“Cream is fine.” The prince spread out his napkin, neatly removed his container’s lid, and picked up his fork.
When she’d poured the coffee, she sat and raised her fork. “Bon appétit.”
“Bon appétit.” John creamed his coffee then took a bite of pie. “This is so good I don’t care I’m having a second piece.”
“I pretend to work off extra calories in the barn. But I know it’s not true.”
“So, what about your parents? I feel at a disadvantage. You know about mine, but I don’t know about yours.”
“They are the salt-of-the-earth type. Hard workers, honest, decent. Raised me right.”
“You’re an only child?”
“Not on purpose. She couldn’t have more after me.”
“Were you spoiled?”
“Do I seem spoiled? I didn’t have to share with siblings if that’s what you mean. But we never had a lot of money. Most of the time we were broke. Dad’s a dreamer, always looking for a way to turn one dollar into a thousand. In the summer, we’d sit in the lawn chairs, listening to the crickets, watching the stars, and dreaming. I wanted to be a, well…” She took a bite of pie.Don’t tell him.It would only lead to more questions. “Daddy used to go on and on about all the things he was going to buy Mama and me one day. But for every dollar he invested in some scheme, he lost two.” Gemma set down her fork for a sip of coffee.
“But you had everything you needed?”
He sounded concerned and it touched her. Her years in Hollywood, combined with her relationship with Matt, had made her hard. Guarded. She saw displays of tenderness and caring as a way for others to gain advantage over her.
“Daddy drives a delivery truck and Mama is the head housekeeper at Hearts Bend Inn.” Might as well paint the whole picture. Be up front and honest about her very humble roots. Not that it really mattered but since he asked.
“I grew up in a double-wide trailer on a tract of land my grandfather gave to us. We had a gravel driveway that washed away every spring and iced over every winter. There were rust stains in the sinks from the well water. When I learned to drive, I’d go to town to do my laundry because Daddy was forever forgetting to buy water softener. I had clothes, food, education, even dance lessons. My parents run around with a tight group of friends with whom they play cards several nights a week, drink on Saturday night, but just enough to get them dancing to oldies. On Sunday mornings, they’re up early and on their way to church to repent.”
When the prince didn’t respond, Gemma fought a sting of embarrassment. She’d said too much. But it was all true. In a good way. Did he think she threw her folks under the bus? Or that they were a bunch of hick rednecks?
She finished her last bite of pie. “This would’ve been perfect with a scoop of ice cream.”
“What you just said—” The prince shoved his container forward. “About your parents, your honesty. It took Holland almost until we were married to speak so freely. I knew her parents, Lord and Lady Cunningham, so there was no real mystery about her upbringing, but she never talked about them or her childhood. It was like she feared something would put me off or turn me away.”
“Love makes us do strange or unusual things.”
“Did love make you do strange things?” John collected their dishes, carried them to the sink, rinsed them, then opened the dishwasher.
“Doesn’t work,” Gemma said with a low laugh. “I use it for storage. Just leave the dishes for later. So, did Holland eventually share more of her life?”
Funny how he focused on how love made one do strange, unusual things. She said it as a toss-away line but John seemed to think it meant something more.
“She did.” John stared out the kitchen window over the sink. “Seemed like we were just getting started when she died.”
She was about to ask about the accident when the door flew open. Imani and Penny entered with the dogs, their claws scratching and clicking on the linoleum.
John turned from the window and gave each girl a nod. “Ladies.”
“John, you remember Imani. This is her friend, Penny. Girls, curtsy, this is Prince John.”
“Hello,” Imani said, offering her hand, but seemed locked in a dream-like trance. Next to her, Penny, the six-foot center for the Rock Mills girls’ basketball team, giggled and blushed.
Imani suddenly found her voice. “Oh my gosh. W-what are you doing in dumpy Hearts Bend?”
“Having a bit of a holiday. Your town reminds me of some of my favorite places in Lauchtenland.” He went on to describe the Midlands and Dalholm, even the north country of The Haskells. The girls asked intelligent questions, recalling their history and geography. Gemma was quite proud. And just like that, the prince became a real man and stole their hearts. The girls’, of course, not hers.
Then Imani got to the important topic. Pop popcorn and a movie. “Can Penny stay over, Gemma?”
“Don’t see why not. But you have chores in the morning before basketball camp.” She glanced at the prince, who smirked like he enjoyed her role of mother. “Speaking of, how was the fundraiser?”
