CHAPTER 8
T he next morning, as a spectacular sunrise cast a golden glow over the snow-dusted castle, a royal valet put her mother’s designer suitcases into a shiny black Rolls-Royce.
Ava, stressed, rushed out the front door and headed straight for her mother.
“Mother, I thought Lydia said you were leaving at nine. It’s only seven. I almost missed you…”
“Change of plans,” her mother said. “I wanted to get an earlier start. I was going to call you when I got to Paris.” She laughed when she saw Stormy run around, sniffing all her bags. “Isn’t he adorable?”
Ava bit her tongue from saying what she thought of Stormy as she nervously twisted her watch around her wrist.
She was mentally and physically exhausted. She’d hardly slept. She’d tossed and turned all night. She hadn’t just been worried about getting her mother’s permission for the engagement. It had been her mother’s question, asking if she truly loved Henry, that had really had her head spinning.
She didn’t know why she was obsessing so much. Of course she loved Henry. She was kicking herself for not immediately telling her mother that.
She had known Henry her whole life. She’d always known this was the man she was going to marry, because her parents had set it up.
She’d never had a problem with the plan.
She knew it was her duty. While she knew many people thought an arranged marriage was old-fashioned, she appreciated that there was a time-honored way to make sure a marriage would be a successful partnership, because at the end of the day, especially in a royal family, marriage was an institution, a job—and a job she took very seriously.
She had always appreciated that Henry felt the same way.
While she was angry with herself for not immediately answering her mother’s question and setting her straight, deep down she knew the real reason why she hadn’t spoken up.
And that was what had kept her up all night.
She knew when her mother had asked if she loved Henry, she’d really been asking if she was romantically in love with Henry, because she knew her mother was a hopeless romantic.
Ava remembered being a young child and discovering her mother’s love of romance after finding her watching romantic comedy movies and reading romance novels whenever she had a spare moment.
She had called her indulgence her “escape” and said there was no better way to spend your time than surrounding yourself with love, any way you could.
When the world got too hard to handle, escaping into a good love story always gave her renewed hope for a happily-ever-after.
She knew her mother believed in fate, grand romantic gestures, stolen glances, and the kind of love that defied all expectations—because for her, romance was more than a fleeting feeling. Love was a commitment to always listen to and follow the heart.
Ava also remembered how her father used to tease her mother about her soft spot for romance. While he was a practical man, duty bound, smart, and steadfast, he’d be the first to tell you a romantic he was not.
Henry was the same way, so it had never bothered her.
It was what she was used to seeing. She knew her father had loved her mother, even if he hadn’t shown it with romantic, flowery gestures.
They’d still had love and that had been what mattered.
They’d been partners who complemented each other and made each other better.
Ava believed that was what was really important.
And that was what she wanted for her and Henry once they got married and started their lives together. She didn’t need silly romantic gestures, candlelight dinners, slow dances, or love letters. She was happy to leave all that nonsense in the movies and romance novels where it belonged.
“I’ll call you later,” her mother said as she got into the car.
Ava was jolted back to the present. “Wait!” She grabbed the door before the driver could shut it. “I need to—” But the rest of what she was going to say was drowned out by Stormy barking as he tried to jump into the car with the queen.
The queen laughed, charmed. “I’m sorry, Stormy, but you can’t go with me this time. You have to stay with Ava.”
Ava and Stormy looked equally worried.
“What? No,” Ava said. “I can’t watch him. I have the party to finish planning—”
“And that’s why I’m leaving Lydia here in case you need any help or there’s anything else you need,” her mother said, smiling sweetly.
“Can she make the dog disappear?” Ava asked, serious.
Her mother ignored the sarcasm. “I told you I can stay if you need me—”
“No,” Ava said before her mother could finish. “There’s nothing you can do. I’ve got everything handled.” She pointed at Stormy. “But I don’t have time to deal with him. ”
Stormy tilted his head, listening to Ava.
“Where’s this dog trainer?” Ava asked. “I thought you said he would be picking up the dog before you left.”
“He’s apparently running a little late,” her mother answered.
Ava rolled her eyes. “Maybe he needs to be trained, too.”
Her mother smiled patiently. “Justin is a world-class trainer. His Puppy Bootcamps have a huge waiting list. We’re lucky he agreed to train Stormy. He’s a dog whisperer—”
“A dog whisperer ?” Ava laughed. “Seriously? Does he read their fortunes, too?”
Her mother ignored the sarcasm and gave Stormy one last hug. “Now you be a good boy.” She buried her face in his fur. “I love you. I miss you already. I’ll see you soon.”
Ava’s eyes widened. This is unbelievable , she thought. The dog was already getting more affection than she’d ever gotten from her mother.
Ava took a deep breath. “Mother, may I please tell Henry you’re going to announce our engagement at the party? We want to follow our royal tradition. It’s important to us, and we hope it’s important to you as well.”
“I’ve already alerted our press pool that we will be introducing a new member of the royal family on Christmas Eve at the party,” her mother said.
“Henry,” Ava said, breathing a sigh of relief.
“No. Stormy,” her mother corrected her.
All the color drained out of Ava’s face. “What?!”
“It’s going to be a huge surprised to everyone,” her mother said, beaming. “He’s our first royal pet.”
“What about Henry? Our proposal?” Ava sputtered.
“Valentine’s Day would be better,” her mother said as she shut the door herself.
“Mother, wait!” Ava cried out. She frantically pounded on the window, but the car took off.
The last thing Ava saw was her mother waving to Stormy.
As Stormy ran after the Rolls-Royce, barking, Ava buried her head in her hands and screamed.
? ? ?
Back in the Grand Hall, Ava anxiously circled the giant Christmas tree, waiting for Henry to pick up her FaceTime call.
Stormy followed her, wagging his tail.
When the duke finally popped up on her screen, Ava tried to smile, but it was strained.
“Ava, did we have a call scheduled?” the duke asked, confused.
“No, but I talked to my mother about our engagement announcement—”
“Fantastic. I’ll tell my family right away and—”
“Wait…” Ava interrupted.
The duke frowned, waiting for her to continue.
She took a deep breath. “I…um…”
“Is there a problem?” the duke asked. “You said you were going to handle this.”
“And I’m going to. I mean…I did,” Ava said, talking faster than usual. “But before you tell your family or anyone else, my mother wants to…talk to you first. You know, to officially give you permission. It’s royal protocol. She’s going to call you.”
“Excellent,” the duke said.
As Ava forced herself to smile, she felt a bead of sweat trickle down the back of her neck.
She was a terrible liar, and her body was rebelling.
She hated to lie, but she felt like in this situation, she didn’t have a choice.
She told herself it was okay, because this wasn’t an actual lie if she was just buying herself a little more time to make it the truth.
She just needed to have a proper conversation with her mother, and then she was confident she and Henry would be able to go ahead as planned to announce their engagement at the Christmas party.
Ava’s eyes grew huge when she saw Edgar in the doorway watching her.
“Henry, I have to go. I’ll call you later, bye,” she hung up before Henry could say anything.
Edgar walked toward her.
She cringed. “How much of that did you hear?”
“Enough to know you didn’t tell the duke the truth,” Edgar said.
“How could I, Edgar? How could I tell Henry my mother has picked a dog over him to announce at the party?” Ava asked, as she anxiously twisted her watch around her wrist.
When she spotted Stormy sniffing the Christmas tree, she marched over to him. “Don’t you dare touch that,” she demanded, hands on her hips.
Stormy barked and wagged his tail, like he was ready to play.
“I mean it,” she said sternly. “Don’t touch the tree. Don’t touch anything. Do you hear me?”
When Stormy barked twice, Edgar tried to hide his smile.
Ava wasn’t amused. She walked back to Edgar. “This dog…I just can’t….What was my mother thinking? If my father were here, none of this would be happening.” Ava’s voice cracked with emotion as a sudden wave of grief washed over her.
That was the way it had been with her. Her sadness came in unexpected waves.
When her father had passed away, she hadn’t taken time to grieve.
She’d had to step in and help her mother take over dozens of royal duties.
Work was her ultimate distraction and she’d been on automatic pilot ever since.
Usually, she could handle anything, but every once in a while, like now, she’d say her father’s name or think about him, and all her pent-up emotions would come rushing to the surface and the pain would suffocate her.
Edgar put his arm around her. She leaned into him for comfort.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said gently.
But Ava didn’t know if she’d ever feel okay again. What she felt was alone. She fought back tears. “I really miss him,” she said softly.
“I know. I do, too,” Edgar said. “He would be so proud of all you’re doing to pay tribute to him with this party and continuing the tradition of raising money for all the charities.”
Ava took a deep breath. “His parties were legendary. It’s a lot to try and live up to.”
“And if anyone can do it, you can,” Edgar told her. “You’re the Princess of Skydovia. You can do anything you set your mind to.”
Ava looked into Edgar’s eyes. “That’s what my father always used to say…”
Edgar nodded a knowing smile. “I know. So, believe it.”
? ? ?
The Library was the room in the castle that had some of the most unique Christmas decorations. That was thanks to her mother, who loved using the Library to try out new trends.
This year, while the Library’s floor-to-ceiling bookcases and giant picture windows were trimmed with traditional fresh evergreen garlands, wreaths, and white twinkle lights, it was the Library’s Christmas tree that really grabbed attention.
Because this was no ordinary tree. This Christmas tree stood six-feet tall and was made up entirely of books that were expertly stacked on top of each other so they formed the shape of a Christmas tree.
It was a true work of art.
Each book layer of the tree was carefully arranged in a tapered shape to match how a Christmas tree would look.
The book covers were all in red and green, with their spines facing out.
White twinkle lights were woven between the books, adding to the magic, while a crystal star was perched at the top.
Ava was adjusting one of the books in the middle of the tree when Stormy came running up barking.
He eyed the books, wagging his tail.
“Don’t you even think about it,” Ava warned him.
Stormy stepped closer to the tree.
“No. Stop!” Ava demanded and tried to grab him.
But it was too late. Stormy already had a book in his mouth.
Ava froze as the tree swayed. She knew if Stormy pulled the book out of the tree the whole thing would come crashing down like dominoes.
Ava begged him in her nicest, most soothing voice. “Please, let go of that book.”
Stormy wagged his tail.
“That’s right,” Ava said, encouraged. “Just drop it. Let it go…”
Stormy let the book go.
Ava breathed a huge sigh of relief…until Stormy grabbed the book again and yanked it out of the tree!
“Nooooo!” Ava cried as the entire tree came crumbling down.
In seconds, all the books that had taken hours to stack up perfectly were scattered all over the place.
Stormy dropped the book he’d pulled out of the tree at Ava’s feet, looking very proud of himself.
“What have you done?” she cried out.
Stormy took off zooming around the room as fast as he could, jumping on the couches and chairs.
Feeling totally defeated, Ava didn’t have the energy to try and chase after him.
But when Stormy skidded to a stop in front of a display of vintage nutcrackers that were lined up along the fireplace hearth, Ava’s heart skipped a beat.
He froze.
Ava froze.
“No…” she pleaded with him. “Not the nutcrackers.”
Stormy barked, excited, and raced toward them…