Page 68 of Once Upon A Royal Christmas
Gracie pushed the door open and held it for Clara. Gumdrop was a barely visible lump beneath her coat, and they managed to make it upstairs without anyone noticing anything amiss.
“Whew.” Gracie let out an exhale when they reached the second floor.
“That wasn’t hard at all. Hiding this little sweetie is going to be easy as pie.” Clara unzipped her jacket. Gumdrop burst from its confines, but she caught the squirming pup and nestled her close to her chest.
Gracie eyed the dog. “Don’t jinx us. Alana just needs to keep her under wraps until the party tonight.”
“Like I said, easy peasy.” Clara shrugged. “What are we supposed to do with her now? I promised Ingrid I’d help with party prep.”
Gracie nodded. “I know. Nick is coming over later, and she told us we could use the kitchen. I told her she could put me to work until he gets here. Alana gave me a copy of her key and said we could put Gumdrop in her puppy crate so long as she’s quiet.”
“Perfect.” Clara headed toward Alana’s room, situated directly across the hall from theirs.
“Just a sec. I left the key on our dresser,” Gracie said.
She unlocked the door to their room but only made it halfway to the dresser when she heard voices coming from the staircase. Her head whipped back around, and her gaze crashed into Clara’s.
“It’s them,” Clara mouthed.
“Get in here,” Gracie whispered, waving her inside.
But it was too late. Just over Clara’s shoulder, Gracie spotted King Hans and Queen Sophia. Alana stood between them with her perfectly groomed eyebrows raised in alarm.
“Good morning, Clara,” the king said.
Great. She couldn’t even turn tail and run—not without looking terribly rude.
Eyes wide, Clara let go of the puppy and nudged Gumdrop toward their room. Then she turned around to greet the king.
“Good morning,” she gushed. “How was breakfast? Gracie and I are getting ready to head down there right now.”
“Breakfast was lovely,” Queen Sophia said as her gaze flitted past Clara toward their room, where Gumdrop was currently scampering toward one of Gracie’s glass slippers.
“Yes, it was. But er, what was that?” The king followed his wife’s gaze and peered inside the room.
“I’m sure it was nothing, Dad.” Alana grabbed her father by the elbow and tried to drag him down the hall. But he didn’t budge. He just kept standing there like an immovable, overly curious rock.
Gracie didn’t know what to do, short of slamming the door closed. That wasn’t a viable option, though. She was too far away. There was no way she could make it to the doorway before the king or the queen spied the dog.
Then Gumdrop dragged the glass slipper toward the wardrobe, where Gracie’s Princess Snowflake gown hung on the outside of the door, because even a fairy godmother wouldn’t have been able to cram twenty yards of tulle inside the antique bureau. But maybe that glittering cupcake of a dress could do a little magic all by itself.
Gracie gave the king and queen an exaggerated wave. “Good morning, Your Royal Highnesses!”
She moved toward the hallway and pretended to stumble into the wardrobe in the process. The bureau wobbled, and the gown’s hanger teetered from its precarious position and slipped off the edge. An avalanche of organza and rhinestones tumbled to the ground, successfully burying a startled Gumdrop in a mound of fluff.
“Oh, dear. Your dress.” Queen Sophia’s hand flew to her chest.
“Clumsy me.” Gracie shrugged and glanced down at the pile of diaphanous fabric. The lump that was Gumdrop shifted ever so slightly.
“Am I seeing things, or did that gown just move all by itself?” the king asked.
“You’re not seeing things,” Gracie said.
Alana bit her lip, eyes wide with panic.
Gracie winked at her. “As I keep telling Alana, sometimes this gown just seems to have a mind of its own.”
“Have you ever made homemade cinnamon rolls before?” Gracie looked up to Nick from the recipe her mom had emailed her late last night. After the close call with Gumdrop earlier this morning, she’d spent the day helping Ingrid prepare for the open house, and now Ingrid had graciously turned her kitchen over to Gracie and “her prince.”
