“What happened?”
“Your dad left. He came back here, to the palace.” She swept her gaze up to take in the pink castle and its centuries of tradition. “He told me he was going to be a king and that he couldn’t marry me. That we couldn’t possibly be together. His parents wouldn’t have allowed it, and his country wouldn’t stand for it.”
“What? That’s ridiculous!” Alex immediately defended her. “Cadria loves you.”
“Yes,” her mother said with a laugh. “Now. Back then, though, it was a different story. I was heartbroken and furious that he would walk away from love so easily.”
She and her mother had more in common than Alex knew, she thought glumly. But at least her mom had eventually gotten a happy ending. But how? “What happened?”
“Your father missed me,” Teresa said with a grin. “He called, but I wouldn’t speak to him. He sent me gifts that I returned. Letters that went back unopened.” Nudging Alex’s shoulder with her own, Teresa admitted, “I drove him crazy.”
“Good for you. I can’t believe Dad walked away from you!”
“Centuries of tradition are hard to fight,” Teresa said. “And so was your grandfather who had no interest in a commoner daughter-in-law.”
“But—”
“I know, sweetie. Your grandfather loved me. Once he met me, everything was fine.” She sighed a little. “But, your dad actually had to threaten to abdicate before his father would listen to reason.”
“Dad was willing to give up the throne for you?”
“He was,” Teresa said with another sigh of satisfaction. “Thankfully, it didn’t come to that, since he’s a very good king. But once his father saw how serious Gregory was, he promised to make it work. He went to the Law Chambers himself to see that the country’s charter was rewritten to allow for a commoner as queen.”
“Wow.” She didn’t know what else to say. Alex had had no idea of the intrigue and passion and clashes that had been involved in her parents getting together.
“Yes, wow,” Teresa said, laughing again. “When it was all settled, in a record amount of time, thanks to your father being an impatient soul, Gregory came back to California with his grandmother’s ring in hand and the rest, as they say, is history.”
Holding up her left hand as proof, Teresa wiggled her fingers, letting the ancient diamond wink and glitter in the sunlight.
“I had no idea.”
“Of course you didn’t, and I should have told you the whole truth sooner. But, Alex, I had a point in telling you this now,” her mother said and reached out to give her a one-armed hug. “And that is, don’t give up on your young man. Love is a powerful thing and, once felt, it’s impossible to walk away from. If your Garrett is anything like my Gregory…” She smiled again. “There’s always hope.”
“Excuse me, your majesty.”
Teresa looked to the open doorway into the morning room. A maid stood in the shadows. “Yes, Christa?”
“I’ve laid the tea out, ma’am, for you and her highness.”
“Thank you, Christa,” Teresa said, “we’ll be right in.”
A quick curtsy and the maid was gone again. A moment later, Teresa scooted off the parapet, dusted off the seat of her slacks and said, “I’ll pour the tea. You come in when you’re ready, okay?”
Nodding, Alex watched her mother go, as her mind whirled with possibilities. Was her mom right? Was there hope? Yes, her parents’ love story had turned out well in the end, but the King of Cadria had been in love.
Whereas Garrett King refused to be in love with her.
She turned her head to stare out over the gardens, to the ocean beyond and to the man on the other side of the world. Hope, she thought wistfully, could be a both a blessing and a curse.
“She sent it back.”
“What?” Griffin looked up as Garrett stormed into his office.
Tossing a small package onto his brother’s desk, Garrett complained, “The necklace I sent to Alex two days ago. She returned it!”
“And this is my problem because…”
“You’re my brother, and it’s your job to listen to me,” Garrett told him as he stalked the perimeter of his brother’s office.
“Actually, it’s my job to look into the file we just got on our Georgia client and—”
“Why would she return it?” Garrett asked no one in particular, thinking of the platinum and onyx piece he’d had commissioned just for her. He hadn’t asked himself why it was so important for him to give her a memento of their time together. It simply was. He couldn’t have her, but damned if he could entirely let go, either.
These past two weeks without her had nearly killed him. Nothing felt right to him anymore. Without Alex in his life, everything else was just white noise. He kept as busy as possible and still her absence chewed at him, widening the black hole inside him every damn day.
His fingers closed around the box that had been returned to him just a few minutes ago. Shaking it for emphasis, he blurted, “It was a trinket. Sort of a souvenir. You know, help her remember her holiday.”
Griffin gave up and sat back in his chair. “Maybe she doesn’t want to remember.”
Garrett stopped dead and glared at his twin. “Why the hell wouldn’t she want to remember? She had a great time.”
“Yeah, but it’s over, and she’s back home at the palace.”
“So, close the door? That’s it?” Could she really cut him out of her life, her memories, that easily?
“Aren’t you the one who closed the door?” Griffin asked.
“Not the point.” Hell, Garrett knew he wasn’t making any sense. He didn’t need his twin stating the obvious.
Two weeks without her. Didn’t seem to matter that he knew he’d done the right thing. Didn’t matter that he knew there was no way they could have worked out anything between them. He missed her like he would an arm. Or a leg.
She was as much a part of him as his damn heart and without her, it was like he didn’t have one.
This had not been a part of the plan. He’d expected to miss her, sure. But he hadn’t counted on not being able to sleep or keep his mind on his damn work. He hadn’t counted on seeing her everywhere, hearing her voice, her laugh in his mind at odd moments during the day.
“You’re just going to prowl around my office, is that it?” Griffin asked.