Page 71 of The Heart of the King

She curled into a chair while he headed into his closet. A few minutes later he returned, wearing a pair of track pants and a t-shirt as he lit the candles.

When he finished, he turned and put his hands on her waist. “I wanted to make this night just about us. Do you want to talk about what Hazel told me now, or do you want to wait until a different time?”

“How long will it take?”

He shrugged. “Not long right now.”

“Then go ahead and tell me then we can get on with our meal.” She suspected there was a lot more to the conversation this evening than just the night before.

David held her chair for her then uncovered their salads before taking his seat. “Hazel and I talked for a few minutes earlier. She asked me if her mother was ever coming back. I told her the truth, that she would almost be a grown up.” He went on to tell Jazz about the book her mother used to write in and how she hid it in an old Bible. He’d gone down to the cabin’s security offices to pass along the information, but it took longer than he expected so he was late to meet her.

“I’m glad she told you about that. I hope it pans out, and there’s information in there that will help keep the people who belong behind bars where they are.”

“Agreed.” He blew out a breath. “Is there anything else you want to talk about with regard to the yacht last night or the case against any of them?”

Jazz shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She poked at a bit of tomato. “At least not about that part of last night.”

He sighed. “Then let’s move on to the other items on tonight’s agenda.” David shook his head. “That’s not right. It’s not really an agenda, but there are a lot of things we need to talk about. I have several things on my list, including what happened in the middle of the night last night.”

“I really appreciated your note this morning.” She stabbed the tomato with her fork. “Then I saw Sarah as soon as I walked into my room. That was awkward. I felt like it was the walk of shame I’ve heard about, but I know it’s different. I guess Sarah said something to Mrs. Sneedly who pointed out it’s none of Sarah’s business where we sleep, and it can’t be the walk of shame since we’re married.”

“She’s not wrong about either one of those things. I am sorry I had to leave so early, but I’m glad you got to sleep.” He stared at the remnants of his salad. “Are you ready for the main course?”

Jazz pushed her plate away. “Sure.”

David took the plates and set them on a cart to the side. He rolled it to the door then traded it for a different one. This time he took the covers off the plates before he set them on the table.

“Is this the same thing we had last night?” she asked, forcing herself to wait to dig in.

“It is,” David told her with a grin. “I had a word with the chef earlier today when I was planning this and told him what you said. He had enough ingredients to make it again tonight.”

“Fantastic.” As soon as he sat down, Jasmine took her first bite.

“I need to talk to you about...”

Jazz held up a hand. “Can we save the super serious stuff until after dinner?”

He stopped. “Of course.”

“I know what happened last night on the yacht was serious, but that’s not relationship serious stuff. Did you find out anything more about who was behind it?”

David shook his head. “They’re trying to figure out for certain who the captain was talking to but so far, last I heard, they hadn’t made any progress. It’s possible he’ll start talking, but as far as I know, he hasn’t yet.”

For the next half hour, they made small talk until they finished dinner.

“Dessert is already waiting outside, but if you’re not ready to eat it, we can wait.”

Jazz sucked in a deep breath. “I want to say we should have it now to avoid this conversation a bit longer, but I know that’s not the best plan to have.”

He held her chair for her as she stood up then carried their glasses of wine to the nearby comfortable chairs.

She swirled it around in the glass as he sat in his chair and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.

“I’d say we need to talk, but we both already know that. I know there’s a number of things we need to discuss, but I’ll go first.” He blew out a breath. “Unless you want to.”

“I told you I didn’t want to use the name Steven because I don’t like who I was when I went by that name. I partied. A lot. There was a lot of alcohol, no drugs, but a lot of women, too. In fact, I’m fairly certain Hazel’s mother hit on me the night she met my father, but I’d already met a woman I was planning to spend the rest of the evening with.”

His head remained bowed. “It’s not a part of my past I’m proud of, but it is a part of my past you need to know about.”

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