Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LEO
The queen looked up from her desk. “What are you doing here?”
“I live here,” Leo said.
“It’s good that you stopped in,” she said, ignoring his comment. “We need to chat. What’s going on with you and the baker?”
Bollocks. Either the servants’ gossiping had traveled fast, or she had actually paused to read the tabloids this week.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
She slid a paper across her desk. The picture of Leo stroking Emma’s hair in the bar was on the front page of a gossip rag. Damn.
“Beatrice brought this to my attention, and then I overheard the servants gossiping. So, what’s going on? And don’t lie, I don’t have time for it.”
The truth couldn’t hurt. At least part of it.
“Emma saved my life,” he said.
The queen looked up at him like he was insane.
“What do you mean?”
“I choked on something in the kitchen. No one else was around. She gave me the Heimlich.”
She leaned forward, continuing to look at him like he was crazy. “You almost died, and you didn’t think that you should mention it to your own mother? Did you see the doctor?”
“I’m fine.”
Not exactly the truth. He’d had more than one nightmare that he was suffocating since the incident.
The queen threw up her hands. “So she saved your life. Why were you out in public with her?”
“I took her to the carnival as a thank you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “A nice fruit basket wouldn’t suffice?”
“She’s a guest in our country. Isn’t it my diplomatic duty to show her around and make her feel comfortable here?”
“I know you. Don’t get attached,” the queen warned. “We do not need an American mucking up the bloodline. If you can’t control yourself, I’ll have to send her home. I’m sure Miss Farrell could handle it on her own with a couple of the sous chefs.”
His temper flared. Mucking up the bloodline? Threatening to fire Emma? How dare she? He opened his mouth, ready to retort, when the door opened and Beatrice stepped in.
He would save the verbal lashing for after she chose Emma’s idea. He came to stand behind his mother’s desk. She would never send Emma home after seeing her idea. Her ego wouldn’t allow it.
Beatrice curtsied. “Good morning, Your Majesty. Your Highness. Are you ready for your meeting with the bakers?”
Beatrice must have actively chosen to ignore the hostile vibes in the room.
The queen flipped the tabloid picture upside down on her desk and nodded.
Maya and Emma entered the room. Maya strutted in and scanned the room, almost certainly looking for John.
She pouted when she didn’t see him. Emma looked at Leo, and he nodded.
Clarissa, one of the maids, was guarding the gingerbread house in the hallway.
“Good morning, Your Majesty,” Maya said, curtsying with a flourish. “We’re excited to present our ideas.”
Eleanor pressed her fingertips together. “Wonderful. What have you come up with?”
Maya pulled out a couple of clumsy drawings and laid them on the queen’s desk.
“You can’t go wrong with a classic tiered cake.
We can make a ten-layer cake that’s half as tall as your ballroom.
We could make it in the colors of Lynoria or airbrush it with edible silver-and-gold paint. People will talk about it forever.”
The queen pressed her lips together. She wasn’t impressed. “And this one?”
“A map of Lynoria with an edible base—our customers love our blondies. We could map the landmarks and rivers with icing.” Maya seemed less sure of herself now that the cake idea hadn’t been met with enthusiasm.
“I see. And your final idea?”
“We could make a life-sized replica of Prince John out of individual macarons. Or any member of the royal family,” she added hurriedly.
The queen was silent for a moment. “Perhaps I was unclear,” she began.
Maya’s face fell.
“Oh, Your Majesty,” Emma piped up, “forgive the interruption. We have one more idea. A visual aid might be more helpful.”
Maya’s nostrils flared, and she glared at Emma.
Emma darted into the hallway and returned with a small gingerbread house, elaborately decorated. It even had what looked like stained glass windows. How had she pulled it off?
She put it on the desk and offered the queen a separate square of iced gingerbread to taste.
“To capture the festive season and honor the illustrious history of Lynoria, we thought we could do a gingerbread replica of the castle, complete with a variety of desserts for the grounds. Everything will be edible, and whatever you want—tarts, macarons, cook—uh, biscuits.”
The queen leaned forward and looked at it. She nibbled on a corner of the gingerbread piece. The faintest hint of a smile appeared at the corner of her lips.
“Is that rosewater?”
Emma nodded.
“Very well. How big can you make it?”
“We can assemble it in the ballroom if necessary. I would estimate it could be at least a meter tall if we get the correct pans.”
The queen nodded. “Send your requests to the kitchen. We’ll source everything immediately. And you’ll still incorporate the croissants? My Ruby loves them so.”
“Of course. Anything you want,” Emma said.
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Maya said with a frown.
Leo winked at Emma, and then they were gone.
A sense of victory filled him. That was as enthusiastic an affirmation as he’d ever seen his mother give. Emma would pull it off. And he would help her.
He had one foot out the door when his mother’s voice stopped him.
“Leo?”
“Yes, Mother?”
“I meant what I said. Don’t disappoint me.”
He looked at her but didn’t offer a reply. He shut the door rather roughly behind him and went to find Emma.
“Emma,” he called. Maya turned to look at him and rolled her eyes. She kept walking, but Emma waited for him.
“I knew you’d pull it off. Believe it or not, that was a rave review from my mother.”
“She could have fooled me.”
“She’s forever withholding with her praise. Except for Ruby. I’m about to head into town to meet with the architect. Would you like to accompany me?”
Emma perked up. “Um, yes. As long as we don’t get chased by paparazzi again. Maybe I could disguise myself as a bush.”
He laughed. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I’ll meet you in the courtyard in half an hour.”
“Emma, this is Kat. Kat, Emma,” Leo said.
“I hear you’re an architect,” Emma said enthusiastically. “That must be such interesting work.”
The community kitchen smelled like rich, savory stew.
A winter storm was expected tonight, and he had just dropped off some fresh vegetables and an extra dozen loaves of bread.
A pile of blankets was waiting in his truck to be taken to the homeless shelter next.
Emma had insisted they stop to add a hundred pairs of clean socks and hygiene products to the care package.
Kat waved a hand. “Eh, it’s a lot of banks and car dealerships. But I’m very excited about the prince’s plans for the community,” she said.
“What plans?” Emma turned to him.
“Nothing,” he said quickly. When she raised an eyebrow, he yielded. “We’ll talk about that later. Thanks for meeting us, Kat. I have an unusual request.”
She smiled and leaned forward. “Go on. I’m intrigued.”
“We need you to create a gingerbread-compatible blueprint for the castle and grounds. Something that’s easy to replicate and similar enough to the castle to be recognizable, but not so intricate that it would take weeks to assemble.”
“Okay,” she said slowly.
“And we need them as quickly as possible. Tomorrow would be great.”
“Well, I better make a trip to the library and scrounge up the official blueprints,” Kat said. “I’ll email them to you.”
“Excellent. You can send the bill to the castle for this one. Feel free to include a hefty charge for the rush order.”
“Any news on the other project?” she asked hesitantly, one hand on her purse.
Emma leaned forward in interest.
“I’ll be making my presentation after the ball,” he said.
She smiled and looked pleased. “Excellent. I’ll get started on these right away.”
Kat left, and Emma turned to him. “Okay, you have to spill the details. What are these plans for the community? Are you building a Cheesecake Factory?”
He scoffed. “No. We’re building…well, I’ll just show you after we stop at the shelter.”
“Let’s go.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the community kitchen with a wave at Gus.
Gus gave him a thumbs-up before they exited.
“Okay,” Leo said after they had dropped off the supplies at the homeless shelter. The staff had been delighted to receive backups for what was sure to be a very cold night. “I’ll take you by the site.”
“I’m so intrigued. You’re being very mysterious.” Emma hopped in his truck, and they wound through the tight streets of Hollybrook.
They drove past the park, beyond a string of houses decorated with lights and snowflakes and inflatable Santas. Even the postboxes were topped with knitted scenes of Christmas trees and reindeer. So much fuss for one holiday.
They arrived at the edge of the village, where acres of empty snow-covered land butted up against the mountain that ringed the lake.
They got out and walked along the edge. She glanced at him, clearly waiting for him to speak.
He hadn’t told many people about the project. There was always a decent chance his parents would say no. It was a massive undertaking, but the royal philanthropy fund would cover the bulk of it, and they could always do fundraising.
“I have a plan,” he began. “I want to build a sort of complex with services for the community. A new library, a playground, a domestic violence shelter, a community garden. I’d like to relocate the community kitchen too, but I’m not sure if they’ll go for that.”
Some of the color had drained out of Emma’s face. Had he said something to offend her?
But in a minute, she spoke as if nothing had happened. “Wow. Are there are lot of domestic violence survivors in the village?”
“Not exactly, but the existing shelters in Avolis, the capital, are woefully outdated. We need a new space to bring people so the others can be renovated.”
“How awful.”
Leo nodded.
“Can I make a suggestion?” she asked.
“Of course.”
She averted her eyes and stared at the lot. “Make sure your shelter is pet-friendly. A lot of victims delay leaving when shelters don’t accept animals. No one should have to leave their pet behind.”
He stared for a moment. “I didn’t realize that. I’ll make sure it’s in the plans.”
“Good. Why were you so reluctant to talk about it?”
“I’m not sure it’ll be approved. My parents are often…reluctant to greenlight pricier philanthropy projects because they don’t provide income in the same way that tourism projects do. Most of our GDP comes from tourism,” he explained.
Emma nodded and surveyed the lot. “I think it’s beautiful. What a gift it would be to your community.”
Leo shrugged. “It’s the least we could do. We have a duty to protect and provide for our citizens, and sometimes I think they—we—forget.”
A snowflake landed on the end of his nose. The storm would be upon them soon.
She turned her gaze to the sky. “You have such a beautiful country. I love it here. It feels a little bit magical.”
“You should see it in the spring,” he said. “The foothills are covered in wildflowers, and there’s great hiking.”
“Cooper loves to hike,” Emma said, but it sounded like her mind was far away.
She wouldn’t be here in the spring.
“I can threaten to withhold the gingerbread display unless your parents agree to your plans,” she said with a cheeky smile.
“Then they’d have you tossed in the dungeon. We can’t have that.”
“Would you visit me? And slide baguettes through the bars?”
“Of course,” he said with a smile. He glanced at his watch. Shit. “I’m going to have to take you back. I have a couple more appointments this afternoon before the storm hits.”
She shook her head. “I’ll walk back. I love to walk in the snow.”
“You can’t do that,” he said. “It’s like five kilometers, and the storm will be starting in earnest soon.”
She scoffed. “I’m from New York. We walk that far in blizzards just to get to our preferred breakfast spot. Trust me, I’ll be fine.”
Something about the idea made him uneasy. But she was dressed warmly enough, and she was a grown woman. She wasn’t even a citizen, so he couldn’t order her to obey him even if he wanted to.
“If you’re sure,” he said. “Here—let me give you my phone number in case you run into any trouble.”
Their fingers brushed as she handed over her phone, and a shockwave ran through him. Had she felt it too?
He entered his number and gave it back to her.
“Be safe,” he said firmly.
“You too.”
She turned on her heel and disappeared back toward town.