Page 36 of Once Upon a Royal Summer
He shook his head and turned back toward Lacey. “Sorry, I—”
“You don’t want to miss Jack the Knitting Pirate’s ghost parrot.” Lacey’s gaze was fixed straight ahead, and her lovely mouth was curved into her practiced Princess Sweet Pea smile, but Henry could detect a slight tremor in her voice. “Look, there he is.”
Henry didn’t care about the parrot. He didn’t even care about why a ghost pirate had any interest in yarn crafts. He did, however, care about the kiss they’d very nearly just shared. “Lacey,” he said.
Look at me. Please.
“Ahoy, mateys,” a spooky voice echoed throughout the cave.
When Lacey finally glanced over at him, she scrunched up her face and made a silly pirate noise.
Clearly she preferred to laugh things off and pretend the almost-kiss had never happened, and Henry certainly wasn’t going to force the issue. He told himself that ignoring it was for best, anyway. The flash of light he’d mistaken for a camera had been a blessing in disguise. It had saved him from a terrible lapse in judgment.
He was a prince. A father. He couldn’t just go around kissing people…
No matter how very badly he’d wanted to kiss Lacey Pope.
Henry still wanted to kiss Lacey, but the moment had passed, and there was no getting it back—not even if he tried. The rest of the boat ride passed in awkward silence. When they floated out of the cave and back into the salty beach air, he realized he’d never gotten a chance to tell her why he’d wanted to speak to her in private to begin with. He’d started to, but then everything had become a blur of pirates and phantoms and Lacey’s perfect, bow-shaped lips, and the speech he’d prepared in his head while traversing the Three Bears’ Woods via roller coaster had fallen by the wayside.
Rose and Ian stood on the platform beside the cave’s exit, waiting for Henry and Lacey to disembark. It was now or never. The park would be closing soon, and his trip to the land of fairy tales would be over for good. The next time he set foot in a castle, not a single footman would be sporting bunny ears.
“Lacey, I—” Before he could finish, the sky overhead exploded into glittering light. Bursts of red, white, and blue shimmered against the velvety night, one right after another.
“Daddy!” Rose cried. “The fireworks!”
Henry and Lacey climbed out of the boat as quickly as they could and raced toward the promenade for a better view. Earlier, Lacey had mentioned a special VIP balcony at Ever After Castle, where they could see the grand fireworks display up close, unobstructed. Time had gotten away from them, though, especially after so many repetitive rides on the carousel.
Henry was sort of glad, though. He liked being crammed into the crowded space with the regular park-goers, faces tipped up toward the sky. This was why he’d come here—to blend in and be a regular person for a change. It was the best possible way he could conceive of to end their trip.
Ian lifted Rose off her feet and let her sit on top of his shoulders for a better view. Looking at her sweet face, lit with wonder and the reflection of the dazzling sky, made Henry’s throat go thick.
Lacey turned toward him and grinned, but he could already see the goodbye in her eyes. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Very.” Henry nodded.
The fireworks came faster now, crackling in dizzying succession. Light filled the heavens, like falling stars, and Ever After Castle—Once Upon A Time’s crown jewel—twinkled beneath the display. Henry had the same panicky feeling in his chest that he’d gotten when the clock at Sweet Pea’s Royal Tea Party had struck midnight.
He didn’t want to be the sort of prince who was left standing with an empty glass shoe in his hands. Not this time.
He leaned toward Lacey and whispered in her ear. “Would you do me the honor of coming to Bella-Moritz next week for the Flower Festival?”
Her mouth fell open and she stared at him, the fireworks all but forgotten. “What did you just say? I think I must’ve misheard you.”
Henry glanced at Rose to make sure she wasn’t listening. The last thing he wanted was to get his daughter’s hopes up if Lacey didn’t want to make the trip. Thankfully, she was too enamored by the park’s spectacular closing ceremony to notice her father was asking a woman on a date for the first time in over a decade.
Because that was what this was, wasn’t it? He wanted to see Lacey again. He wanted to take her on a proper date. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye for good, not by a long shot.
“I asked if you’d like to come to Bella-Moritz for the Flower Festival. You can see Rose ride in the parade, and afterward, attend the royal ball.” Henry swallowed hard.
He hadn’t known he’d actually go through with the invitation until the words had left his mouth. He’d wanted to ask her all day, and he just couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“The royal ball?” she sputtered. “A real royal ball.”
Henry gave her a half shrug. “We’ve danced in your castle. It seems only fair that we should dance in mine.”
A burst of laughter flew out of Lacey’s mouth.
She still hadn’t said yes yet, though. A flare of panic spread through Henry’s chest—a firecracker of anxiety.
