Page 40 of Royal Caleva: Luis

Being a parent often meant suffering a severe case of emotional whiplash.

“Mom should be on the school start-up team too,” Grace said. “She knows more about vet med than half my professors.”

“I only have practical experience. The high-level stuff is beyond me,” Eve said, although she felt a surge of gratification.

“Your diagnoses are never wrong,” Grace said. “Half the time, you don’t even need to look at a blood test or X-ray.”

“I’ve been a vet tech for a long time, so I’ve seen it all,” Eve demurred. “Although I do have some ideas about how to structure a clinic that makes the experience for the patients fear-free.”

“Fear-free?” Luis asked.

“It’s a concept of practicing vet med in a way that reduces the patients’ anxiety and stress, which often improves the outcome of our treatments,” Grace said. “We do a pretty good job of it at the school clinic, but to succeed fully, you need to start with the building itself. We could do that in Caleva, build it from the ground up and train all the students to do the same in their future practices.” Grace’s voice vibrated with enthusiasm.

Luis nodded, and Eve could see the satisfaction lurking in his eyes. He had hooked his daughter well and good with this bait.

More than that, Grace seemed to grow and change right before Eve’s eyes, from a book-toting graduate student grinding through her studies to a visionary with the means to turn a dream into reality. Maybe having the blood of kings running in your veins gave you that kind of conviction that you could—and possibly should—make big things happen.

Eve had never felt that way. It had been all she could do to raise one child. Another thought pinched at her heart. Grace might never have reached her full potential if Luis hadn’t found her.

“Mom?” Grace’s voice pulled her out of her depressing thoughts.

“Sorry. Visions of fear-free waiting rooms were dancing in my head,” Eve said.

“We will give your visions substance,” Luis said. It was striking how much Luis and Grace sounded alike when they spoke about the imaginary vet school. “We have gotten ahead of ourselves, though,” Luis said, smiling. “We must get you to Caleva first. Bruno will contact you about travel arrangements. Caleva is sponsoring the trip, so there will be no expense to anyone from the school.”

Eve gave an internal sigh of relief, even though she had figured that Luis would underwrite the cost. With all of Grace’s expenses for vet school, Eve didn’t have extra money lying around for foreign travel.

“Who are the other people in the group?” Grace asked.

Luis picked up a tablet that was sitting on the coffee table and swiped a couple of times before handing it to Grace. She held it so Eve could read the list too.

Two of the students were friends of Grace’s. The other two often joined them for exam prep. Two professors were listed as well, both of whom Eve had worked with and found bland but unobjectionable. The school must have chosen them because they weren’t currently teaching any rotations.

Eve looked up. Luis lounged in his chair, long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, clearly waiting for their comments. Even his stillness held a coiled energy waiting to be unleashed.

“We know them all,” Eve said.

“And you’ve included a reptile lover,” Grace said. “He’ll go crazy over your Calevan dragons.”

“Excelente! Now let us enjoy dinner.” Luis rose from his chair and gestured toward a wide archway. As they stood, he stepped forward to offer a crooked elbow to each of them. “If you will allow me?”

Grace stepped to one side of Luis and placed her hand on her father’s arm with a smiling glance up at his face. Eve once again felt the solidity of the king’s muscles as she followed suit. The cotton of his shirt was soft and warm against her palm and wrist. There was no point in pretending she didn’t want to touch more of him and even feel his hands on her skin in return, but that was just a primitive response of her body. She could ignore it most of the time.

But, dear Lord, he smelled so good. Even better than the delicious aromas emanating from the door into the kitchen.

The rest of the evening passed with Luis weaving his spell of royal Calevan magic around them. Grace was ensnared by it, leaning toward her father as she drank in his every word. Eve fought the pull of his charisma, succeeding only because she recognized that he was glossing over the less pleasant aspects of royal life.

Sometime soon she would have to point that out to Grace, but for now, she let her daughter revel in her newfound father’s warmth and charm.

They lingered over dessert and coffee because no one wanted to give up the cocoon of candlelight, excellent food, and one another’s relaxed company. Finally, though, Eve said, “I’m sorry to be the party pooper, but it’s getting late.”

It was uncanny how identical the expressions of disappointment were from both Grace and Luis. Those Dragón genes were powerful.

They all stood, and Luis once again offered his elbows to his guests. Eve savored the last few moments of contact with his warmth and scent as they strolled to the front door.

“I hate to part,” Luis said, “but we will be reunited very soon, and I will have the pleasure of showing you all the glories of Caleva.”

Tears glittered in Grace’s eyes, and she threw her arms around her father’s neck. “I can’t wait to see you again.”

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