She wanted to be useful and figure out what was important to her. She wanted to get on with her life, fall in love and have a family. Disappearing into the palace was getting her nowhere. It was time to grow up and take charge of her own happiness.
She promised herself she would use her time in Happily Inc to come up with a plan. Nothing was off the table—she could go back to college and finish her degree, go to work for a nonprofit, or join an online dating service. At this point the most important thing was to do something.
So first a plan, second implementation. She knew her parents loved her. Now she wanted them to be proud of her. And even more important, she wanted to be proud of herself.
CHAPTER TWO
CADE SAUNDERS WAS trying to act cool, but it was nearly impossible. He felt like a kid on Christmas morning. No, that wasn’t right. He felt like a kid on five Christmas mornings and six birthdays rolled into one. He couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat and he found himself whistling for no apparent reason.
He was an idiot, he thought cheerfully as he stood on the front porch of his house. But that was just fine with him—his good fortune was idiotworthy.
The farm’s security system had alerted him to an authorized code being used to open the gate, so it didn’t take long for him to see a familiar car pulling up. He waited while his sister got out of the driver’s side, then, before he could control himself, he waved happily and jumped to the ground.
His fraternal twin stared at him wide-eyed.
“What is wrong with you?” she demanded. “You look...” She stared at him intently. “I don’t know what but you’re freaking me out.”
“Nothing’s wrong.” He tried to look totally casual and manly.
Pallas groaned. “It’s that horse, isn’t it? You’re practically giddy with excitement, which would be charming if you were seven, but it’s more than a little disconcerting on a guy pushing thirty.”
He raced toward her, grabbed her around the waist and spun her in a circle. “I can’t help it,” he yelled, before putting her down and laughing. “Do you know what this is going to mean? We have a stallion from the El Baharian royal stable, right here in Happily Inc. It’s incredible. It’s more than incredible—it’s a miracle. Do you know how rare it is for the king to sell one of his horses? It almost never happens, and if it does, it’s usually a mare. We got a stallion.”
His sister shook her head. “You’re this excited about horse sex? I’m sorry to have to say this, but you need to get out more.”
He swung her around again. She shrieked to be put down, then started laughing with him.
Cade released her. “I’ve been working on our breeding program, but Rida changes everything. He’s going to put us on the map.”
“Technically, Happily Inc has been on the map for a while,” Pallas said sweetly. “You should Google us. We’re right there.”
“Ah, sis, it’s a great day.”
“Then I’m happy for you. And I brought everything you asked for. Although you should have told your fancy housekeeper to take care of the guest room.”
“This is important. I need it to be right.” He shrugged. “You have great taste, Pallas, and I trust you.”
She groaned. “Don’t be sincere. It makes it too hard to mock you.” She led the way to the back of her car and opened the trunk. “All right. Let’s get this stuff inside.”
The “stuff” consisted of several boxes, along with shopping bags. The trunk was full, as were the backseat and the front passenger seat. Together they carried it all inside. Pallas sorted through everything, then took charge of telling him what went where.
When Cade had found out King Malik was willing to sell him Rida, he hadn’t thought much past getting the stables ready. Three days ago the royal stables master had informed him that Rida would be accompanied by one of the horsemen familiar with the stallion. A not-unexpected occurrence. Cade had known someone would tag along to make sure the horse was comfortable, the surroundings acceptable—that requirement was in his contract with the king. What he hadn’t expected was that the horseman being sent would be a woman. Then he’d panicked.
The farmhouse at the ranch was nearly a hundred years old. It had been remodeled a couple of times, but the kitchen hadn’t seen much improvement since the 1950s and the bathrooms weren’t a whole lot better. He doubted many guys would care, but a woman might be different. Women tended to pay attention to their surroundings and have higher expectations. Not knowing what else to do, he’d called his sister and begged for help, and Pallas had come through.
They carried a couple of boxes and a half dozen shopping bags up to the guest room. His sister stared at the purple-and-green wallpaper, then sighed.
“You weren’t kidding when you reminded me how bad it was,” she said. “This is some serious ugly.”
“They’re due later today. There isn’t time to take it down.” Would the wallpaper upset Rida’s handler? Would she want to take the horse home because of it?
“Not to worry. I’ve got the problem if not solved then at least managed.”
She had him strip the queen-size bed and carry all the old linens downstairs. Together they put on freshly laundered sheets in a pale sage color, topped with a thick cotton blanket. A light beige comforter went over all that.
She pulled out two decorative blankets and had him fold them across the foot of the bed, then added about a hundred pillows. She had him put together a couple of small lamps for the nightstand while she fussed in the bathroom. Thirty minutes later, they were done.
The en suite bath was big, but old-fashioned. The floor was octagon-shaped white tiles, with more tiles going halfway up the wall. A claw-foot tub stood at one end of the bathroom. The cleaning service kept it scrubbed, but it looked like what it was—a tub from another era.
Pallas replaced the old shower curtain with a new one done in sage and beige. A small white shelving unit held stacks of towels in various shades of green. The top shelf had a blow-dryer along with a basket filled with tubes and bottles and creams. She’d tucked a small room heater into the corner—a thoughtful touch someone used to warmer temperatures might appreciate. Happily Inc was in the California desert, but unlike El Bahar, it could get chilly in late November.
They moved downstairs. Pallas had him drape a couple of throws over the sofa, then switched out the place mats on the kitchen table and added a couple of ceramic turkeys to the counter.
When they were done, Cade grabbed her in a hug and kissed the top of her head.
“I owe you,” he told her.
“Good. I plan on collecting.” She grinned up at him. “Seriously, this was fun. It was a break from wedding planning, and I have to say shopping with other people’s money is the best!”
“I couldn’t have done this without you. I really appreciate everything.”
She shifted so she was standing in front of him. “I’ve never seen you like this,” she admitted. “You’re always so laid-back and internally confident. You must really want this horse.”
Because that was all Rida was to Pallas, he thought with a smile. A horse. An interchangeable hoofed animal.
“I really do.”
“Then I hope this helps.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear. As she moved, light caught her new engagement ring sparkling on her finger. Pallas’s fiancé was a good guy and Cade was happy to have him in the family. Just as important, he was relieved to know his sister had another person to watch her back and take care of her.
He grabbed her hand and nodded at the ring. “Have we set a date yet?”
“No, and I don’t want to think about it right now. I have holiday weddings to plan.”
His sister owned a destination wedding business called Weddings Out of the Box. Couples came from all over to have a theme wedding. Everything from princess weddings to pirate weddings to some kind of
under-the-sea extravaganza. She worked hard to be successful and he would guess the last thing she wanted to do was plan her own wedding.
“You could elope,” he suggested.
“We’ve talked about it.” She sighed. “I just worry everyone will be disappointed.”
“We’ll get over it,” he told her. “Getting married is about you and Nick. Do what feels right.”
“Thanks.” She looked around the kitchen. “Okay, favorite brother of mine, I’m going to go back to work. Good luck with the girl and the horse.”
“I’ll let you know how it goes.”
He walked her to the front door. As Pallas stepped out onto the porch, she swung back to face him. Her eyes widened.
“You have to invite her to Thanksgiving!”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, you do. It’s a huge holiday. She’ll be alone.”
“She’s from El Bahar. They don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Plus, it’s a family thing and she’ll feel weird with all our family around.”
The entire clan got together for Thanksgiving—Grandpa Frank, his seven daughters, their spouses and their kids. He and Pallas had over a dozen cousins. It was loud and frantic.
“Plus, there’s Mom,” he added.
Pallas grimaced.
Their mother, Libby, was a stern woman who believed that all rules were meant to be followed and that the world would be a much better place if everyone simply did as she told them. Cade had always chafed at the restrictions and had learned early to go his own way, while Pallas had spent years trying to please their mother. It had taken her finally breaking free to find peace with their relationship.
“You still have to ask,” his sister told him. “She’ll probably say no, but an invitation is required.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Which was his way of saying, No way. Not even for money. His goal was to impress Rida’s handler, not offend her or terrify her. Besides, he was pretty sure she wouldn’t care about an American Thanksgiving dinner.
“Rida will only have been here a few days,” he added. “She might not be comfortable leaving him alone for so long.”
Pallas’s mouth twitched. “Yes, we wouldn’t want to upset his delicate horse sensibilities.” She hugged him tight, then ran to her car. “Good luck, Cade.”
“Thanks. You’re the best.”
“So I’ve been told.” She was still laughing when she drove away.
Cade retreated to the house. He checked on the guest room again and hoped the mystery woman would find it acceptable, then he went out to the stable. Easier to wait in his office, he told himself. There was always paperwork to be done and if that didn’t distract him, he would pace the length of the huge barn until it was time to go to the private airport and pick up the stallion who was going to change everything.
* * *
EIGHTEEN HOURS, including a stop for gas, four meals, two movies and half a book later, Bethany felt the plane touch down on the other side of the world. The captain had announced the local time but she wasn’t sure if they’d gained a day, lost a day or if it was still Friday. She was exhausted and she was pretty sure Rida felt the same. While the horse had been exceptionally well behaved in his metal stall, he’d also been restless and hadn’t slept much.
She waited until the plane taxied to a stop before standing and stretching. The crew would open the huge rear doors and put the ramp in place before Rida was moved. Bethany wanted to make sure the horse had a few minutes to adjust to the brighter light and sniff the fresh air before trying to walk him out. He might be a sweetie—at least to her—but he was still a massive guy who could crush her like a bug if he chose to.
She grabbed sunglasses from her backpack, then headed down the ramp and out into the afternoon. The sky was clear and bright blue. They were in a tiny, private airport. In the distance were mountains. She was pretty sure they were to the east, and to the west, a couple hundred miles away, was the Pacific Ocean.
Everything felt different—from El Bahar and from the eastern part of the country, where she’d briefly gone to college—yet there was familiarity, too. Perhaps because she’d spent the first nine years of her life not that far away in Riverside.
She shook off the memories and glanced around at the small group waiting for her and Rida. There were three good-sized trucks, a regular pickup pulling a horse trailer and a handful of men. One of them walked toward her, grinning as he approached.
He was tall—but at five foot four she found a large percentage of the world was tall to her—with light brown hair and broad shoulders.
“Beth Smith?” He held out his hand. “I’m Cade Saunders.”
They shook hands and he removed his sunglasses. His eyes were hazel and he had a scar by his eyebrow. As she stared at him, she felt a weird kind of quiver low in her stomach, followed by a powerful desire to flip her hair—despite her French braid.
No, no, no, she told herself. There would be no hair flipping on this trip. No swooning or thinking Cade was handsome. This was about work and nothing else. The last thing she needed in her life was some semicharming, cowboy type.
“Nice to meet you,” she said, carefully removing her hand from his hold.
Cade glanced anxiously toward the plane. “How’s he doing? Did he make the trip okay? How can I help?”
“You can stay out of the way when I bring him out,” she told him. “Otherwise, you brought the trucks, so we can get going on offloading Rida’s supplies.”
“I can’t wait to see him.” Cade sounded more like a six-year-old than a grown man as he spoke. “I still can’t believe the king let me buy him. I’d heard he was for sale and figured it was a long shot, but I had to try, you know. I mean, he’s glorious. I watched his video maybe fifty times. The way he moves, the power. I met the king once, in Texas. At a dinner. He was a great guy. Have you met him?”
She stared at Cade. “Once or twice,” she murmured. “You’re really excited.”
“Wouldn’t you be? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I run a small ranch in Happily Inc, California. Guys like me don’t get a chance at a horse like Rida every day.”
She did her best not to smile. She liked how happy Cade was and that he understood what had been offered to him. At least Rida would be appreciated, even if knowing that wouldn’t make her miss him any less.
“Then let’s get you two introduced,” she said and started up the ramp.
On the plane, she spoke quietly to the horse. Rida listened, his ears forward, as if he knew he was finally going to get out of his stall. She took a couple of minutes to stroke his head and neck, getting a horse nuzzle in return, then untied him and led him toward the ramp.
Rida walked along easily, inhaling sharply, testing the air. At the top of the ramp, Bethany paused to let his eyes adjust before starting down.
When they reached the tarmac, she walked him in a large circle to get the kinks out. He seemed more interested than apprehensive—as if curious about his surroundings. Cade watched, his expression a combination of awe and gratitude. Finally she led the horse over to his new owner.
“Rida, this is Cade. He’s going to take care of you now.”
She felt tightness in her chest as she admitted what she didn’t want to be true. Of all the horses her father could have sold, why this one? Yes, he’d explained, but she still wasn’t convinced that was the reason—not that her father would tell her otherwise.
“Hey, Rida,” Cade said quietly, keeping his distance from the horse, letting him get used to his surroundings. “Welcome home.”
One of the flight attendants carried Bethany’s two duffel bags and backpack down the ramp.
“Did you have any other luggage, Prin...um, Beth?” the woman asked, her gaze darting between Cade and Bethany. “This was all I saw.”
“That’s all I need,” Betha
ny said, keeping her tone casual. “Rida’s the one who has to bring everything with him when he travels.”
The attendant smiled before nodding and returning to the plane. The luggage compartments were open, and barrels, boxes and bins moved down the conveyor belt.
The first of the three trucks was filled quickly, then the second took its place.
“You weren’t kidding,” Cade said, watching the process. “Did you actually bring water?”
“Yes. He’s going to have enough of an adjustment with his new surroundings and jet lag. I don’t want him getting an upset stomach.”
Cade held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. “Just asking. You’re the boss. We do filter our water at the ranch, by the way. It’s from an underground aquifer and is very pure.”
“But still different from what he’s used to.”
She led Rida into the trailer and secured him. By then, the third truck was nearly full.
“Does someone need to get the crew into town for the night?” Cade asked. “I can arrange for transportation.”
“They’re taking off right away. We had two crews on the flight, so one is rested and ready to go.”
He glanced at the huge 757. “And you were the only passenger? Must be nice to be the king.”
She grinned. “So I’ve heard.”
She climbed into the passenger seat of his pickup and fastened her seat belt. Cade started the truck and they drove out of the airport. About ten minutes later, the plane flew overhead as it took off for El Bahar.
Bethany knew that Happily Inc was in the California desert, less than sixty miles from Palm Springs. The town sat in the foothills of the mountains and had a relatively temperate climate. At least Rida wouldn’t have to get used to snow and subfreezing temperatures.
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