Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
REECE
I ignore my mother’s meaningful looks as she dances out the door in my father’s wake. Somewhere along the line, she got the idea Andi and I belong together, and her obvious attempt to give us time alone doesn’t make anything easier.
I glance uneasily at Andi, but she’s staring out the window with a little smile playing on her lips.
Her perfect, plump, pink lips.
As she turns, I drag my gaze away from her mouth and scramble for something to say. “Dad says your pre-fill was good.” I lurch up from the couch.
Her brows draw down, and I resist the urge to reach over and smooth away the line between them. “When did he say that?”
I pull out my phone and wave it at her. “He texted me.”
Her jaw drops, and she snaps it shut. “Your dad texts?”
“Yours doesn’t?”
She laughs, a genuine musical sound that lifts my heart. “Have you met my father?”
“No, not yet.” I take a step closer.
“He’s a bit of a Luddite. He knows how to use a computer, but any devices created after my birth are—he still has a flip phone.” She turns to look out the window. “Your parents are lovely.”
I move closer, breathing in her faint perfume. Something tickles my nose and I sneeze.
“ Gesundheit ,” she says. “Sorry about the dust. I feel like that cartoon character with the dirt cloud that follows him.”
“Pigpen? You don’t look like him at all.”
She laughs again, and my heart sings.
What the heck is wrong with me? This woman is a former princess who is going to leave the country, and all I can think is how happy I am to have her in my house again. “You didn’t have to leave.”
She jerks a little—in denial or surprise—but she doesn’t look at me. “The house is full. And it would be weird for me to be living here with your parents.”
“How would your parents feel about it?” I can’t imagine a guy with a flip phone would be happy about his daughter living with a virtual stranger.
This time the laugh is a snort, but it’s just as endearing. “ Vatti would be perfectly fine with me living here, now, with your parents as chaperones. Before? Not so much. Which is why I didn’t mention it to him. Or Mutti . And another reason it’s best that I’m back with Teo. I really didn’t think it through when I moved in.”
“When you moved in?” Mum stands in the doorway, holding the paper bag full of painting supplies. “Andi, were you living here? Reece, you didn’t?—”
“No!” Andi’s face goes bright red, and she jumps away from me as if I’m poison. “I mean, yes, I was sleeping in the guest room, but it was just temporary. There was nothing—” She waves her hands frantically between the two of us.
I nod almost as violently. “Nothing going on! Just friends, helping each other out.” Even though I know it’s the truth, it feels like a lie. Probably because I’d like to be much more than just friends.
Mum looks back and forth, then nods. “Good.” Dad appears in the doorway with more paint cans, and she holds out the bag of painting supplies. “Andi, could you show Slim where these things go?”
I reach to take it, but Andi hurries over and grabs the bag. “I got this.” She slips past Mum and heads up the steps. “We’re starting in the office since the mud down here isn’t dry.”
I stumble forward. “I’d better help?—”
Mum grabs my arm. “You can help me in the kitchen.” She drags me through the unfinished doorway.
I swallow hard. My mother is the sweetest, kindest woman, until you’ve done something wrong. Then the fire of an avenging angel burns in her eyes, and facing her is like staring down Godzilla.
She tows me through the room, slaloming between the tools and supplies like an Olympic skier, dragging me into the garage. She waits until the door thuds closed behind us, then drops my hand and turns on me. “What is going on?”
You’re a grown man, Reece , I tell myself . You’ve done nothing wrong. But my heart rate ratchets up like that time I took Dad’s pickup for a joy ride when I was fifteen. I stiffen my spine and cross my arms. “Nothing is going on. Andi needed work, and she was more affordable than the design company I hired. I paid them for the work they’d done then ended the contract and hired Andi to help me do it myself. Room and board was part of her compensation. No funny business.”
She gazes at me for a long moment, using her mothering super powers to determine my level of guilt. Then she sighs and her posture relaxes. “I’ve seen the way you look at her, Reece. Living out here, alone, with a girl you feel that way about—that was a recipe for disaster.”
How does she know how I feel about Andi? I’m not sure myself. “There was nothing going on,” I repeat, as if by saying it again I can make it true. While there was nothing happening between us—I conveniently ignore the almost-kiss—pretending I didn’t wish there was is a complete lie. “For one thing, her brother would kill me. And I’d never make a move on her while she was living under my protection. You read enough Regency romances to us when we were growing up that I know that’s not cool.”
She smiles. “That’s my boy. It’s a good thing she moved out, then, isn’t it? Now you can declare your feelings for her.”
“And make an offer to her father for her hand in marriage?” I try to be flippant, but the idea makes my heart skip a beat. Not that I’m ready to marry her—we’ve only known each other a few weeks. But as a someday possibility? I can practically see Future Reece doing a little victory dance.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Mum smacks my arm. “You have a long way to go before proposing. But now you have the space to make it happen. Ask her out on a date.”
My heart plummets. “But she’s leaving.” I tell her about Andi’s visa problem.
She sinks into a chair, tapping her finger against her chin in thought. “That’s a tough one. It’s hard to get to know someone when they’re thousands of miles away. That’s why I took that job in Dallas.”
“What job in Dallas?” I drop into the chair beside her.
“After we graduated from college, my roommate Maggie took me to her home in Dallas. I had a job lined up in London. She was going into the Peace Corps. We both had a little time to kill, so we spent it together at her family’s estate.”
I’ve heard my parents’ love story a million times. Mum’s best college friend came from a wealthy Texas family. Dad worked on the family’s ranch. They met and the rest was history. “And you met Dad there. I know.”
“I met Dad there.” She nods as she repeats the statement. “But when Maggie left for Africa, your dad and I weren’t ready to commit to anything permanent. And back then, long distance was harder. We didn’t have social media or even affordable phone calls. Instead of going to that job in London, I found one in Dallas so we could take the time to decide if we wanted to be together long-term.”
I goggle at her. “I’ve always thought the job came after you got engaged. You mean you stayed to?—”
She taps the table. “To see if it was right.”
“Are you suggesting I should move to Europe? We barely know each other. That feels like a huge commitment for someone I barely know—” I break off, because in my heart, I know she’s worth taking a chance for.
“Right now, I’m suggesting you take the girl on a date. Just the two of you. And see how it goes.” She pats my arm. “Make the most of the time you have. Then you can decide how to proceed. Maybe you make a long visit to Europe. I’m sure your employers can spare you for a few weeks.” She winks, then sobers. “Actually, that’s an excellent idea. If you’re dating a former princess, you should definitely know how that impacts her life back home.”
And how it’s going to impact my life. “I hate to sound shallow, but that concerns me. Honestly, it’s why I’ve held off on asking her out. That and her brother’s disapproval. I’m not sure I’m cut out to be the significant other of a former princess.”
“It’s not shallow. Long-term compatibility requires a complete understanding of your partner’s reality. And reality is different for the nobility. Another reason you need to spend more time with her before you make any lasting commitments.” Mum stands. “And spending time with her means your father and I should go visit Katie.”
“Right now?” I jump up and follow her into the house.
“Not right this second. But soon.” She stops in the doorway to the living room and pivots to face me, her index finger wagging. “But no more roommates. Do this right.”
“Yes, Mum.”
She pats my cheek, then spins back to skip up the steps. “Don’t get too messy yet!” she sings out. “We need to eat lunch first!”