“No. Chiara and Alcide are helping me with everything, from keeping me company while we’re shopping to keeping track of everything that we’re doing and buying, to making sure I don’t make a complete idiot of myself with this.”
“Are you going to plant a garden on the palace roof and grow the vegetables for our wedding dinner?”
“No.”
“Or go out front and pave the road that leads to the palace?”
She was still pout-frowning. “Well, of course not. That’s silly.”
“Are you growing all the rosebushes and gardenias that will be necessary for the tens of thousands of flowers that will decorate that enormous Court of Honor
in the center of the palace?”
Her eyes widened, and her lips parted as if she were stunned.“Tens of thousandsof roses and gardenias, and inJune?Oh God.The bees.I’d better specify a dozen more EpiPens.”
“Right, and are you planning to walk out there the morning of our wedding and lay the red and white carpets over the cobblestones and then place each one of the thousand chairs upon them, both inside the Court of Honor and outside in the larger courtyard for the citizens?”
She grumped at him, “Well, Iwould,but Chiara said event workers were going to do that part.”
“Exactly. My point is that we live in a society. The whole reason humans build societies is becauseyoushould do what you do best, and you should let other people do whattheydo best. And in that way,everybodydoes better. The farmers should grow the vegetables, and they do a smashing job of it. The road construction crew should pave the road, and we don’t have potholes because they do a good job. You are a level-headed, smart nurse practitioner who can be an amazing princess. You can make sure our citizens are healthy and happy, whether you do it directly working part-time in the hospital as a nurse or by influencing our healthcare policy and making sure that there isa first-aid tentat all major events.Youdo what you dobest.And you can let thestylistsdo what they do best, and the florists will acquire and arrange the flowers, and everyone willriseto the level of ourbestproficiency instead of being nomads and scavengers and sinking to the level of what we don’t know how to do.”
Dree sniffled. “I still don’t know what dress to wear.”
Maxence smiled at her. “I’ll call Tommaso to help you tonight because I’m convinced he can do anything, and he is also convinced of that. Tomorrow, you can discuss with your stylists which events you want to appear at and what would be appropriate for you to wear, and what time they should be here to advise you and help you prepare for each official political and cultural event. This is your job, at least one aspect of it. You’re not expected to cook the meal before each one of these events, and you’re not expected to sweep the floor afterward. And you’re not expected to shop for the many clothes that you will require, or to be able to reach behind yourself to zip them up, or to find appropriate cosmetics and apply them before each one of these events. Come on.” Maxence held out his hand to her. “Tommaso can be here in just a few minutes. Let’s get a cool washcloth on your face so you’ll be all ready when he gets here. I’m sure he can do makeup or commandeer someone who can.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
High Society
Dree
Since Dree wanted her parents to come to her wedding, the time had arrived for her to come clean about who andwhatMaxence was.
Dree video-called them on her phone. “Hello, Mama?”
Her mother fluttered her hands, which were entirely predictably covered with flour because it was time to cook breakfast over in New Mexico. “Oh, it’s my baby girl, whofinallycalled me. It’s been weeks, you know.”
“Mama, could you get Daddy over by the phone? I’ve got something I need to tell you both.”
Her mother crowded up close to the phone so that all Dree could see on her screen was one bulbous, blue eye. Her mother’s harsh whisper was filled with static. “You didn’t get pregnant before you got married, did you?”
“What?No!That’s not it. I just need to talk to the two of you about the wedding.”
“Because after Mandi, I don’t think your daddy’s heart could handle it.”
“Mama, I’m not pregnant. I just need to talk to you guys about the wedding,” Dree said like she was stating it for the record.
Dree’s mother finally crowded her father over to the phone, and they sat staring down into the phone between them, waiting. Her father asked, “What is it that you have to tell us, baby girl?”
He sounded a little grim.
“I don’t want you to be mad at Maxence because I told him not to mention this while we were in New Mexico. I wanted you to get to know him just as him, so you would react to him normally.”
“Are you in a family way?” her father asked in a monotone.
“No!And you folks can quit asking that. It’s just something about Max’s family and his career that you ought to know.”
“I knew it,” Dree’s father said. “There’s always something weird about those Europeans.”
