“You know, that’s not a bad idea,” Lauren said. “I have quite a few friends who are starting to figure out what happened here, and they arenothappy I didn’t decide to bring them along on this trip.”
“Well, I’m certainly satisfied,” Emmaline said. “I think it all worked out exactly the way it should be.”
“Says the girl who’s about to become a princess,” Lauren snorted. “But who’s to say I couldn’t stage another trip to say…Spain?” She screwed up her face. “They have a monarchy there. I’m sure there’re a few errant royals running around.”
“Or you could keep all the largesse in Garronia, and bring more tourists here,” Fran pointed out. “But you’ll have to bring some men next time. We’ve kind of made a run on the most eligible guys.”
Nicki chose that moment to head up the beach to their section, hurdling the low rope and skidding in the sand. “You guys!” she said. “What’s the point of being at the beach if you don’t get in the water? Except you, Fran. You get a pass.”
She grinned and flopped down on the enormous Hotel Garronia towel, lifting her face toward the sun. “I could sleep for the next three days.” She glanced at Emmaline. “Did you ever get the final word from Northwestern? Because this weather beats Chicago, I don’t care what it’s doing there.”
Emmaline tossed a bottle of sunscreen at Nicki. “You’re due. And yes, actually. I got an email last night. They said I could enroll next spring, if I did video auditions and met their guidelines.” She lifted her hand to her throat, where Kristos’s service medal hung on a chain around her neck. “Kristos said he wants me to go as quickly as possible, mainly so I can come back again sooner.” She sighed. “Between you and me, I’m thinking of finding someplace closer for the second year, if they’ll take me and if language won’t be a barrier. Like maybe Italy, I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I’ll have to do something though, with Kristos back in the military. And I do miss my parents.”
Fran lifted her brows. She and Ari had already discussed Kristos’s hopes to join Emmaline in Chicago for at least part of her stay, but the details weren’t fixed yet. Perhaps Kristos didn’t want Emmaline to get her hopes up…or perhaps he was looking for a way to surprise her. More than anyone she’d ever met, Kristos had a flair for the dramatic. One of the many reasons why he was perfect for Emmaline.
“And hello, speaking of planning, what’s the deal withyourwedding?” Lauren asked, reaching over one pedicured foot to nudge Fran. “I know you have to wait until the constellations line up, but do you have any sense of timing yet? If I’m going to launch a new travel business, I need to schedule around you two.”
“Drinks, miss?”
A familiar voice sounded above them, and Fran laughed, swiveling to look up at Ari. He was dressed in a Hotel Garronia porter’s uniform, and true to his request, his tray carried several glasses of something that appeared super chilled.
“I’m not sure that we ordered anything,” Fran said warily. Ari crouched down beside her, keeping his tray steady as he turned to Lauren.
“Compliments of the captain of the GNSF. He says you get into trouble if you drinktsipouro, and he’s off duty in a few minutes and looking for some trouble.”
“That’s what I love about the men of Garronia,” Lauren declared. “You’re always thinking.”
Ari handed Emmaline and Nicki a glass as well, then refocused on Fran. “There’s so much more I want to give you,” he said, “but I’ll at least start with this.”
Francesca frowned at him,her brows drawn together at his comment, even as she accepted the drink with its cheerful lime wedged onto the side of the glass. “Ari, you don’t have to give anything to me, I—”
Her gaze dropped to the glass, and she froze as she realized what else decorated the glass alongside the fruit. The pale emerald earrings lay perfectly alongside the glass, and trembled only slightly as she fumbled the glass back to his waiting tray.
“What—what is it?” Lauren peered around Francesca to see the earrings she was pulling off the glass. “Oooo, those are seriously pretty.”
“They’re more than pretty,” Fran whispered, and Ari’s heart soared. The emeralds were simple, long and delicate triangles, with a sparkling white diamond at their tips. He’d thought they captured the spirit of a certain monument in Paris.
Apparently, Francesca did as well.
“You lost your earrings the other night,” he murmured as Francesca stared at him, her capacity for speech apparently fled. “I wanted to give you something to remember that night by, that would still go with your beautiful gown.”
“Okay, that does it.” Lauren set down her drink and pulled out her phone. “I’m definitely planning a travel business to Garronia. I’m going to make millions in the first year.” She kicked at Nicki’s towel. “You’re going to be my sports and entertainment director too. So don’t make plans.”
“Well, don’t bring a bunch of foofy women then,” Nicki grinned, shielding her eyes with her arm as she kept her face pointed at the sky. “If I’m going to be directing entertainment, I better be having fun, too.”
“Deal. And hey, since you’re here.” Lauren hit Ari’s elbow with her phone, but the bossiness in her tone was leavened by her radiant smile as she took in Fran’s delighted face. This was a group of women who didn’t judge their own success by the barometer of the fortune in their friends’ lives, Ari realized suddenly. Like he and Dimitri, they were simply friends. As happy for each other’s success as they were for their own—and in some cases, more so. Since Fran had made her halting confession the night of the ball, her friends had seemed to form a triduum of protection around her, never letting her out of their sight, reassuring her at every opportunity of their love, their faith, and their trust. Her revelation had been a surprise, but no more a surprise than if she’d told them she was allergic to shellfish.
Which Ari seriously hoped she wasn’t.
But Lauren kept talking. “Any scoop on when wedding bells are going to ring in the royal palace?” she asked. “I know the queen needs to get it set up with all her friends and it’s a slightly tricky political topic, but inquiring minds want to know.”
“I can’t pretend to know what the queen has planned,” Ari said gravely. “But I do know she wants to wait a respectable time.” He couldn’t stop the quirk of his lips as Lauren groaned.
“You’re as bad as Dimitri with his non-answers. He said he would be happy to stageourwedding if I couldn’t wait, which wasn’t a proposal mind you, just him being an ass.”
Fran and Emmaline pivoted so sharply to Lauren that Fran’s new emerald earrings spun, catching the light. “Did he seriously say that?” Emmaline asked.
“Dimitri?” Fran followed up.
