CHAPTER 12
T he entrance to the royal Christmas tree farm glittered with thousands of twinkling lights.
Justin looked around, impressed. “You’re right, this is exactly the kind of place Stormy would love. Look at all the people.”
“This is where everyone loves to come this time of year,” Ava said with a proud smile as they strolled by a hand-carved wooden sign that said Skydovia Christmas Tree Farm.
The farm was buzzing with holiday cheer.
You could hear Christmas carolers singing in the distance.
Excited children tugged their parents toward a jolly old-world Santa who was wearing a long, fur-trimmed crimson cloak with black boots.
His snow-white beard looked as real as the twinkle in his eyes.
He was waving to everyone, belting out a heartfelt “Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas!” Justin happily answered back, waving to Santa.
Ava grabbed Justin’s arm. “Can you please not attract attention.”
“I was just saying hello.”
“Why are you obsessed with Santa?” Ava asked.
“Why aren’t you? It’s Santa ,” Justin shot back. “Is there some royal rule against him?”
Ava, stoic, stared straight ahead. “When I was eight, my father told me Santa wasn’t real and that it was time for me to grow up. He was right. Now, can we please focus on finding the dog?”
Ava looked around. She nervously flipped up the hood on her red cape and put on a giant pair of sunglasses, trying to go incognito.
Justin did a double take. “Are you afraid someone will recognize you?”
“Yes,” Ava said emphatically. “No one can know I’m here.”
“Okay, whatever you say,” Justin said. “But—”
“But what?” Ava asked.
“It just that cape and your sunglasses—don’t you think it’s a little…dramatic? I don’t see anyone else here wearing a cape and—”
Ava stopped him with a frosty look.
Justin shrugged. “Okay, forget I said anything.
“Already forgotten,” Ava said as she took in her surroundings.
The scent of fresh-cut pine filled the air as eager villagers wandered past beautiful, lit-up Christmas trees. Their laughter mingled with the sound of jingling bells from passing horse-drawn sleighs. It all brought back a rush of memories for Ava.
“Things haven’t changed much since I was here last,” she said softly.
“Do you come here very often?” Justin asked.
“I did, when I was little,” Ava said, smiling as she remembered. “My parents would bring me here every Christmas to pick out our family Christmas tree that we’d get to decorate…”
“So, you didn’t use your fancy decorators I saw hanging from the ceiling earlier?”
“No, we did everything ourselves,” Ava said proudly. “My father was the expert in putting up the Christmas tree lights. He used to put me on his shoulders so I could decorate the top of the tree…”
“What about your mom?”
“She was always in charge of getting out all our favorite ornaments. She would lay them out on the table so we could decide where each one should go on the tree. Most of them were things I’d made, or my parents had made with me. They weren’t anything special or valuable.”
“But they were special to you,” Justin said.
Their eyes met. “Yes, they were.”
“That sounds like a very cool tradition,” Justin added.
Ava’s smile faded. “It was until the paparazzi started stalking us.”
“What do you mean?” Justin asked.
“I mean, they would come here and follow us around everywhere we went and take pictures and videos of everything we did. Then they’d blast them all over the media with made-up, scandalous stories that weren’t true.”
“That sounds horrible. Couldn’t you stop them?” Justin asked. “I mean, you’re the royal family, and this is your Christmas tree farm—”
“But it’s open to the public,” Ava said. “Because we wanted everyone in the village to have access to enjoy it. This is for them—”
“So, that gives the paparazzi access, too.”
Ava nodded sadly. “Yes. We used to have an agreement with the media of what they could cover and when they would let us have our privacy, but times changed, and everything became fair game. When we became like hunted animals, that’s when we had to stop coming.
My father wanted to protect me, so I stopped doing a lot of things in public.”
“I’m sorry. That really sucks,” Justin said as he gave her a sympathetic look.
“It’s even worse now,” Ava said. “Since the photographers don’t get many photos of me, any pictures or videos they do get bring top dollar, making the paparazzi even more aggressive.”
Ava shuddered just thinking about it. She adjusted her red knit scarf to cover even more of her face.
“Don’t you have your own royal photographers who can take pictures you can approve and put those out there so the demand is not so high?” Justin asked.
“We do, but I’ve been burned so many times that I don’t trust anyone anymore,” Ava said.
Justin glanced around the crowd and back at Ava. “And shouldn’t you have a bodyguard or a security team or something for your protection?”
“Yes,” Ava said. “I have several teams.”
“So where are they?” Justin asked. “I don’t see anyone around.”
“Because I don’t have anyone here,” Ava said. “No matter how hard they try and blend in, the paparazzi are trained to spot them. I couldn’t risk them blowing my cover and the media finding out that Mother has a new dog and that I’ve lost it—”
“ We’ve lost Stormy,” Justin interrupted. “You’re not in this alone, remember? I got you.”
Ava felt a mixture of gratitude and trepidation as her heart fluttered.
While she had to admit it was comforting to know Justin was going to help her, his presence made her feel…
nervous. There was something about the way he looked at her and their banter that sparked something deep inside her that she’d never felt before.
While she rarely trusted anyone, she knew right now Justin was her best bet, her only bet, when it came to finding Stormy before her mother found out he was missing.
“Okay, where do you want to start?” Justin asked, looking around. “This place is huge.”
“Two hundred acres,” Ava said. “But most of the people will be right around here to look for their trees.”
Justin pointed to a path leading to a field of Christmas trees that had a lot of people on it. “Looks like the Norway spruce is a popular pick.”
“Always,” Ava said. “The needles stay green for a long time.”
“That’s a good thing—”
“But,” she continued, “Norway spruce also tend to drop their needles, so it depends on how long you need it to last. For people getting trees right before Christmas, it’s a great choice.”
“But if you get it too early, you could end up with a skinny, naked tree,” Justin said.
Ava bit back a laugh. “I never thought about it that way, but yes, I guess you’re right. It could get pretty…skinny.”
“And we can’t have a naked Christmas tree for a royal family. That would be very scandalous,” Justin said, grinning back at her.
Ava rolled her eyes. “Do you always make jokes about everything?”
Justin looked surprised by her question. “Yes. Life is too short to take anything too seriously.”
“That sounds like something my mother would say.”
“And that’s why I’ve always liked your mother,” Justin said. He walked over to one of the trees and inhaled the fresh pine scent. “It smells just like—”
“Christmas,” Ava finished for him.
“Exactly,” Justin said with a smile.
“That’s why we always get real Christmas trees,” Ava said. “It’s one thing my mother always insisted on, even though my father thought it would be more practical to get artificial trees that would be perfect.”
Justin shook his head. “I’m with your mom. Perfect is no fun. What’s your favorite kind of Christmas tree?”
“Of course, as a royal family, we can’t have any official favorites. We have to be very careful about things like that.”
“Okay, so unofficially , what’s your favorite?” Justin asked with a twinkle in his eyes. “If you tell me yours, I’ll tell you mine.”
Ava laughed a little. She found his enthusiasm infectious and his charm impossible to deny.
At first, she’d been taken aback and insulted when he didn’t treat her like a princess.
That had never happened to her before. She found it both disarming and fascinating when he treated her like a regular, normal person.
“So?” Justin asked, waiting for her answer.
She gave in. “A lot of royals choose the Nordmann Fir. They’re very popular, especially here in Eastern Europe. They’re considered a luxury Christmas tree.”
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen one,” Justin said.
“I can show you one here,” Ava offered. “They have a symmetrical shape with these soft, dark green, glossy needles that don’t shed.”
“So, they don’t get naked?”
Ava blushed. “No, they don’t.”
“So, is that your favorite?” Justin asked.
Ava shook her head. “No. My favorite is…the Douglas fir, but you can’t tell anyone.”
Justin crisscrossed his heart with his hand. “Cross my heart.”
Ava gave him a confused look.
“Sorry.” Justin laughed. “It’s an American thing. When we promise something, we say, ‘Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.’”
Ava cringed. “Well, that sounds very unpleasant.”
Justin laughed heartily. “And that’s why we don’t lie. Why do you like the Douglas fir the best?”
Ava smiled, thinking about it. “Because I love how fragrant, fluffy, and full they are. The needles are really soft, so they don’t prick your fingers when you’re hanging ornaments. They also won’t drop too many needles if you take care of them properly.”
“Like, of course, you do.”
“Of course,” Ava said.
“The Douglas fir is my favorite, too.”
“Really? No. You’re just saying that,” Ava said.
“No, seriously, we’ve always had a Douglas fir. I don’t really know any other Christmas trees. They’re really popular in the States. I think it’s what most people buy. There are these other trees that only have a few branches that a lot of designers use, but I think they always look—”
“Naked,” Ava finished for him.
Justin’s eyes lit up. “Exactly. See, ‘naked’ is a great way to describe Christmas trees—”
“The ones we don’t want.”
Justin nodded. “Because who wants a tree you can barely put any ornaments on?”
“Agreed,” Ava said.
They shared a laugh.
“Wait, did we just agree on something?” Justin asked, surprised.
Their eyes met.
“I think maybe we did,” Ava said.
Justin grinned back at her. “Then there’s hope for us yet.”
Ava looked away so Justin couldn’t see she was smiling, too. She kept her eyes on the ground looking for Stormy. Just focus on finding the dog , she told to herself. When she picked up her pace, Justin kept up.
“You know, I thought Douglas firs were mostly grown in North America,” Justin said. “I didn’t know they grew in this part of the world.”
“Traditionally, they don’t,” Ava said. “But my father always loved them, so we imported some young trees and had them grown here at the farm. The Christmas tree we’re using this year for our party in the Grand Hall is a Douglas fir.
It’s a very special tree. It’s a tree my father planted and watched grow all these years.
He always said he was waiting for the perfect Christmas to feature it.
I wish we had used it last year before he… ” Ava couldn’t finish the sentence.
“I think it’s the perfect way to remember him this year,” Justin said.
Ava nodded. That was exactly what she was hoping to do. She twisted her watch around on her wrist.
“Nice watch,” Justin said.
“Thank you,” Ava replied as she held up her wrist. “It was my father’s. He wore it every day to remind him of what truly matters most.” She carefully took off the watch, turned it over, and showed Justin so he could read the inscription on it.
Time for Duty.
Justin read the inscription out loud. “‘Time for duty.’” His eyebrows rose. “That’s what he thought was most important?”
Ava smiled and nodded. “Yes. Duty before everything else. He taught me so much. He was the one person who understood me.”
“What about your mom?”
Ava blinked, surprised. “My mother? We couldn’t be more different if we tried. I’m more behind the scenes. She’s always the life of the party. My father always handled her…now I have to…”
She cringed, cutting herself off. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“The whole ‘never complain, never explain?’ thing?” Justin asked.
“Wrong royal family, but right idea,” Ava said.
Justin nodded. “I guess it doesn’t matter if you’re royal or not, parents are—”
“Complicated,” Ava finished for him.
They shared a look of mutual understanding.
Ava walked over to one of the Christmas trees and checked its water container.
“What are you doing?” Justin asked as he joined her.
“Checking my Tree Tender.”
Justin laughed. “Your what?”
“It’s something I invented to make sure Christmas trees always have enough water that doesn’t freeze.”
“Really? You made this?” Justin asked, impressed. “Have you invented anything else?”
“A lot of things,” Ava answered. “It’s just a hobby. It’s not a big deal,” she said, echoing the words Henry had said to her earlier.
Justin held up his hand to high-five. “It’s a huge deal. You’re an inventor. That’s really cool.”
Ava hesitated, then gave him a quick high-five.
She had to admit she was both surprised and pleased by Justin’s reaction to her being an inventor.
It was certainly different from what she was used to getting from her doubting duke.
That’s what she secretly called Henry when he gave her a hard time about her inventions.
He’d never been impressed with anything she invented.
She gave Justin a nervous look. “But no one knows, so…”
“Your secret is safe as long as you invent something for me,” Justin said with a grin.
“What do you need?” Ava asked.
Justin thought about it. “To clone myself so I can help more people and their pets.”
Justin moved a branch out of Ava’s way as they stood up. “And since you’re the genius, you also need to invent something to track down our runaway royal.”
“If I could, I would,” Ava said. “Because my mother will never forgive me if we don’t find him. That dog is all she cares about.”