Hand-Me-Down Princess (9 page)

She nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

A few minutes later, he sat in the office he used while here, with the phone in one hand.

“Good afternoon, Malachi.” Lizbeth Bence was his co-chair for this particular event. In fact, they often attended banquets and balls together, though it had never been a romantic relationship. He had never even kissed her or held her hand for anything other than a dance.

They talked for several moments before including the events’ coordinator from the venue where the fundraiser would be held.

Afterward, as much as he hated to, Malachi spent a couple of hours working on a variety of things. If he could get them wrapped up, he would be able to ignore the official side of his life for the rest of their honeymoon.

Dinner was ready before he had a chance to look up some conversation starters. It should
not
be this hard to have a conversation with any other person on the planet, but it was. Dinner was full of awkward silences and stilted answers. Finally, he suggested a movie. They sat on the same couch, but several inches apart. They were only that close because Malachi sat down second, but he did
not
want to push her too much too quickly.

He
did
want to kiss her again.

So after both of them changed into pajamas, he did just that. Not long, but a short, sweet, kiss. He let her go to bed by herself, opting to read a book his father recommended in another room until she had a chance to get settled.

He would sleep on top of the sheet again.

The next few days followed a similar pattern. Things remained quiet and awkward during their time together. They went window shopping in town, but no matter what Malachi offered to buy her, Jessabelle was not interested. No shoes. No clothes. No jewelry. All she bought was a small key chain as a memento and she bought that herself while he was in another part of the souvenir shop. They spent two days skiing in the more northern portion of the country. Conversations there came a bit more readily, but mainly consisted of discussion about the resort or the skiing itself.

They returned to the house in southern Ravenzario for two more days where Malachi found several emails from Lizbeth with items that needed to be taken care of as soon as possible. He spent the next two days doing far more work and spending far less time with his bride than he wished.

Finally, on their one week anniversary, he had a chance to spend a few minutes on Google, looking for conversation starter questions he could use to try to pull Jessabelle out of her shell, at least a little bit.

He found some and read them carefully. No need to have notes at dinner. It had been an unusually warm day, so Malachi decided they should have their meal on the balcony outside their room. He held her chair for her as she sat down. He noticed that her appetite was much greater than he had thought that first night before she asked for help with the corset.

As they neared the end of their salads, he started with one of the questions. “I want to get to know you better, Jessabelle. Would you answer questions to help us learn more about each other?”

She pushed a piece of lettuce around her plate. “I can try, I guess.”

Not ringing enthusiasm, but he would take what he could get. “All right.” He thought for a moment. “What’s your favorite childhood memory?”

She seemed to turn that over in her mind. “I guess the last Christmas morning before my mother died. Mom had been sick for several days so Dad and I let her sleep in. I could see all of the presents under the tree, but I didn’t want to open them until she woke up. Instead, we took some presents we had bought to one of the orphanages in town. He knew the director, and they knew the presents were coming, but my mom was supposed to take them over and hadn’t because of the flu bug.”

“Which orphanage?”

Was she blushing? “The same one your family goes to on Christmas. I actually met all of you, very briefly, that day. I think I shook hands with everyone except your great-grandmother. She gave me a big hug.”

Malachi grinned. “That sounds like Nana Yvette. None of us were rude, were we?”

“No,” she answered slowly. “Not rude,
per se
, just busy. I was just one more in a line of people you would meet. Except for Queen Yvette.”

“She is not queen anymore, you know?” he asked, amused.

“I know, but what is her title? Your grandmother is the Queen Mother.” She’d been at the wedding, but had left town for the foreseeable future to be with a sick friend. “Is she the Queen Grandmother?”

Malachi thought about that for a moment. “You know, I am not really sure, either. To me, she has always been Nana Yvette.”

“She said something to me.” Jessabelle almost seemed to have forgotten he was listening. “She told me that I would always,
always
, be loved.”

He reached over and covered her hand with his own. “I know we did not get married the way most people do, but I can promise you one thing. If my Nana Yvette said that, she meant it. You are my wife. I
want
to get to know you, to love you, until death do we part.” Had he actually said that in the vows? “But for now, know that one member of the family loves you. If she said that, somewhere, somehow, you made an impression on her, and she meant what she said. She loves you, and that is probably why she did her best to convince me not to fight my father on our marriage.”

Chapter 9

Jessabelle wasn’t sure what Malachi had meant when he said his Nana Yvette had convinced him to go through with the wedding. Would he have backed out? Even after the announcement had been made? The conversation stalled and before she knew it several more days had gone by. At each meal, he asked her a different question. What television show would she live in? Now that money was no object, what would she like to buy? Most of the questions were fairly superficial, but she answered them as best she could. He answered them in return, but she never asked questions of her own.

Two days before they left, she found him leaning against the door jamb. “I have something for you.” A gift bag dangled from one finger as he walked toward her.

“You shouldn’t have.” She didn’t feel entirely comfortable accepting a gift from him, but she couldn’t turn it down either.

“I wanted to.” He handed her the bag.

She opened it and gasped, glancing up at him. “It’s gorgeous,” she whispered. She lifted the delicate silver chain with a cross dangling from it. “I don’t even know what to say, Prince Malachi.” The title slipped out, and Jessabelle couldn’t bring herself to look at him.

“Prince Malachi?” Was there a bit of hurt in his words? He began to pace. “After getting to know each other, spending so much time together, I’m still only ‘Prince Malachi’?”

Her hands gripped the outside of the small box. “Like everyone else in Mevendia, I was raised to call the royal family by their titles. You’re His Royal Highness Prince Malachi. Your father is His Majesty King Antonio. It’s the way you’ve always been in my head. Just like I always thought of my teachers as Mrs. Love or Dr. Otto. Even though I knew their first names, they’ve never been Carol or Patrick to me and probably never will. Dr. Otto is an old friend of my father’s and after graduation told me to call him Pat. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to.” She finally dared glance up. “I want to be comfortable calling you Malachi or Kai or whatever you wish, but I’m still working on it.”

He looked at her hands and didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Very well.” Leaning toward her, he brushed a kiss against her forehead. “Get some sleep. We will leave for our excursion quite early in the morning.”

Jessabelle watched him walk away. Every night since the first, he’d given her a good night kiss. Never pushing for more, just a soft, sweet kiss.

But this time he didn’t even give her that.

And she missed it.

Feeling rejected, she slipped under the covers, laying the box on the side table. She needed to make it through a couple more days, and they could go home. But her new home would be different than anything she’d ever known. It would take some adjustment.

The night before they were to leave and fly back to Mevendia was much colder, and they had an early dinner. She wondered if an early meal was a way to get to bed earlier and, therefore, end the awkward conversations sooner. This time, though, Malachi asked a question she wasn’t sure how to answer.

“What’s one of your biggest dreams? What’s one thing you would love to have or do above all else?”

Jessabelle stared at the food on her plate. Her favorite meal but one she hadn’t told Mrs. Rappellini about. She
had
told him during a conversation two nights earlier. He must have told the other woman. He took a bite while he waited.

She wasn’t sure how to answer the question. Her heart’s desire was to work with children, perhaps be a pediatric nurse, but she had no idea what that would entail or if she would be allowed to do so now that her job title was Princess of Mevendia. Could she even have passed the classes if she’d been allowed to try?

What answer should she give him? Finally, she decided. “I want to be a mother. I want to have a family,” she said, pushing the words out over the lump in her throat. An honest answer. A
safe
answer, except this was the man she would have a family
with
. A man she had married then kissed a few times, but did not love and was not ready to have a physical relationship with.

He looked at her, as though he knew there was more to the answer, but he didn’t press her for more. “That sounds lovely.”

“I never quite felt like I belonged,” she rushed on, surprising herself with the words. “After my mother died, my father and I didn’t connect the same way we had before, and certainly not the way she and I had.” She pushed her plate away. “I’ve always just wanted to belong.”

Without looking at him, she stood and hurried up to their room, wrapping her arms around herself as she went to stand outside on the balcony. Mrs. Rappellini had been right. The sunsets were awe inspiring.

She heard Malachi walk out, but he surprised her when he wrapped his arms around her. “You will always have a place to belong with me,
Mia Belle
. Always.”

They stared over the water until the sun set completely, then she pulled away from him, confused by the feelings swirling around inside. “I think I’m going to turn in early,” she told him, practically running into the bathroom and locking the door behind her.

When she slid under the sheets, she wondered where Malachi had gone, but didn’t dwell on it. Instead, she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.

When Jessabelle awoke the next morning, Malachi had been and gone. A note on the side table directed her to a dress lying over the back of the chair. She followed the directions, dressing in the sleek white dress and heading for the gazebo near the beach. Before she reached it, she saw Malachi talking with Mr. and Mrs. Rappellini.

Shoving her hands further into her coat pockets, she headed for them.

Malachi reached for her hands once she was close enough, and she took them. Even with the gloves her hands felt warmer cocooned in his.

“What’s all this?” she asked, looking around. Mrs. Rappellini looked like the cat that ate the canary. Mr. Rappellini looked like the cat that helped her get away with it.

Malachi took a step closer to her. “Something I realized at the time, and meant to talk to you about sooner, but we never did.” He took a deep breath. “I realized it again when we talked last night. Two weeks ago, I noticed the difference between our wedding vows.”

So had Jessabelle. She didn’t think he had.

“So here, in front of witnesses.” He nodded toward Mr. and Mrs. Rappellini. “I wanted to take new vows. Real ones.” Another deep breath. “I, Malachi Jedidiah Richard Louis Van Rensselaer, take you, Jessabelle Van Rensselaer to be my lawfully wedded wife. In sickness and in health. For richer, for poorer. I vow to love, honor, and cherish you. I vow to keep myself only to you and no other. For as long as we both shall live.”

Tears filled her eyes as his words sank in. “Really?”

“It didn’t seem fair that you promised me all this stuff and I did not promise any of it back.” The back of his leather-gloved hand swiped at a tear as it streaked down her cheek. “I wanted to make sure you know I’m in this for good or bad, for the long haul.” He tugged on her hand until they were a few steps from Mr. and Mrs. Rappellini. “I know my father cheated on my mother, a lot, until he became king. That affair has to go down as one of the worst kept secrets in all of Mevendian history. I would never, ever do that to you. Ever.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“And I wanted witnesses to hear me say those things.” He let go of her hand and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “But we do need to get going. My father expects me back and refreshed in time for a meeting tomorrow morning.”

After a quick good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Rappellini, and giving a promise to them to visit again soon, Jessabelle sat in the back of the car as they were driven to the airport. In a matter of hours, it would be time to settle into life as the wife of a prince. Jessabelle still wasn’t certain what all that entailed, but she had a feeling she was going to be thrown into the deep end without a life jacket.