Recklessly Royal (16 page)

“Well, it was a beautiful rainbow. And a nice daisy to boot.” She smiled before turning back to her phone. “I’m sure someone will want to hang it on their refrigerator.”

I snorted. “Only because I signed my name at the bottom.”

“Would you mind making one more stop before we get to the hospital? There is an event taking place a couple of blocks away.”

“What is it?” I didn’t want to stay away from Selene any longer than I needed to.

“You were scheduled to reveal a plaque at a local animal hospital, but I originally told them you might not make it.”

“What is it for?” I asked.

“They have donated over two hundred thousand man-hours to animal care.”

“I suppose we could stop by briefly.” I frowned. That certainly deserved recognition; I just hated not being with Selene. “I want to get back to Selene quickly.”

“Excellent. I will give them a call and let them know.” Tabitha dialed a number quickly and explained we would be making it after all. I shoved my frustration out of the way and put on my “princess face.”

When we pulled up, there was a large crowd of people waiting outside and a ton of reporters.

“I thought we had originally canceled?”

“I’m betting they thought you might show up since you did the school event.” Tabitha shrugged.

Jameson opened the car door and helped me out before lending a hand to Tabitha. I smiled for the cameras briefly before letting Tabitha lead me up the stairs. I noticed that she was smiling for the cameras as well and thought that was odd, but dismissed it. She was probably not used to being around all of these cameras. Her job had mainly kept her in offices until now.

“Welcome, Your Highness. It’s an honor to have you here today!” An older man in a pristine doctor’s coat shook my hand. He smelled faintly of bleach and I had a feeling he’d taken a lot of time to make sure he looked nice. Between that, his bow tie, and the goofy grin on his face, I was instantly charmed. “I’m Dr. McRae.”

“A pleasure.” I shook his hand. “I’m sorry to arrive on such short notice.”

“Completely understandable, ma’am.” He bobbed his head. “I was sorry to hear about your assistant.”

“Catherine, please, and thank you.” I smiled. “I think they want us to take a picture together.”

“Oh! Yes, that would be wonderful.” He turned and stood next to me, his hands held in front of him.

We smiled and looked from camera to camera, letting them all get an image or two before going inside. Thankfully there were only two photographers inside and they were more interested in official pictures of me unveiling the plaque.

“It’s over here, ma’am.” The veterinarian motioned for me to follow him. “Thank you so much for coming to do this. It’s an honor.”

A red velvet cloth covered an easel, and the staff and their families were gathered around in anticipation.

I moved so that I was standing on the opposite side of the plaque and waited, smiling at the cameras as people took my picture or video.

“I’m humbled to have Princess Catherine here today to help celebrate this huge achievement. I owe my staff and their family a million thanks for all they’ve done for the animal community.” He smiled around the room as people clapped. “Even without the plaque, I hope you all know the amount of good you’ve done this year.”

I clapped with the rest of the room, agreeing wholeheartedly with what he was saying. The amount of man-hours they had put into their community was worth more than a plaque, but at least they were being recognized.

“I’m honored to be in a room with so many kindhearted people. I know that what you’ve done to help these animals and their families was a labor of love that required a lot of sacrifice on your part. So on behalf of my family and this community, I thank you.” I tugged the cloth from the plaque in one fell swoop and rolled it up in my arms.

People oohed and aahed. People clapped. And of course there were more pictures. I posed with everyone and took the time to shake the hands of the staff. I ate little sandwiches and drank tea. Not once did I glance at my watch to check the time, despite my desire to be with my friend. By the time Tabitha finally came to rescue me, I had been at the veterinary clinic for four hours. It wasn’t that I regretted the time spent with the people and it wasn’t as if I hadn’t enjoyed talking with everyone.

But I had a friend in the hospital, with no family to keep her company. My need to get back to her was pressing on my chest by the time we got back in the car.

“That went well.” Tabitha smiled at me. “They were so glad to see you.”

I took a deep breath, trying to choose my words so that they didn’t come across wrong. “I’m glad we went, but next time, I need you to step in and get us out of there a little faster.”

“I thought you were enjoying yourself.”

“I was . . . but that’s part of my job—to spend time with people and make them feel important—because they are important. I need you to cut in and keep me on schedule. Otherwise it looks like I’m rude for leaving and I’ll be stuck there for days.”

“Maybe we could work out a signal. That way I know when you’re ready.” She chewed on her lip for a minute. “Maybe you could look at your watch.”

“No, if I do that people will think I’m counting down until I can leave. That would seem rude.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t think about this. I just knew we didn’t have anything else on the schedule.” Tabitha sat back in her seat and played with her phone. I was starting to understand why Selene disliked cell phones. Tabitha never put hers away. It was like part of her body and she couldn’t think without it.

“No, I told you that I wanted to see Selene. She’s been alone for hours now.” I frowned. “Perhaps you should put Selene time into your calendar. That way there are no questions.”

“Of course.” She nodded her head with a smile.

There were reporters outside of the hospital still, but I merely waved and pushed through the throngs. There would be no more official speeches from me today.

The staff smiled at me as I walked through the halls and one of the nurses even gave me a small wave. The fact that they were treating me like someone returning to see a family member warmed my heart. It also went a long way toward easing the tension in my shoulders. It was time to turn Princess Catherine off and just be Cathy for a little while.

“Hello?” I whispered the word quietly as I peeked into the door of Selene’s room.

“Took you long enough.” Chadwick’s voice replied.

I sighed in relief when I realized Selene hadn’t been alone this whole time. “What are you doing here?”

“We had an event in the area for the FBT and figured we would drop by to see how Selene was doing.”

“We?” I turned to look around the room and realized that David was leaning against the wall. “Hi.”

“Hi.” His eyes traveled over my body and I felt it like a hot touch. It didn’t help that the memory of what it really felt like to have his hands on me was seared into my brain.

I turned to look at Selene and smiled when I realized her eyes were open. “How are you?” I moved to her bedside and grabbed her hand.

“Alive.” She squeezed my fingers. “Did you make it to all of the appointments today?”

“No, but we got two in.” I smiled. “Tabitha wouldn’t let me out of all of them.” I turned to see where my temporary assistant was, but she was nowhere in sight.

“They sent Tabitha to help you?” Selene’s brow furrowed.

“Yes.” I watched her closely, surprised by her reaction. I’d always been under the impression that she was grooming Tabitha to be her replacement.

“I’m sure she’ll do a fine job.” Selene closed her eyes for a moment. “I’m sorry. This pain medicine makes it difficult for me to stay awake. I’m tired of being in this bed.”

“And that, my friend, is exactly why they have you on that medicine. To keep your butt in bed!” I shook my head and she laughed gently.

“You’ve been telling them my bad habits.”

“Of course I have.” I leaned forward and lowered my voice. “You have to cut back. You’ve been doing too much.”

“I’m doing the exact same thing you’re doing.” She looked away from me. We both knew that was a lie. She did much more than I did and she was more than twice my age.

“It’s killing you.” I frowned. “We need to find another way of handling things. Perhaps hiring an assistant for you.”

“We’ll talk when I get out of here.”

“And when is that exactly?”

“Maybe a week. Depends on how I’m doing.” She started to shift and her face flinched in pain.

“What about physical therapy?”

“Oh, those bastards were in here earlier. I don’t want to talk about them.” She shook her head.

I laughed. Prim and proper Selene had just called someone a bastard. That was well worth a laugh. Even Chadwick was chuckling.

“Wow. Okay,” I finally responded.

“Don’t tell her that they will be back every day for months,” Chadwick stage-whispered.

Selene whimpered. “Oh, that’s just horrible.”

“It’ll be fine. We’ll get some great ones to come to D’Lynsal to work with you.” I patted her shoulder gently, still bothered by how weak she looked.

“Nonsense. I’ll go back home and they can visit me there.” Her words were a whisper as her eyes fluttered closed.

“Get some rest.” I kissed her forehead. ”You’re coming home with me no matter what you want.”

“You’re so stubborn, you know that?”

“Of course I do. I modeled myself after you.” I laughed.

She made a disappointed
hm
sound before her breathing evened out and she was asleep. I sat back in my chair and watched her for a minute. It was a relief to talk to her, to know that she really was on the mend.

“I need to step out and make some phone calls.” Chadwick stood up. “Would you like me to bring you some food?”

“That would be great.” I smiled at him. “You know what I’ll eat.”

“David, would you like something?” Chadwick turned to look at the man in the corner.

“Sure.” He shrugged and pushed off the wall. “Whatever is fine.”

“Then I’ll be back in a little bit.”

“Thank you,” David and I said at the same time.

“Of course.” Chadwick winked at one of us, but I wasn’t sure who exactly it was meant for.

When he was gone, David took the empty seat next to me and leaned forward so that his elbows were braced on his knees. Having him near me sent my blood pressure up. I was keenly aware of how his long body folded up to sit in the chair, how his hair hung in his eyes, and how the stubble along his jaw screamed to be kissed.

“Long day?” His deep voice drew me out of my thoughts.

“What?” Whoops. I’d been caught ogling.

“Did you have a long day?” His smile was slow as he cut his eyes at me. I had definitely been caught checking him out.

“Long day.” I nodded and hoped my blush wasn’t noticeable in the dim light. “You?”

“Not so bad really.” He turned so he could see me better. “I think I’m starting to understand a little more about the FBT and I still get to work with the birds, so that’s a big plus.”

“That’s good. I know it was a hard transition for Sam to not work with the animals every day.” I enjoyed how easy it was to talk to David. If you were to look at us, you would probably think that we didn’t have much in common, but that didn’t seem to matter.

“Where’s Tabitha? The one with the phone?” He looked around the room like she might be lurking in the shadows.

“I honestly have no idea. She always seems to disappear.” I pursed my lips. “I’m kind of glad though. It’s weird to have someone new spend so much time with me.”

“Tell me about it.” David frowned.

“See, I’d kill to have Chadwick right now. I can’t imagine it being weird. He’s so . . .” I searched for the right word. “Comfortable. You don’t have to be anything but who you are around him. And he is always on top of things. You never have to worry that he will leave you hanging or say something inappropriate.”

“I get it. It’s not Chadwick, exactly.” He smiled. “The guy is hilarious. It’s just having someone at all. You know what I mean?”

“I know what you mean, but I can’t relate. There have always been people working around me, helping me keep up with everything, or bodyguards making sure I was safe.”

“We had help on the farm. People that worked the crops and tended to some of the cattle. But they were employees. Don’t get me wrong, we liked them. Hell, Dad always gave them bonuses at the holidays and if they had nowhere to go, Mama invited them for dinner. But the way Chadwick and Selene work with you? So closely? It’s very intimate.”

“Intimate. That’s a good word for it.” I leaned back in my chair. “They sometimes know us better than we know ourselves.”

“How’s it working out with Tabitha? Seems like you two are getting along a little better.”

“It’s a learning experience. We have to figure each other out and work around that. It’s been—challenging, but I think we’re getting the hang of it.” I thought about it. “I’m not sure it would work as a permanent solution, but for now, it’s fine.”

“That’s something, considering how quickly everything happened.” He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head. “Speaking of which, I was thinking about our date.”

“Okay, shoot.” My heart dropped. He was going to cancel. With everything that had happened, you couldn’t ask for a better excuse. I stilled my face in an attempt to hide my disappointment.

“I think we should still go.” He put his hands back down on his legs. “At first I thought maybe we should postpone it, but since Selene is doing so well, it might be nice to have a little fun. Relax after a stressful week. If that’s okay with you.”

“Oh.” Relief and a little jolt of electricity flooded through my body. He really did want to have a date with me. “That would be nice.”

“Nice?” He made a face. “We don’t have to go if you’ve changed your mind.”

“No! I thought—” I shook my head. “I’m looking forward to going.”

“What did you think?” He leaned closer, his face curious.

“Nothing.” I shook my head.

“That means it was something.” He smiled. “Out with it.”

“No, not now.” I shot a glance over to where Selene was still sleeping.