The Surprise Princess (19 page)

“I’ve been scared of so many things.” She kept her eyes on the pan. “Clinging to the ledge of what I’d always known. You’re trying to push me off the ledge.”

“So you’ll soar. Even more.” The smile she heard in his voice was gone with his next words. “You’re a princess. An honest to God princess. You have a future ahead of you that’s nothing like your past.”

“Did I mention scared?” she asked wryly. “Heck, I’m not even sure about this trip to Washington for the wedding. I hardly know these people, even April—”

“You can handle it. You can handle anything. Now give me that last pan to dry, and then I’ll take you for ice cream.”

A
pril had instructed Katie to call her cell when her plane landed at Washington’s Reagan National Airport. She’d barely exited the terminal when she heard a beep and spotted April waving from the back of a town car.

A driver took Katie’s luggage with professional courtesy that didn’t quite mask his curiosity.

After giving Katie a quick hug, April announced, “This is Rupert, Katie. He drives for the embassy. Rupert, this is my friend, Katie Davis.”

“Ms. Davis,” the man said with a slight accent she couldn’t place.

She said hello and even smiled.

A driver. For an embassy. What do I know about this kind of life? Nothing.

She’d told Brad that Saturday night. He’d passed it off as nothing to worry about. Then he’d distracted her with ice cream. Then kept her busy Sunday with yard work until it was time to change and go to dinner at Carolyn and C.J.’s, who had wanted to know all about this trip.

Early this morning had been jam-packed with details for work … and now she was here. With no idea what to expect.

“I wanted to drive, but Hunter got all protective,” April said. “I haven’t taken evasive and defensive driving classes, so he thinks I can’t drive.”

“Miss April is an enthusiastic driver,” Rupert said neutrally.

April laughed. “Just for that, Rupert, I’m closing the privacy barrier.”

Katie could see the man’s smile in the rearview mirror as he repeated, “Yes, Miss Katie.”

“Now,” April said with a satisfied sigh as they merged into traffic on the George Washington Parkway, “we’re going to have some just-us-girls fun.”

Katie didn’t know which had her more off-balance – the two stops they’d made, the clogged traffic, or the street signs packed with “or,” “only,” and “but not” clauses. She didn’t want to think about April’s “enthusiastic” driving in these conditions.

The first stop had been a posh Georgetown salon. April breezed in with Katie in tow and went right to the back, where the proprietor reigned.

Feeling as if her head were still in the clouds she’d watched from the airplane, she listened to Etienne and April discuss how, despite their physical similarities, Katie needed a different hairstyle from April’s. She didn’t even try to have a say.

Etienne waved April away, ordered Katie’s hair shampooed, then circled her again with her hair wet and straight. The first cut made her gasp. She closed her eyes and kept them closed until he called April back in.

“Oh,” April breathed.

“Perfect,” Etienne proclaimed.

“Yes,” was all she got out. The almost structural lines of the cut gave her a sophistication she had never thought possible. Yet it retained enough soft naturalness to be comfortable.

She listened to his instructions for reproducing this effect but doubted she’d pull it off. “Have your stylist call me when you go for a trim,” he said in a low tone with astonishingly little accent as he tucked a business card in her pocket.

The second stop had been to an establishment with an austere exterior. Inside, April introduced her to Tonya, an elegant African-American woman who opened a hidden door, then led them down a hallway and into a dressing room ringed with mirrors.

“Your wedding dress,” Katie breathed as she spotted the dreamy, elegant flow of white hanging high in front of a mirror.

“I’m not trying it on until you’ve tried some things. What do you think, Maurice?” April added as a man nearly as tall as Brad but much more slender entered. “This is Katie, whom I told you about.”

“I think you are blackmailing her into trying on clothes. I approve.” He examined her. “Etienne?” A lazy finger indicating her hair turned into a commanding gesture for her to turn.

“Of course,” April said.

He chuckled, and a good part of Katie’s discomfort ebbed away.

It was a good thing, because April, Tonya, and Maurice did not allow her much modesty, much less time to sort through what was happening. “I’m sure I can’t afford these,” she’d said to April in an urgent whisper.

“Don’t worry. It’s all set.”

“But how—”

“Both Hunter and King Jozef insisted on paying Maurice for clothes he made for me last Christmas. And that’s on top of the State Department covering the cost as part of the operation. I couldn’t get either Hunter or the king to not pay and Maurice didn’t even try. He said we’ll work off that balance. Even with the wedding dress, it would take ages, so—”

Maurice swept back into the dressing room. “Next, a dress for April and Hunter’s wedding.”

“No.” Katie said firmly. “I have a dress for Saturday.”

Maurice looked at April, who shrugged. “Very well,” he said, “bring it when you come for fittings Wednesday morning and the adjustments will be ready before you both return Friday. Now. It is time to see how your wedding dress goes, April.”

It went stunningly in Katie’s opinion. April looked elegant, beautiful, and glowing.

“Duchess satin,” April said with a grin. “Closest I could come to a princess. I love the back, too.” She turned to show how the rounded, off-the-shoulder neckline dropped to a V in back, with a modest train. “I didn’t want anything too busy, especially with wearing the Craig family veil – all lace.”

The hotel was all understated luxury.

The car pulled under a portico before the impressive entry. Discomfort was rising in Katie until a man in hotel livery who opened the door winked at her. Behind her, April chuckled and the man did a double-take.

“Winking at other women behind my back, Jorge?” April teased. “This is Katie, who’s joining our group for the rest of the week.”

“Welcome, Miss Katie. It is a pleasure to have any friend of Miss April’s.”

Katie’s thanks were nearly lost in April’s questions about his nephew’s graduation and his mother’s back. Jorge started to steer toward registration, but April said, “That’s all set. Straight to the elevators, please.”

On their way what seemed like a dozen hotel employees exchanged greetings with April. In the elevator, she said to Jorge, “What are you grinning about?”

“Mr. Pierce would not be happy at how long you have known so many.”

“And there is no need for him to know,” April said firmly. Apparently seeing the questions in Katie’s eyes, she added, “I stayed here when Hunter was, uh, training me for you-know-what. He was paranoid about anyone knowing and thought – I’ll tell you later, because here we are. Thanks, Jorge.” She took Katie’s elbow, and steered her off the elevator.

“My things,” she protested as the doors closed with Jorge and her suitcase still inside.

April headed down the hallway. “Jorge will take them to your room and here’s the key. But we’re going to the suite where everyone’s hanging out, and this is your suite key.” She handed that over, then used another key to open the door. “Oh, good, you’re all here.”

For a dazzled instant, it seemed to Katie all of Washington might be in that room. And the crowd wasn’t even as impressive as the view over the tops of trees to the White House. Almost immediately the crowd surrounded her, shaking her hand, pronouncing names, and welcoming her.

She said hello back to April’s cousin Leslie and her husband Grady, greeted Tris and Michael Dickinson, as well as Paul and Bette Monroe, whose Evanston home was where she’d met April, as well as— Katie scanned the room.

“The king’s not here,” April whispered. “I told him to give you a chance to get settled.”

A bevy of kids eddied into the room, including the two she’d met at the Monroes’, followed by two dogs. “Rufus and Dragon,” April said fondly, as the dogs danced around her.

“Oh,” said one boy with vivid disappointment, “we thought it was Hunter.”

“That charmer is ours, Jake,” Leslie admitted, then introduced all the kids, promising at the end, “There won’t be a quiz on names or affiliation. Sometimes I forget which ones belong where.”The door swung open to a chorus of “Hunter!” from the boys.

“He’s the cool guy,” Leslie informed Katie, “because he’s not related to any of them and he carries a gun.”

“And because he’s just cool,” April added before Hunter reached her, kissing her while stretched over a boy who said, “Eww.”

“Some day, Nick,” Paul said. “Some day.”

Hunter grinned, dislodged a smaller boy from his leg and held out his hand to Katie. “Great to see you, Katie. I see April has already unleashed Etienne on you.”

“
That
’s what’s different.” Tris looked from her to April and back. “It makes you look less alike. You see each of you as individually beautiful before noticing the similarities.”

“Wait ‘til you see what Maurice has in store for her,” April said. “This one dress looks so simple, but—”

“Before you start on that,” Hunter interrupted, “let me introduce my colleagues to Katie.”

April immediately went to the two people who’d followed Hunter into the room and gave them each a hug. The African-American woman who exuded no-nonsense intelligence except for a wicked gleam in her eyes was Sharon Johnson, Hunter’s supervisor. The good-looking younger man was introduced as Derek Kenton, Hunter’s partner. April recognized him from the night she’d met King Jozef.

A knock on the door introduced an armada of room service carts and waiters. As they set out a buffet, Katie saw April give one a big hug. The waiter returned it, but kept a wary eye on Hunter.

The conversation was wide-ranging – including Washington sights to see, a piece of legislation Michael was working on, school progress for each of the kids, Leslie and Tris’ efforts to preserve a historic mill in Connecticut, Paul appraising toys from an archeological dig in North Carolina, and, of course, the wedding.

April said everything was all set so they could enjoy these days before the wedding. “Bette’s pulled this off even with the complications of security for King Jozef. But—” She grinned. “—we happen to have the help of security experts.”

“She’s talking about Bette, not me,” Hunter said, deadpan.

“Grady’s the miracle-worker,” Bette said. “Couldn’t have done it without him. Especially not in less than five months. He lined up the church and reception venue that are usually sold out years ahead.”

April kissed Grady on the check, then rubbed out the lipstick mark. “We also have these amazing luxury buses – another of Grady’s contributions — to take people to Charlottesville on Saturday for the wedding, and bring them back to D.C. at night. It saves all that driving—”

“And parking where there’s no room,” Leslie said.

“Charlottesville is where my mother’s family is from and Great-Grandmother Beatrice lives there,” April told Katie. “But we don’t want you to wait until the wedding to see it. We – Hunter, Leslie, Grady, Bette and some others — have to be there Wednesday to work out final details. Thursday, we’ll explore it with you. But no more for now. I’m going to roll out the rest of the week day by day.”

T
uesday morning, April appeared at Katie’s door with a room service cart and breakfast for two.

“Oh, good, you’re already dressed. We’re going to pick up Hunter in the suite at nine for our first stop. Gunston Hall. It’s the home of George Mason, who was a friend of Washington. He probably could have been as famous as the rest of those Founding Fathers, but he loved his home so much he didn’t want to leave. Leslie and Grady took me there as a teenager and I tried so hard to be bored and indifferent, but now I love the place. But before we get Hunter, we can talk while we eat breakfast.”

Katie chuckled. “Isn’t that what we did yesterday? Talk and eat?”

“Sure, but I didn’t want to hit you straight off the plane with your decision about having the DNA test and how you’re feeling about King Jozef and whether you’re getting your head around all this.”

Katie resisted an urge to change the subject. “I don’t know, I don’t know, and absolutely not.”

April gave her a shrewd look. “Someday you’ll want to know what the DNA might be able to tell you. I’m not saying—” She held up a hand to stop Katie’s response. “—when. Might be when you’re old and gray. Set that aside. Next, how you’re feeling about King Jozef.”

“I’m concerned. By his certainty. And his expectations. He would expect a true member of his family. Oh, God, his
royal
family.”

“Would there be expectations? Yes. But I’d worry more about Madame. Even though she’s loosened up a lot.”

“Madame?”

“She ran the embassy forever. Now she’s sort of the king’s, uh, right-hand woman. He probably listens to her more than anyone else. As for King Jozef, there are two factors. He’s practiced with me on what a relationship with a granddaughter might be like. And—”

“But you said he knew from the start you weren’t his granddaughter, so he never had expectations or hopes or—”

“Oh, yes, he did, crafty old statesman that he is. Although I will say they had more to do with Hunter than with his kingdom.”

Katie groaned at the final word.

“But that’s the other factor with King Jozef. He’s had all these years since the rebellion, since his daughter’s death, since the kidnapping to assess what he’d done right and wrong. He told Hunter – and I don’t think either of them would mind my telling you – his regret was he didn’t start earlier to honor his family by doing what they’d taught him was important. Life, love, and family.”

“But his
family
isn’t a normal family. It’s—”