Page 24 of The Princess Home for Christmas

And then someone from the back yelled. “What’s the theme of this year’s tree lighting ceremony?”

Dahlia leaned into the microphone. “That’s up to the king and queen of the Christmas festivities to decide.”

The room paused in expectation, and she knew she was missing something. She turned to Seraphina.

She explained, “You’ve both been selected. You’re the king and queen this year.”

“What?” Dahlia couldn’t hide her surprise and everyone in the room laughed. “Well, I’m sure I don’t know.” She looked to Thomas. “We need to discover a theme.” Then she held up a finger. “Literacy, of course.”

Thomas nodded. “Naturally.”

“We shall ask for donations of wrapped new books to give to children. And on the day of the lighting, every child in the square may choose a book to take home with them. Then all extras will be donated to particularly needy children around the globe.” She grew more excited the longer she talked. “I’m thinking as I go, making this up on the fly, but we can decorate with books, invite the librarians and booksellers to be a part, set up tables and things.”

Thomas joined in, “and bring in storytellers to read to us, stories from around the world.”

She could have kissed him again. “That’s a remarkable idea. And we will ask some of them to tell the legends of how Torren came to be.”

People clicked and typed and wrote as quickly as the two of them could speak. Dahlia looked up at all of them. “So there you have it, our theme.” They turned to the group and smiled and cameras clicked.

Through smiling teeth, Thomas said, “Can’t say I’m disappointed. But all your excitement about us planning together will make it difficult for you to keep your distance.”

Through equally clenched, smiling teeth, she responded. “I’m not trying to keep my distance any more. This is perfect. Deflection.”

“Date tonight?”

“How can we possibly?” She imagined any place they went to be crawling with people.

“You, my dear, need to learn the meaning of the word, incognito.”

They waved and exited the room.

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