Once Upon a King

by Holly Jacobs

  She sighed.

  “What on earth is going on now? Problems?” Parker asked.

  “Nope,” Cara answered, deciding to pretend she thought Parker was asking about the wedding, even though she knew her friend was asking about Michael. “No problems. The wedding’s getting close, but we’ve got everything under control. Just look at this, Shey….”

  She flipped to the seating chart that had taken her days to get just right.

  “You definitely have a problem,” Shey said.

  “No way. I went over this chart a dozen times. No feuding relatives are seated at the same table, no—”

  Shey waved the chart aside, obviously not the least bit concerned about who sat where. “Parker said you have to talk to me later.”

  Shey was glowing with happiness. There hadn’t been a chance to really talk yet, but Cara knew that it was only a matter of time.

  “Later, I promise.” Much later if she had her way.

  “I hate being out of the loop,” Shey muttered.

  “I’ll reloop you after your guests have arrived and been settled,” Cara promised.

  The first wave of Perry Square guests were due to arrive any minute. Maybe they’d provide enough of a distraction to buy Cara some time.

  Time to figure out what was up with Michael.

  As if on cue, a man Cara hadn’t met walked into the room and addressed Michael. “Your guests have arrived, Your Highness.”

  “I do want answers soon,” Shey said as they followed the crowd to the front hall.

  Despite her worries, Cara couldn’t help but feel a wave of anticipation. Pearly was due to be in this first group.

  She checked and spotted the ambassador standing next to Michael across the hall.

  “I’m so excited,” Parker said for the umpteenth time. “What do you think they’ll do when they see each other?”

  Cara was about to answer that she didn’t know, but she didn’t have a chance to get the words out because the door opened and a huge group of their friends walked in.

  Cries of welcome filled the huge foyer.

  Libby, Josh and their children, Meg and J.T. Joe, Louisa and their children, Aaron and Ella. Mac and Mia and their daughters, Katie and Merry. Then came Sarah and Donovan, who were expecting their first child at Christmas.

  Cara felt a pull of kinship with Sarah.

  She’d love to talk babies with her, but it would have to wait until after the wedding. She’d tell everyone then. With the way her stomach was expanding lately, they’d all guess if she didn’t tell them soon.

  Jace ran up to hug his sister Shelly and her twins, Amanda and Bobby, as they entered. Cara noted that Tanner’s bodyguard, Peter, was close at hand. When Jace let Shelly go, Peter slipped his arm over her shoulder. It was obvious that things between them were going well. Cara was happy for them.

  Mabel and her boyfriend Elmer walked in with Josie and her beau Hoffman.

  Last but not least, Pearly Gates came in carrying a huge purple bag.

  Cara held her breath as she held hands with Shey and Parker, and the three of them edged closer to the ambassador.

  Pearly was almost next to him before he spied her.

  “Pearly?” the ambassador whispered. “Pearly Gates?” he said louder this time.

  Pearly turned. Cara knew the moment realization struck. Their friend’s face paled as she studied her old boyfriend a moment. Her initial reaction was to smile, but that abruptly faded.

  “You!” was all she said.

  Not a joyous, I’ve-found-you-after-all-these-years sort of you, but a you that came out more like a swearword.

  “Pearly.” The ambassador’s astonishment was evident. “You’re here in Eliason.”

  He leaned forward, as if he were going to hug her.

  Pearly pushed him back. “Buster McClinnon, you mangy, worm-eatin’, lily-livered cad.”

  Cara’s heart sank as she realized her fantasy reunion—wasn’t.

  “Pearly?” the ambassador asked, clearly confused.

  “Don’t you Pearly me. I—” She stuttered and sputtered and finally said, “Don’t you come near me, you sweet-talkin’ womanizer.”

  Pearly abruptly walked out of the room.

  Cara glanced at Parker, who’d been cornered by some of their Perry Square guests. And Shey, never one for overly emotional scenes, backed up, leaving Cara to deal with the ambassador.

  “Sir?” she asked, expecting him to be devastated his old girlfriend wasn’t happy to meet him again.

  “She hasn’t changed a bit,” he said, smiling. “Not one bit.”

  He sounded almost proud.

  “I owe you an apology. When you started reminiscing about the girl you lost, I recognized her. I mean, how many Pearly Gates could one country hold?”

  “One planet,” he corrected with a chuckle.

  Cara felt a wave of relief. He wasn’t hurt. She smiled. “I see your point. More than one Pearly? It boggles the imagination. I wanted to surprise you. I thought reuniting you both would be sweet. I didn’t mean—”

  She didn’t get a chance to explain what she didn’t mean. The ambassador had swept her up in his arms and was squeezing her in a warm embrace.

  “Pearly Gates. You brought me my Pearly.” He set her down. “Tell me everything. How you know her, what she’s been doing all these years. Everything.”

  Cara began to tell him about Pearly and her place on the square. Slowly, some of the others joined in, and after introductions were made, they began to share as well.

  Pearly was the Square and the stories of her help, and her meddling, were legendary.

  “Does Pearly really have a cousin Lerlene?” Libby Gardner asked.

  At that point the ambassador joined in with stories of his own.

  Slowly, Cara eased away from the crowd. It didn’t take long for her to find Pearly.

  Pearly caught sight of Cara and looked as if she were going to make a break for it.

  “Wait,” Cara called. “Please.”

  The older woman stopped. Pearly, who always had a huge smile that was only surpassed by her even bigger heart, had tears in her eyes.

  “You knew, didn’t you? How could you?” she asked.

  “We thought you’d be pleased. I never thought seeing the ambassador, Buster, again would hurt you. I wanted to surprise you,” she tried to explain.

  “You did,” Pearly assured her, a hitch in her voice.

  “We hoped it would be a pleasant one,” Cara corrected.

  Pearly sighed and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “Maybe it was. I just made a fool of myself, didn’t I?”

  “No,” Cara assured her. “You were just caught off guard.”

  “Yeah, I was that.”

  “You’ve talked about the ambassador in the past, and we all thought…” She let the sentence trail off not knowing what else to say about their obviously misguided plans.

  Pearly took her hand. “You all were right. I’m just a foolish old woman.”

  “Pearly, you’re anything but foolish and you’ll never be old. You’re wise and…” She searched for an appropriate term, “Experienced.”

  Pearly laughed. “I guess that’s a nice way to put it.”

  “Do you want to talk about what happened to you and the ambassador?” Cara asked gently. “I’ll understand if you don’t.”

  Pearly sat on a sofa and Cara sat next to her.

  “It was so silly. He’d graduated from college and come home for the summer. It was August when he invited me out for dinner. Not just the local burger place, which was our normal haunt. No, he asked me to McIlhiney’s, a ten-star dining sort of place. It was going to be a special night he told me and I thought, I mean we’d always talked about…”

  “You thought he was going to ask you to marry him?” Cara asked.

  “Yes.” Pearly sighed wistfully. “But he didn’t. He told me he was going to school for his master’s degree and expected me to toast his leaving me behind. Again. I ju
st couldn’t. I was so mad and I’ll confess, I egged on a fight. Then it was the end of summer and we were still fighting when he left. I saw him about a year later. He brought a girl. And…well, here we are. He’s an ambassador and I’m just a beautician.”

  “There’s no just about you, Pearly. You are a special lady. Don’t you know how much you mean to all of us? I don’t think there’s anyone you haven’t helped at one time or another.”

  “What you’re saying is, I’m a busybody?” she asked with a watery smile.

  “What I’m saying is we all love you and really thought that seeing the ambassador again would make you happy.”

  Cara reached out and hugged Pearly. “Like I said, maybe it did. It’s just I was taken by surprise. Like the time Stella from the five-and-dime was wearing a skirt with a pair of those thong panties under it. When the wind caught her skirt and blew it up, all she had was that glorified thread up her backside…. Well, it was that kind of surprise both for her and everyone else in the vicinity.”

  “You feel like you have a thread up your backside?” Cara asked, trying not to smile.

  Pearly laughed. “Yes, something like that.”

  She seemed to pull herself together. “Let’s go back to the others. I’m not the type of person who runs away from a difficult situation.”

  They started walking back toward the guests. Pearly turned to Cara and said, “Don’t think I haven’t noticed there’s something different about you.”

  “Pardon?” Oh, darn. Cara looked down and didn’t think she looked that much more pregnant, not enough that anyone would notice. But Pearly was studying her.

  “Yes, something’s different about you, though I can’t put my finger on it. And something’s bothering you.” Pearly patted her shoulder. “Look at me, comin’ in here caterwaulin’ about the nice surprise you planned and not even noticin’ you’ve got problems. Do you want to talk about it now?”

  “If I said no would you let it drop?” Cara asked, not holding out much hope.

  “That’s not very likely. But it might buy you some time. Normally I’d start pestering you right now, but I need a bit to get my feet back under me.”

  Cara blew out a breath of relief.

  “But,” Pearly said slowly, “I would imagine this evening I’d be feeling up to a conversation.”

  “And a story?”

  “Always.” She pulled back her shoulders and stood up straight. “Now, let’s go see ol’ Buster. I’m a wonderin’ just what he’s been up to all these years.”

  “So what was between the ambassador and your friend?”

  Michael met up with Cara after dinner. He’d watched her throughout the meal and was concerned. She looked out of sorts, and he wondered if he should call the doctor.

  Before she could answer, he asked, “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. As for what was up earlier with Pearly, well, it was simply a surprise for her to find the ambassador here. Not that he was an ambassador back when she knew him. He was just Buster then.”

  “And her reaction when she’s surprised is to turn around and run out of a room crying?”

  Cara just shrugged.

  “Women. The species baffles me. The ambassador was surprised as well, but he didn’t burst into tears.”

  “Yes, we all know that men are good at not disclosing their feelings. And jeez, it’s so manly and all. We women just love that quality about the gender.”

  Sarcasm.

  Every now and then his sweet Cara added that bite to whatever she was saying. Sometimes Michael admired the trait.

  Right now was not one of those times.

  He’d spent the last few days driving himself crazy, trying to give Cara space like his parents had suggested.

  But giving space didn’t seem to be endearing him to her. As a matter of fact, she looked downright annoyed with him. Annoyed and sarcastic. That was not the goal.

  “I think we need to talk,” he told her. “Alone.”

  “Oh, we’re talking again?” There it was again—that bite in her tone. “After the other day when you stopped talking to me because you were pouting about not getting your way, well, I thought—”

  “I do not pout,” he felt obliged to point out.

  “Oh, you do pout like some little boy who didn’t get his way. You tell me you want to marry me and when I say no, I won’t ever marry because I have to, you run off and pout.”

  “I—”

  She interrupted him. She was on a roll now and couldn’t seem to stop. “And rather than acting pleased when I agree to throw my whole life into disarray, leave my home, my friends and my business in order to come here just so you can be close to your baby, you stop talking to me.”

  “Later. When everyone’s settled, we’ll talk. I’ve given you space, given you time, but that’s done now. It’s time we settled some things once and for all.”

  “Oh, the prince decreed it and this mere serf had better obey or else—”

  Michael knew he was the soul of patience, but even a patient man could only be pushed so far. He silenced her in the most effective way he knew.

  He kissed her.

  He pulled her into his arms and held her, he didn’t just explore her lips with his own, he feasted. No gentle introduction, but raw and fevered need.

  How could she not see how much he needed her? He understood and appreciated her offer to move to St. Mark’s, to come to Eliason so he could be near their child, but that wasn’t enough.

  How could she not understand that nothing but marriage, a lifetime together, would suffice. They were meant to be together. He used the kiss to try and show her. He wanted her to remember just how good they could be.

  She made a small noise in the back of her throat and twined her arms around his neck.

  He pulled back and whispered, “This is what we could have, cara mia. Just say yes.”

  “I—”

  “Well, well, well,” a woman’s voice said from behind Michael.

  Cara twisted out of his embrace, her face flaming red. “Shey, I was going to come find you when I was done here.”

  “The way that kiss looked, I’d’ve been waiting a long, long time,” she said with a grin.

  She walked up to Michael and thrust out her hand. “We’ve had our nice social introduction, but since you’re up tight and personal with my friend here, I suppose something more is required. I’m Shey, your sister and Cara’s partner in the stores. And it seems to me I’ve heard your sister talk about your many dalliances….”

  She turned to Cara and said, “I’ve been practicing more appropriate language now that I’m about to be a princess. It’s a strain, I can tell you.”

  Cara assured her, “Dalliance was good.”

  “Thanks.” Now to Michael, she continued, “Since I’ve heard the stories, I feel compelled to warn you that if you hurt Cara, I’ll be coming after you.”

  “Shey,” Cara said, “the come-after-you part wasn’t overly princess-y.”

  “Yeah, I know. I can only maintain the princess thing for so long, then the Harley rider in me kicks into gear.”

  “I’m a big girl.” Cara stepped next to Michael.

  He was surprised to feel her hand slip into his.

  “I know that,” Shey started to say.

  Cara shook her head. “No, I don’t think you do. You and Parker are the best friends anyone could want and you’ve both taught me so much. I may be quiet, I may be a lot more easygoing than you two—”

  Michael couldn’t help it, he made a scoffing sound. “I hope you were going to add that you’ve learned to be more stubborn and difficult than my sister ever managed, and that’s saying something.”

  “Cara difficult?” Shey asked, sounding surprised.

  Despite the fact the woman had threatened him, Michael liked her. He smiled and assured her, “Sarcastic and stubborn.”

  “Way to go.” Shey beamed like a proud mother who’d just learned her child had won an award.
/>   “And thank you for the warning, Shey,” Michael said. “But maybe it’s Cara you need to warn against dallying with my heart.”

  Shey looked puzzled.

  “I asked her to marry me. Surely she’s told you that?”

  “No, I don’t believe that’s been mentioned yet.”

  Shey was no longer glaring at him. No, she’d turned her ire on Cara.

  “Actually, I’ve asked her repeatedly. She keeps turning me down. I’m a dalliance for her. She’s breaking my heart.”

  Cara made a small growl, which made Michael grin. “Well, it looks like I should allow you two ladies to catch up. Cara, I’ll see you later and we’ll have that talk.”

  He made a very courtly bow, then walked down the hall whistling.

  Michael walked out of the room and Cara couldn’t help enjoying the view as he left, even though part of her wanted nothing more than to kick that particular asset.

  He was such a spoiled, pouty tattletale.

  Shey cleared her throat. “Earth calling Cara. If you can tear your eyes off your Prince Charming, maybe I can get some answers. For instance, what was that all about? And I really want to know about the difficult thing.”

  “I’m not being difficult, despite what Michael says. He’s just pouting because I won’t marry him.”

  “He mentioned that. He’s asked more than once and you keep telling him no?”

  “Yes. Are you sure you want to hear all this now? Wouldn’t you rather go down and see the wedding cake, or how about some floral designs?”

  “Cake, shmake. And flowers have never interested me. What I want to know is why a man you’ve only known a few weeks has asked you more than once to marry him? And why, seeing the interest in your eyes as you watched him leave, you’ve said no?”

  “About the few weeks thing. It’s not quite accurate. You see, I met Michael before I came to Eliason. He came to Erie to try and talk Parker into coming home and I bumped into him.”

  Shey’s eyes narrowed and she studied Cara. “And? You bumped into him and…?”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  “That was some bumping,” Shey said as she sank onto a chair. “I think I need to let you give me the whole story.”

  “There’s not much to tell. We bumped, there was a misunderstanding and we both went on with our lives, never even knowing each other’s real name. I found out I was expecting, and planned to tell you and Parker after the wedding, but then I came here, met Michael, discovered my baby’s father is a prince and passed out.”