Page 29 of Falling for the Widowed Prince

The tree had been set up in the family living area but still hadn't been decorated. The rest of the palace looked like an HEA TV Christmas movie was having a rummage sale - but nicer.

It hadn't invaded her office or work rooms, but everywhere else seemed to be festive.

What happened to the little tree she'd had in her flat? Or any of her other things that hadn't already been put in her new residence? She still hadn't found any of her books or artifacts she'd obtained outside of her work. At least she had her Kindle.

After half an hour of sitting in her office staring at a spot on her desk but not really seeing anything, Madeleine had to admit she wasn't going to get anything else accomplished. Instead, she sent Liana a text and asked her friend to come by the palace if she wasn't busy. She'd already been added to the list of people allowed to visit without prior notice.

When she didn't get a return text, Madeleine figured her friend was on set or otherwise occupied. With a sigh, she decidedto pack up the little she'd attempted to do and go back to the residence.

No one greeted her when she arrived. Not that she expected a welcoming party, but she had no idea what the schedule looked like for the rest of the family. Going into her dressing room, she found that the stylist had already started to fill it with articles of clothing Madeleine never would have looked at on her own. The styles, fabrics, colors - not to mention designers - were ones she would have walked right past. But the stylist had worked with the late queen for many years, and the queen had always been impeccably dressed. Surely the stylist wouldn't steer Madeleine wrong.

Instead of looking through all of the new clothes, she dug through her own things and found her most comfortable pair of yoga pants and an oversized long sleeved t-shirt. With her coziest pair of fuzzy socks on, she picked up her Kindle and tried to decide where she could curl up and read for a while. She looked at the sitting area where Anthony had slept in the recliner, but it only contained one other chair. If the Pixar movieUphad taught her anything, that chair belonged to his late wife.

If she broke both of her legs and needed a place to sit down while waiting for medical attention, Madeleine wouldn't sit in that chair.

And maybe she'd been reading too much drama lately and needed to go with something a little less prone to exaggeration.

Before she could decide where else she should look, the door to the Monarch's Suite opened, letting a worn out Anthony in.

He brightened a little when he saw her. "Hey. I didn't realize you'd be up here. I thought you'd go back to work."

"I did, but I couldn't focus." She took a couple of steps toward him. "How are you? I know this morning had to be hard for you, even if you expected it to an extent and the end result was what you wanted."

Tossing his suit jacket on a small side table, he undid the top couple of buttons on his shirt. "It was a little more contentious than I expected and a lot more than I'd hoped, but overall not too far off. You're right, though. It wasn't my favorite day ever." He tilted his head toward the sitting area. "Want to wait for me? I need to take a quick shower, then we need to talk."

Madeleine nodded, but fear began to coil inside. In the history of the world, nothing good had ever come from the phrasewe need to talk.

When he disappeared into the bathroom, she went to the sitting area, but still refused to sit in the chair she believed to be the late queen's.

She also couldn't bring herself to sit in Anthony's recliner. Instead, she leaned against the frame of a window and stared out of it. The lights in the harbor beckoned to her. It had been a long time since she'd gone down and wandered along the pier. She suspected she wouldn't go anytime soon, not now that she was, technically or not, a member of the royal family.

Before she heard Anthony speak, she saw him in the reflection of the window.

"You can sit down, you know." He sounded bemused as he towel dried his hair. At least he was fully dressed, though she couldn't help but notice the t-shirt clung lightly to skin that probably wasn't quite dry.

And therein lay another problem she hadn't thought about.

She'd thought Anthony was cute when he first came into the public eye. If she stopped to think about it long enough, she would think that age had only enhanced the appeal. Attraction to the man she'd just married while he still mourned his wife wasn't something she'd thought about dealing with.

Maybe, someday, they would find that somewhere along the line they'd grown to love each other. Maybe then it would beokay that she thought he was attractive. Maybe he'd think the same about her.

In the meantime, Madeleine suspected things could be very one-sided.

She didn't like the thought of that at all.

Madeleine had surprisedhim when he saw her standing by the window. She could have sat in either of the chairs, but she chose not to.

Why?

She shrugged. "I didn't want to take your seat and I certainly didn't want to..." She motioned vaguely toward the other chair. "It's not my place."

Her consideration for him made him smile - and would make this conversation a little more difficult. "The chair is new," he told her. "I had it brought in here a couple of weeks ago."

A look of relief crossed her face. "Okay then." Before settling in the chair, Madeleine picked up the blanket from where it was draped over the top then tucked it around her once she had.

Anthony took a seat in his own recliner and considered popping the footrest out but decided that was too casual for this conversation. "We do need to talk," he told her, hating the apprehension on her face.

Rather than responding, she waited for him to go on.

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