A sense of uneasiness prickled her. “Oh.”
“’Twas not the right moment.” He glanced toward where Kade was waiting in the SUV he’d backed out of the garage. Winzig was in the passenger seat already, and the back door was open and waiting for Max.
“So when is the right time?” She couldn’t stop herself from pressuring Max. After all, she’d told her family almost the moment they’d arrived home so that it was out in the open and she didn’t have to hide anything.
“I shall tell them soon, but not tonight.” He bent and pressed a kiss to her forehead, then strode away.
She could only watch him with a growing sense that things were changing now that they were back to normal life. Was he pulling away from her already? Was the bond they’d formed at the cabin loosening?
Maybe it had formed because of the forced proximity or because of the strain of being stranded in a snowstorm. What if he already regretted their rash decision to get married?
She pushed aside her concerns and went inside with her family. Mom immediately began helping Anson preparebreakfast for her and Max, starting eggs and bacon cooking as well as heating the griddle for pancakes.
Emberly took a stool at the counter beside her dad and Wyatt, while Tyler and Kinsey hovered nearby.
They had turned on the monitor that showed the footage of the front gate so they could watch Max when he spoke to the press.
The family SUV came into view and halted near the gate. A few seconds later, Max exited from the back. The flash of cameras and the shouts of reporters filled the air.
Max approached the gate, waited for it to open while Winzig stood on one side of him and Kade on the other. When the gate was fully open, Max held up a hand, likely to ask for silence. After a moment, the reporters stopped calling out questions and grew quiet.
“Thank you,” his voice came through the monitor. Though they could only see him from the back due to the angle of the security camera, it was enough to view his stiff shoulders and tall, proud bearing.
For a minute or two, Max explained how he’d gone out snowshoeing and gotten caught in the storm, but he’d been safe in a cabin for the past few days until the rescue this morning.
“All is well,” he concluded. “Everyone in our party has returned, and other than being a little hungry and ragged, we are unharmed and glad to be back. Thank you for your concern and well-wishes.”
He pivoted and started back to the SUV. But the reporters began to volley questions. “Is it true you were together with Emberly McQuaid?” “Is Emberly McQuaid your newest lover?” “Are you having a fling with Emberly McQuaid?”
From her spot at the counter, Emberly snorted at the brazen questions. “That’s all they care about? Whether Max and I slept together?”
Beside her, Wyatt paused in eating a piece of toast and peered up at her with wide eyes. “Did you have a sleepover, Aunt Emberly?”
Before she could answer her nephew, Kade took a step toward the reporters, his face contorted with anger. “For your information,” he called above the questions, “my sister and the prince are married, so why don’t you just stop with all the speculations.”
At the news, chaos seemed to break out among the reporters, this time causing a hailstorm of questions. “Prince Max, are you really married to Emberly McQuaid?” “When were you married?” “How long have you known Miss McQuaid?”
Max had halted, and his back was stiff.
Emberly stared at the monitor, hardly able to breathe. How would he respond to the questions?
He stood unmoving.
She could see his profile harden and his jaw tighten.
Then he turned around and returned to the spot at the gate. He faced the reporters directly, and they once again grew mostly silent. “Yes, I recently married Emberly McQuaid. She is my wife, and we plan to return to Karltenberg together.”
Another barrage of questions rose into the air.
“We would like to keep our relationship private for now,” Max called above the chaos. “Thank you for respecting our wishes.”
“With the looming deadline of your thirty-fifth birthday, did you marry Miss McQuaid so hastily to avoid abdicating the throne to your brother?” The question in a heavy German accent came from a man at the front of the crowd.
To avoid abdicating the throne to his brother? What did that mean? Emberly’s heart began to pound a strange rhythm.
Max shook his head curtly. “No, that was not the reason for our marriage.”
“With the pressure from the king and parliament, you cannot deny that the marriage will solidify your position as the heir apparent.”
