The Park's Empire: Handsome Strangers...: The Prince's Bride

“Good morning, Emily,” Caroline greeted her. “Did you sleep well?”

“Very well, thank you.” Emily took the chair drawn out by a house servant, murmuring her thanks as she sat.

“I understand that you’ve already had breakfast with Abbar this morning,” Caroline said. “But perhaps you’d like another cup of coffee?”

“Coffee would be lovely.” Emily waited until the servant poured the mix of rich coffee and milk into her cup. “I confess, I’m hoping to take the recipe home with me.”

Jenna laughed and her mother chuckled.

“We love it, too. I used to steal sips from Papa’s cup when I was tiny,” Jenna said. “I think I was fifteen before he gave in and agreed to let me have coffee with breakfast.”

“I didn’t want you drinking coffee at all before you were sixteen and I strongly suspect that your father purposely pretended not to see you stealing sips from his cup when you were a little girl.” Caroline’s gaze rested fondly on her daughter and they exchanged a look of warm understanding.

Emily caught an underlying current of sadness from the two women. Beneath the queen’s graciousness and Jenna’s impish humor there was a thread of pathos when they talked about the king. She suspected that the emotion was due to his ill health and her heart went out to them.

“What are your plans for the day, Emily?” Caroline asked.

“I need to check in with my office staff back home, and then I’m hoping to begin preliminary work on the plans for Lazhar’s wedding.”

“Ooh, fun.” Jenna’s face lit with enthusiasm. “What will you do first?”

“I’d like to look at the venue for the event—I assume the ceremony will be held in a church in the city and the reception here at the palace?”

“Yes, that’s the traditional method,” Caroline confirmed. “The church is St. Catherine’s and the largest ballroom would be best for the reception.” A soft smile curved her mouth. “That’s where Abbar and I were married.” She sighed before visibly collecting herself. “The palace chef will cater the reception, which is always preceded by a sit-down luncheon for four to five hundred people.”

Emily made mental notes while fervently wishing she’d brought her Palm Pilot or at least a pencil and notepad with her.

“Mother, Emily should jot this down,” Jenna said firmly, holding up a hand. “Otherwise, we’ll have to schedule a meeting to go over this again in your office and it’s much more pleasant doing it here over coffee and croissants. Right, Emily?” She paused, looking expectantly at Emily.

“Yes, much more comfortable,” Emily agreed. “If that’s acceptable to you, Your Highness?”

“Please, call me Caroline. We’ll be spending many hours together planning this wedding and we may as well be comfortable together. And that’s an excellent idea, Jenna.” She lifted a tiny silver bell from its place beside her crystal water glass and shook it. The tinkling sound was immediately followed by the appearance of a young girl wearing the palace uniform. “Ah, there you are, Sofia. Please bring a pen and pad of paper for Miss Parks.”

Emily barely had time to say thank you to the queen before the girl was back, handing her a goldcapped fountain pen and a leather-bound notebook.

“Thank you, Sofia. Now, where were we? Ah, yes, the ceremony is held at St. Catherine’s, the reception here at the palace, and there will be four to five hundred people at a sit-down luncheon. There will probably be a thousand or so invited to the reception,” Caroline continued. “You’ll want to discuss menus and timing with our chef, of course. And the protocol of invitations, seating, etc., will need to be coordinated by the palace diplomatic office. The most difficult seating arrangements will be those for our relatives. Our family is related through a tangle of marriages and descendants to most of the royal families in Europe, all of whom will think they should have a front-row seat.” Caroline sighed. “And I never can keep track of who’s not talking to who at any given moment.”

“Which is why you have Maria, Mother,” Jenna said. “That’s Mother’s secretary,” she explained to Emily as she spread jam on an airy croissant. “The woman is amazing—she never forgets a thing.”

“True,” Caroline agreed. “I don’t know what I’d do without her. Now,” she said briskly. “What else do we need to talk about before you begin?”

“How big will the wedding party be? I’m assuming that there will be bridesmaids, flower girl, ring bearer. How many bridesmaids and groomsmen?” There was no immediate answer. Emily glanced up from her notes to find both Caroline and Jenna looking at her with arrested expressions. “Is that a problem? The bride hasn’t discussed that with you yet? If she hasn’t, I can inquire when I speak with her.” Emily was instantly reminded that she still didn’t have the bride’s name. “Will she be available later today, perhaps this afternoon?” Caroline and Jenna exchanged a swift look, but neither responded. What’s going on here? Emily wondered, baffled by their silence.

“That, um, that may be a problem,” Jenna said at last.

“Is she not here in Daniz?” Emily thought a moment. “I usually meet with the bride in person in this preliminary stage, but if she’s out of the country, we can always set up a conference call to get the necessary input.”

“Unfortunately,” Caroline said carefully, “that won’t be possible, either.”

“No?” This is more and more curious, Emily thought. Where was the elusive bride?

“No.” Jenna shook her head, opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it again and looked helplessly at her mother.

Emily’s gaze followed Jenna’s. Caroline looked from one to the other and visibly collected herself.

“You must promise, Emily, that what I am about to tell you will not go beyond this room,” she said.

Startled, Emily stared at her for a silent moment before replying. “Yes, of course.”

“There is no bride.”

“I beg your pardon?” Surely she’d misunderstood, Emily thought.

“There is no bride,” Caroline repeated. “Lazhar isn’t engaged. He has no fiancée.”

“But…” Emily floundered. “But he told me he wanted to hire my firm to plan his wedding.”

“Yes, I know.”

“So…he doesn’t want me to plan his wedding?” Emily was beyond confused.

“No, no, he does want you to plan his wedding,” Caroline said quickly. “But he doesn’t have a bride yet.”

“Yet?”

Caroline sighed and massaged her temple with her fingertips. “I’m doing a very poor job of explaining this. Since the tabloids have announced it to the world and made it common knowledge, I’m sure you’re aware that it’s Abbar’s dearest wish to see Lazhar married. His health is delicate and he feels a need for haste. Lazhar would move mountains to give his father whatever he wants at this stage, we all would. But in this instance, I think my son is wrong.” Caroline paused to sip from her cup, clearly fortifying herself before continuing. “When he told me a month ago that he meant to schedule the ceremony and choose a bride sometime between then and the wedding date, I was appalled. I told him that a person can’t pick a wife the same way one negotiates a business deal but he wouldn’t listen to me. So—” she spread her hands in a gesture of helpless acceptance “—here we are. Planning the wedding of my eldest child without a bride to make decisions with us.”

Emily was speechless. Underneath her shock, joy bubbled irrepressibly. He isn’t engaged. He’s not in love with another woman.

But he will be. The knowledge that he would choose a bride sometime in the next few months deflated the exuberant bubbles.

“Well,” she said carefully, meeting first Caroline’s, then Jenna’s gaze. “Are you two willing to make decisions that the bride normally makes?”

“You mean like the color of bridesmaids dresses, how many attendants, etc.?” Jenna asked.

“Yes, those and others.”

“Sure,” she said airily. “We three can pick out colors and decide on cake flavors, can’t we, Mom?”

“Of course,” Caroline agreed.

“Well, then.” Emily drew a deep breath. “It’s certainly unorthodox and I’ve never planned a wedding without a bride’s input before, but I don’t see why we can’t do it.” A thought occurred to her and she shot a narrow-eyed glance at the queen. “I’m assuming that if Lazhar decides on a wife at the last moment, she won’t be allowed to change all the arrangements at that point?”

“Absolutely not,” Caroline said firmly. “That would make the entire project impossible.”

“Then it appears to be doable.”

“Excellent!” Jenna clapped her hands. “This will be fun—sort of a practice session for the wedding I might have some day.”