Page 17 of Once Upon A Royal Christmas
Always.
“Nonsense.” Mom swirled her spatula with a flourish.
Gracie shook her head. “Who are you, and what have you done with my mother?”
“We’ll be fine. We can celebrate when you get back,” her mother said.
Gavin Clark, Gracie’s dad, set down his frosting knife. Clearly, he meant business. “Honey, we love having you around at Christmas. Obviously. But an opportunity like this only comes around once in a lifetime.”
“Just think of what you could do with all of that prize money,” Mom said.
Gracie plopped another dollop of frosting onto her log. Naturally, she’d thought about the prize money. Since the call from San Glacera a few days ago, she’d thought of little else. Winning the money was the answer to all her prayers. With that kind of cash, she could accomplish every single one of her business goals, from renting a small office to providing Christmas bonuses and benefits for her employees.
If only those things didn’t come with some very uncomfortable strings attached.
“Sweetheart, we know it’s been a while since you sang in public. But you used to love it so much. Maybe if you give it a try again, it won’t be so bad,” Dad said.
Just thinking about singing in front of an entire kingdom on Christmas Eve made Gracie’s hands shake. Her frosting knife slipped through her fingers and clattered onto the table.
Mom reached over and gave her forearm a comforting squeeze. “Dad’s right, honey. We know you can do it. It’s time to forget those awful things that Philip said, once and for all.”
“Amen,” Clara said. Her face scrunched into a grimace the way it always did whenever anyone mentioned Gracie’s ex-boyfriend’s name.
It had taken them a while to figure out how anyone at the palace even knew that Gracie could sing. She and Clara watched the video three times before they’d realized there was additional footage at the end. Clara couldn’t have looked more shocked if Santa himself had popped onscreen and belted out “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.” No one could have faked that degree of surprise, least of all Gracie’s best friend. She knew Clara hadn’t sent the footage intentionally. After all, Clara had been front row, center, when Gracie froze onstage at her final Juilliard concert while singing a duet with Philip. She’d witnessed Gracie’s humiliation firsthand, and she’d helped Gracie pick up the pieces after Philip had broken off their engagement the following morning.
Do you realize what you’ve done? You’ve ruined both of our futures. Everyone was there last night—all the big Broadway producers. Everything we’ve dreamed about is over. We’re over.
Philip’s hurtful words rang in the back of Gracie’s head every time she tried to sing. When she closed her eyes, she could still see the way he’d looked at her onstage: like she’d committed the worst possible betrayal. As if she’d done it on purpose…
As if that one, small moment hadn’t completely turned her world upside down too.
“I’m perfectly fine playing Princess Snowflake. The business is doing great. There’s no reason whatsoever to start singing again.” Gracie’s Yule log went blurry as her eyes filled with unshed tears. She blinked hard before anyone noticed.
Giving up music had been like losing a part of her soul. She’d loved singing ever since joining the church choir as a little girl. She still loved it. She just couldn’t do it in front of an audience.
Every now and then, she sang to a special child like the one in the video. It was Gracie’s way of expressing herself and trying to give comfort when words failed her. Singing was personal to her now, not something she could do in front of hundreds—or maybe even thousands—of people in San Glacera on Christmas Eve.
“Hon, you’ve got thirty thousand reasons to sing again,” Clara said. “Trust me, I would do it myself if I could. But they don’t want me—they want you. Because you’re amazing. This is your moment, Gracie.”
“She’s right, sweetheart.” Mom picked up Gracie’s discarded frosting knife and placed it back in her hand. “When you make a mistake, the thing to do is try again. Just because you froze up once doesn’t mean it will happen this time. It’s been years. If you don’t go to San Glacera, you’ll regret it for a long, long time. Dad and I don’t want that for you.”
Gracie glanced back and forth between her parents. “But it’s Christmas…”
It was a last-ditch excuse, and she knew it. But she didn’t know what else to say. They were right. If ever there was a time to try and get past her stage fright, it was now. People were depending on her. Clara, her party princesses, the kids she entertained.
Maybe even a faraway kingdom and a real royal family, as crazy as that seemed.
“Oh, sweetheart. Going on this trip and singing again will be the best Christmas gift ever.” Mom stood, walked away from her Yule log, and wrapped her arms around Gracie’s shoulders. “For us, for your business, but most of all, for yourself.”
Gracie squeezed her eyes closed tight. She knew that Clara and her family were right…
Unless things didn’t go as planned and she failed spectacularly. She was going to need more than a little Christmas magic to pull this off.
“I still can’t believe you talked me into this.” Gracie’s stomach churned as she gazed up at the Swiss-chalet-style building rising from a mound of freshly fallen snow in front of them.
She still couldn’t believe she was here. In San Glacera.
The chauffeur who’d picked them up from the airport had just dropped them off, and Gracie already wanted to climb back into the sleek black car and book a flight home.
