Page 62 of Once Upon A Royal Christmas
“Yes!” Ingrid clapped her hands. “It’s the Living Advent Calendar, another of San Glacera’s Christmas traditions.”
“Every year, for the five nights leading up to Christmas, the palace chooses a different local business to open its doors for a special holiday open house,” Max said.
“The red doors mark the businesses that have been chosen as hosts.” Clara gestured to the Kriegs’s newly wrapped door. Clearly, she’d already gotten the scoop on this particular tradition.
“Our open house is scheduled for the twenty-third. We hope you’ll be able to attend.” Ingrid glanced back and forth between Gracie and Clara.
Gracie grinned. The Kriegs had already shown them so much hospitality. There was no way she’d risk disappointing Ingrid. “Of course we’ll be there. And we’d love to help. Is there anything we can do?”
“Actually, there is.” Ingrid bit her bottom lip.
“Get that idea right out of your head, dear.” Max shook his head.
Ingrid waved a dismissive hand at him before turning a solicitous smile on Gracie. “Do you think Prince Nicolas might come?”
“Um.” Gracie honestly didn’t know. He certainly seemed devoted to doing whatever he could to support the people of San Glacera, but so far, everything they’d done together had been arranged by the palace.
Not everything, a little voice in the back of her head whispered.
There’d been the Christmas market. And the snowball fight. And the ill-fated meeting on the first night of the Ice Festival…but none of those things counted.
Did they?
“I’ll see what I can do,” she heard herself say.
“Oh, thank you so much.” Ingrid threw her arms around Gracie.
She closed her eyes. The comforting scents of fresh-baked cookies and cake right of the oven clung to the older woman, and it gave Gracie a sharp pang of homesickness. She wondered if her mom would still bake cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning without Gracie there to eat them.
Ingrid released Gracie as someone else paused to admire the red-wrapped door. When Gracie’s eyes opened, she found herself looking at Alana, dressed in another Kate Middleton ensemble with her large designer tote slung over her shoulder.
“You’ve done such a wonderful job on the door,” the princess said.
Ingrid beamed. “It’s for the Living Advent Calendar. We’d be so happy if—”
“So sorry.” Alana held up a hand and shifted her bag from one arm to the other. “I wish I could stay and chat, but I need to get back to my room.”
She dashed inside the B&B before anyone could respond.
Clara frowned as she shut the door behind her. “That seemed weird, right?”
Gracie shrugged. “I don’t know. Every time I run into her, she makes an excuse to leave.”
“If she seems a little standoffish, I’m sure she has a good reason.” Ingrid pasted on a smile. “From everything I’ve heard, that behavior is very out of character for her.”
“Well, you can’t believe everything you hear,” Gracie pointed out. “Just because someone in the media says it doesn’t make it true.”
As in the case of a certain prince who wasn’t nearly as frosty as he seemed to let people believe.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Where’s a Dungeon When You Need One?
“You want me to sing?” Gracie blinked up at Nick as he handed her a small book of sheet music. “In public?”
She’d gone pale the moment he’d arrived at the B&B and mentioned that tonight they’d be singing Christmas carols in the village square. Nick wasn’t sure what to make of the strange reaction.
“I’ve heard you sing before. You have a beautiful voice.” He hesitated before adding, “And you’ll soon be singing for a lot more people than a handful of locals.”
