He was looking at the stable yard. “Holy shit, Lexi, you have how many horses now?”
I laughed. “I think five.”
“Damn, you’re going to need a bigger stable.”
“My whole life shifted. I met my brother, he’s kind of an ass.”
He chuckled. “He’s friends with Torin, makes sense.”
“Even more so, his whole life is about becoming a king.”
“So basically all the qualities of Torin and a royal too, can’t wait to meet him.”
I rolled my eyes. “He’s going to win our throne for us. Or something… meeting him was…”
“Yeah, and I do really look forward to meeting him, he’s your brother, I’ll always have feelings for you, and I’m really glad you have more family, Lexi. You’re alone too much, and… that’s another thing that keeps coming to me, you don’t want to go back to what we had, it wasn’t that great for you. I see now that you were just alone, waiting for your life to start and look at the life you have now — you’re a royal, you have family you didn’t know about. This is a good thing.”
I nodded, leaning against his truck, warm in the mid-morning sunlight spilling across the lawn.
He continued, “But it does hurt that it doesn’t involve me. I’m just Cooper, the guy who used to date Lexi, who happens to be a princess.”
“You’re talking like you believe this.”
“I do, it all makes sense now. It’s like having Santa come to Brevard for summer vacation, I don’t believe in Santa but he’s here, everyone else is agreeing it’s Santa. I could argue and make a point of disagreeing, but why? It’s the only explanation I can come up with for your riches.”
“And the medieval guys who kidnapped me.”
“Yeah, that’s all I got.” He gave me a sad smile. “So what’s next for you, the brother’s going to win back your throne, you’re going to go live in a palace like some Disney character?”
“I have no idea. This all happened really fast. Torin just came back a few hours ago and we’re stranded — wait...” I shook my head, “That’s not what I should be talking about. This is about us. You’ve been so important to me.” My chin trembled. “I just want you to be okay.”
He put out a hand and pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear. “I will be, Lexi, eventually. Don’t worry, I really do understand. I know you better than anyone else in the world and I’ve been your family for years?—”
Tears streamed from my eyes. “If things were different, I would?—”
His sad smile spread. “They’re not. And it’s alright.”
He took a big deep breath. “I spent weeks trying to hate him, you know? I can’t. It’s stupid — but I can see it in your face. I’ve known it since he showed up at dinner that first night. I wish I was that guy, but I’m not, I’m not the guy who is going to win the Princess. I wasn’t even the guy who was going to keep Lexi.”
“You’re not being fair to yourself.”
“I just know that you’re not my girl, not anymore, and you know, that’s fine, I just… didn’t fit.”
I sniffled. “That makes me sad.”
“It’s fine, Lexi, I’m going to be okay. You’re going to be okay, you’re a princess. I mean, wow, who knew?”
I chuckled through my tears.
“And you don’t need to worry about me. I get it, we just weren’t meant to be.”
I opened my mouth to say something but he shook his head.
“You don’t owe me a soft landing, Lexi, go do what you’re meant to do. I’ll figure out what I’m meant to do next.”
He put his hand on the door handle of his truck. “I’m going to start building the first cabin next week.”
“That’s wonderful, I’m happy for you.”
