12 Stocking Stuffers

by Beverly Barton

  Sonia sucked in her breath. “Like a king!”

  He did look like a king. One day it was possible he would be king. Kristin still couldn’t credit any of this was happening. Yet she couldn’t doubt that his love for Sonia was real, not now…

  “It was made for the coronation of one of my ancestors, King Carl, almost 200 years ago.”

  “What’s a coronation?”

  Eric flashed Kristin a private smile before he said, “When a king is crowned king.”

  “Are you going to be king someday?”

  “I hope not.”

  A wealth of emotion went into that comment, giving Kristin more insight into Eric’s remarkable character.

  “I’m glad you’re just a prince.”

  “How come?” he teased her with one of her own questions before putting the crown back in its spot.

  “Cos Jan and Knute said their daddy doesn’t play with them very much.”

  “A lot of conversation went on in that playroom,” he muttered, but Kristin heard him. “My brother has the worries of the whole country on his mind, Sonia. When he heard you were missing, he came home from his trip to help me look for you.”

  She blinked. “Does he know you found me?”

  “I’m sure he’s been told by now.”

  “Aunty Kristin?” Her big brown eyes looked up at her. “Can I thank the King?”

  “Yes, sweetheart. In fact, we have a lot of people to thank. When we get back to Chicago, we’ll send letters to everyone.”

  Suddenly her niece ran to Eric and threw her arms around his legs. “I love you. I wish you could be my new daddy.”

  No.

  Kristin averted her eyes. “Let’s just be grateful Prince Eric is your good friend.” She’d mentioned his title deliberately. “Now we’d better leave so we can go see the Viking ships in the museum. Come on.”

  She grabbed hold of Sonia’s hand. When they reached the door, Kristin knocked for the guard to let them out of the room.

  The conversation had touched on treacherous ground. She’d been afraid this would happen before the day was over. Kristin needed to have a private chat with her niece before Eric caught up to them. The best place for that would be the rest room she’d seen at the rear of the church.

  Once inside where they could have privacy, she knelt down in front of Sonia. “Sweetheart—I know how much you love Eric, but he can’t ever be your daddy.”

  One tear trickled down her flushed cheek. “How come?”

  Kristin shook her head in pained exasperation. “Because he was born into a family where he has to marry a woman who’s also from a royal family so their children will be royal.”

  “How come?”

  “It’s a law that was made hundreds of years ago by the first king.”

  “Are Jan and Knute royal?”

  “Yes, because their mommy was a princess.”

  “Will the boys have to marry princesses someday?”

  “Yes.”

  Her precious little face fell. “Oh.”

  Sonia, Sonia. “Just think how lucky you are that Eric is your special friend.”

  Instead of becoming hysterical as Kristin feared, Sonia finally said, “Can we go now?”

  “Yes.”

  As she stood up, Sonia ran out the bathroom door. Kristin rushed after her, but not before her niece reached Eric who stood at the main doors of the entrance to the cathedral waiting for them.

  The sight of him so tall and devastatingly appealing in his black coat and boots took Kristin’s breath away.

  By the time she caught up to her niece, he’d swept Sonia into his arms. “What’s the big hurry, elskling?”

  “Can I play with Jan and Knute after we look at the ships?”

  “They’re planning on it.”

  “Sonia—we’ve already been to the palace,” Kristin reminded her. “We can’t go there again.”

  He shot Kristin an enigmatic glance. “It’s already been decided Knute and Sofia will bring the boys to my house. My brother’s anxious to meet both of you.”

  Sonia’s head jerked around. A smile illuminated her face. “We’re going to meet the King! Now I can thank him.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  “ERIC? While mother’s talking to Sofia and Kristin, come here for a minute,” Knute whispered.

  He left the women and children who were playing in the living room with the dog, and followed his brother into his library.

  Knute shut the door, then leaned against it to study Eric. “Kristin told me about your prayer and the miracle that followed. How does it feel?”

  Eric’s eyes smarted. “I’m still in shock.”

  “Do you know what Sonia asked me after she thanked me for flying home to help in the search?”

  “I can’t imagine, but knowing her as I do, it was something completely original.”

  “You could say that.” His brows lifted. “She said, and I quote, ‘Could you make a law to turn me into a princess so I can be Eric’s little girl, cos I love him?”’

  His brother had done a perfect imitation of her.

  The revelation didn’t come as a surprise. Sonia had already asked Eric to be her daddy when they were in Midgard earlier in the day. But hearing this from Knute touched him in the deepest recesses of his soul.

  He cleared his throat. “What did you say back?”

  “I told her I’d have to think hard about it. She asked me how long it took me to think hard about things.” Eric started to chuckle. “I said it might take six months.”

  Knute’s answer brought Eric up short. “Six months?”

  “Well…after considering everything, I wanted to be sure there was enough time for you to win her Aunty Kristin around before you proposed an official alliance of the three of you.”

  A long silence ensued before he said, “I’ve got competition, Knute. There’s a man in her life.”

  His brother shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t see a ring on her finger.”

  “You know that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Sonia let it slip the guy doesn’t want to raise Kristin’s niece. It means they’ve been talking marriage.”

  “Nevertheless, their problem sounds serious. Now’s your chance, if you know what I mean.”

  “It’s all I’ve been able to think about.”

  Knute clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I always figured when you met the right woman, you’d know it instantly.”

  Eric nodded. “I haven’t been the same since I heard Sonia sobbing her heart out in the back of the Chocolate Barn because Maren couldn’t come.

  “When I walked to the rear of the store and Kristin looked up at me with those gorgeous blue eyes, helpless in the face of Sonia’s disappointment, I felt something zap my insides from my heart to my stomach.

  “Finding out Sonia was blind only intensified my feelings for both of them.” His eyes closed tightly for a moment.

  “They’re heartbreakers all right. Sonia has an artless charm about her that draws you in. The boys are crazy about her. I can see why. Do you know she asked me to play with them more because they miss me very, very much?”

  Eric smiled again. “That sounds like my elskling. Anyone who meets her is drawn to her.” He stared at his elder brother. “She’s not the only one wanting a favor from the King.”

  Knute’s mouth quirked in amusement. “Is that right?”

  “There’s something I’d like you to arrange, but we’ll talk about it after I’ve put Kristin and Sonia on the plane in the morning.”

  “Come to the palace as soon as they’ve gone.”

  “I thought you had a meeting scheduled.”

  “It’s been canceled. I’ve decided to take Sonia’s advice and spend every moment of the holiday with my family. After hearing about the death of her parents, it has made me reassess my priorities.”

  “I know what you mean,” Eric murmured, anxious to get back to the other room. First, however, he had a certain phone call to make to Bea.


  CHAPTER TEN

  WITH Sonia in his arms, Eric walked Kristin through the empty body of the 747 to the front of the plane. No other passengers had been allowed to board yet.

  “We didn’t fly over first class!” Kristin cried softly.

  His dark brown eyes searched hers. “Maybe not, but you’re returning home that way.”

  Sonia was already in tears and clung harder to his neck. “I wish we didn’t have to go.” Kristin echoed her niece’s sentiments. It was killing her to think she’d never seen Eric again. “Will you come and see us?” her niece begged.

  Kristin groaned. The flight home was going to be a nightmare.

  “There’s nothing I’d like better, elskling.”

  By the time he’d lowered her into a window seat, Sonia was verging on hysterics. Kristin turned to her niece. “Remember what I told you? Eric has important work to do for his country on a submarine.”

  “Can’t you tell the s-submarine to come to America?”

  “No, sweetheart, he can’t!” Kristin answered for him.

  Eric wiped the tears from her flushed cheeks. “I’ll phone you tomorrow and find out what Santa brought you for Christmas.”

  Kristin lurched in her seat.

  “We’ll be at G-Grandpa’s. Do you know his number?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does T—Thor know I’ve gone?”

  “I haven’t told him yet.”

  “Eric has to leave now so the other passengers can board the plane. Say goodbye, sweetheart.” Kristin tried to act as matter-of-factly as possible, determined to hide her own pain from him.

  “Bye, Eric.” The words came out like a croaking sound before Sonia crawled into Kristin’s lap and broke down sobbing against her neck.

  Kristin looked up at Eric dry-eyed. “You’d better go, Your Highness,” she mouthed the words. “Thank you for everything.”

  His expression sobered. She sensed he wanted to say something else, then thought the better of it.

  There was a sharp intake of breath before he strode out of the first-class compartment taking her heart with him.

  “Dad? I’m going to run over to the apartment and get a few things I need, then I’ll be back.”

  “Take your time, honey.” He was still examining the grandma mouse Sonia had chosen for him with Eric’s approval.

  “Do you want to come with me, Sonia?”

  “No. Eric’s going to call me.”

  Maybe. Maybe not.

  It was already five in the afternoon. She knew he wouldn’t have kept Sonia waiting without a good reason.

  “All right. I’ll hurry.”

  She left her niece in front of the Christmas tree playing with her new fort consisting of Frijian submarines and cruisers on the floor.

  Surrounding her were all the rest of the toys Eric had brought to the plane without Kristin’s knowledge, including the full set of mice from Santa’s post office shop.

  When she and Sonia had deboarded in Chicago to go through customs, an airport official had met them and ushered them out to a limousine filled with bags of beautifully wrapped packages.

  Eric’s generosity extended to signed photographs taken at the Chocolate Barn, a wool scarf for Kristin’s father and an exquisite light blue silk scarf for herself.

  “To match your eyes,” the inserted note had said. The message made her breath catch.

  She hadn’t given Eric anything for Christmas, but she would rectify the matter when she and Sonia sent thank-you letters to everyone.

  No sooner had she driven herself to the house where she rented the basement apartment from an elderly woman, than her cell phone rang again. She checked the caller ID. It was Bruce.

  She wanted nothing to do with him, but this was his twentieth attempt to reach her in the last six hours. After walking down the steps at the side of the house, she let herself in the door and answered it.

  “Hello?”

  “Kristin? It’s Bruce.”

  Once upon a time the sound of his voice excited her, but no more. A telemarketer’s unwanted intrusion would have been more welcome.

  “I know.”

  “I’m pulling in the driveway behind your car and would like to come in for a minute. I’ve changed my mind about Sonia. Please don’t say no, honey. This is far too important to our future.”

  If he’d said those words when she’d tried to give him back the ring, she might have listened.

  But everything had changed in the last week. A certain prince had appeared on the scene, showing her what a real man was all about. No other male would ever be able to measure up to Eric. Not in a lifetime…

  “You can have five minutes. Then I have to get back to dad and Sonia.”

  She’d barely hung up and turned on lights when he entered the apartment and reached for her.

  “I’ve missed you, honey. Forgive me for being such a fool about Sonia? We’ll work it out.”

  Work it out?

  “This last week without you has been pure hell. I’m putting my ring back on your finger where it belongs.”

  He sounded like he meant everything he said, but she wasn’t moved by his apology or his emotions.

  “No, Bruce.”

  She pulled away from his arms, aware that he was at least four inches shorter than Eric and didn’t have his powerful build. If she noticed those things, it was because it no longer felt right to be with Bruce. He didn’t feel right to her.

  “What do you mean, no?” She heard the hurt in his voice. His dark blond looks were very attractive, yet whatever she’d once felt for him was gone.

  Kristin let out a sigh. “You’re a wonderful person, Bruce, but I meant it when I said it was over between us. Please hear me out—” she asked when he started to protest.

  “I’m grateful for your honesty about Sonia. It’s an enormous responsibility to raise a child, especially when it’s not yours. I loved Sonia before she was even born, so it was natural for me to want to be her mother now that she’s alone. She’ll always need me and dad.

  “And though I appreciate the fact that you’ve had a chance to think about it and want to try to be a father to Sonia, I know it won’t work.

  “You deserve to marry a woman who’s unencumbered so the two of you can enjoy married life for a while before you start your own family. I know that one day you’ll make a terrific father.

  “The truth is, even though Sonia’s vision has been restored, her daddy is a difficult act to follow.” In fact there’s only one man I know who could make the sun light up her universe again.

  “What?” Bruce muttered incredulously. “Her sight’s come back?”

  “Yes. The doctor said it might, if she ever got over her feelings of guilt.”

  His face lost color. “When did it happen?”

  “She woke up one morning on the trip and could see Thor’s head lying near her pillow.”

  He frowned. “Thor?”

  “Prince Eric’s dog.”

  Her ex-fiancé studied her for a full minute. “I watched the TV coverage on you. Evidently the playboy prince had to take his sister’s place for the duty appearance with Sonia. There’s a rumor he’s interested in you. Is it true?” he demanded.

  His color had returned. Now his cheeks looked ruddy.

  “No. What he did was behave like Prince Charming and make Sonia’s trip to Frijia one of enchantment. Now the enchantment is over.”

  Bruce grasped her upper arms. “What does he mean to you, Kristin?”

  “What could he mean to me?” she answered in a level voice.

  A haunted look entered his eyes. “I don’t know, but there’s something different about you. He got to you, didn’t he?” Bruce whispered in shock.

  Yes.

  “What he did was win Sonia’s confidence to the point that she told him about the accident. When he found out she blamed herself for it, he convinced her it wasn’t her fault. Obviously she believed him because the next day she could see.”

  Tears
filled Kristin’s eyes. “It was a miracle. I love him for what he did.”

  “You love him for more than that. I can hear it in your voice. Did he kiss you?” He shook her gently.

  Kristin wasn’t about to lie to him. “Yes.”

  His breathing grew shallow. “Did you kiss him back?”

  Remembering that hungry kiss she’d returned with equal fervor at his house on the first night, she averted her eyes. “Yes.”

  A sound of grief escaped Bruce’s lips. “If I’d taken the time off to go Frijia with you, none of this would have happened.”

  You’re wrong, Bruce.

  When the Prince walked to the back room of the Chocolate Barn and their eyes had met, she’d felt herself falling helplessly through space. It was the defining moment of her life, but would have to remain her secret.

  “Because things worked out the way they did, Sonia has her sight back. We can all be thankf—”

  There was a knock on the door, cutting off the rest of her words.

  “It’s probably Mrs. Coretti. Just a minute.”

  Kristin walked over to the door and opened it expecting to see her landlady. When she discovered who was standing in the stairwell, she almost fainted.

  “Merry Christmas, Kristin.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “ERIC—” she cried, holding on to the door so she wouldn’t collapse.

  Jeans and a black wool pullover couldn’t disguise his princely bearing. His intense gaze played over her face and figure relentlessly.

  “Your father told me I’d find you here.”

  “You’ve seen dad?” Her voice squeaked the question.

  His smile reached clear down into her soul. “Him, and my little elskling.”

  “Aren’t you going to introduce us?” sounded a cold voice directly behind her.

  Good heavens—she’d forgotten all about Bruce, let alone her manners.

  “Of course. Please—come in.”

  Eric crossed the threshold, bringing the freezing air off Lake Michigan inside with him. The temperature outside wasn’t that different from Frijia’s. She shut the door.

  “Bruce Hancock, please meet His Royal Highness, Prince Eric.”