The Princess (10 page)

Did you have a good time?
Shelby typed on the teletype machine she used for phone calls to her father.

We had a wonderful time,
he replied.
We spoke with Nikolai for a while and told him we wanted to have the two of you to dinner. We’ll have to do that soon. You looked a little tired at times last night. Did you enjoy yourself?

Yes. I had something on my mind that I found stressful, so I imagine this was what you saw in my expression.

It was hard not to ask you last night.

I’m all right, Fa, thank you. By the way, tell Brice he missed a great party.

We already did, but I could tell he was glad he’d kept to his original plans. He did say he wants to come see you soon. I think he said something about skating or biking.

Tell him to come. I would love it. Do you have my extension?

Yes. I’ll pass the word along.

Someone knocked on Shelby’s door just then, so she told her father she had to go. They said goodbye with some regret. It seemed like their time together these days consisted of brief snatches on the run.

“Good morning,” Nikolai said as soon as Shelby opened the door. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.” Shelby took in the prince’s jeans and T-shirt and was glad she hadn’t dressed up.

Nikolai noticed her attire as well. He had yet to see her looking anything but nice, but like this, in white jeans and a pale peach blouse, she looked so at home she might have been living in the palace for years. Telling himself to keep his mind on the task ahead of him, he led the way to the comfortable sofas in the private, forest green parlor they shared and waited for her to sit down.

“I won’t keep insulting you by apologizing, Shelby, but I feel we need to talk a little more about what happened.” It did not escape his notice that although Shelby had sat down, she was not at all relaxed.

“All right,” Shelby said, thinking she’d been right about why he wanted to see her.

“I frightened you quite badly, didn’t I?”

Shelby nodded a bit reluctantly, not certain she was going to enjoy this.

“Can you tell me why exactly?”

Shelby played with her watch for a moment, her gaze diverted. She had to be honest but feared it would make him angry again. She tensed and tried to smile, but it didn’t work.

“It sounds so silly now, but for just a moment I thought you might be tempted to hit me.”

She said this and leaned a little away from him. Nikolai had all he could do not to react. He didn’t know when he’d been so surprised. He forced himself to nod in seeming calmness, but inside he was miserable.
All this time, Lord, You’ve been prompting me to get to know her, to talk to her, but I ran from my job. Then I thought my parents had been duped. I thought she was a complete phony, but she really is extremely sweet and accommodating.

“Were you tempted to hit me?” Shelby asked in a small voice.

“No, Shelby,” Nikolai said, finding it no problem to keep his voice gentle; she was looking frightened all over again, and his heart wrung with compassion.

Shelby shrugged uncomfortably. “I told myself it was silly, but sometimes I don’t listen very well.”

Nikolai stared at her for a moment, the full import of what she had done coming home to him for the first time. Would he have left his home, all that was familiar and dear, to marry a stranger who had complete control over him? He didn’t think he would.

“I’m glad you told me, Shelby—very glad. I was angry with my father and took it out on you. It’s probably impossible for you to believe that right now because you don’t know me, but I hope in time you’ll come to see that I mean it.”

“Thank you.”

“Tell me something, Shelby. Did you have an appointment after Murdock spoke with us, or did you just feel you had to get away?”

“A little of both. I had an open appointment, one that I could take care of anytime, and I decided to go then.”

“Did it go well?”

Shelby blushed. “I can’t say as I remember very much about it. I’ll have to go back.”

“Murdock said you were also out of town this week.”

“Yes. I went to Yelverton. That’s been on my calendar for a few weeks. One of the Council member’s wives asked me to lunch, and when the queen learned of it, she asked me to stop in on an old friend for her.”

“It’s pretty up there in the north. My grandmother’s family is from there.”

“She told me about that.”

“That’s right. They said you had lunch with them.”

Shelby nodded again, feeling terribly insecure inside. This man was larger than life to her. He was tall, yes, but it was more than that. Even before the incident, she’d been slightly in awe of him. In a move to appear calmer than she felt, Shelby tucked her hair behind her ears and crossed her legs.

“Am I going to offend you if I ask you about your hair?” Nikolai asked suddenly. He’d been watching her quite closely.

“No,” Shelby told him sincerely.

“Is the color yours?”

Not expecting this, she laughed a little. “Yes. For better or for worse, it’s mine.”

“What would make you say for worse?”

Shelby could have given him several reasons, but Murdock came to the door.

“I hate to interrupt, sir, but a call has come in, and I thought you should take it.”

“All right. Thank you, Murdock.”

Shelby stood so the prince would feel she understood.

“I’m sorry to cut this short,” Nikolai said sincerely.

“That’s fine. I understand.”

Feeling a bit thwarted as Shelby seemed on the verge of relaxing, Nikolai saw that he had no choice. He wished her a good day and went to take his call. By the time he finished, she was gone. The temptation to let her live her life so he could continue to cherish his memories of Yvette was very strong, but he’d already made that mistake and wasn’t going to do it again. He didn’t see Shelby again that day but prayed off and on until bedtime about the next opportunity to speak with her.

“Do you still drive yourself?” Lenore asked.

“Yes. I drove myself today.”

“But you don’t have to?” Deb checked with her.

“No. I can ask to be taken in the day limo.”

“You make it sound like the limousines are different at night,” commented Grace.

“They are,” Shelby answered, not minding the questions from the five women in her Bible study group. She was closer to these women than just about any others she could name and had not the slightest qualm in answering their naturally curious questions. Other than Lenore, she was seeing them for the first time since she was married.

“If I have to go out in the evening,” Shelby explained, “I’m taken in a regular limo—big, black, and very formal. The day limo is actually a nice car, no dark windows or glass divider.”

“And how does it feel?”

“A little funny at times, but the staff is so kind.”

“And the prince?” Natty asked in her quiet way. “Is he kind too?”

“I think so,” Shelby answered, being very honest with them. “I know it isn’t easy for him, but just this morning we talked for a while. We haven’t really had that much time together. You can pray for me about the relationship.”

“Like we’ve done anything else for the past six weeks,” Deb said with her classic sarcasm. She could always make Shelby laugh.

“Okay, okay.” Shelby’s hands went in the air. “Enough about me. How’s chemo, Natty?”

“It was better this week. I know the Lord is always with me—I never doubt that—but there are times when
I’m
more mindful of Him. This week was like that. I was even able to tell the chemo tech a little about my faith.”

“That’s great,” Connie spoke up. “I was at the hospital on Thursday about ten, and they told me I’d just missed you.”

Shelby listened to the women talk, amazed at the friends they had become. She hadn’t seen it coming, but the woman who had originally led the study had become pregnant and very sick. She’d met Shelby at the hospital and instantly thought of her. That had been more than two years earlier. Shelby had been meeting with the women weekly ever since. They had studied Romans, 1 and 2 Peter, and Hebrews. They were now tackling 1, 2, and 3 John.

The women studied for the next 40 minutes and took some time for prayer requests before Shelby headed on her way. Both Deb and Lenore had had a few more questions for her, and Shelby left with a small shake of her head and a huge smile on her face. She was in her car and halfway back to the palace before she wondered if she would ever know Nikolai well enough to invite him to meet the ladies. If their questions were any indication, they would thoroughly enjoy it. Right now the thought of asking him caused Shelby’s face to heat. Without a bit of hesitation, she pushed the thought far to the back of her mind.

In town for the first weekend in much too long, the prince stood at the back of the church on Sunday morning, determined not to sit down until he found his wife. Murdock told him that the car had brought her here, and he was going to find her. He had checked with his parents but was told that she never sat with them. Nikolai began to grow anxious. He was not a small man, and to wander around when most people were sitting was starting to draw stares.

A moment later he noticed a man signing to someone near the front of the sanctuary on the right-hand side and suddenly knew where to look. He moved to the far right, still staying at the back until he spotted that bright copper head. He was immensely relieved to see she was not in a crowded pew. In fact, he was able to sit beside her on the end of the pew with room to spare. She was so
un
crowded, in fact, that for several seconds she didn’t look up from her church bulletin to see who had joined her.

“Oh, Nikolai,” Shelby said softly, looking shocked and immediately feeling her face go red.

“Good morning. May I sit with you?”

“Yes, certainly.”

Nikolai looked at his own bulletin and sermon notes in an effort not to stare at her, but he’d seen her red face and could tell by the movements he caught out of the corner of his eye that she was unsettled by his presence.

A few minutes remained before the service began, so he leaned slightly and said, “Do you always sit on this side?”

“Yes. Is that all right?”

“Of course. Did you know that my parents sit on the other side?”

“Yes. I talk to them when I come in. If you want me to sit with them, I can.”

“No, it doesn’t matter,” Nikolai told her quickly as the service was starting. He listened with great attention, but not before reminding himself that he would need to find a way to let Shelby know she could relax. He suspected that she thought he had rules and regulations for everything, and in a desperate attempt to do the right thing, she was terribly nervous and contrite in his presence. That he had frightened her was not lost from his memory either. That matter was his last prayer as the announcements were completed and they sang the first song.

“And where did you go after that?” Shelby asked the little girl in the kitchen.

“We ate dinner at Samba’s. I had pie.”

“That sounds wonderful. What type of pie was it?”

The child, Emma Greene, looked to her Aunt Arlanda.

“I think you had the berry,” Arlanda filled in.

“Berry,” Emma told Shelby, her hand still touching Shelby’s hair. The housekeeper had tried to tell her not to touch, but Shelby had waved her away. “I like red,” Emma went on. “I wish I had red hair.”

“Do you want mine?” Shelby checked with her.

“Your hair?”

“Sure!” Shelby rounded her eyes and said, “We’ll just trade.”

Emma laughed. “I don’t think we can. My daddy likes my hair too much.”

“I like it too. Black hair is beautiful.”

Emma smiled with pleasure and then heard the timer. She stood with reluctance but didn’t complain. Her Aunt Arlanda had told her they could stay until the kitchen timer buzzed.

“It was nice to meet you, Emma.”

“Thank you,” the little girl said as she smiled up at her.

Shelby walked them to the door and even outside, waving as the car pulled away. She had been on her way to the park and passed through the kitchen to find Emma and Arlanda. They had been on their way out, but Arlanda held back when Shelby had begun to speak with Emma. Now Shelby stood and waved one more time before moving toward the dense growth of trees and the path she knew she would find. She had been tempted to get her skates but hadn’t found out yet if the park allowed skates and bicycles on the paths. She was vaguely aware of Kris following some paces behind her. He had become a part of her world, and most of the time she took his presence for granted.