Meant to Be Yours

by Susan Mallery

  The house was older, but well cared for. Like much of the barn, it had been lived in. She liked the old-fashioned kitchen. The microwave looked incongruous next to the stove from the 1940s or 1950s. The windows were clean, the pantry well-stocked. She went upstairs and paused on the landing. There were two guest rooms at this end of the hall, which meant the master was in the other direction.

  For a second she thought about checking out Cade’s room, then told herself there was no way she could be that rude and intrusive. Still, she was curious about him. From what she’d discovered in the past couple of days, he was good with horses and ran his ranch efficiently. The animals were healthy and his employees seemed happy. Which made him a really nice guy. And handsome. And funny.

  But not for her, she told herself firmly. She was a disaster in the romance department. Even if she wasn’t, she was only going to be here for a few weeks, and she was hardly the fling type. Besides, the fact that there wasn’t another woman living at the house didn’t mean anything. For all she knew, Cade had a girlfriend in town.

  The thought was too depressing to consider for long, so she pushed it out of her head and retreated to her room. She paused to notice all the things she hadn’t bothered to see until now. The bedding was new and pretty. There were lots of pillows and blankets. A TV sat on the dresser; there was a desk with a card that gave her the house’s Wi-Fi password. In the bathroom there was a basket of lotions and hair care items, along with fluffy towels.

  When she saw Pallas at Thanksgiving, she would be sure to thank her for all her thoughtful touches. Cade’s sister was nice and Bethany wanted to get to know her better. Making friends was on her life’s to-do list. She’d become too isolated at the palace. If she wanted to find where she belonged in the world, she needed to get out in it and experience things. Starting with a big American Thanksgiving.

  * * *

  CADE HAD SEEN videos of Rida in action but watching him in person was a whole different experience. The horse was that perfect combination of strength and agility. The same could be said of his rider. Beth and Rida were a well-matched team—anticipating, respecting each other. Seeing them together was a hell of a show.

  One of the barn cats leaped up on the railing post and meowed at him. Cade scratched the side of its face. Beth slowed Rida and urged him closer.

  “I named that one Harry,” she said with a grin. “I hope that’s okay.”

  “Did you make sure he was a boy first?”

  “I didn’t. It seemed rude. If he turns out to be a she, we’ll say it’s short for Harriet.”

  “I like that you’re a problem solver,” he teased.

  She laughed. “Thanks. I try.”

  She swung her right leg off the saddle and jumped to the ground, then reached for the gate. Cade opened it first and they walked to the barn, Rida trailing behind.

  “I met your sister yesterday,” Beth told him as they stopped in front of the tack room.

  “Pallas couldn’t believe the El Baharian royal stables were sending a woman, so she had to come check you out for herself.”

  “El Bahar is a great advocate of women’s rights both at home and abroad,” Beth told him. “Girls have been educated alongside boys for over fifty years. University is free to all. While we still value our traditions and culture, women aren’t second-class citizens.”

  Before Cade could react, Beth groaned. “Sorry. That came out way more like a lecture than I’d intended.”

  “Still, good information,” he teased. “I can probably use it on Jeopardy.”

  “Is that game show still on?”

  “It is. Are you a fan?”

  “The theme gets in my head for days at a time,” she admitted. “Anyway, back to your sister. She seems really nice.”

  “She is.”

  Beth hesitated for a second. “She invited me to Thanksgiving dinner. Is that okay?”

  “That depends. I have a big, loud family and my mother is weird. If you can handle it, you’re more than welcome.”

  “Will I be in the way?”

  “Do you plan to eat over six pounds of turkey, because unless it’s that, you’ll be fine.”

  She unfastened Rida’s saddle and lifted it off him as if it weighed nothing. “I am unlikely to eat more than five pounds of turkey. I was thinking more about your personal life. Will your girlfriend mind me tagging along?”

  He reached for the saddle, but she shook her head. “I’m good. I do this all the time.” She carried it into the tack room, leaving him to ponder the girlfriend question.

  For a second he allowed himself to pretend she was fishing for information rather than being polite. Then he reminded himself his luck wasn’t that good. He’d had his share of women, but very few of them had been as beautiful as the curvy horsewoman walking Rida’s saddle blanket into the tack room.

  “No girlfriend,” he said when she returned. “No wife, either.”

  “I kind of assumed that last one,” she admitted, setting several brushes on the table by the door. “Seeing as I haven’t seen one lurking around the house.”

  “Why would I marry someone who lurks? What are you saying?”

  She grinned. “I take that back. You would never marry a lurker.”

  As they spoke, she patted Rida’s front shoulder, then gently nudged him. The huge stallion politely shifted his weight to his other three legs, then raised his front hoof for her to inspect. Beth used a small brush to clean the outside of his hoof, then pulled a hoof pick out of her back pocket.

  It was the kind of grunt work they all did every day, but he had to admit on Beth it look sexy as hell. Which made him an idiot. Or possibly something worse.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  “WHAT ARE YOU going to wear?” Queen Liana asked, her face showing worry on their Skype call.

  “Mo-om, seriously? I’m not five. I know how to dress.”

  “I know you know how to dress, Bethany. What I’m asking instead is do you have anything that isn’t a T-shirt and jeans? I saw your luggage. I would be thrilled to think you actually packed two duffels worth of clothes, but we both know the second duffel held a sleeping bag and pillow, don’t we?”

  Bethany suddenly felt like that five-year-old. “How come you know me so well?”

  “I love you and you’re my favorite daughter.”

  “I’m your only daughter.”

  Her mother laughed. “Then you don’t have to question my sincerity, do you?”

  “I have one nice shirt,” Bethany said with a sigh. “And a pair of dark wash jeans. And flats.” Not exactly her mother’s elegant style but hopefully it was good enough for a family Thanksgiving. “Did you have a nice dinner?” Because while it was still late morning in Happily Inc, it was after ten at night in El Bahar.

  “We did. We had a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Louis outdid himself. I had him freeze leftovers for when you get home, darling.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  Louis was the family’s French chef and a master at both the fancy and the simple. The man made a grilled cheese sandwich that could reduce Bethany to whimpering.

  “Enjoy your dinner tonight,” her mother said. “I miss you.”

  “I miss you, too. Give my love to everyone.”

  “I will.”

  Bethany hung up, then headed for the shower. She’d already fed and exercised Rida. One of the other stable hands would check on him later that afternoon and Bethany would see him after dinner. With Harry hanging out near his stall all the time, she didn’t have to worry about her horse being lonely.

  After showering, she blew out her hair, doing her best to use her round brush to add a little curl. It wasn’t as if she’d brought her curling iron, so that was all she could do.

  She dressed in her good jeans and pulled on her shirt, then reached into her duffel for her flats.
There was a plastic folder at the bottom of her duffel. She pulled it out and opened it, then unfastened the heavy cardboard protecting the document underneath.

  Handwritten calligraphy covering thick parchment paper detailed Rida’s lineage back over five hundred years. Tiny drawings at each corner depicted Arabian horses in four different scenes.

  She would give this to Cade before she left. He would receive a bill of sale, along with other documents, but to her, this was the one that mattered most. It didn’t just say Rida was his—it explained who Rida was.

  Twenty minutes later, Bethany joined Cade in the living room and they went out together to his truck. Like her, he wore dark jeans, but with a long-sleeved shirt and leather boots. With luck, everyone else would be dressed similarly and she wouldn’t have to worry about fitting in.

  “Do you know how to drive?” Cade asked as he held open the passenger door. “You’re scheduled to be here another three or four weeks. That’s a long time to be stuck on the ranch. I can arrange for you to have the use of one of the ranch trucks if you want to head into town or something.”

  “I’d appreciate that.” She settled in the seat. “Thanks. I do know how to drive.”

  One corner of his mouth turned up. “On our side of the road?”

  She laughed. “Yes. We have that in common.”

  “Good.”

  He got in and started the engine, then turned to look at her. “So here’s the thing. My family is a little bit strange.”

  “All families are, or so I’ve been told. Your sister also pointed out there would be a crowd.”

  “My grandpa Frank is the best. He’s funny, active and very unconventional. Libby, my mom, can be a bit more...” He hesitated. “Traditional. She loves working in the family bank and it shows. Seriously, if you were to line up twenty women her age and have to pick out the banker, you’d pick her every time.”

  “Sounds interesting.”

  He started down the driveway. “That’s one way to put it. You’ve met my sister, Pallas. Her fiancé, Nick, will be there, too. We have over a dozen cousins. Don’t worry about trying to keep them straight. I can’t and I’ve known them forever.”

  She smiled. Cade was doing his best to make her feel comfortable and welcome. He was a very nice man. The fact that the nice man was packaged in a rather sexy exterior was also appealing. So far she hadn’t found a flaw, which was a tiny bit scary. Not that she wouldn’t mind meeting someone she could fall for, assuming she could ever trust herself or the guy in question enough for that to happen. She’d been burned more than enough.

  Besides, she told herself firmly, it wasn’t going to be an issue. She wouldn’t be around long enough for anything to happen. Still, a girl could dream...

  “You probably know a lot about El Baharian history,” Cade said as he drove along the road.

  “It was required learning in school. Why? Should I be prepared to dazzle with assorted factoids at dinner?”

  “We have a history here, too.” He winked at her. “It’s pretty interesting.”

  “Do tell.”

  “About fifty or sixty years ago, my grandfather realized the town was dying. There was no industry, no tourists, and if the town died, he would lose the family bank. To keep that from happening, he spun a story of how the town was founded. That in the 1800s, during the gold rush, a group of mail-order brides were stranded here when their stagecoach broke down. By the time the parts came from back east, they’d all fallen in love.”

  “That’s lovely.”

  “It’s a crock. Never happened. But the locals liked it enough to change the name of the town and the word spread. Hollywood got all excited and a few stars came here to get married. From that point on, Happily Inc became a destination wedding town.”

  “Very slick,” she murmured. “And innovative. I’m very excited to meet your grandfather.”

  “You’ll like him.” He glanced at her again. “And he’ll like you. He’s single, so be careful.”

  She laughed. “Is he into younger women?”

  “Since my grandmother died, he’s pretty much been playing the field.”

  “Impressive.”

  They drove through an older neighborhood with large homes on big lots. At the end of the street was the biggest house. There was a long driveway with a dozen or so cars parked on one side. Cade parked at the end and turned to face her.

  “You start to freak out, just come find me. I’ll change the subject to hoof rot or bloat and that will gross out my mother, who will make a big fuss and forget what she was saying before.”

  Bethany thought about all the state functions she’d survived. She doubted anyone in Cade’s family was even close to as tedious as some of the diplomats she’d been seated next to.

  “Thank you for that lovely offer. I think I’ll be fine.”

  “I’m sure you will be. Just know there’s an escape hatch.”

  “Which is an interesting thing to call hoof rot.”

  He flashed her a smile that made her throat tighten and her knees go weak. Maybe it was the little scar by his eyebrow or the chiseled lines of his jaw. Regardless, Cade was one intriguing man. If only he was into women who had yet to figure out what to do with their lives, oh, and who happened to be princesses.

  She got out of the cab and started for the front door. As they climbed the porch steps, Cade put his hand on the small of her back.

  “Just remember, my hoof rot stories are all yours,” he said quietly before opening the door.

  “And people say chivalry is dead.”

  He was still chuckling when they walked into the house.

  Bethany had a brief impression of a spacious foyer and beautiful curved staircase. She and Cade followed the sound of conversation into a large living room.

  At first glance she would have sworn there were at least fifty people sitting, circulating and talking, but then she realized there were maybe twenty or twenty-five. She recognized Pallas sitting on the arm of a club chair, her hand on the shoulder of the man next to her. A woman in her fifties with her brown hair in a tight bun detached herself from the group and approached them.

  “You made it,” she greeted Cade, smiling, then turned so he could kiss her cheek.

  “Hi, Mom. This is Beth Smith. I told you about her. She’s an American working in El Bahar. She works in the El Baharian royal stables and came with the stallion I purchased. Beth, my mother, Libby Saunders.”

  “Mrs. Saunders, it’s so nice to meet you. Thank you for your gracious invitation.”

  Cade’s mother looked her over in a second. From the slight twist to her mouth, she was obviously unimpressed. “Libby, please. So, you work in a stable?”

  Cade stiffened. “Mom, it’s not like that. Beth has a lot of responsibility. Rida’s a big deal and Beth’s the one who makes the decision whether he stays or not. And it’s a royal stable.”

  Libby’s expression didn’t change at all. “But you do work in a stable?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Libby linked arms with her son. “We have those cheese puffs you like so much, but don’t fill up on them before dinner. Cook outdid herself this year. I’m sure it’s because you’re home. You know I was talking to one of my sorority sisters the other day. She mentioned her middle daughter is single. I think you’d like Kimberly. She’s in her last year of residency. She’s a pediatrician.”

  They moved out of earshot. Bethany stayed where she was, reveling in the sense of being just like everyone else. Cade’s mother had totally dismissed her because of her job. It was both sad and wildly funny. No wonder he’d warned her about Libby.

  Pallas rushed over to her. “OMG! I’m so sorry. My mom is...” She pressed her lips together. “It’s the holidays. I won’t say what she is, but I’m thinking it really, really loud.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” B
ethany told her. “I promise I’m totally fine.” Mostly because if Libby knew the truth, she would be beyond mortified. Bethany’s own mother would tell her this was the price she paid for deceiving people, but Bethany was okay with that. She would rather be dissed than fawned over any day.

  “Come meet Nick, then let’s get champagne. Mom went all out with the good stuff. It’s because Cade is back. He’s so her favorite.”

  “You sound okay with that.”

  “I love him, too, so it’s hard to be mad. Plus, I’m happy with my life. That makes it easier to deal with her. Nick, this is Beth Smith. I told you about her.”

  “Hello.” Nick was tall, with dark hair and eyes. He rose and shook her hand. “So you’re the little lady with the horse.”

  “I am.”

  “How’s he settling in?”

  “He loves it here. He’s made friends with a barn cat and he’s eating well.”

  “Wait until he meets the zebras,” Nick said, looking at Pallas.

  His fiancée groaned. “Don’t remind me.” She turned to Beth. “I run a destination wedding business. I do themed weddings and over the summer I had a bride who was all about a black-and-white wedding. She begged me to rent the zebras, so I did. It was a nightmare.”

  “It wasn’t that bad,” Nick said calmly.

  Pallas’s eyes widened. “They escaped. Cade and Carol had to chase them down. They could have been killed.”

  He pulled her close and kissed her nose. “Always find that rain cloud, don’t you?”

  Pallas smiled at him. “Is this where I remind you it did, in fact, rain that morning? And the DJ held up the wedding party.”

  “With a flare gun.”

  “Still, it was a gun!” Pallas turned back to Bethany. “My weddings are normally much more calm than that, believe me.” She pointed to the far side of the room. “Come on. Let’s get champagne. I’ll introduce you as we go, but don’t worry. You won’t be expected to remember any names.”