Page 22 of The Prince

It’s true. They had spent plenty of time working together, arguing, and not nearly enough time doing the normal things a couple would do.

“Or I you. Tell me some palace stories.”

He chuckled. “I might leave those for when the brothers are all together. Now, I’ll tell you one about me that explains who I am, and you can tell me one about you that does the same.”

She swallowed. Her past that explained who she was would be difficult to tell.

He rubbed his thumb along the top of her hand. “When I was little, I used to set an alarm so I could watch the sunrise.”

“Wow, that’s dedication.”

He nodded. “I would hike up the back hills behind the palace and sit on the very edge of our plateau ridge to watch it rise over the water.”

Melodia hoped they would reach the restaurant in time for the sunset.

“And, this is embarrassing, in a way, but I would cry.”

“What?”

“Yes, I found it so beautiful I would cry. A feeling would overcome me, a closeness to nature and even to God who made it all, and I was filled with joy. But it became a problem, an obsession because I didn’t want to miss a single one, and I was sad that once the moment was gone, I couldn’t bring it back. It was gone forever.”

Her smile grew. “And so you started bringing a camera.”

His hand squeezed her own. “I did. But as you know, a photo could never do it justice, but I tried, and I’ve been trying ever since.” He cleared his throat. “There’s something particular I’ve been trying to capture all these years and hadn’t until one particular, special day.”

She caught her breath.

“When I met you.” He turned to her, his eyes showing his sincerity. “I have been trying to capture a moment of change in someone’s life, the energy at the brink of possibility. And I think I saw that in the moment you came out of the water. Something on your face, in the energy of the air around you, the way you held your hands, seemed to say that.”

He waited. She knew he hoped she would confirm what he thought he saw.

So she paused. “I think I should tell you my story.”

A small smile lightened his face.

“When I was very young, I loved to watch my mother get ready in the morning. She was the most beautiful human I had ever seen.”

“I can well imagine.” His deep voice rumbled through her in happy waves.

“One day she seemed unhappy, agitated. Her hands shook while she held her mascara. It was one of the last times I ever saw her.” She felt a familiar lump rise in her throat. Again, she thought she was past this.

His hand, warm, reassuring tightened around her fingers.

“She said, ‘never lose your beauty Mel, as soon as you do, no one will want you anymore.’”

The worry that accompanied that thought resurfaced and she began to shake. All her fears came rushing back. She fought the surge of emotion. Now was not the time to break down into a panic. She kept it all at bay, but only just. She squeezed her eyes and looked out the window.

Daniel was silent for many moments. Then his voice, barely above a whisper, calmed her storm. “And you believed her.”

And that was the crux of her problem. She believed her mom. “She left the next day.” All those years she believed her mom, and her foster dad had only proven what her mom said to be true, her years of modelling, another proof. “I do believe her. Still.” She turned to him. “But I struggle against the idea every day. I am afraid my beauty is all I have, but when it eventually does fade, I want…” She swallowed twice and waited for her emotion to calm. “I want to be something more.” Her eyes pleaded with him to understand. She waited in great fear. He, of all people, who loved her beauty, what would he see to love when it was gone?

“And that moment in the water?”

“That was the moment I decided to make more of myself, to go to school, to work to save the park. I was going to quit modelling that next month and move on with my life.”

He nodded. “A moment of change.” A great expression of satisfaction crossed his face. But then he turned to her and his concern was obvious. “You could never be this beautiful if it didn’t shine from inside.”

“I’d love to believe that was true.”

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