Page 46 of Redemption of a Prince

That’s why the other shoe always dropped when good things happened.

If good things never happened, then the bad things that always followed wouldn’t either.

Besides, hadn’t she seen Zeke with a beautiful blonde just a few weeks earlier? And they’d been seen eating together - in public - at a food truck of all things.

He might say he wanted her now, but at some point, he’d want to go back.

To the blonde.

Or a brunette.

Or even a ginger.

Someone with a better figure, better public presence, and less traumatic shared history.

It wouldn’t be her.

She’d have to be all right with that.

Because Nikki couldn’t let herself believe there was even a chance it could be her.

That’s how she’d get her heart broken. Again.

* * *

As Nikki walked away,Zeke ran a hand through his hair.

He clearly didn’t understand women, especially Nikki. He’d told her he wanted to try again, that he’d marry her in a minute if a similar situation arose, and that he wasn’t going to let himself get carried away when he kissed her.

Although, that kiss had been pretty spectacular and getting carried away seemed like something that could happen again.

What could have possibly gone wrong?

And how could he fix it?

Maybe he could do something nice for her. Something that told her he still knew her.

Zeke thought back over their conversations since she started her job at the palace. As he did, snippets of other things she’d said years earlier came back as well.

An idea began to form. Could he pull it off? He didn’t need help per se, but he did need to know where certain things were stored.

He shot a quick text to Henry’s wife. She’d know. A few minutes later, she replied. Fortunately, everything he needed was stored not too far from the flat. There was even a trolley he could use to bring it all back.

The door to the outside opened and Henry came inside.

“How’s it going out there?” Zeke asked him.

“Fine. If you and Ms. Major still want to come help, we have some things you two can work on safely.”

“I’ll let her know and be out in a minute.” As he headed for his bedroom, Zeke texted Nikki letting her know where he would be.

After changing into several layers of clothes and good boots, Zeke found his coat and hat. Putting them on, he found his gloves in the pockets and headed outside.

For the next several hours, Zeke moved tree limbs and stacked them in a trailer to be hauled off and turned into firewood at a later date. Some would likely be kept for use in the various fireplaces on the property. Given the number of trees that would need cleaning up, quite a bit would likely be given away.

It was cold, but not bitterly so, at least while he was protected from the wind. When he went around the corner of the building, that changed.

The orchard would look far different in the spring than in years past. He didn’t think they’d lost any of the trees, but he didn’t go far enough to know for certain.

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