CHAPTER 9
Justin jumped out of his SUV. “Do you need some help?” he offered.
“That would be great,” the man said, giving him a grateful smile. “My son usually does all the heavy lifting, but he’s on another job right now.” He carefully put the Santa sculpture he was holding onto the cart and held out his hand to Justin. “I’m Ted.”
“Justin.”
They smiled as they shook hands.
“Looks like I came along just at the right time,” Justin said as he eyed two more ice sculptures that were still inside the van. There was a beautiful angel with outstretched wings and an impressive reindeer with antlers. “Wow, these are great.”
Ted smiled proudly. “Thank you. I hope the princess thinks so. She’s a tough one to please.”
“I can see that,” Justin said, smiling. “I saw her earlier decorating one of the rooms—”
“Terrifying, right?” Ted asked with a laugh.
“I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say that—”
“You just haven’t spent enough time with her yet,” Ted said with a knowing look.
Justin laughed. “Okay. Thanks. It’s surprising because I’ve worked with the queen, and she’s so easygoing and nice.”
Ted nodded. “Everyone loves our queen.”
“But not the princess?” Justin asked, intrigued.
“It’s hard to love someone you barely know,” Ted answered. “The princess doesn’t go out in the public much. I think when she was growing up, her parents were protecting her. Understandable. But I’m not sure what’s going on now.”
“Really?” Justin asked. “I thought that was a royal’s job—to be a public figure and promote the monarchy and all their causes and stuff like that.”
“Not this royal family. Prince Fredrick, the queen’s husband, was the same way. He avoided the media as much as he could and let the queen get all the headlines.”
“Like father like daughter,” Justin said.
“Exactly,” Ted agreed. “This is the first time I’ve met the princess, with her being in charge of the big Christmas Eve party. I’ve heard from some other workers she can be pretty demanding. So, consider yourself warned.”
“Luckily, I won’t have to deal with her,” Justin replied.
“Really? What are you doing for the party?”
“Nothing for the party,” Justin said. “I’m just their dog trainer.”
Ted’s mouth dropped open with surprise. “They have a new dog? Really? Since when?”
Justin winced. “Damn, I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone—”
“Don’t worry. I won’t say anything,” Ted assured him. “I’m a vault. I can keep a secret.”
Justin laughed. “I hope so, or else you’ll have the queen coming after you. Wait, worse, I’ll send the princess—”
“No!” Ted shouted in mock horror. “Not the princess!” Ted’s phone buzzed with a text. He read it and frowned.
“Everything okay?” Justin asked.
Ted shook his head. “No, my son’s having problems with a delivery. He’s only a few miles away and wants me to come help him. But I can’t be late for the princess—”
“Go ahead and go. I can take the ice sculptures in for you,” Justin offered. “Do you want the others that are in the van, the angel and reindeer, too?”
“Yes, all three. That would be brilliant. If you’re sure it’s okay?” Ted asked.
“It’s my pleasure,” Justin answered with a smile.
“This shouldn’t take long,” Ted promised. “I really appreciate this. You’re a lifesaver.”
Justin was already loading the angel ice sculpture onto the cart. “Don’t worry about it. I got you. Take all the time you need.”
? ? ?
Inside the castle’s Library, Ava was muttering to herself as she picked up books from the Christmas tree Stormy had destroyed.
“Is there anything this dog hasn’t ruined yet?”
As she was collecting books, she kept one eye on Stormy.
He was on the couch pawing at a Christmas pillow.
“Stop that!” Ava shouted at him.
Stormy barked back at her and wagged his tail.
Ava’s grip around the book she was holding tightened. She felt like the louder she talked, the more the dog barked. If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn Stormy was doing all this on purpose to torment her.
“Princess, the ice sculptures samples are here,” Edgar announced as he entered the Library.
Ava checked her watch and frowned. “They’re late,” she said, but didn’t look up. She was too busy keeping a close watch on Stormy who had now started chewing on the pillow. She ran over to him. “No! Put that down. Give it to me,” she demanded.
But when she tried to grab the pillow out of Stormy’s mouth, he held on tight and started tugging. Clearly, he thought it was a game of tug-of-war.
But Ava wasn’t playing around. She pulled harder. “Let. Go!”
Stormy held on.
She wiggled the pillow to try and get it out of his mouth and tugged harder. “I mean it. Let go!”
Suddenly, Stormy let go, sending Ava flying backward, putting her off balance.
“Whoa!” she exclaimed. Her arms flailed and she felt herself start to fall. That was when she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist, freaking her out even more. “What the—”
“It’s okay, I got you,” Justin said as he caught her right before she hit the ground.
When she heard a man’s voice, she spun around in a panic—sending them both tumbling backward. They crashed into the ice sculpture cart before hitting the floor in a tangled heap.
Ava landed in Justin’s lap, and then the Santa ice sculpture face planted in her lap. She flung Santa off her. The sculpture slid across the marble floor.
She batted away Justin’s hands that were wrapped around her waist. “Let me go!” Ava shouted as she struggled to get up.
Their eyes met.
“You!” Ava said, confused.
Justin, looking equally shaken, held both hands in the air. “I’m sorry. I was only trying to help. You came flying at me. I was trying to save you from falling.”
“I don’t need anyone to save me,” Ava shot back at him as she stood up, slipping on some ice.
With lightning reflexes, Justin grabbed her right before she fell again. This time, they were face-to-face, their chests touching, their lips just inches apart.
For a moment, time stood still as they stared into each other’s eyes.
Ava’s heart raced. She felt tingling all over, from the top of her head to her toes, confusing her even more.
“Are you okay?” Justin asked.
For a moment, she could only stare at his lips.
He was saying something else, but her heart was pounding so hard that it was all she could hear.
She hastily backed away from him. “No, I’m not okay,” she said as her heart raced.
“Look what you’ve done,” she said as she pointed at all the busted up sculptures that had fallen during the cart crash.
“Me?” Justin flung back at her. “Uh, you were the one who caused all this, attacking an innocent dog!”
“What?!” Ava shook her head, because she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I wasn’t attacking that dog. He’s the one who’s been wrecking everything.”
“I didn’t see him crash into the cart,” Justin said as he tried to pick up what was left of the sculptures.
Stormy was pawing at the Santa and trying to lick his face.
Ava’s eyes narrowed as she watched Justin. “Wait, you’re a decorator. I saw you yesterday with the wreaths, and you’re also doing ice sculptures? You’re doing two jobs, and obviously not doing either very well.”
Justin’s eyes widened. “I beg your pardon?”
“No,” Ava said.
Justin laughed. “No, what?”
“No, I will not pardon you,” Ava said emphatically.
Justin blinked several times. “Oh my God, are you serious?”
The look Ava gave him said she was dead serious. “Yes, I’m serious ,” Ava insisted. “You left earlier before I could approve your wreath and now you bring in these subpar sculptures—”
“Subpar?” Justin sputtered.
“Yes,” Ava said as she traipsed around the cart studying what was left of the ice sculptures.
“These are all wrong. The reindeer looks like a horse, and the angel needs much bigger wings.” Ava glanced over at the melting Santa and pointed at it.
“And I never asked for a Santa Claus, so I don’t know why you brought him. ”
“Are you kidding?” Justin jumped in. “Everyone needs Santa!”
Ava mouth dropped open. She was not used to being spoken to like this. She locked eyes with him.
“Are you trying to get fired?” she asked.
He grinned back at her.
Ava’s eyes narrowed. “You think I won’t do it?”
Justin laughed. “No, I’m sure you’d love to fire me, but you can’t do it, because you didn’t hire me. The queen did.”
“My mother?” Ava asked, confused. She shook her head. “No, she has nothing to do with planning this party and…” But her voice trailed off when she saw Justin walk over to Stormy. He petted him and held out his hand. Stormy immediately put his paw into Justin’s hand, and they shook.
“Good boy,” Justin said as he petted him some more.
Stormy barked and wagged his tail.
Ava’s eyes widened with understanding. “You’re the dog trainer.”
“Yup, I’m the dog trainer.”
“So, you’re not a decorator?”
“Nope,” Justin said. “When I was here yesterday meeting with your mom, I heard Christmas music playing, so I followed the music and…”
“Came in with the wreath decorators,” Ava finished for him.
“If you say so,” Justin agreed with a boyish smile.
“But if you’re not the ice sculptor, what are you doing with all these?” Ava asked.
“I was trying to help out Ted—”
“Ted?” Ava asked, growing more confused by the second.
“Yeah, you know, your ice sculpture guy,” Justin said. “Don’t you know the name of the people you hire?”
Ava answered him by not answering him.
“I met Ted outside. He had a family emergency, so I brought these in for him. He should be here any minute.”
“And then you’ll have to explain to him how you destroyed all his hard work,” Ava said.
“You did this, not me,” Justin said. “Didn’t she, Stormy?”
Stormy barked twice, wagging his tail in agreement.
Ava shook her head in amazement. “You both are unbelievable.”
“Thank you,” Justin said, proudly.
“That wasn’t a compliment,” Ava fired back at him.
Justin shrugged and kept smiling.
“You said my mother hired you? How do you know her?” Ava asked, in a tone that was far from friendly.
“I met her in Romania at a fundraiser for one of the animal shelters she supports,” Justin replied. “I’ve also worked with her when she was in New York with some other veterinarians.”
“You’re American.”
“Guilty,” Justin said with a smile.
“And a veterinarian,” Ava stated, sizing him up.
“Technically, yes, but right now, I’m focusing on training shelter dogs and matching them with the right families—or, as we like to say, furever homes. You know, fur—”
“Yes, I understand. I’m familiar with the term.”
Justin arched an eyebrow. “Really? Then why haven’t I ever seen you at any of the charity events with your mom?”
“Because that’s my mother’s passion, not mine,” Ava said.
Justin studied her. “So, what cause do you support? What are you passionate about?”
Ava was taken aback. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had asked her what she really cared about. Right now the only thing she was focused on was trying to protect the monarchy and her family’s legacy.
“This isn’t about me. It’s about you,” Ava said, refocusing the conversation before it got completely out of control. “If you’re a dog trainer you better be a good one because that dog,” Ava pointed to Stormy, “needs a lot of training.”
“And so do you,” Justin shot back at her.
Ava recoiled. “Excuse me?!”
“I don’t just train the dog. I also train the owners,” Justin explained. “If the dog has a problem, it’s usually tied to one of them.”
Ava marched toward Stormy. “He’s not my dog . I don’t even want him here!”
Stormy dropped his head, looking sad.
Justin smile disappeared. “Stop, you’re hurting his feelings.”
Ava threw up her hands. “Seriously? You, too? Now I see why my mother likes you. He’s a dog . He doesn’t understand what I’m saying.”
“That’s not true,” Justin corrected her. “You can’t talk to a dog like that.”
Ava opened her mouth to say something, but then shut it quickly. She was tired of arguing. “Can you just take him away before he wrecks anything else?”
“It’s not like he did it on purpose,” Justin said. “He’s a dog.”
“Oh, now you say he’s just a dog .” Ava laughed. “That’s convenient.”
“What’s your point?” Justin asked.
As Ava stared back at Justin, he had her so confused she didn’t know what her point was anymore. “Just take the dog and don’t bring him back until he’s…fixed,” Ava said, flustered.
“That’s already been taken care of,” Justin said with a cheeky smile.
Ava cringed. “I wasn’t talking about that . I didn’t mean…Just take him, please. Now.”
“Gladly,” Justin said. “I’m happy to get him away from someone who obviously doesn’t understand him. Come on, Stormy.”
But when they both turned to Stormy—he was gone!
Ava looked around frantically. “Where did he go? What is he demolishing now?”
Justin walked around the room. “Stormy, come on. Time to go.”
Ava started to panic. “He’s not here.”
Justin headed for the door. “I told you not to talk to him like that.”
“Where are you going?” Ava called out after him.
“To find your dog,” Justin answered.
“I told you, he’s not my dog!” Ava yelled back, but it was too late. Justin was already gone.