CHAPTER 4
J ustin had a moment of mixed feelings as he handed Pixie over to her new adopted family. He knew he’d made the perfect match, but it was still hard to give her up.
The Squires were a young mom and dad with two delightful children, eight and ten years old. Pixie was an early Christmas present for the kids. While Pixie had been trained to fit in beautifully with the family, he knew he would miss the feisty pup and how she always kept him on his toes.
An occupational hazard, falling in love with his students.
“Now you be a good girl for the Squires,” Justin said as he handed Pixie to the little girl who was eagerly waiting with outstretched arms. “Careful, Pixie can be a little wiggly,” he warned her with a smile as he handed Pixie over.
But as soon as Pixie was snuggled in the child’s arms, she became an angel.
No wiggling. No barking. Instead, Pixie licked the little girl’s face, bringing laughter and joy to the entire family.
My job here is done, Justin thought to himself as the dad shook his hand, thanking him again for making their holiday so special. As he walked back to his SUV, he was grateful for another success story.
When the queen had first asked him to come to Skydovia, he thought he’d only be training her new dog, Stormy.
But he quickly learned the queen had several dogs she wanted him to work with and had a list of families who were waiting to meet him.
He’d thanked her for the opportunity to help even more dogs and their owners and had immediately gotten to work.
Oliver and Pixie were his last two students, and now that they’d been dropped off at their “furever” homes, he was finally ready to focus all his attention on training the queen’s new border collie. Stormy was the last shelter dog on his list before he headed back home to America.
As he made his way back to his SUV, he saw a FaceTime call on his phone pop up from his dad.
“Hey, Dad, what’s going on? Is everything okay?” he asked, worried, because he knew with the time change, it was the middle of the night in New York City.
“Everything’s fine,” his dad quickly reassured him. “We just want to know how everything’s going with training the queen’s new dog.”
“Have you seen the castle yet?” his mom chimed in as she got into frame. “What are the Christmas decorations like? I’ve been looking it up online and it looks amazing! Be sure to take lots of pictures.”
Justin laughed at her excitement. “Mom, I’m here to work. I don’t want to look like one of those crazy Americans who are obsessed with the royals and take pictures of everything. They’re just regular people—”
Justin’s mom smiled brightly. “Regular people don’t live in a castle and have crown jewels and wear tiaras and—”
Justin laughed. “Okay, I get it.”
“So, have you been to the castle yet?” she asked eagerly.
Justin nodded. “Yes, I was there this morning to see the queen briefly and meet her new dog, Stormy.”
His mom’s eyes lit up. “Did you meet the princess? I tried looking her up, but there’s not much about her in the press. She apparently stays out of the spotlight, but from the few pictures I’ve seen she seems very pretty—”
“Pretty uptight,” Justin finished for her. “She was all stressed out working with some decorators she had strung up on cables—”
“What?” Justin’s parents said at the same time.
“I know. It was weird. It’s hard to explain,” Justin said with a laugh. “I’m just glad I don’t have to deal with her. She’s not very friendly and really uptight. She’s totally the opposite of her mother, the queen, who’s supercool.”
“A supercool queen and an uptight princess. Sounds like the roles are reversed,” Justin’s dad said with a laugh.
“Just do whatever it takes to get along with everyone. This job is going to be huge for our business. How many people can say they’ve worked for royalty, for a royal family, huh?
No one I know. Especially not Jim Thane and his sons. ”
“Who?” Justin asked, confused.
Justin’s mom leaned closer to the camera. “Your dad’s nemesis he’s been competing with since college. He just opened up a new veterinary clinic a few miles away with his two sons. They both graduated from Cornell.”
“And he never lets me forget about it,” Justin’s dad said with an eye roll. “Wait until he finds out about what you’re doing—”
Justin interrupted quickly. “Dad, remember, I’m not supposed to tell anyone about working for the queen until after I’m done.
I signed a nondisclosure. The NDA is very clear.
I can’t tell anyone. I shouldn’t even be telling you.
This is their first royal pet. She’s going to announce it at their Christmas Eve charity event.
She doesn’t want the paparazzi sniffing around, reporting anything about Stormy until I’ve trained him and he’s ready to meet the world.
I promised her discretion, so please, both of you, don’t tell anyone. ”
“We won’t,” Justin’s parents said in unison.
“Stormy, what a sweet name,” Justin’s mom said, smiling.
“I’m not sure if sweet was the reason he was named that,” Justin said with a laugh. “He’s a typical border collie, full of energy. At the shelter, they said he’s like an unpredictable storm. You never know what he’s going to do next.”
“Then aren’t you the perfect person to train him?” Justin’s mom said with pride.
“Thank you, Mom. I’m going to do everything I can to make this a memorable Christmas for the queen.”
Her smile faded a little. “I hate that we’re going to miss having you here for Christmas.”
Justin’s dad put his arm around his wife. “Honey, he needs to do his job. This is very important for us, for the business—”
“And it’s important for the queen,” Justin added.
“She has been very good to me. A lot of the important connections I’ve made are thanks to her.
I know how much having Stormy means to her.
She told me she has always wanted a dog but hasn’t been able to have one until now.
She really wants this to work for her and her daughter.
I promise as soon as I wrap things up here, I’m heading home. We can have a belated Christmas.”
“And I’ll make your favorite Christmas donuts,” Justin’s mom said.
“The chocolate ones with the peppermint frosting?” Justin asked, excited.
“Of course,” his dad said. “That’s our tradition.”
“It sure is,” Justin said. “And I can’t wait.”
“And then we can finally announce our partnership. Our father and son veterinary clinic, just like we’ve always planned,” Justin’s dad said, beaming with pride.
Justin put down his phone for a moment so his parents couldn’t see his worried reaction.
“Justin, are you still there? Did we lose you? Justin…”
Justin reluctantly brought himself back on camera. He forced a smile. “Yes, sorry, here I am. I had a bad…signal. I need to go. I’ll call you guys later. Go back to sleep.”
“We will,” his mom said, blowing him a kiss. “Good luck!”
“He won’t need it,” Justin’s dad said with certainty. “He’s the best of the best—that’s why the queen has him there. Do us proud, son.”
“I will,” Justin said without hesitation. “Love you guys. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“We love you, too,” Justin’s mom said as his dad nodded in agreement.
The forced smile on Justin’s face faded the moment he hung up the phone. Dread settled over him as he stared off into the distance, thinking about his future working with his dad.
He drew in a deep breath. He had to pull it together and focus on the present and the job he had to do right now.
The last thing he wanted to do was let the queen down.