Chapter 20
As much as I would have loved to stay home with Jayne, it was great to be out with my dad. Just like my parents were going to miss JJ when they left, I was going to miss them.
I could have driven, but it wasn’t easy with the boot on, so my dad was behind the wheel. No hardship for him, obviously.
With me as his navigator, he steered the crawler toward the Royal Transportation Department building at top speed. “You can drive on the way back, if you want.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s probably safer if you drive. Despite how fast you’re going,” I teased.
My dad laughed and slowed down a fraction. He patted the dashboard of the crawler. “I wouldn’t mind having one of these babies to take into the mountains. It handles like a dream.”
“Maybe something can be arranged.” I glanced at him. “You and Mom and Aunt Zinnia aren’t bored being here, are you?”
“Bored?” He gave me an incredulous side-eye.
“For one thing, do you know how rare it is for us to have vacation time? We are not bored. For another, we’re staying in a palace right next door to our son, our beautiful daughter-in-law, and our new grandson.
I literally cannot imagine anything better than that.
Not to mention, your mom has been cooking up a storm and loving every minute of it.
She doesn’t get a lot of time to do that at home, you know. ”
I smiled. “I know. You guys are very busy.”
He shrugged. “It’s the life we chose when we signed our deal.”
“You could scale back a bit, you know. Bring in some of those other acts on a more regular basis. Give yourselves a day or two off a week. Live a more normal life.”
He laughed. “What’s a normal life? And don’t you dare answer, because you don’t live one either.”
“No, you’re right. I don’t. But I’m just thinking about when Jayne and I come to visit. It’s not going to be much fun if you guys are working every day.”
His eyes narrowed, and he was quiet a moment as he stared at the road ahead. “That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought about that.” He nodded. “I’ll make a few calls. See what I can do. We definitely want to be able to spend time with the three of you when you’re there.”
The transportation department appeared on the horizon, an enormous metal building that could have been any sort of standard government building. In addition to the main building, there were slightly smaller hangars. We were looking for Hangar Seven.
I pointed. “There it is. That’s the hangar we’re looking for.”
My dad parked in the closest spot to the door. “Hang on. I’ll help you.”
He ran around to my side, got the crutches out of the back, and planted them on the ground for me to use as support. Unlike standard crutches, these had X’s on the tips that rested on the ground. The X’s were metal and had a heavy tread meant to grip ice and snow. It was a brilliant design.
I pulled myself up and got the crutches under me.
My dad shut the door, and we headed inside. The place wasn’t exactly a hub of activity, but there were a few people working inside the large space. Every once in a while, the sound of a pneumatic drill or the clank of a tool could be heard.
The RV was parked off to one side. All the slides were out, and there were lights on inside. Another, smaller RV sat opposite it. No idea who that belonged to. Looked like an older model.
My dad nudged me. “Probably be easier if I went in, don’t you think?”
“I’m all right. We can go together. I want to see if they’ve done anything inside yet.”
“Okay.”
We walked across the concrete flooring. I had a feeling it was heated, because the hangar was pleasantly warm.
We were nearly to the RV when a worker in a jumpsuit came running over. His name badge read Walter. “Prince Consort Sinclair, how are you?”
We stopped. I gave the man a nod. “Good.”
“I didn’t know you were coming to see the RV today. We’ve only just started on the refit.”
“I’m not here for any kind of official inspection. Jayne and I just left a few things inside. I’m going to grab them, and we’ll be out of your way.”
“It’s no problem.” He seemed relieved. “Be careful, though. It’s a bit pulled apart in there. The back half, anyway.”
“I won’t go farther than the kitchen.” The treats were either in one of the top cabinets or in the pantry.
“All right. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them.”
“Thanks.” I looked over my shoulder, the sudden sensation of being watched creeping over me. There was no one there, but a shadow passed across the window in the entrance door. I shook it off. Maybe Delton’s death was making me a little paranoid.
We continued on. Navigating the steps into the RV was trickier than usual with the crutches but nothing I couldn’t manage.
A wave of nostalgia hit me as I stood in the living room.
Even with the master bedroom a mess of wires and missing panels, the sight of the RV gave me a pang.
Jayne and I had so many good times in this thing.
My dad came up behind me. “I forgot how impressive this vehicle is.”
I nodded. “Especially with the slides out. It’s bigger than you think.”
He waved his hand around in an all-encompassing gesture. “Any of this magic? Or is it really this spacious?”
That got a laugh out of me. “No magic. It’s really this spacious.”
“I can see why you liked it so much. You know, maybe someday, when your mom and I retire, we’ll get a rig like this and see the country.”
“I highly recommend it.”
My dad put his hands on his hips. “Where are those treats you’re after?”
“Possibly the pantry, but I think they’re most likely in that top cabinet in the kitchen. The one closest to the bedroom.”
My dad went over to check but peered into the bedroom first. “You really think they’re going to be able to make room for all three of you?”
“That’s the plan. I can’t really picture it, though.”
He turned. “How long do you think you’ll travel with him?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to see how it goes. Eventually, we’ll have to settle down here.”
A strange look crossed his face. “I’m going to miss you guys being on the road.”
“Really?” I’d never heard him say anything like that. “Why?”
“I guess because … as long as you were in this thing, I knew you were just a drive away. That we were at least in the same country. When you move here permanently, that’s going to be harder. Knowing you’re so far away.”
“Yeah, I see what you’re saying. But we will always come to visit. And you and Mom and Aunt Z will always be welcome here.”
“I know.” He gave me a quick smile to break the mood. “It’s not the same, but you’re right.” He turned toward the cabinets and opened the one I’d indicated.
His words stayed with me, nestling in deep. My parents were important to me, and I very much liked being near them, but I’d known when I married Jayne that, eventually, my life would be here, in the North Pole, permanently.
There was no other option. She would be queen eventually. The queen had to live in the kingdom she ruled. But until then …
A thousand different thoughts swirled through my head.
“Son?”
I blinked. “What?”
My dad was holding up three bags of treats. “Just saying I found them.”
“Great, thanks. Sorry, daydreaming.”
He laughed. “I noticed. Anything else you need me to look for?”
“Did you check the pantry?”
“No.” He turned around and opened it, then reached in and pulled out another bag of treats. “Anywhere else these might be hiding?”
“That should be it. Good on you for looking in there. Those will keep us going for a while.” I started down the steps, my thoughts still mostly elsewhere.
I gave Walter a wave goodbye, and we went out to the crawler. My dad put the treats and my crutches in the back after I got in, then he got behind the wheel.
What if Jayne and I got a place in Vegas near my parents? Would an occasional visit there be okay, or would that be unacceptable for a working princess?
I realized my dad hadn’t started the crawler right away. He was pushing buttons on the arm rest.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to figure out how to put the window down. I must have bumped the mirror when I got out because it’s folded in.”
“Try that last—”
He pushed the button before I could finish speaking. The window went down, and he returned the mirror to its usual position. I thought about the feeling I’d had earlier. “You sure you bumped the mirror?”
He looked at me. “No. Why?”
“It’s probably nothing, but when we were in the hangar, I thought I felt someone watching me.”
My dad’s eyes narrowed. “You think someone pushed that mirror in on purpose?”
I shook my head. It was silly. “Nah, probably not. Could have just been someone walking by.”
“Hang on.” My dad opened the door, got out, and walked around the car. He got back in. “Nothing looks like it’s been tampered with.”
“Like I said, I’m sure it’s nothing.”
He started the engine, and we headed back to the palace. As we approached town, my dad glanced at me. “You want to stop by the Sugar Shack and get Jayne a milkshake? She still hasn’t gotten to go.”
I grinned. “That might make me husband of the year. That’s a great idea.”
“And you know, we could get one for ourselves, too.”
I had to laugh. “I see how it is.”
He turned toward town and then onto Main Street. The Sugar Shack was just ahead. He frowned and glanced down, his foot stomping on the brake.
“What’s wrong?”
“Brakes aren’t responding.” He looked up. There were pedestrians ahead of us. He stuck his hand out, muttered a few words, and an enormous, fluffy pillow suddenly appeared in the road between the people and the crawler. We crashed into the pillow, bounced back, and came to a stop.
He’d used his magic to save those people. And us. “Dad, that was fast thinking.”
He turned off the engine. “You okay?”
“Yeah, fine. You?”
“Rattled but all right.”
A police officer ran over to us. My dad powered down the window. “Sorry about that, officer. Our brakes gave out.”
The officer crouched down to get a better look into the crawler. His eyes widened. “Prince Consort?”
“That’s me.”
“Are you all right?”
“Fine.” I gave him a reassuring smile, despite what I was feeling inside.
The officer glanced forward. “Did that pillow just … fall out of the sky?”
“No, my dad conjured it up to keep us from crashing into those people. Something’s wrong with our brakes.”
Jayne was not going to be happy about this. The Sugar Shack was right behind us. Maybe a milkshake would soften the news that someone had tampered with our vehicle.