Page 70 of The Princess Trap
“Cherry, darling. Goodness me, it’s been a while.”
Cherry sighed. “Hi, Rose. I know. I know it has.”
“Well, Lord, don’t sound like that. You’re not up for execution, you know.” Rose’s voice lowered slightly. “Orareyou? Ihave friends in Finland, my dear. If you require an emergency rescue—”
Cherry laughed. Rose laughed too. And everything was easier.
“I reallyamsorry,” she said, the words running into each other. “I wanted to call more, but everything’s so fucking weird and I’m never quite sure what to tell you.”
“Don’t worry, love,” Rose soothed. “I understand. It’s all rather overwhelming, isn’t it?”
If only she fucking knew.
“Yes,” Cherry said, her eyes running over the room she’d come to think of as her own. The casual luxury of the furniture, the velvet drapes, the four-poster bed on which she was now sitting. And yet, the thing that concerned her most of all was…
“When did you know that your husband was different?”
Rose’s voice was careful when she said, “Different?”
“Like, that things would be different with him. That he wasn’t like anyone else you’d ever wanted. That he was special.”
“Ah.” Rose sounded vaguely amused. “I see.” For a moment, she was quiet. But then she said, “I think the first sign was that… well, I started asking questions like the one you’re asking now. First to myself, then my friends, my mother. He turned my mind towards the issue of forever. Of trust, of togetherness. No-one had made me think about things like that before. Not really.”
“Right.” Cherry nodded, as if Rose could see. Then, remembering herself, she added, “That makes sense.” And it really did.
“Are you sure? Because I thought it sounded like utter rubbish.”
Cherry chuckled. “No, I liked it. And I got the point.”
“Oh, good. Now, tell me; what’s it like being a princess?”
“I’m not a princess, Rose.”
“You might as well be. Is it awfully glamorous? Tell me, or I’ll torture you with stories of your replacement.”
Cherry winced. “Is it bad?”
“It’s bloody awful. She doesn’t have the sense God gave a goat. Chrisinsistedwe hire her; I don’t knowwhathe was thinking.”
For the next half an hour, Rose regaled Cherry with tales of Rosewood Academy’s admin floor, and Cherry tried to come up with stories interesting enough to entertain her slightly high-maintenance friend.
And when they eventually hung up, Cherry headed to the bathroom and washed her face.
“It’s been a hell of a day. Get some rest.”
Ruben rolled his eyes. “Aye aye, Captain.” Then he tried to stay on his feet as Hans whacked him on the back with one brick-like hand.
“I mean it,Your Highness. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Which would be even worse, since they’d spend half the day travelling and the other half with Harald. Fan-fucking-tastic. Ruben’s already foul mood sank further into the murky depths as he waved Hans away and let himself into the house.
Then he remembered, all at once, who was waiting for him. And just like that, he felt himself smile.
He was headed upstairs when he saw the library door ajar, light spilling out like a golden trail. Ruben’s heart thudded against his rib cage as he stepped towards the little room, pushing the door open. All of the dark thoughts that had spent the day chasing him were destroyed, set aflame by that slice of light. There was nothing left in him but hungry anticipation.
Cherry lay curled up on the loveseat in the centre of the little, book-filled room they called the library, a paperback in her lap. Her hair was piled up on top of her head the way he liked it, and in the low lamplight, he could see the T-shirt whose soft, worn cotton he’d once pushed aside in the dark.
“Dolly Parton? Really?”
