Page 48 of Redemption of a Prince

Nikki tilted her head. “Is that a Christmas tree?”

“You said you always wanted a white Christmas like in the movies. I thought we could have Christmas in July.”

She spun in his arms, a different kind of tears shimmering in her eyes. “Thank you, Zeke. I love it.”

13

For the next hour, they decorated the tree. Nikki found herself relaxing and truly enjoying her time with Zeke.

He turned on a jazz station of Christmas music in the background while they worked. The only thing that bothered Nikki was the lack of personal ornaments - ones with stories to go with them.

These were all purchased by someone on staff because they helped achieve a particular aesthetic, not because someone made them in year 2 arts and crafts.

By the time they finished, the sun had set. Zeke had taken a phone call from Henry that they were done working for the day, but were available if he and Nikki needed anything.

Otherwise, they were on their own.

Which meant they needed to figure out something for dinner. Zeke set about cleaning up the boxes and paper and everything else from assembling the tree.

Nikki went into the kitchen to see what she could find to make. A small stack of cards sat on the counter, held together with a binder clip and a note saying ingredients were all available in the kitchen. She flipped through them before settling on one that sounded both delicious and easy - and perfect for a day like this.

“There are directions for soup,” she called.

“What kind?”

“Minestrone.”

“Is there bread to go with it?” He came in from the other room to lean against the wall near the entry to the kitchen.

“Probably.” She started to open cabinets, looking for some.

“That sounds good even without bread.” He left the room as Nikki set the recipe card to the side, clipping the rest of them back together.

She found a package of frozen vegetables and some pre-cooked ground pork in the freezer. The vegetable stock and cans of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes were in the pantry. A few spices were easily located in one of the cabinets.

As the pork thawed in the microwave, Nikki mixed the rest of the ingredients in a stock pot. She set the dry pasta off to the side.

With the pork nearly thawed, she put it in the stock pot and waited for the whole thing to heat up some before putting the pasta in.

Zeke called out that he was taking the boxes and tubs back to the storage room.

By the time he returned, Nikki had warmed up the boule of bread she’d found and ladled the soup into bowls.

While she did that and took the food to the table, Zeke found utensils and got them each a glass of water.

“I didn’t see any wine in here,” he told her.

She knew it was a staple at dinner for the royal family members old enough to drink, but it didn’t bother Nikki in the slightest and she told him so.

After they sat down, Zeke said a quick blessing over the food.

“This is really good,” he told her around his first bite.

Nikki shrugged. “It was easy. Everything just dumped into the pot and warmed up.”

“Still. It was a good idea after being outside so long.”

“Is there any word on how long the power will be out?” She blew on the soup in her spoon.

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