Epilogue
ANDI
ONE YEAR LATER
This year, the ballroom is decorated in green and white. A woman plays the harp on the dais. Aunt Franziska, Uncle Elier, and Khristof have deserted us as usual. Victoriana leads our little family platoon down the long red carpet toward the Grand Duchess.
“Is she playing Taylor Swift?” Reece asks as we round the corner at the back of the big ballroom.
I listen for a long moment then laugh. “Don’t tell the Gee Dee.”
He hums along off key, and a little strut invades his decorous steps. “I hope she doesn’t know the words to I Knew You Were Trouble —or that harpist will be looking for a new line of work.” His tone is kind of giddy, as if he’s drunk too much caffeinated tea on an empty stomach.
“I’m not telling.” Watching Reece confidently stride down the red carpet, I think back to our last Freiberg Gala. “You’re not nervous today?”
He smirks, but his face is pale. “I’ve got the Gee Dee wrapped around my pinky.”
He really does. In Aunt Karolina’s eyes, Reece can do no wrong. I don’t know if it’s the Texas accent—which he lays on thick when she’s around—or his charming manners but she loves him. She’s made it clear she feels he’s been an excellent, steadying influence on the biggest thorn in her side: me.
And I’m okay with all of it.
We reach the scrum at the front of the room, stopping behind Teo and Eva. Mutti and Vatti wait between Victoriana and Teo, and Bert and Bee follow behind us. Slowly, each couple greets the Gee Dee, then moves a few steps down to be received by Eddie and his new bride. The Grand Duchess congratulates Teo and Eva on their recent engagement, smiling a bit sourly as if Eva’s American heritage is a cross to bear. Eva drops a bouncy curtsey and grins, her happiness wiping out my aunt’s poorly disguised distaste.
Eva and Teo pass on, and it’s our turn. I do my own bobbing curtsey. “Good evening, Your Majesty.”
“Andela and Reece!” Her smile widens into genuine happiness as her gaze drops on my boyfriend. If she weren’t thirty years older than me, I might be worried about her intentions.
Reece bows formally, pulling a rolled up paper from somewhere on his person. He unties the red ribbon holding it and unfurls the piece of parchment covered in unreadably fancy calligraphy. With another bow, he presents it to my aunt.
I cast a quick, questioning look at my parents who, for some inexplicable reason are not speaking to Eduard, but have turned to watch. Beyond Eduard, Selina, Victoriana, and Ronald peer over their shoulders. Teo and Eva move to one side to allow everyone a better view.
“What’s going on?” I whisper to Reece.
He ignores me, entirely focused on my aunt. He speaks in slow German, a little tremor rumbling through the clearly memorized lines. “Grand Duchess Karolina, protector of the realm and head of the family, I formally request permission to solicit the hand of Princess Karola Andela Louisa in marriage.”
My heart stops.
Then it thunders on so fast I can’t catch my breath. Is Reece proposing? Wait a minute— “You’re asking her ? Don’t you think you should ask me?” The words burst out of me in English.
My mother shushes me. Reece throws me a slightly desperate “knock it off” look. A bead of sweat rolls down his pale temple. So much for confident Reece. He must have researched the proper way to propose to a princess.
“But I’m not?—”
“Andela, let the man speak!” The Grand Duchess switches to her flawless English and favors me with a fierce glare. “At least someone understands the proper way of doing things.” She turns her scowl on Teo, then my father.
The perfect Teo didn’t follow protocol before proposing to Eva? I try to hide my smug smile at the idea that for once I’m the one doing things correctly.
Or at least my boyfriend is.
“Andela!” The Gee Dee’s sharp tone snaps me back to attention. “Reece Turner has declared his intentions to the crown. Is it your wish that he should be allowed to solicit your hand?”
“Wait—are you saying I get a choice?” When Reece jerks in surprise, I clutch his arm. “Of course the answer is yes, but I’m shocked a mere former junior princess gets any say in formal?—”
“Of course you get a choice,” the Gee Dee cuts through my ramble. “I’m a woman, too. You don’t think I approve of selling girls off to the highest bidder…” When I raise my brows and dart my eyes at Teo, she has the grace to trail off, obviously remembering her attempt to coerce him into marriage with Selina. She goes on the attack. “What is your answer, Andela? Do you consent to being wooed?”
I choke back a snicker at the word “wooed” and drop another curtsey. “Yes, Your Highness.”
“Excellent!” She motions to the side.
Her long-suffering secretary Regina enters from the wings and sweeps us out a side door. “We can’t have you upstaging the newlyweds.” She gently herds us down a hallway and into one of the less formal receiving rooms.
And by “less formal,” I mean it doesn’t contain only a chair resembling a throne. The furniture is still standard palace antiques, which means they’re beautiful and impossibly uncomfortable. I thank Regina for her help and wait until she closes the door behind us, leaving Reece and me alone in blessed silence.
When I turn to face Reece, he’s down on one knee, with a small blue velvet box in his hand. “Ah’m here to woo you, ma’am,” he drawls with a perfectly straight face.
Despite his hammy comment, my breath catches in my throat. His face goes serious. “Karola Andela Louisa Feltz, will you do me the honor?—”
“Yes!” I thrust my left hand at him.
He blinks then puts the ring box behind his back. “Well, that was easy. But you didn’t let me finish.”
I trail my fingers across his cheek in apology. “Oops. Sorry. Go ahead.”
“Karola Ande?—”
“You said that part.”
“Andi.” He growls deep in his throat, a sound that sets my soul alight with joy. I love his grumpiness, especially since I know it’s mostly for show.
I lift both hands and gesture for him to continue.
“Andi Feltz, will you help me demolish, renovate, and drink Diet Coke for as long as we both shall live?”
“Yes! Yes, to all of it. Even though I hate the diet, for you, I will drink it.”
He opens the box and pulls out a plastic ring with a Coke Zero logo in bright red and black. Without cracking a smile, he slides the monstrosity on my hand. “You won’t have to. I’ve learned my lesson.”
I close my eyes for a second, but when I open them, the plastic ring is still on my finger. Not exactly the way I thought I’d get engaged, but it proves he gets me. And it will have the added benefit of making the Dee Gee cranky. “I love it. And I love you. And yes, I will demo, reno, and drink Coke Zero with you for the rest of my life.”
Reece stands and reaches into his pocket. “Then you don’t want this one?” He holds a beautiful square cut emerald in a simple gold setting.
I throw myself at him and kiss him senseless. When we finally come up for air, he removes the plastic ring and slides the emerald on my finger. But when he tries to put the Coke Zero ring in his pocket, I grab his hand. “Nope. I’m wearing that one too. It’s the first ring you gave me, and I will cherish it forever.”
He tries to hide his smile, but I catch the tiny twitch of his lips.
And that’s how I renovated a grump.
* * *
Thanks for reading When You Renovate a Grump . If you enjoyed this book, but haven’t read the rest of the series, I recommend you start with When You Bake with the Enemy .