Chapter Thirteen
Sadie
“Do you have some time right now?” Beckett asked. “I could give you a proper tour of Hartley’s Nest. So far, you’ve only seen my house and the nature trail, but there’s lots more to see here.”
We stood by my car after loading my materials into it. It delighted me that Beckett didn’t want me to leave right away. We’d be seeing each other later for our date, but I liked the idea of spending more time with him now too.
“I don’t have to rush off,” I said. “And I’d love to see more of Hartley’s Nest. Before we started the event, I perhaps heard a goose. Is that possible?”
Beckett laughed. “It’s more than possible.
It’s probable. Isaac, who is our veterinarian, has a Canadian goose patient right now.
Someone found the poor thing caught up in a wire fence and brought her to us.
Cut up pretty bad from struggling with the fence, but she’s on the mend now. C’mon, I’ll take you to see her first.”
I didn’t hesitate for a moment to take the hand he stretched out to me.
We held hands now as if we’d been doing so for ages.
I loved the feel of Beckett’s palm pressed to my palm, his fingers intertwined with my fingers.
I hadn’t had a great deal of touch in my life aside from Orla and Fionn who I’d hugged often.
In secret. This public hand-holding was all new to me, and Beckett’s hands were glorious.
“Hey, how does a man who spends more time on the business side of things here at Hartley’s Nest have such rugged hands?” I loosened my hold on him to inspect his palm which was rough and lined and masculine.
“That’s due to the fact that my brothers are always forcing me to be involved in projects.” Beckett released our hands all the way and studied his palms. “They are a mess, aren’t they? Sorry if they’re too abrasive.”
“They’re not.” I grabbed his hand before he could stuff it into the front pocket of the running pants he had worn to participate in my session. He wasn’t getting out of holding my hand as we toured Hartley’s Nest. “They’re perfect.”
He ran the fingers of his other hand over the top of mine. “These are perfect. So soft. So smooth. Delicate.”
His gentle stroking somehow reached all parts of my body, not just my hands. Waves of desire coursed through me, shocking dormant places wide awake. Places that had possibly never been awake.
Cian and I had been intimate. My parents didn’t know that, however, but one night after a royal gala—and perhaps one too many glasses of wine—Cian had convinced me to let him come up to my chambers. He’d gotten me undressed and, with my consent, had claimed me.
And that was what it had been. A claiming.
Certainly not love-making. We’d united in this way in secret, of course, for my father probably would have had Cian beheaded if he’d realized I was no longer a virgin.
I’d kept thinking our relations would improve and I’d get some satisfaction out of the pairings.
But, alas, they did not and I had not. I actually didn’t think Cian had either. It was all rather . . . mechanical.
If merely holding hands with Beckett, however, felt like this, my orgasm-faking years might finally be over.
I came back to the here and now where Beckett was still tracing his fingertips over my knuckles, causing a slow fire to lick at my insides.
“Massage,” I said.
Beckett gave me a quizzical look. “Massage?”
“I should add massage to my offerings.” I wiggled our joined hands. “The way you are touching my hands made me think that massage would be a great addition to my services. I should take a class in massage therapy.”
“I’m happy to be your practice dummy,” Beckett said with a grin.
“Maybe I’ll practice tonight,” I said. “On our date.”
Beckett closed his eyes and hummed before he repositioned our hands so they were clasped again. He tugged me along as we walked on a dirt path toward a collection of structures. As we neared, it became clear they were animal enclosures.
“What else do you want to do on our date?” he asked. “We could go to dinner. Or if you’re not opposed to starting the date earlier so we have enough daylight, we could do something fall-ish like the corn maze—”
“A corn maze?”
“Yeah. A farm not too far from here cuts this huge maze into their cornfield every year,” Beckett explained.
“They always post an aerial shot of it.” He dug out his phone and tapped at it before saying, “Opal Hill Farm Corn Maze, Greenridge, Vermont.” After another tap, he held the phone out to me. “This year it’s a dragon.”
I took the phone in my free hand—because we hadn’t let go of each other—and gaped at the detailed dragon cut into a huge, yellow field. “That’s incredible. How do they do that?”
“You can ask them because after seeing the awe on your face, we’re definitely doing the corn maze today. Is like 3:00 too early for our date?”
I checked the time on Beckett’s phone. “It’s only noon now,” I said. “So if we speed through this tour, I can get my materials home, freshen up, and—”
“And I’ll pick you up because the maze is close to Slater’s Pond,” Beckett finished.
“Okay.” Having Beckett come to my doorstep sent a jolt through me.
Then I considered having him come to my bedroom and I nearly turned to ash due to the heat that caused to rush through me.
“We can still have dinner too.” Beckett took his phone back and got us walking toward the enclosures again. “We’ll go after the maze if that sounds good to you.”
“That sounds great to me.”
We paused in front of an enclosure that housed a lovely goose with a long, sleek, black neck and white and black body. Several patches of feathers were missing, however, where Beckett’s brother had attended to the bird’s injuries.
It let out a honk at us that startled me, making me jump.
“She’s a real trumpet player, isn’t she?” Beckett laughed. “She’s doing well though. Isaac said she’ll be good to go back into the wild next week probably. There have been some geese hanging around near a small pond on our property. We think she belongs with them and they’re waiting for her.”
“That’s wonderful.” I glanced at the other enclosures, many of which were filled.
“You help so many animals here. It must be so rewarding to be a part of something like this.” I wandered to an enclosure with an owl in it.
Its yellow eyes tracked me as if I was prey.
It was both fascinating and haunting. “You’re the business guy, Vanessa is the artist, and Isaac is the veterinarian,” I said.
“What do your other family members do here?”
“Logan is our groundskeeper and handyman. He keeps everything in top shape,” Beckett said.
“Joshua works as a wildlife enforcement officer at Granite Cliff National Park with his fiancée, Sylvie. They both recently were promoted to lieutenant actually.” The pride he had for his family was endearing.
“So they carry our mission out to the larger population. And Darius is a wildlife biologist and professor at Northeast Kingdom College. My mom pretty much oversees everything, but she’s been having us handle more lately. ”
“While she enjoys time with Jimmy?” I arched an eyebrow at Beckett. “They are so cute. Jimmy came to see me this morning with a heart-shaped rock. He wants me to make a pendant with it for your mom. He was so sweet about it.”
“That is pretty charming.” Beckett shook his head. “No one would have guessed that Jimmy Slater was a romantic.”
“Maybe he just needed a reason to be romantic.”
“And my mom is that reason,” Beckett said.
I nodded. “And I never told you about the pendant order. I think Jimmy wants to surprise your mom with it.”
Beckett put his index finger to his lip. “The secret is safe with me.”
Which made me wonder how good he was at keeping secrets. If I told him who I really was, could he keep that knowledge to himself? I considered how close he was to his family members though. He’d probably want to tell them, and that would definitely be too many people knowing my real identity.
Too many people that might let it slip out.
Information traveled so quickly these days.
How long would it be before news reached Verdalach?
I’d convinced myself my family and Cian no longer cared where I was, but my disappearance had surely caused a commotion at court and among our subjects by now.
If they could bring me back, it would be quite the victory and victories always increased power.
My father and Cian loved power.
More than they loved me, but I still hadn’t caught sight of any public searches for missing Verdalachian princesses in the news. Maybe no one aside from my family and Cian knew I’d left home.
Still, I dismissed the idea of revealing my true self to Beckett. Too risky. My business had been successfully launched today. I had a date scheduled with a wonderful man. I had so much to look forward to and didn’t want to jeopardize anything.
Including Beckett. Because if my father and Cian knew about him . . . well, our palace had dungeons and father so loved to use them.
I pushed those dark thoughts aside as Beckett took me through Hartley’s Nest. He showed me the rest of the animals they had as patients, the chickens, horses, sheep, and llamas they actually owned, a vegetable and herb garden, the extensive butterfly garden Vanessa tended in the summers, a beautiful, wooden arbor over a gathering space, the farmhouse he and his siblings grew up in, and the narrow dirt roads that led to his siblings’ homes.
“It’s our own little kingdom,” Beckett said as we headed back toward my car.
I bristled at the word kingdom, my thoughts going back to Beckett in a dungeon. Then I immediately thought of the name of my new business, Kalm Kingdom, and the connotation changed for the better.
“It’s amazing here, Beckett. You must have loved growing up in such a lovely place.”
“So much that I never left.” He arrowed an arm toward the road that led to his house.
It had been so easy to leave the palace and my country, my home since I was born. That place hadn’t had any of the magic and love that existed in every speck of dirt at Hartley’s Nest.
“But I’d better leave right now,” I said. “So I can get ready for a date I have in a mere few hours with an exceptional man.”
“Exceptional, you say?” Beckett pressed our still-joined hands against his chest, making me have to take a few steps closer. “That’s a high bar you’re setting there, Sadie.”
“You’ve already reached it.” I looked over his shoulder at the now empty space at the start of the nature trail where I’d held today’s event. “No one has ever helped me like you have, Beckett.”
“You’ve been hanging around with the wrong people then.” He dropped a light kiss to my knuckles then released my hand. “Here, in Greenridge, we help whenever we can, and now you’ll be a part of that helping network with Kalm Kingdom.”
I let out a little squeal. “I still can’t believe how many sessions were booked today. I have so much to prepare. I probably shouldn’t be going on a date.”
Beckett shushed me. “There’s always time for going on a date. Besides, you were technically the one who asked me out on a date so you can’t bail.”
“I wouldn’t dream of bailing.” Reluctantly, I slipped free of Beckett’s grip and backed toward my car. “I’ll see you soon.”
Beckett saluted me and somehow I managed to drive away from him. When I arrived back at Hank’s cabin, a pot of bright orange mums sat on my doorstep. The card said, I hope your event was a success! ~ Hank and Sarah. Beside the flowers was a box of pumpkin muffins baked by Sarah.
I definitely was hanging around the right people now.
Leaving the flowers as decoration for my front step, I took the muffins into the cabin.
After a few more trips, all my session materials were back inside as well.
Grabbing a muffin to nibble on, I went over to the laptop Beckett had loaned me because a business owner needed a computer to see that all the bookings had populated into a calendar Beckett had set up.
The times of the appointments, the services booked, and the clients’ names, addresses, and contact information were all right there with each booking.
Flora hadn’t accepted any booking requests until Wednesday to give me a few days to plan. I was thankful for that because I had a lot to prepare. I really would have to be careful with how much time I spent on leisure activities with Beckett if I wanted Kalm Kingdom to be a real success.
And I wanted that.
But I also wanted Beckett.
I could balance both. My time as a princess had been carefully scheduled after all. I was always expected at some royal function and managed to never miss an appointment. I’d apply those skills here to give both my business and Beckett the time they deserved.
I spent an hour studying the bookings and making notes and plans for how I would conduct the sessions with these clients.
I had general descriptions for my offerings on the Kalm Kingdom website, but I outlined the specifics, growing more excited by the minute.
I had so many ideas flowing out of me and one good thought led to another good thought.
By the time I decided I should probably get ready for my date, I was confident that each of those booked appointments would go splendidly. If they were a fraction as fun and successful as today’s launch event had been, I’d be regularly flying high on this new career of mine.
I only wished I could gush about Kalm Kingdom—and about Beckett—to Orla and Fionn. They’d be so happy to know everything was turning out better than I’d hoped.
And Orla would most likely have some good words of wisdom for my date. I didn’t have any experience with dating, but something told me it wasn’t going to be hard to enjoy dating Beckett Hartley.