by Laurie Paige
Ivy thought it over. “Tennis and jogging work for me. Is there a trail I can use?”
“Yes, all around the inside perimeter of the castle walls. There are turrets with guards there, too. It’s all rather medieval.”
The three Americans stared at Max.
He shrugged. “You get used to it.” But he was aware of the flicker of unease across Ivy’s lovely countenance.
Twelve
Ivy was released from the hospital on Sunday morning. That night, she slept in Max’s arms, wonderfully secure and happy to be there. His good-night kisses were strictly platonic—very gentle, very caring, making her feel cherished and special to him.
She wondered if his care and gentleness would carry over into their marriage. After all, anyone could be nice for a couple of weeks, but marriage was for the long haul.
There can be no divorce, he’d told her.
It came to her just before she fell asleep that she’d accepted what fate seemed to have decreed for them. No matter how the marriage turned out, their union would be forever. That was the way she wanted it.
On Monday Max drove her to the office at Crosby Systems to start clearing out her desk. Her second-in-command would take over her assigned duties, other than the Lantanya contract. She would continue as project manager for that.
A sense of satisfaction swept over her. She and Max had discussed her career. He had been the one to suggest that she continue with the educational system development. His approval of her continuing with the work had pleased her.
“How are you?” Trent asked, meeting her and Max in the hallway outside his office when they arrived.
“Sore but functional,” she told her big brother.
Yesterday she’d talked to their younger brother, Danny, for more than an hour, filling him in on all that was happening and telling him of the wedding.
She’d wondered if he would come, but hadn’t pressed him for an answer when she’d extended an invitation. Danny had his own problems.
By noon Max and Chuck had carted her personal items to her car and to Chuck’s rental vehicle. Ivy gave her plants to the department secretary and a decorative vase she’d splurged on to Katie. She realized as she and Max left she had no need to return to the company founded by her father.
Pausing by the car, she looked back at the building and the wide lawn and lovely landscaping leading to the entrance. It felt odd to leave and know she wouldn’t return.
“Feeling nostalgic already?” Max asked.
She managed a smile. “I’ve been free to come and go here most of my life. At times Crosby Systems has felt more like home than anyplace I’ve ever lived. The lobby guard has been here over thirty years. I know him and his wife, his daughter, his grandchildren….”
A painful knot formed in her throat.
“You’ll be leaving this far behind and going to a new place, one filled with strangers who will note your every word and action.” It was as if he continued her thoughts. “It will be difficult, more so at first, but the spotlight will never completely go away. If we fight, if our children get into trouble, it will be fodder for the paparazzi.”
Their eyes met over the roof of the car.
“But you will be there for me,” she said softly.
His glance never wavered. “Always.”
She settled in the familiar sedan. “What will I do with my car? And my furniture? Sell them,” she answered before he could speak. “Trent and Katie will help.”
“Your mother might do something,” Max suggested, cranking the engine, then heading for the freeway.
Silence fell between them.
Max chuckled dryly. “I suppose not.”
“We learned not to depend on her,” Ivy murmured. “If I asked her to help with the wedding, she would take over, but it would become her day, not ours.”
“Between Trent and Katie and you, all is taken care of, so there’s no need to involve her.”
“That’s what I thought,” Ivy agreed, relieved that he understood so completely. She was lost in introspection for a few minutes, then asked, “Max, is there a book of protocol that I can read so I’ll have some idea of how to act in your country? Do I walk a couple of steps behind you the way Prince Philip does with Queen Elizabeth?”
“It’s our country,” he corrected. “And you’ll walk at my side as my queen.”
Ivy had to smile. He hadn’t a clue how arrogantly sure of himself, and her, he had sounded. It came naturally to him, but she wasn’t so sanguine.
“There are instructions,” he said. “They’ve been collected over the past five hundred years or so and put into a leather-bound set. The minister of state has assistants who can help if you have any questions on the exact protocol.”
Ivy gulped at the task ahead.
Max started laughing.
“You’re teasing me,” she accused, not sure whether to be furious with him or grateful that he wasn’t concerned.
“Because you’re so cute when you’re mad,” he said, then laughed when she huffed in indignation.
To her surprise, he drove to the country club. “Are we having lunch here?” she asked when he took her arm and escorted her inside to a private room.
The place was decorated with pots of white and golden mums with wide bands of white satin ribbons around them. Smiling faces observed her and Max with open interest from every table crowded into the large banquet room. A long table next to the far wall was laden with gaily wrapped packages that could only be bridal gifts.
Katie stood beside an empty chair at the head table. “Don’t just stand there,” she ordered. “We’re ready to start the shower.”
Ivy noticed her mother and stepmother were also present, but on opposite ends of the table.
“I’ll see you later,” Max murmured while all Ivy’s friends applauded and called out greetings. “Chuck and I are having lunch in the dining room here with your father and Trent. Keep a stiff upper lip,” he advised.
To her amazement, he lightly kissed her on the lips in front of everyone, then quickly left.
She placed a hand over her heart and gave her friends a mock frown. “I’m not sure I can take many more shocks this week,” she told them.
At Katie’s beckoning gesture, she took the seat of honor and proceeded with the luncheon, then opened packages that contained both wedding and baby gifts. Three hours passed in a blur of marriage advice, laughter, ribbons, lovely gift paper and oohs and aahs.
Max returned for her as soon as she finished the cake and coffee that ended the festivities. Katie and Toni shooed her away, assuring her they would take care of the gifts.
Sheila latched on to Max’s arm and smiled prettily up at him. “I’ve been thinking,” she told him. “Ivy will need someone close to help her when you two return to Lantanya. As her mother, I’m the logical choice—”
“We will be secluded on our honeymoon for the first weeks,” Max interrupted with a kind smile. “Naturally we’ll expect the family to attend the coronation and official wedding ceremonies. I hope you can reserve November for a visit with us.”
He deftly hooked an arm around Ivy and led her from the room before Sheila could do more than murmur “Of course” and look chagrined at being thwarted in her plans.
Behind her, Ivy heard Katie call to their mother and ask her help in packing up the gifts.
“You do that so well,” Ivy murmured to Max when he held her arm as she climbed into the car.
“Practice,” he said after tipping the valet and leaving the parking area. “Do you think the United States is the only place with persons who need to be put in their place?”
“I’ve never thought about it,” she admitted. “I had better observe and learn from you, I suppose.”
He braked at a stop sign and glanced at her. “I’ll be considerate of your mother, my love, but I won’t allow her or anyone to intrude into our private time. After the wedding on Sunday, I intend to have you to myself as much as possible.” He touch
ed her cheek. “I need that.” He paused. “I need you,” he said softly.
An odd sensation attacked Ivy’s insides. It was as if something deep in the most secret place of her soul had been opened up and exposed to the light for the first time. She felt vulnerable but oddly happy.
“It’s nice to be needed,” she told him.
What about loved? some sly part of her inquired.
She was lost in thought the rest of the way to the hotel. In the suite, Max insisted she rest on the sofa when she refused to go to bed, while he and his security advisor spoke with the courier who’d been waiting for them to return. Chuck unlocked the handcuffs that secured the diplomatic bag to the man’s wrist.
Closing her eyes, Ivy contemplated the changes one romantic, impulsive night could have on a person for all time. Would her one night be worth all the nights that would follow when she joined Max in a new life in a new place? Would there be loneliness? Regret?
She had to live through it to know.
Saturday morning dawned, but not brightly. A rosy mist surrounded the sunrise before the sun disappeared under a heavy layer of clouds driven in from the Pacific by a cold wind. Rain was predicted that afternoon and into the night.
Ivy, still in bed, sipped coffee and observed the swirl of a low ground fog while Max talked on the phone.
“Yeah. Ahh,” he said in understanding. “Good work, ol’ man.” He laughed at something the other party said. “Good. That’s great. Yes. Don’t worry, I trust you and Mrs. Bartlett completely. Everything sounds perfect.”
Ivy glanced at him when he replaced the phone.
“That was Ned Bartlett, the valet I told you about.”
“I remember,” she said. “Uh, am I allowed to ask you any questions about conversations I overhear, such as now? Or is that against the rules?”
He rose and stretched leisurely. Ivy admired his masculine grace and the ripple of muscles in his naked chest and arms. Pajama bottoms covered the rest of his body. He’d been sleeping in them that week, giving her a chaste kiss each night and settling beside her in sleep. She’d missed their lovemaking.
A low chuckle drew her attention back to his face. Realizing she’d been staring at his torso, she smiled and murmured, “Caught me.”
He settled on the side of the bed and leaned close to claim her mouth in a heart-jarring kiss. “I like it when you look at me,” he admitted, “especially when you’re lusting after my body.”
“I am not!” She had to compress her lips to keep from laughing after her indignant denial.
“Yes, you are. And yes, it’s okay for you to ask me anything you like. With your active intelligence, you would go crazy if I tried to keep secrets. I won’t do that to you. You’ll be my mate in every way, sharing the good and the bad of running a small kingdom to the best of our ability.”
She caressed his chest, loving the warmth of his skin, the crisp sensation of the dark hairs under her fingers, the knowledge that she was free to touch him like this in their private moments.
“I’ve missed you—” She stopped abruptly, realizing she was giving away more of her inner thoughts than she wanted to admit, arrogant male that he was.
He pressed her hands to his chest. “I’ve missed our lovemaking, too, but I wanted to let you rest and recover completely from the trauma you suffered last week. Tomorrow will be the wedding, and then…” He leaned close. “Then you will be mine forever. I intend to make love to you every night for years and years.”
A thrill of anticipation shot through her.
“We will have a good marriage,” he whispered as he kissed her cheek near her ear. “Stay in bed as long as you want. We have the rehearsal dinner tonight, so it will be late before we get in, I suspect.”
She nodded, knowing he’d arranged the meal at the country club, which would take place after the rehearsal at her father and stepmother’s home. When he headed for the bathroom, she propped the pillows a bit higher behind her, refilled her coffee cup and picked up the first section of the newspaper.
Hearing the shower come on, she considered joining him and seeing if she could tempt him into indulging their passion now. No, she decided. That wouldn’t be right. Max had shown exemplary control all week. She would do the same.
And he was right. After tomorrow night, they would have the rest of their lives together and could make love every night. The thought brought such a rush of blood and whirling emotions to her head that she became dizzy.
Bringing herself firmly under control, she read of the troubles of the world, the global economy and a new outbreak of SARS cases in Hong Kong and China.
After Max had bathed, dressed and joined Chuck in the living room, Ivy rose and prepared for the day, too.
Forty minutes later, standing at the window and listening to Max and Chuck speak by phone to one of the ministers in Lantanya, she wondered if it was raining there, too. Here in Portland, the early-morning mist had turned into a steady rain that didn’t bode well for the outdoor wedding she and Katie had planned so carefully.
She sighed. Well, best-laid plans and all that, as Robbie Burns had mentioned in a long-ago poem.
Hands touched her shoulders. “Are you worried about the wedding?” Max asked.
Glancing at him over her shoulder, she nodded. “I was wondering if we should change the ceremony to the church. But it may be too late for that,” she added doubtfully.
“I have ordered sunshine for tomorrow,” he told her, nuzzling her neck. “All will be well.”
“Even so, the ground will be wet.”
“Then we will put up a pavilion. Chuck has already checked with a company who rents equipment for weddings.”
Ivy’s eyes opened wide. “I am constantly amazed at the efficiency of those around you.”
“They are paid to think of all contingencies.”
The phone rang again. Chuck gestured for Max to pick up the other receiver in the suite after he answered.
Ivy listened to the one-sided conversation with the minister of state of Lantanya. There was a question about the estates of the traitors who’d tried to take over the kingdom. If they confiscated the estates, should they exile the remaining family of the coup members?
“No,” Max said after a brief conversation with Chuck. “I won’t punish the families for the fathers’ mistakes.”
He glanced her way after he spoke, and she knew he was thinking of their child, heir to his kingdom.
A shiver trickled down her back in slow waves like a Chinese torture machine. All the uncertainties she’d experienced since confirming the pregnancy came back to haunt her.
Who was she, Ivy Crosby of Portland, Oregon, to marry into royalty and produce the future kings and queens who would decide the fate of a nation, small as it might be?
The questions remained even as Ivy dressed for the rehearsal dinner that night. Max hooked the back of her dress, then smiled at her through their reflections in the mirror. She returned the smile, pride stiffening her courage as she noted his commanding good looks in a dark suit and her own vivid coloring.
Her cheeks were flushed of their own accord, not from rouge, and her eyes sparkled, enhanced by the matching blue of her long evening dress, a new one with scalloped lace along the neckline, sleeves and hem.
“You look lovely,” he said, admiration in his eyes.
“And you’re as handsome as a prince,” she teased, deciding a light tone was best. “By the way, who will help me with my hooks and zippers after we return to Lantanya?”
“The wife of my valet has let it be known that she expects to fill the position.” Max caressed her cheek. “She’ll adore you. And spoil the children.”
“And I will let her.” Ivy wrinkled her nose at him when he gave her a mock frown.
“I intend to do some spoiling of my own.” He withdrew a velvet jewelry box from the bedside drawer. “The courier brought this from the palace vault.”
Ivy could only stare as he touched a hidden spring and the b
ox opened. Inside on black velvet was displayed the most magnificent necklace set of blue sapphires, surrounded by pure white diamonds, that she’d ever seen.
“Your engagement ring,” Max said, slipping it on her finger. “The other ring you’ll get tomorrow.”
He indicated the wedding band, which was covered by alternating sapphires and diamonds. Lifting the necklace, he held it up to the light as they admired its sparkle, then he fastened it around her neck.
“Shall I do the earrings?” he asked.
She nodded. He carefully inserted the posts into her earlobes and slipped the security clasps into place.
“No tiara?” she asked, teasing, but her voice trembled in spite of her attempt to keep things light.
“Not with these,” he said solemnly, “but there will be. Several, in fact, for different occasions.”
“Oh, Max,” she murmured in distress.
“You will be marvelous, my love.” He dropped a kiss on the side of her neck. “Marvelous,” he repeated huskily.
Her fingers trembled uncontrollably as she touched the cool stones in the necklace. “Princess Di had sapphires, too,” she said, but only to herself when Max answered a summons at the bedroom door.
“The car is here,” Chuck told them.
“Ready?” Max asked, taking a stole from Chuck. He draped the blue-tinged white fox fur around her shoulders.
“I’ve never worn fur,” Ivy said.
“Fur and leather work are our major industries on Lantanya. However you feel privately, you must never disparage it or refuse to accept a gift from the guild that produces items such as this.”
She nodded in understanding, but all the time she was wondering what she was doing. As soon as they arrived at her father’s house for the rehearsal, Katie pulled her into the bedroom where they left their jackets and purses.
“You’re flushed,” her sister said, touching the back of her hand to Ivy’s forehead. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” Ivy said. “Katie—” She didn’t know what else to say.
“Oh, God,” Katie said fatalistically. “You aren’t backing out, are you?”
