13. 13
13
Edie
K alle Erickson is an intelligent man. I’ve seen proof of this—or at least I think I did, because, now, there’s no evidence of anything inside that pretty head of his.
Or maybe he’s still intelligent but the beer he shared with his brothers has wiped out any other feelings.
He proposed to me. Then he said all this nice stuff, how I’m his best friend, and then he goes out with Fenella Carrington.
Hell, yeah, I’m mad.
I got Mathias’s text after that, and told him I have to be here all night but to come over if he has time. It’s possible I was a little more flirtatious in my response than usual because why wouldn’t I when the man who just proposed marriage was leaving to go on a date?
Who does that?
Technically, it wasn’t a proposal, but still.
I can’t even look at Kalle when he leaves. We were having a moment … But maybe we weren’t, because—only friends.
Just friends because that’s how it’s always been. That’s how we’ve always wanted it .
So why did my stomach twist into a knot when Kalle showed up wearing his favourite jeans, the ones I helped him track down online because he needed athletic fit because his thighs are so muscular, and his dark purple shirt with the white squiggles that make his eyes even bluer.
It’s his date shirt. His favourite date shirt and he’s never once worn it with me.
I had to look at him then because I can’t not. It’s like he’s a magnet and I’m a piece of metal.
He probably wore the shirt because it matches Fenella’s eyes.
Seeing him leave to meet her does things to me. The ego takes a beating; the whole episode has done a number on my self-esteem. I’ve never had an issue with self-confidence. I know who I am, and my worth, but a half-hearted proposal because we’re friends? It doesn’t feel nice. It’s as if Kalle smashed a mallet into a gong and the vibrations are still being heard.
And then there’s how it felt to have his arms around me. It felt like it shouldn’t feel. Even though Kalle isn’t the most affectionate, we’ve hugged lots of times but that felt… different.
It did a thing to me too.
“Edie? Earth to Edie?”
I come back from my angry internal monologue to find Leah before me. “Sorry, what’s wrong?”
Leah has been at The King’s Hat longer than I have. In fact, Kalle would have given the older woman the job of manager, but she wanted nothing to do with it. “I’m retired,” she had said in her slightly nasally voice. “I’m fine with slinging drinks and helping Luke in the kitchen but no more than that. ”
Luke, her husband, used to be a cook at the castle. Both he and Leah worked there for years, retired at fifty-five with benefits and a nice pension, and then were persuaded to come work for Kalle.
Everyone calls Luke by his nickname, Skywalker, except Leah.
“I wanted to make sure you’ll be okay if Luke and I take off,” Leah says with a concerned frown. “We got the last of the supper crowd plated and served and this lot left—” she waves a hand around the tables— “—are here to drink.”
“It’s all good,” I assure her. “Bethie and Suze are here, and Kalle won’t be late.”
“Oh no? I thought he was out with the American.” Usually I ignore the disdain in Leah’s voice when she talks about Kalle and the women he dates, but right now I want to give Leah a fist bump for being on my side.
“He’s with Fenella but…” Kalle looked good in those jeans and had even replaced his well-worn boots with a nice pair of shoes. I’ve seen Kalle leave for countless dates and I can tell when he’s trying to impress. “I don’t know when he’ll be back,” I admit. “But we’ll be fine. It’s a quiet crowd even with the storm.”
“If you’re sure.” Skywalker will stay for as long as we ask him to, but Leah, despite her words of concern, comes to work, does her shift, and clocks out.
I don’t blame her; my feet hurt after being on them all day, and Leah is a lot older than I am. “Get home and see you tomorrow. Stay dry.”
“Tyler is still in the back if you need an extra set of hands. Or if there’s trouble.”
As soon as Leah says that, the door opens and Princess Lyra blows into the bar with a gust of rain-soaked cool air. Kate McKibbon, her best friend and personal secretary to Prince Odin, is right behind her, shaking the droplets off her hair with a grin.
“I can’t see there being trouble,” I say wryly as Lyra and Kate wave and head for a couple of empty stools.
“I wouldn’t hold my breath,” Leah mutters as she ducks out the back door and I make my way over to play bartender.
“Hey,” I greet them, unable to summon up my usual cheeriness. And it’s not like I’m not pleased to see Princess Lyra; Kalle’s younger sister is like a breath of non-beer-scented air whenever she drops in. The King’s Hat welcomes everyone, but the clientele is primarily men content to sit and drink beer and watch whatever is on the screen. Lyra always gives the place a more fun vibe .
I could do with a vibe of fun tonight.
“What bit you on the bottom?” Lyra demands. “Let me guess: my brother. From the absence of Big and Brawny, I’m guessing he’s not around.”
I roll my eyes. “What can I get you?”
“Information, for a start. We have family dinner tomorrow night, so what mess am I going to walk into? I heard he braved the storm to come talk to Dad today.”
“On Kalle? None to give,” I lie. “Drinks?”
Kate asks for a beer, but Lyra likes them fancy and instructs me step-by-step on how to make something called a Jet Pilot.
“Because I’m stuck here, and can’t fly away,” she says as I set the cocktail in front of her.
“I thought you were going back to Chicago tomorrow?” Kate asks her. All it takes is one look at her for me to deduce that Lyra dragged her here because of Kate’s mood
A glance around the bar tells me Bethie and Suze have everything under control and I settle in to do my part to cheer up Kate.
Like me, Kate is born and bred in Battle Harbour, with family sprinkled on every street. I know her brother Jonathan, who is a good friend of Kalle’s.
“I’m not going anywhere with this storm.” Lyra waves her arms like she’s pretending to be a tornado. “Rain, rain, go away. I thought I’d hang out for a few more days and see what you decide.” She nudges Kate with her shoulder.
“Still haven’t made up your mind about going to Saint Pierre with Odin?” I ask Kate. Odin abdicating his spot in the succession means there is nothing official holding him in Laandia. Lady Camille— Princess Camille now—will be taking over as prefect of the island country of Saint Pierre at the end of the year when her father retires, so the two will be moving there when they return from their honeymoon.
Kate, as Odin’s secretary, was invited to relocate, as was Camille’s secretary, Jackson, who came with her from Saint Pierre.
Kate shakes her head with frustration. “It’s a good offer and seems like a nice place, but I don’t know. Laandia is my home.”
“And then there’s Jackson,” Lyra says slyly. Jackson, from what I heard, declined Camille’s offer and will be staying in Laandia.
“He shouldn’t have anything to do with it,” Kate snaps, uncharacteristically for her.
“Trouble in paradise?” I ask sympathetically.
“There is no paradise because Jackson refuses to acknowledge… anything. ”
I mirror Kate’s frown. “I saw the two of you at the wedding. The whole town saw the two of you ga-ga over each other. The boy is crazy about you, so what’s the big deal?”
“Apparently he’s not.” I hear the hurt in Kate’s voice. “I thought we had something but the day after the wedding, once Camille and Odin left, it was all business with him. He… kissed me at the wedding,” she admits. “I thought it meant something.”
I feel bad for Kate but her trouble is a welcome distraction from my whatever it is going on with Kalle. “I’m not sure I can be much help, but have you talked to him?” I ask.
Kate rolls her eyes. “Jackson isn’t much of a talker.”
“But can he kiss?” Lyra wants to know.
“I’m not answering that,” Kate says in a prim voice studying the bottles lined up behind the bar. “If I say he’s an amazing kisser, you’ll pity me more if it doesn’t work out between us. If I say he’s not great, you’ll look at him funny if we do get together.”
“I’ve never really looked at it that way,” Lyra muses.
“Don’t look at him in any way,” Kate tells her.
“I’m looking at him with the death glare unless he makes you happy.”
“Walk up and kiss him,” I suggest. “Men aren’t good at talking about stuff. At least not the men around here.”
“That’s a great idea,” Lyra cheers. “Only, I told her the same thing and she poo-pooed it.”
“I’m not doing that,” Kate protests. “If he wants to kiss me, he can kiss me.”
“Well, aren’t we an independent woman from the 1950s,” I drawl, heavy on the sarcasm .
Kate’s offended expression makes me laugh and makes Lyra switch her attention to me. “So what did my brother say—or not say— that got you hot and bothered? Not in the good way,” Lyra adds. “Cranky-pants bothered.”
I pause for a moment, wondering if it would be a good idea to tell them what he said. If I wasn’t so annoyed, I wouldn’t have said a word, but Lyra is his sister, and Kate is practically family. “Kalle came up with the idiotic idea that he should marry me.”
Lyra spits a mouthful of her cocktail across the bar.
“He what?” Kate gasps.
“He went to talk to the king about Odin and ended up thinking it was a good idea for me to marry him. FYI, it was a pretty pathetic proposal. Not that it was a real proposal. Definitely not.”
“Did he—was it—did he actually say will you marry me ?” Lyra’s eyes are practically popping from her head.
“We didn’t get that far. It was more of a sketching out the parameters.”
“I’m amazed he got as far as he did.” Lyra gives me a searching look. “After Mom died, Kalle vowed never to marry.”
Hearing any of the family mention Queen Selene always gives me a jolt of sadness. Today it’s a little different since I’m reminded that Kalle will be looking for a woman to replace his mother. “He never told me that,” I murmur.
Lyra shrugs. “It might have been just something for a guy to say after he loses his mother, but you have to admit, Brother Dearest has sort of been on the no-marriage path for a while.”
“Maybe,” I concede. Kalle has never been open to commitment. He likes to play the field and he likes to have fun. When a woman starts thinking long-term and begins to check out the window of the Jade’s Jewels in town, it’s his signal to bail.
I’ve seen it happen so many times I’ve lost count.
“Why haven’t the two of you…?” Kate begins but trails off. Maybe it’s the way I quickly shift my gaze to her, knowing exactly what is about to come out of her mouth. “I’m only asking because of the half a beer.” She gestures to the half-empty pint glass before her. “You and Kalle. What’s the real story?”
“I’m not going to serve you if you ask things like that.”
“You make him smile.” Kate turns to Lyra. “He smiles so much more when Edie is around, don’t you think? And Kalle is…” Kate widens her eyes and gives me a knowing nod.
“Don’t talk like that about my brother,” Lyra snaps. “Watching you and Gunnar—” She makes a variety of kissing noises, plus a motion with her tongue— “—was bad enough. Take your heart-emoji eyes away from the rest of them.”
“I don’t have heart-emoji eyes for Kalle,” Kate protests. “The man is—” She falters under Lyra’s glare. “He’s a little, maybe kind of… he’s totally hot,” she finishes in a rush, dropping her head and grabbing her beer. “He was Sexiest Man of the Year for the magazine.”
“They all were,” Lyra grumbles with another slurp of the straw. “It made them all positively insufferable.”
“I love that Bo was first of them to get it.” I laugh, remembering how Kalle had discredited People magazine, telling all who listened about how they objectified men. It had been totally sour grapes because Kalle said nothing when he was featured on the cover two years later. “Besides, I’ve always thought Bo has the best bottom of the bunch. ”
“Oh, totally,” Kate agrees.
“Stop!” Lyra cries, cupping her hands over her ears. “La lala la la… I can’t hear you.”
“You have to admit, you’re kind of perfect for Kalle.” Not to be distracted, Kate heads back to her earlier question. “Perfect for each other.”
“People perfect for each other are boring,” Lyra complains.
“Like you and Spencer?” Kate asks, mirroring her friend’s sly tone from earlier.
I’ve long had the suspicion that Spencer had more than familial feelings for Princess Lyra. I guess I’m not the only one.
Lyra looks aghast. “Did you start drinking before we came out? You’re a spicy one tonight.”
Kate heaves a huge sigh. “I just. Don’t care,” she manages. “And I’m sad. I either lose my job or my boyfriend. Only I don’t know if he’s my boyfriend because he won’t kiss me again and that’s all I’ve been thinking about.”
Things are worse than I thought. Before I change my mind, I line up three shot glasses on the bar. “I’m sure this won’t make it better,” I say, pulling bottles.
“But it will certainly help.” Lyra grabs the shot as soon as I finish pouring the spirits and downs it in a mouthful. “More please.”
Kate puts her elbow on the bar and slowly sips. “Tell me about your reasoning for staying just friends with Kalle,” she invites. “So I can get behind you and Mathias.”
Lyra makes a face. “It’ll have to be a pretty good reason for me.”
I down my shot, the half-ounce of cranberry juice lessening the heat of the vodka, melon liqueur and amaretto, but not much. “ We don’t like Mathias?” I ask Lyra, checking the door to make sure he’s not walking in.
“ We don’t have a say in it,” Kate answers before her friend. “ We are your friend and want you to be happy. Are we friends?” she asks with a shy smile. “I mean, we got along really well at the wedding. At least, I thought we did.”
Lyra looks at me expectantly, replacing her usual blasé with a wistful gaze.
Princess Lyra wants to be my friend. And aww…
“I don’t make Killer Kool-aid for just anyone,” I tell them, pouring another round. I also don’t normally drink while on duty, but it’s been a strange day. Besides, with another wave of the storm rolling in later tonight, a few drinks under my belt might help me sleep with the thunder.
“Mathias is perfect,” Lyra says. “And boring. So what happened with you and Kalle?”
“Nothing,” I admit.
“Is that the problem? Haven’t you ever?”
“There may have been a few times over the years that I… I thought about it,” I confess, stacking the shot glasses.
“Why didn’t you?” Kate wants to know. “More than think about it?”
“Yeah, you could have just walked up and kissed him,” Lyra echoes and Kate makes a face at her friend.
“It’s not that easy,” I say. “My father worked for his father. Your father. The king.”
“He doesn’t work for him anymore,” Lyra points out. “Besides, half the town works for my father. ”
“It felt… weird,” I admit, wondering if the alcohol is making me open up like a video of a flower blooming in time release. “Like it was crossing a line that shouldn’t be crossed.”
“This isn’t the time of Jane Austen,” Kate points out.
“So get over that,” Lyra adds.
“Says the princess in the castle.”
“It would be the same thing for you and Spencer.” Kate nudges Lyra. “Haven’t you thought of that?”
“I do my best not to think of Spencer Laz and that in the same thought. And no one brought him into the conversation.”
“I brought him in,” Kate says proudly.
“Take him out. You want to know about Edie and Kalle, so focus on that.” Lyra’s tone has the authority of her father when she wants to, which is just one more reason why she has followers all over the world. Not just social media followers but actual people who would follow her into a pool at midnight or onto a plane across the world to watch a football game. Lyra has everything going for her—beauty, charm, social status. Loving family.
She reminds me of Fenella Carrington.
“I’m going to add my two cents before you ask,” Lyra continues.
“I don’t think she’s going to ask,” Kate whispers.
“I think you’d make an amazing queen.”
I down another shot quickly, closing my eyes against the flame licking my stomach. “That’s what he said,” I mutter.
“Well, what’s the problem?” Kate demands.
“We’re not together,” I say. “And won’t ever be.”