A Royally Beautiful Mess

by Carol Moncado

  “Restless, I guess. The ocean was a bit too windy to surf, and I couldn’t find anything I wanted to watch or read. I decided to swim a few laps.”

  Esther grinned. “That pool wasn’t lap worthy.”

  “Well, no, but it was the best option.” His thumb made slow circles on the skin of her back. “Instead, I saw the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen and had the chance to get to know her better.”

  Which had led to her inviting him to her room for dinner, a truly innocent suggestion. Then he’d asked her to dance, but it wasn’t a dance like this one. They had much more fun showing off their ballroom skills in a space not nearly big enough.

  But then he’d kissed her.

  And she’d kissed him back.

  Kisses that grew more intense.

  Hands that wandered.

  Then wandered more.

  Then kisses became even more.

  Then more.

  Then everything.

  Then the baby.

  Esther wasn’t sure when they stopped moving on Savarino’s dance floor, but Darius’s voice was husky in her ear.

  “Why don’t we get out of here? Let me take you home.”

  11

  What happened?

  One minute they were dancing and the next, Darius knew she was close to tears.

  The ride home was quieter than the ride there had been. When he pulled into the garage, Esther didn’t move. He opened her door and held out a hand. Hers slid into it, and she let him lead her inside, up to their room.

  With the door secured behind them, he took her in his arms.

  “What is it?” he whispered. “What happened?”

  “It made me remember that night.”

  He didn’t need to ask which one.

  “And then the baby.”

  Darius tightened his hold on her.

  “And wondering if I should have worn a different swimsuit that day.”

  Knowing her as he did now, the memory of her in a bikini seemed a bit incongruous.

  “No one was ever at the pool, and I was feeling a bit daring, but if I’d worn one of my other ones...”

  “It wouldn’t have mattered,” he whispered against her hair.

  “How can you be sure?”

  “I just am. Even if you’d worn long sleeves and a denim jumper, I would have thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.”

  That made her laugh and look up. “Really?”

  He winced. “Yes, but I might have been less likely to notice. Once I did, there’s no question. Except you would have been at a swimming pool wearing something decidedly un-swimming-pool-ish. That would have caught my attention.”

  She laughed, just a little.

  “It wasn’t you, love. Or your swimsuit. Or anything else. It was us, falling in love, giving into temptation like thousands or millions of other people do every day in every situation you can think of. Whether it’s cheating on a test or speeding or stealing or being intimate with someone who isn’t your spouse, it happens. We shouldn’t have. We both know that, but it happened. We have to ask forgiveness of our Creator, of each other, and find a way to move on together.”

  He tilted her chin up until he could look into her eyes. “Forgive me, Esther, please. Forgive me for not being stronger, for letting myself get carried away, for not stopping things when I knew I should have. For letting them happen again and again over those days, because one sin doesn’t mean there has to be more sins.”

  She sniffled, but held his gaze. “I forgive you, Dare. If you can forgive me for all the same things.”

  “Already done,” he promised. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped on it a few times. Music began to play. “Dance with me, Star?”

  She nodded, and he pulled her even closer than he had at Savarino’s. They moved as one to the music, his hand on her lower back anchoring them together.

  Two songs later, he kissed her, softly a few times, then continued to dance. Then she kissed him. Softly.

  Each time the kisses lingered a little longer, grew a little more intense.

  The dancing stopped.

  Darius cradled Esther’s face in his hands, then let his fingers tunnel through her hair. His pinky brushed against the clasp that held the top of her dress together.

  The still rational part of his mind hesitated until her hands slid around his waist inside the suit coat he still wore, pulling him closer. His fingers undid the clasp at the nape of her neck only to find another one below it. Then three more.

  As he finished the last one, Esther’s hands slid up his chest to push his jacket off his shoulders.

  That he was falling in love with her was the last conscious thought he had for quite some time.

  When later he slept, it was with his body curled around his wife, his arm holding her close.

  Neither one of them had to be anywhere on Friday so alarms were turned off. He came slowly to wakefulness to realize he slept alone.

  “Good morning.”

  Darius looked over to see Esther curled in one of the chairs sipping her cup of coffee. He pushed up until he was sitting against the headboard. “Good morning. What time is it?”

  “Almost eight. You didn’t sleep too late. I didn’t even get up until about twenty minutes ago.”

  Much later than she usually did. “You could have slept longer,” he pointed out.

  She shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep. I’d already laid there for at least half an hour because I didn’t want to bother you.”

  “You wouldn’t have.”

  When she set her cup of coffee on the side table, the blanket she’d been sitting under slipped, and he realized what she was wearing.

  His favorite t-shirt.

  “Where’d you find that?” he asked with a nod of his head.

  “The bathroom floor. I hope you don’t mind.”

  He shook his head. “Not at all, but I do want it back.” He raised a brow. “This isn’t one those things where the wife borrows a shirt and the husband never gets to wear it again.”

  She shook her head. “No. I’ll give it back later.” A yawn punctuated the end of her sentence.

  Darius pushed back the covers on the other side of the bed. “You can come back, you know. Take a nap or just rest a bit longer.” He grinned. “Or even just come talk to me for a little while.”

  After another sip of her coffee, she set her cup back down and stood. She curled under the covers and rolled onto her side to look at him. He slid back until he was propped on his hand.

  “I kind of like this,” he told her softly, reaching out to brush a strand of hair off her face. His finger traced down over her shoulder until his hand rested on her hip. “You, in my bed, just being here together.”

  Esther scooted a little closer. “You know, technically this is my bed.”

  That made him laugh. “Whichever. I’m glad you’re in it. With me.”

  She rested a hand on his chest. “Then we’ll just call it ours.”

  He slid his hand around to her back and pulled her closer. “I can get on board with that.” First one kiss, then another.

  Then he murmured against her lips. “But I do think I’m going to need my shirt back.”

  A week after dinner and dancing and a night in her husband’s arms, Esther waited for him to be out then spent a few minutes alone in the bathroom with a pregnancy test.

  Positive.

  She wouldn’t tell him, not until she’d seen a doctor and knew everything was all right. With Darius still gone, she called the same doctor she’d seen the previous spring.

  Without pulling strings, it would be a few weeks before they could see her. Early November.

  Meantime, she would be learning how to be a grownup before she found out for certain she would be a mother.

  Louis and his sister were moving into the house next door this weekend. Her father had thrown a ton of money at the contractors to get them to finish it quickly, and she’d seen them working day and nigh
t to get it done.

  They hadn’t discussed the plans in great detail, but she knew Louis and Vesta would have put together a plan to teach her and Darius how to do the things grownups knew how to do.

  Those lessons would start Monday. There would be no excuses. No “I’m sick.” No “I don’t feel like it.” No “I have too much homework.” If one of them had a legitimate excuse, the other had to pick up the slack. All Louis and Vesta would be there for was to instruct and assist, not actually do.

  She knew it was the best thing. They were both so far down on the succession lists, and would only get farther, that they wouldn’t be the quintessential royals forever. They would always have the money to have cooks or housekeepers, but they wouldn’t live in palaces forever. Eventually, her father would die, and Astrid would be queen.

  Esther and her siblings would move on.

  Benjamin would have a family of his own, though it seemed there were more living quarters in Akushla than there were in Cabo Juan-Eduardo. Though both families had other properties, at some point they’d have to find their own.

  She was sitting in the living room, reading a book by a woman named Tamara Leigh. Medieval knights. Sword fights. True love.

  Swiping at a tear, she laid her Kindle down. The rest of the story would wait.

  “You all right?” Darius flopped down on the other couch.

  “Reading a book. Made me cry.”

  “You ready for all this?” He pointed toward the other house, visible out the window.

  “Don’t have much choice, do we?”

  “I guess not. It doesn’t start until Monday, though. Would you like to go out for dinner tonight? Nothing fancy. Maybe that New York pizza place and frozen custard for dessert.”

  “Sure.” She really did like both of those. A calzone would hit the spot. A frozen custard concrete would be delicious later.

  “We haven’t talked about the news that came out this week,” he reminded her.

  “Queen Christiana had her baby. A boy named after her brother, Prince Nicklaus, who isn’t actually dead like they thought for so many years.” Since Esther had become more certain what the pregnancy test would say, this one hadn’t been as hard.

  “Actually, I was talking about your brother’s press release this morning, but that too. Are you all right?”

  Her brother’s announcement with Anabelle hadn’t been as difficult on Esther as she expected - for the same reason. “I spoke with Kensington this morning. He wanted to make sure I knew they were announcing it, though he doesn’t know the reasons why I’m not there. Just so I wasn’t surprised.”

  “I’m glad it didn’t catch you off-guard.” He glanced at his watch. “Want to leave in about twenty minutes?”

  “Sounds good.”

  He left, likely to tell security their plan.

  Should she tell him without a visit to the doctor? No. Not until she knew everything was all right.

  Half an hour later, they walked into So Cheeeezzy. Darius said it was far more crowded than it had been when he had visited with a study group over the summer, and seemed busier than it should be fairly early on a Friday night. They waited about fifteen minutes for a table.

  The building looked sort of like a converted house from the outside. The dining room was one large room with what appeared to be a patio area that had been enclosed and made a part of the interior. That’s where they were seated at a small table for two.

  The waitress introduced herself as Ginni before taking their drink orders. This particular night the special was the same as their regular lunch special - pizza or calzone - though the waitress made a point to let them know this wasn’t always the case.

  When she returned with their drinks, they’d both decided on the special. Darius ordered a personal pizza with salad. Esther decided on the calzone with garlic bread on the side.

  “How was school this week?” Esther took a sip of her soda.

  Darius shrugged. “Fine. Got my work done. Passed a test. I only have one project to work on this weekend.”

  “That would be nice. I have three. I’ll be working all weekend.”

  “Would you like to go to church again?” Darius sat back a bit as the waitress set his salad in front of him. He thanked her as she asked if they needed refills.

  After they declined for the moment - both glasses were only half-empty - Esther nodded. “I liked the church.”

  “Would you like to try one of the Sunday school classes Jonathan mentioned?”

  Esther poked at her ice with her straw. “Maybe. I’m not sure I want to be that...”

  “Potentially exposed?”

  “I think that’s the best way to put it. I guess I’d rather keep my circle of acquaintances small.”

  “Agreed.”

  She wondered what he would be like if they didn’t have to worry about their identity being revealed. Would Darius prefer a wider circle of friends or to keep the number small and intimate? Was he a true extrovert as she suspected, or would he have more introverted tendencies?

  “What about Friday night football?” she asked suddenly. “Do you watch American football?”

  He shook his head. “Not really, but could be fun.”

  She pointed discreetly to a table nearby. “The school spirit apparel over there made me wonder.”

  Darius leaned over. “Excuse me, is there a football game tonight?”

  One of the kids nodded. “Yeah. It starts at seven. That’s why there’s so many people here at 5:15.”

  “Wonderful. Thank you.”

  “Are you new in town?” the kid asked. “Your accent isn’t from around here.”

  “We haven’t lived here long,” Darius confirmed.

  “Just wanted to make sure you knew the football stadium is at the middle school, not the high school.”

  Esther tilted her head. “That’s odd, isn’t it?”

  The kid shrugged. “It’s a whole thing. That stadium was still pretty new when the high school was built about ten years ago, so they decided to wait until later to build a new one. It will open at the high school next year. Supposedly.”

  Ginni arrived again, this time with the check for the kids. She turned to Darius and Esther. “Your food is about ready. I’ll have it out in a minute.”

  The kids at the table all pooled their cash and left it in the folder before standing. The girl Darius had been talking to smiled over at them. “Maybe we’ll see you there. Have a good night.”

  After they left and their food arrived, Darius looked at her and grinned. “Looks like we have plans tonight after all.”

  12

  Darius thought it would be great fun to visit an American high school football game on a Friday night, but there was something else he’d been thinking about. “I have a plan.”

  Esther looked up from her bite of calzone. “What’s that?”

  “I’m thinking we did everything kind of backwards. We spent those days together in Sargasso, but we never courted.”

  That made her smirk. “Courted? Really?”

  “Dated. Whatever. We spent four days together. Then we ignored each other for months. Since the first trip to San Majoria, we’ve been learning to be adults. We’ve gone to Savarino’s, but could we try just dating? Getting to know more about each other like we should have a long time ago?”

  “Working with Louis and Vesta will help with some of that. We’ll spend a lot of time together learning stuff.”

  “True, but I’m talking about something more than that. Actual dates where we go to dinner and a movie or playing miniature golf.”

  Esther almost snorted her soda out her nose. “Have you ever played miniature golf?”

  He grinned back at her. “Nope, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn.”

  Esther just kind of shook her head. “Are we going to look out of place tonight?”

  Darius glanced down. They were both wearing slacks and dressier shirts, probably a bit much for So Cheeeezzy even. “If we hurry, we
can run home and change, maybe grab a light jacket for after dark.”

  “Do we have any Serenity Landing Patriots gear at home?”

  That made him laugh. “Unlikely, but we can run by the store and get a shirt. I’ve seen them there.”

  She wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Sounds like a plan.”

  Ginni came by a moment later, so Darius asked for their check and a box, because he knew he wouldn’t eat the whole pizza. He texted Ian who was eating at the bar and received a reply approving the plan.

  As soon as they finished, Ian drove them to the store, where they grabbed shirts that would fit, then went home to change.

  They were only there for a few minutes before leaving again. Ian drove them to Serenity Landing Middle School. Though the game wouldn’t start for another forty-five minutes, the parking lot, and stands, were already pretty full. Ian drove around the crowd surging toward the gate to a road that ran along the side of the field.

  At the far end, a semi-truck with the school logo and Serenity Landing Patriotic Pride Band written on it was surrounded by parked cars, but also had a little more room for Ian to park their vehicle in the grass.

  They could already hear the pounding music coming from the loudspeakers before they emerged from the car. Darius linked his fingers with Esther’s as they walked along the road toward a back gate. They ended up joining the marching band as they walked into the field area.

  After paying the ticket taker, they walked past an ambulance and onto the track toward the larger set of bleachers.

  “Esther?”

  They stopped when they heard someone calling her name. Darius recognized her as the woman from school.

  “Go on,” Esther told him. “Get us seats. I’ll catch up in a minute.”

  It took a few minutes, but Darius found three seats together in the top corner of the bleachers.

  He could see Esther talking and laughing with the woman as they walked toward the stands. They disappeared from sight for a moment. When Esther reappeared, she was alone until she reached Ian’s side where he’d been keeping an eye on both of them. She scanned the bleachers until she spotted Darius waving at her. A minute later, she was seated between him and Ian.