“Or John.”
“I’m really sorry about your wife. Not that my sympathy means anything, but I know what death feels like.”
“Au contraire, your sympathy means a great deal. I take it to heart.”
Their eyes met over the bottom of their wine glasses. So far, this evening, this moment, made his whole trip to Hearts Bend worthwhile. Scottie or no Scottie. In the ’70s kitchen he wasn’t an object of pity to anyone, most of all himself.
They sat on the deck, saying nothing except to comment on the lovely breeze until a horn sounded and Gemma pushed up, adjusted her stance, favoring her hip.
“Pizza’s here.”
John followed to pay then carried the large pepperoni to the deck and set up their dinner on the little table between the chairs. Gemma refilled their wine and as the last of the sunlight clung to summer leaves, John almost felt right with the world.
The pizza was hot and delicious, touching a hunger in John he didn’t know he possessed. Or was it the brunette beauty next to him who touched his hunger?
As the twilight sky faded to black and they each reached for a third slice, Gemma said, “Prince, can I ask why you’re visiting little Hearts Bend?”
“The queen asked me to come. Meet with Scottie O’Shay. You know that story, do you not?”
“How she’s your long-lost sister?”
“Not so much lost as hidden.”
“Why didn’t your mother come?”
“Because she’s a queen and made me her envoy. However, I arrived with no concrete plans—which is rather unsettling. The House of Blue does nothing without weeks, if not months and years, of planning and preparation, forming lists upon lists. But since this was more of a personal, family venture, Mum said, ‘Off you go,’ and here I am.”
Gemma considered another piece of pizza but decided against it. “How can you tell when you’re speaking to your mother or the queen? That’d be so weird.”
“She’s my mother. Always. But every now and then, she speaks as my queen. To be honest, Queen Catherine would’ve come to Hearts Bend in any other circumstance. The wife and mother, Kate, was terrified. But if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll emphatically deny it.”
As the words left his lips he realized he was confessing heart secrets to a stranger.
“You’re safe with me, Prince. I’m not on social media and I loathe drama.”
John took the pizza slice Gemma passed over. “What can you tell me about the O’Shays? Do you know them?”
“Not really. But they are kind of like Hearts Bend royalty. Wealthy, longtime citizens. Scottie’s ancestors were founders.” Gemma closed her eyes and leaned into the breeze. It was fragrant with the aroma of land and open spaces. “I love the quiet out here.”
A string of lights tacked along the deck rail popped on, and while they finished the wine, the first distant boom of gunpowder exploded a white, arching flame across the inky sky.
Blue whined and tucked in under John’s chair while his mates hovered around Gemma. Another boom and Silver could be made out trotting into the barn.
John sat back, his legs stretched long. Explosion after explosion, the knots he’d been wrestling with for eleven months began to loosen, and muscle by muscle, he felt truly relaxed.
Holland, darling, you don’t mind, do you?
He may have a new friend in this Gemma Stone, but he’d not forget his wife. His true love. After all, she’d delivered a white feather at his feet the day of her funeral and he knew.Shewould always be with him.
“Prince John saves a woman. More at 5:00 on LTV1 News.”
“Swoon! Sign me up for whatever is happening here. Does anyone know where this was taken? Who’s the lass?”
— Brighton Kingdom’sMadeline & Hyacinth Live!
“Does anyone know the story?”
—Loyal Royals Blog #princessbride
