely tore him apart—nearly decimated him. I tried to be understanding, but I don’t think anyone really can understand the magnitude of that kind of
grief without having experienced the kind of love that he and Sam shared.
“It took him a long time to see through the fog of that grief—to see Riley. But when he finally did, he put all of his efforts into being a good father to his little girl. He prepared her bottles, he changed her diapers, he played peekaboo.”
As hard as Hannah tried, she couldn’t imagine the prince she’d only started to get to know over the past week doing any of those things. While it was obvious that he loved his daughter, it seemed just as obvious to Hannah that he was more comfortable with her at a distance.
“He made mistakes, as all new parents do, but he figured things out as he went along. Then he found out that Riley was gifted, and everything changed.”
“Why?”
“Because Michael was just starting to find his way as a father when one of the specialists suggested that Riley would benefit from more structured activities, as if what he was doing wasn’t enough. So he asked Brigitte to set up some interviews with music teachers and language instructors and academic tutors, and suddenly Riley’s day became one lesson after another. Honestly, her schedule for the past six months has been more intense than mine.”
While Hannah doubted that was true, she did think the princess’s insight might explain Riley’s bed-wetting episode. It wasn’t that the little girl was regressing to her toddler habits, just that the signal of her body’s need hadn’t been able to overcome the absolute exhaustion of her mind.
“I think that’s when he started spending longer hours at the office, because he felt like Riley didn’t need him.”
“I’ve tried to talk to the prince about his daughter’s schedule,” Hannah admitted now. “But he seems…resistant.”
The princess’s brows lifted. “Are you always so diplomatic?”
She flushed, recalling too many times when she’d freely spoken her mind, as if forgetting not just that he was a prince but also her boss. “I’m sure His Highness would say not.”
Marissa laughed. “Then I will say that I’m very glad you’re here. My brother needs someone in his life who isn’t afraid to speak her mind.”
“I’m only here for the summer,” Hannah reminded her.
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