“Oh, Mama. Papa. Thank you.”
The king and queen hugged back, patting her gently and holding her close. Katy sniffled in their arms. She couldn’t believe her luck. She finally had it all: her parents’ support, the ability to make her own choices, and the boy she was falling in love with.
44
David
David didn’t have much to pack. But it took a while anyway, since he kept getting sidetracked thinking of Katy. He couldn’t believe what had happened in just the past couple of hours. Katy was going back to Cambridge with David—in more ways than one. She had the choice of almost any man in the world—no matter how rich or powerful—and, somehow, David had won her heart. It was shocking, really. But he wasn’t going to ask questions or express too much doubt, especially not when he still felt like he was floating on clouds.
After some time in his state room, he finally had all of his things together. He threw his backpack, stuffed to the brim, over his shoulder and onto his back. Then he left his palace room for the last time. It was time to go find Katy and then head back home. He was already halfway down the corridor to the stairs when Oliver caught up with him.
“David! Wait!”
David turned to see that Oliver, still dressed in his tux, was coming from his room. I guess parties end early when the belle of the ball runs out.
“Duke Oliver,” David greeted him warmly. He no longer felt conflicted about the duke or any of the suitors. Katy was with David, not anyone else.
Oliver reached David before noticing his backpack. “Are you leaving?”
David nodded. “It’s back home for me. Not sure I really fit in here.” He grinned. It was the truth, but now it didn’t sting David so much to consider. Because Katy had still chosen him.
“With the princess, I presume,” Oliver replied.
David looked away. Whether her secret was out or not, he wasn’t in the business of engaging in gossip.
“It’s all right,” Oliver went on. “You don’t have to answer that. I suppose I just wanted to say . . . good luck. I wish the best for you two.”
David turned back to Oliver. It was a very gentlemanly thing to say, especially when he had probably hoped to capture Katy’s affections for himself.
Oliver went on. “She deserves happiness, David. Make sure to give it to her.”
David smiled, appreciative of Oliver’s concern. “I will, mate.” He was almost sorry to leave the duke. Under different circumstances, they might’ve been fast friends.
Oliver stuck out his hand, and David shook it firmly. “Maybe I’ll see you back in London someday,” David offered.
“You’re always welcome at the farmhouse. And don’t forget it.” Then Oliver released David’s hand, offered a parting bow, and retreated back to his room, leaving David alone in the hallway. It occurred to David that the rich weren’t so different from everyone else. They had their good and their bad, their confidences and their insecurities, and—just like the common folk—there were some things that they’d never be able to buy.
David continued down the hall and found Cassie at the bottom of the stairs. She was holding her purse while a small army of house servants ferried the rest of her luggage downstairs and out front.
“The palace driver is taking us,” Cassie clarified. “We can have a butler grab your bag.”
David shook his head. “It’s quite all right. I’ll carry it myself. Have you seen Katy?”
Cassie didn’t have time to answer. The sound of Katy’s heeled boots tapping against the marble floor echoed through the cavernous entryway, alerting Cassie and David to her approach. She was coming from the direction of the parlor, and David was surprised (but happy) to see that she was beaming with joy. David felt weak in the knees at the sight of her. She was his now.
“Good news?” Cassie asked as Katy walked up to them. She looked as confused as David felt.
“Great news,” Katy replied. “I think everything is going to be okay. My parents were actually . . . understanding.”
Cassie’s face dropped into an expression of utter shock. That must’ve been almost unheard of, David realized. But he was smiling broadly, unable to focus too much on the king and queen. He could feel Katy’s happiness, and that alone gave him genuine joy.
“That’s awesome!” Cassie said, a grin breaking through the disbelief on her face at last. But then her face turned serious again. “But what about your identity? I don’t think we can stop the news from leaking to the press. Everyone will know who you are by the start of next semester.”
David looked between Cassie and Katy. Cassie was right, although he hated to admit it. Things back in Cambridge could never be as they were. And Katy had tried so hard to keep the secret, since privacy was obviously very important to her. What were they going to do about that?
Katy looked down briefly before making eye contact with Cassie again. “You’re right. And I don’t know yet what’s going to happen. Maybe it will end up being too hard after all.”
David felt his heart sink in his chest. He couldn’t bear the thought of Katy leaving Harvard, not now that they were finally together.
“But I have to try,” Katy finished.
David exhaled in relief. “And we’ll be there to support you,” he added. Katy smiled at David, and for a second they were lost in each other’s eyes. Cassie looked over at him with an eyebrow cocked.
“So are you two . . .?” Cassie trailed off, pointing between David and Katy.
David nervously laughed while Katy continued to smile. It must’ve been pretty obvious by that point.
“Well,” Cassie went on with a wry grin, having received her answer, “I think you guys are really cute together. But can we get out to the car? Now that we don’t have to take regular transportation anymore, I’m sure the jet is waiting for us.”
* * *
The trip home was very similar to the trip to Lorria, with one big exception. David no longer had to hide his attempts to get closer to Katy. He was finally free to hold her hand as they walked across the tarmac to the jet. He could sit close to her on the plane without arousing any suspicions. And when Katy rested her head on his shoulder as she slept through the flight, David could turn and place his chin on the top of her head without worrying what everybody might think and what messages he was sending. It was exhilarating.
He tried to sleep for the flight but almost found himself too giddy. But, as midnight ticked by with the plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, David finally began to feel weariness overcome his excitement. Besides, he might need a good rest before they got home. What if the paparazzi in Boston already knew she was coming?
David felt himself stiffen a bit. He was absolutely thrilled to be with Katy, but that would be something new for him: protecting his girlfriend as she evaded photographers. David had never fancied himself much of a protector-type. But he’d do anything for Katy.
David finally drifted off and began to dream; wistful, magical dreams of Katy in her ballgown, Katy in the snowy woods, Katy in her robe while David dyed her hair, her body palpably close, her trust in him so evident.
As he slept, his dreams also turned to his mother. She had always been faceless when he’d dreamed of her before, more of a concept than a person. But now he dreamed of her as she was in the picture he had seen: young, carefree, and happy.
When David awoke, they were circling the field in Boston, finally almost home.
Katy woke up at the same time and looked up, a bit groggily, at David. She was lit by the sunrise through the window behind her, and David couldn’t help but kiss her as soon as she was awake. He still couldn’t believe that he even got to do that.
“Good morning,” David said, his lips brushing against Katy’s.
“Good morning,” she replied sleepily. She pressed her lips against his in one more soft kiss before pulling away and stretching in her seat. “Are we here?”
“Yep,” David replied. “About to land. How are you feeling?”
David placed his hand comfortingly on her thigh. That was probably an understatement. Even David was nervous. What would campus life look like moving forward, for Katy or David? Would she constantly be hiding? Would he always be beside her, pushing photographers and autograph-seekers out of her way?
“I’ll be there to protect you,” he told her. No matter what, he wasn’t going to let anyone make being at Harvard too hard for Katy.
Katy smiled. “Thank you. But actually, I think I need to start learning how to handle this type of stuff on my own. I’m going to talk to the Harvard president when I get back. He’s the only one who knew my identity to start, so I could get enrolled. Maybe he has some suggestions.”
David nodded. Katy wasn’t some damsel in distress. She was a smart, capable young woman who was finally claiming her independence. And that makes her even more beautiful.
“I know you can do it,” David replied. “And I’m sure the president can help. But anything you need from me, just know that I’ll be there.”
Katy offered him a sweet, appreciative smile and then turned to her things, gathering her purse and phone for the landing. David settled back into his seat, but soon she stopped and turned to look at him once more.
“What?” David asked.
“Well,” she started. “There is one thing that you can help me with. At least for now.”
David leaned closer to her. “Anything.”
45
Katy
“I don’t remember it being this hard,” David said.
“That’s because we were just dyeing the roots last time,” Katy replied, holding her robe at the collar. Boyfriend or not, she still had her modesty—they’d only been a couple for two days. “Now we’re stripping color. Longer process.”
David sighed playfully, parting Katy’s wet hair with his gloved hand to make sure everything was coated. The color-stripping agent had turned her hair a foamy purple while it worked to remove the dark dye.
“I think you should stick with the purple. It’s a royal color, you know,” he quipped.
Katy looked at his smirking face in her bathroom mirror and laughed.
“You don’t like blondes?” she teased. She had made the decision to go back to her roots, literally and figuratively. What was the point in hiding anymore?
“I like you. You could shave it all off or dye it green and I’d still like you.”
Katy felt her heart skip a beat. It was still so new and exciting to hear those things out loud.
But he’d already proven it time and time again. From his support back in Lorria to the way he had been so protective of Katy back on the Boston tarmac, checking for photogs before debarking and offering to shield her if they saw any. They hadn’t run into any paparazzi yet, but Katy had a feeling that the news would hit the internet that day, then the print magazines within a week. The media worked fast, always trying to race each other to capitalize on news first. It wouldn’t be long now before the paps showed up.
“So what do we do now?” David asked, stepping back from his workspace (otherwise known as Katy’s head) and giving it a final onceover to make sure he’d covered everything. He seemed pleased with the saturation.
“It takes about ninety minutes to do its thing,” Katy replied. Ninety minutes to sit beside David half-clothed. She wasn’t entirely unhappy about that, modesty or not.
“No,” David replied. “I meant about . . . well, everything else.”
Oh, right. All of the stuff I don’t have answers to. “I guess we just try to keep things as normal as possible.”
David grinned. “So we’re pretending, then?”
Katy rolled her eyes with a laugh. “Look, almost everything is still the same.”
“Almost,” David echoed, placing a hand sensuously at the base of Katy’s neck. His voice had dropped. Katy felt her stomach flutter.
“Yes, almost,” she replied.
She turned over her shoulder to look up at David. He was so handsome in his jeans and sweatshirt, gazing down at Katy with an intimacy that felt new but familiar all at once. He leaned down and kissed her, just a soft brush of his lips against hers, and Katy’s breath caught. Will it ever stop taking my breath away? Or is that just something I should get used to now?
When David pulled away, he spoke again. “But, since we’re on the subject of what has changed, what about the gossip rags? Do you think people on campus will know soon?
Katy was snapped back to reality. “Unfortunately, it’s just a waiting game now. I haven’t checked the celebrity news yet, but—”
Katy was interrupted when the bathroom door swung open hard, revealing a wide-eyed Michelle. Cassie was standing behind her looking exasperated. Katy clutched her robe again.
“Michelle, you can’t just barge in!” Cassie said. She looked apologetically at Katy.
“Do you have something to tell me?” Michelle said in an awed voice. She walked right up to Katy in her vanity chair and jutted out her phone in the direction of Katy’s face.
And there it was. Right on time.
“From Pains to Brains! The Missing Princess Recovers from Break-Up by Enrolling at Harvard!” The picture that accompanied the article was an old one of Katy and Alexei holding hands, looking happy during an event in Russia. A cartoonish zig-zag had been superimposed over the image, separating the two.
Ugh. Of course they’d try to make it all about Alexei. Enrolling in Harvard had also been about Katy and her wishes, not just her womanizing ex-boyfriend. This was why she so seldom gave interviews. The press was always spinning things to make her look terrible.
Katy looked from the phone back up to Michelle.
“I thought you went home, Michelle.”
“Well, now I’m back, and so are you. And this article is about you, isn’t it?” Michelle asked. It was obvious from her tone that she already knew. Katy couldn’t tell whether she was excited or bothered by the revelation. Her face only showed shock.
“It is,” Katy finally replied. “But please don’t let this change anything. I’m still just Katy.”
“Now all of the modesty stuff makes so much more sense!” Michelle said, her face finally breaking into a grin. “Princess Katerina! Why didn’t you tell me? I can keep a secret!”
“Please,” Katy replied. “Just Katy. I’m just a Harvard student like you here. Not a princess.” Also, why did you come crashing into my bathroom? What if I was in the shower?
“This is amazing! We are going to get invited to all of the parties now! This is going to be the best semester!”
“Okay, Michelle,” Cassie interrupted, grabbing her by the shoulders. “You can fill up your social calendar later. Let’s give her some privacy now.” Cassie winked at Katy as she led Michelle out of the room.
“Bye, Princess!” Michelle shouted before Cassie backed out of the room and shut the door, leaving David and Katy alone again.
They stood in stunned silence for a few beats before David finally spoke.
“Well . . . I guess the news is out.”
Katy grabbed her smartphone off the counter and Googled her name. A dozen tacky gossip sites popped up, each offering a different tantalizing take on Katy’s newly discovered location. She began to read them out loud.
“Missing Princess Studying for M.R.S. Degree at Harvard . . . Heartbroken Katerina Buries Herself in Textbooks . . . Ivy League Princess Katerina Out to Prove Something!”
The last one stung. Proving something to myself, not Alexei or anyone else! Katy exhaled sharply.
David frowned, probably as unhappy with the headlines as Katy was. She sank in her vanity chair, feeling guilty that Alexei’s name was popping up next to hers so much. She liked David, not Alexei. But the media didn’t know that. And even if they did, those headlines probably wouldn’t be any better. Harvard Mystery Man Woos Frigid Princess! Katy shuddered to think about what sweet, understated David might think if his picture leaked
to the press.
Or, rather, when his picture leaked. Unless they never wanted to go out in public again, there was no getting around it.
“Katy,” David said, “don’t worry about it. They don’t know what they’re talking about.”
“No one does,” Katy replied. “But these magazines tell them what to think. About me. It’s just hard.”
Katy turned back around in her seat and looked at her reflection. She watched as David took a step forward.
“Why don’t we go see a movie tonight?”
“And get ambushed by paparazzi?” Katy bit her lip. She couldn’t even do normal girlfriend things with David.
“Then let’s stay in. Watch a movie here.”
Katy smiled. She looked over her shoulder at David, with his dark hair and tan skin, and realized that he didn’t care if their relationship wasn’t like everybody else’s. He was with Katy for Katy, not “girlfriend things.”
While Katy was considering this, with David still smiling down at her, her phone began to ring in her hand. She quickly answered, not bothering to glance at the screen.
“Hello?” Katy expected to hear her mother or father, probably asking about the trip and whether or not she had seen the news.
Instead, a Spanish accent greeted her ears.
“Hola, Princess. Is now a good time?”
Katy’s heart clenched in her chest as she looked over at David. He furrowed his brow in confusion.
“Hello, Mia. Yes, I can talk now.”
David’s eyes bulged as he squatted to get closer to Katy. She turned on the speakerphone and held her phone between them.
“Lo siento for the delay. I was busy with another case. But I have time to take down your information now. Can we start with the name?”
“Jeanine Schwartz,” David quickly replied. Katy looked over at him to see that he was flustered. He must’ve been feeling so many conflicting emotions at that moment, while he talked to the person who was going to help him find out what happened to his mother. For better or worse.
A Love that Endures Page 40
