Suddenly Royal (24 page)

“
I do believe my calendar is clear.”

“
Not exactly, but I understand what you mean. I’ll let the lord chamberlain know.” He smiled at me. “I’ve also spoken to Dr. Bielefeld’s staff and gotten them in contact with your father’s doctors. He should be looking over his paperwork at any minute.”

“
Great! Is he here in town?” I sat up and leaned forward.

“
Not yet. He was in Paris for a convention and to see a few patients. He keeps in regular touch with his office though, so we can expect steady updates.” Chadwick smiled a bit mischievously. “Apparently the doctor was excited to help out America’s Duchess.”

“
Oh no. Tell me that hasn’t stuck.”

“
It certainly has. Catchy, if you think about. There’s a definite fascination with royals in America. Probably because they don’t have any of their own.” Chadwick flipped open his notebook to a different page. “I hope you don’t mind, but I had your luggage inventoried and I believe shopping may be in order. You have several lovely dresses and outfits, but the fact is you’re going to need much more.”

I glared at him and set down my cup. He picked it up and put a coaster underneath. “You inventoried my clothes?”

“
Well, yes. That’s part of my job. Helping make sure you have everything you need.” He looked at me with patient eyes. “I know it feels like an intrusion, but try to not look at it like that. Besides, I couldn’t care less about your bras and panties—they wouldn’t fit me. Though I would recommend getting more nightclothes. You only brought tank tops and giant shirts.” He said it like it was a crime.

“
Hey!”

“
No offense. They’re very nice tank tops and giant shirts if you like that sort of stuff, but if you’re going to let Prince Alex help you undress each night you might want something a little sexier to slip into.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Not that I’ll say a word about it of course. Not a word.”

“
It’s not like that!” I sputtered. “He’s a friend and I couldn’t reach the zipper… I just… It wasn’t like that!”

“
Of course not, honey. Not that I’d blame you if it was. That man has sent many a hearts fluttering.” Chadwick smiled up at me through his red hair and winked. “And if you need any help next time, let me know, I’d be happy to assist. I was coming to see to you, which was when I caught Alex leaving your room.”

“
Oh, um.” I wasn’t exactly any more comfortable with the idea of Chadwick helping me undress.

He laughed at my hesitation. “I’m not going to be ogling you, if that’s what you’re worried about. Not the right bits, okay?”

“
Oh. Okay.” That explained the joke about my bras and panties. “Listen, you really can’t tell anyone what you saw last night. It was nothing and Alex has had enough trouble with the press.”

“
You can trust me, ma’am. I wouldn’t have been given this job if there was a chance I’d leak stuff to the press or start any rumors.” He smiled at me and patted my hand. “Now, I’m going to order some food while you get dressed. Any preference?”

“
Fruit? Maybe some yogurt or oatmeal?”

“
Done. I’d wear the blue suit-dress. It’ll look lovely on you. And it would be appropriately patriotic.” Chadwick disappeared out the door and I wondered what had just happened. I did as he said though, grabbing my clothes and taking a shower. I hurried because I wasn’t sure how long I had before the food would be back. There was a blow-dryer in the bathroom, so I quickly dried my hair and pulled half of it back out of my face. The sheath dress fit perfectly, but I hated I had to wear hose with it. It wasn’t really a suit, but rather a simple dress with a fitted jacket over it. I put my mother’s earrings back on and slipped into the nude pumps Jess had insisted on.

Breakfast was sitting on the table near the fireplace. Someone had stoked the fire, so I was very toasty as I watched the light snow flutter outside the window while I ate. Chadwick had a bowl of soup as we went over the schedule for the rest of the day. Once I was ready to leave, Becca and another “suit” came to escort us. We went straight to the embassy to meet with the ambassador for the United States. There were photographers outside the palace gates and more when we reached the embassy. I stopped and smiled for a few pictures before ducking inside out of the cold. If Chadwick hadn’t given me puppy eyes, I wouldn’t have stopped for a picture at all.

Chadwick turned out to be invaluable. He knew everyone by name and could tell me all about the things they were currently working on. The ambassador was a nice lady with blond hair, serious eyes, and quick smile. She introduced me to her aides and offered help getting my things moved over arranging transportation for my father. I was there for an hour total. It was like a whirlwind history class. There were dates, stories, and pictures. I could only pray I wouldn’t be tested on any of it. Then again, Chadwick would make an excellent cheat sheet. We made an appearance at an elementary school for American workers and expats sent their children to. I enjoyed that visit much more than I did the one to the embassy. The children had all kinds of crazy questions. I took a picture with one of the classes and a tiny girl with dark brown hair in braids crawled into my lap. The palace photographer had met us at the school and while thorough, he seemed to understand too many pictures would drive everyone crazy.

After the school, we went shopping. Becca seemed to enjoy watching me suffer through it all. And suffer I did.

Chadwick was a slave driver, constantly handing things over the door. It was as much fun as I thought it would be, but I left with several dresses from a Lilarian designer, dressy slacks, and new sweaters. I was fairly certain I had offended Chadwick with my sense of style. He would shake his head and put something on the counter I had originally declined.

“
Trust me. If I wasn’t the assistant extraordinaire, I would have gone into fashion.” He mock-glared at me and I pretended to roll my eyes. “This will look great on you, ma’am.”

“
Why did I even have to come if you were going to pick everything out?” I looked at him in disgust.

“
You did find that gorgeous sweater, so you’re not completely hopeless. Think of me as a fashion guru and you’re my reluctant protégé.”

I laughed at him, glad we were getting along so well. It was a bit like having Jess with me. She had texted me to let me know I had been on the news. Apparently my landing had been streamed on live TV in the States. I had been horrified, but she seemed to have loved it. Said it felt like she had been there. My father had another chemo treatment today and I was feeling incredibly guilty for shopping while he went through that torture. Patricia had texted me to let me know he was fine and that they had watched me on the news.

I needed to call Dad soon and made a mental note to try later tonight. I wanted to hear his voice. I had been busy from the moment I set foot here, but I was still more than a little homesick
.

Romantic Dinner or Friendly Get-Together?

—
Lisa Talks

Once the sky began to darken, Chadwick started to hurry me along.

I rolled my eyes at him. “Do you want me to get new nightgowns or what? There’s a billion to choose from.”

“
Yes. I got down on my knees this morning and prayed you would get rid of those hideous nightshirts, but we’re running out of time, ma’am.” He tapped his watch. “Prince Alex and Princess Catherine will be waiting for you, so just pick something.”

“
All right, all right.” I grabbed several different colors of the one I was looking at and headed toward the clerk. “And stop calling me ma’am. You’re older than I am. Just call me Sam.”

“
Sam?” He wrinkled his nose at me. “I don’t know.”

“
Why not?”

“
It’s just that Sam doesn’t really seem like the name of a duchess.” He looked at my face and backpedaled. “Not that there is anything wrong with Sam. What about Samantha?”

“
Fine.” I shrugged. “Anything is better than ma’am.”

“
Well, only in private of course. It would be highly inappropriate if I called you that in public.”

I ground my teeth. “Okay.”

“
It’s not so bad.” He patted my arm.

The staff hadn’t batted an eye when I’d come through the door, but it made me feel awkward to buy anything like a nightie. What if it ended up on the news? The cameras and news vans had lowered in numbers the longer we shopped, but as soon as I left the store I ran into a crowd of people hollering my name. Chadwick put an arm around me while Becca made a path for us to the car.

I thought we were in the clear as we pulled away from the curb, but cars surrounded us almost immediately.

“
What are they doing?” I leaned forward to look out the window. “This is dangerous!” I squeaked when a car swerved close to us around a corner. Our driver slammed the brakes and we skidded, just missing the curb.

“
Sit back, Samantha.” Chadwick moved to make sure I was buckled in.

“
This is cr—”

A light blue van slammed into the back of our car, making my teeth snap shut. Blood pooled in my mouth from where I nipped my tongue. I covered my lips with my hand and looked around wildly. Camera flashes blinded me as I tried to see just what had happened. A motorcycle stopped in front of our car and the person on the back snapped pictures through the front windshield.

“
Are you okay?” Becca turned around in her seat.

“
Yeah.” I nodded my head and tried to quell the nausea that was bubbling in my stomach. Adrenaline and anger ran through my body. Balling my hands into fists I glared out the window at the people still busy taking photographs.

“
Can you get us out of here?” Chadwick asked.

“
As soon as I have an opening.” The driver never took his hands off the steering wheel.

“
Should we call the police?” I looked from Becca to Chadwick.

“
Best to get out of here fast.” Becca shook her head.

My door handle made a loud noise as someone tried to open the door. I turned to check that it was locked and almost sighed in relief when I realized it was closed for sure. The driver took his foot off the brake and edged forward. I watched as he pushed the bike with the front fender and almost cheered when the motorcycle driver pulled away from us.

Our car shot forward and I felt like celebrating, but I still felt sick. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that someone had hit our car just to get a picture of me.

“
It’ll calm down, Samantha. They just don’t know what to make of you.” Chadwick patted my arm.

“
Are you kidding? They could have hurt us! They did hurt us! I bit the shit out of my tongue.” I waved my hand in the air. “All that for a picture of me? Me? Why?”

“
You’re interesting and they make the most money by selling photos of interesting people.” Chadwick pursed his lips.

“
I’m not interesting. I’m the same as every other person. I have to brush my teeth, use the bathroom, and take a bath, same as everyone else.”

“
You also just found out that you’re the duchess to a huge estate in a foreign country.” He frowned. “I understand what you’re saying, and they shouldn’t behave the way they are, but it’s because you
are
interesting. Things will calm down.”

“
Please don’t say eventually.” I shook my head. “Everyone keeps telling me that it will calm down eventually, but it just seems to be getting worse.”