Page 34 of Some Like It Royal

“No, unfortunately, we were massively overloaded. I was just here when the call came in. I picked you up and stayed with you that first night. You were Susanna Fraser’s after that. But Susanna—oh, she left for the private sector nearly?—”

“Ten years and six months ago.” Alyx finished the sentence for her. “I remember. She promised to get some of my things together, but the next week it was Mr. Daughtry and he didn’t have time for it.”

“Him. Yes. He never had time for much.” The older woman rubbed her chin. “You should have been given your boxes when you turned eighteen.”

“My boxes?” The stiffness in Alyx’s shoulders relaxed some. “What boxes?”

Pushing her chair back, the white-haired woman motioned to another harried worker. “Cynthia? Watch the front for me. I want to take these two into a client room.” She disappeared around the side and a door buzzed, admitting them to the chaos of the work area. Daniel held the door, careful not to touch Alyx lest she really pull away. He trailed after her as they walked through the cubicles and down to a small conference room.

It was more dismal than the rest of the office, if that was possible. He ignored the plastic chairs, and took a position against the wall and waited. This was about her and he didn’t want to push her by playing their charade any further in the office. She looked so damned uncomfortable as she perched on the edge of one of the seats.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember your name.” Alyx half-rose again when the older woman returned and pulled out a chair for herself.

“It’s Grace, Grace Burrows. Don’t worry about that. Sit.” She flipped open a digital tablet and touched a few buttons. “This will take me a moment. We just upgraded our system a couple of weeks ago. They’re supposed to make life easier, but that remains to be seen.”

Alyx hesitated and for the first time since they’d arrived, she cut a glance at him. He gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile and she returned a close-lipped one. Her body seemed wound too tight as she sat on the very edge of the chair. “You mentioned boxes?”

“Yes, dear. When your parents passed, we waited the requisite six months for another family member to be located before seeking a permanent foster situation for you. We also took the time to box up all the personal items in your home and put them into storage. Our space is limited, which is why we don’t take furniture. I am sorry about that, you had a lovely bedroom set, if I recall.”

“Butterflies.” The word seemed to pop out of Alyx. “Butterflies and a garden pattern with faux roses and a trellis on the wall. I—I don’t know why I said that. I just remembered it.”

The description intrigued Daniel. She’d loved his garden from the first day she arrived. It had trellises and roses. He would have to talk to someone about a way to encourage butterflies.

“It’s quite all right. We just can’t take it all. But the furniture and home would have been sold. Now, the money from those sales would have been put into a fund for your college or for special project needs, if you required it.” The woman puffed out a breath. “Hmm, I know we have most of our files transferred now. We began migrating older files to digital a few years ago and this new upgrade meant we should—here.” She slid the tablet onto the table and pushed it toward Alyx.

“Your boxes were stored at the Easy-Lock-And-Go on fifteenth. It doesn’t show that they were ever picked up, though.” The woman’s bright smile dimmed, a frown worrying her brow.

“I didn’t know they were there.”

Daniel pushed away from the wall. “They are still there, aren’t they?”

Now the older woman looked stricken and he knew her next words would be disappointing. “After your eighteenth birthday, they would have been held six months, but if they weren’t claimed…” She trailed off.

Alyx rubbed her palms against her cheeks and he heard the catch in her voice. “No one told me.”

“A letter was sent to your final foster family…” Grace turned the tablet around and read off an address.

“That wasn’t my final family. I had to move midterm to a new one… You mean they had all my stuff and a clerical error is why I didn’t know it was there?” Anger quavered in the sadness.

“Stay here.” The woman squeezed her arm. “I’m going to call down and see if it’s still there.” But Daniel heard the doubt in her voice, no way Alyx could have missed it. She was twenty-four. They didn’t keep the materials past the eighteenth birthday. Six years was too long a stretch of time for hope.

Grace hurried out and Alyx leaned forward, elbow on the table and a hand over her mouth. Daniel pushed the door closed, then moved over to squat next to her, hand braced on the table to keep from touching her. “Hey, don’t give up. She remembers you and she wants to help.”

“I wish like hell we’d never done this.” The earlier anger surged beneath the words. She turned hot eyes on him and he saw the shimmer of tears glazing the surface. “You made me hope for something and Iknewit was stupid and a bad idea and now…”

She bit off the words and shoved the chair back to stand.

“Let’s go.”

“We should wait.” He held out a placating hand.

She avoided his hand and shook her head. “Don’t you get it? Six years ago they sent a letter to an address I was no longer at. They gave me six months to claim my stuff. I never showed up—ergo, I didn’t want it. Why would they keep it another six years? There’s never enough time or money or space.”

Pulling the door open, she spared him a bland look. “I get that you like to solve problems and fix things. You need to learn to accept there are some things you can’t fix.” She marched away and left him no choice but to follow. He caught up to her as she waved Grace’s apology off. “It’s okay, Ms. Burrows. I appreciate you looking into it, but you have so much else to do. Don’t waste your time on this.”

She was out the secure door to the lobby and the tinkle of the bell warned she’d headed outside. Daniel stared after her, then passed over a business card to Ms. Burrows. “Maybe she’s right, maybe there’s nothing there, but if you find something…”

“I’ll contact you, Mr. Voldakov. But you have to understand, I can’t release these items to you if I do find them.”

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