The Princess and the Outlaw

“I’ll let you two go to Where the Wild Things Are,” Eve said, backing toward the door and giving a little wave. “Sweet dreams.”

“Good night,” Pippa said.

“‘Night Mamaeve.”

Eve smiled and left the room closing the door behind her.

Pippa sank onto Stephenia’s twin bed and pulled the child against her. Where the Wild Things Are was especially appropriate for Stephenia because the child had been such a bloody screamer when she’d first arrived at the palace. Stephenia was the product of a relationship between her brother Stefan and a model who’d never bothered to tell Stefan about his child. He’d only learned about Stephenia after the mother’s death. It had been a shock to the family and the country of Chantaine, but everyone had taken Stephenia into their hearts. How could they not? She had Stefan’s eyes and spirit and she was beautiful.

Pippa began to read the book and before she was halfway through, Stephenia was slumped against her, sleeping. She felt the warmth of sleepy drool on her shirt underneath the child’s face. Pippa chuckled to herself and carefully situated Stephenia onto the bed. She brushed a kiss onto her niece’s head and slid out of the bed, leaving the book on the nightstand. Pippa turned off the light and kissed Stephenia once more, then quietly left the room.

As she walked down the hall, she wondered, not for the first time, if or when she would have children of her own. Pippa knew she’d been shielded from normal relationships with the opposite sex. Every date, and there’d been few, had to be vetted by Stefan, the advisers and of course, security. The only relationship she’d had that approached normality had been her brief thing with Nic. She supposed she couldn’t really call it an affair because they hadn’t done the deed, but Nic hadn’t bowed to her unless he’d been joking. He’d treated her like a desirable woman. Pippa couldn’t remember another time when she’d felt genuinely desirable.

She rolled her eyes at herself as she entered her small suite. She had far more important things to do than worry about feeling desirable. Thinking back to what Eve had said about how she and Stefan were planning to work on her happiness, she cringed. This was not the time.

Nic moved his parents into the cottage. The activity exhausted both of them, so they were taking naps, his mom using her oxygen. She’d begun to use it every night. Nic had adjusted the bed so that her head would be elevated. Many days his mother hid her illness well, but lately he could tell she’d had a harder time of it. She resisted taking too much pain medication, complaining that it made her sleepy. Amelie was determined to get every drop of life she could, and she was giving Nic a few lessons he hadn’t expected along the way.

He’d brought over a few members of his crew to clean the pool and jacuzzi and get them operational as soon as possible. He dug into the labor with his men, hoping that expending physical energy would help relieve some of his frustration. Even though he mentally knew that he couldn’t make his mother well, he had a bunch of crazy feelings that he spent a lot of effort denying. It was important that he continue that denial because his parents sure as hell had enough on their own plates without his crap.

As he cleaned the side of the pool wall with a brush, he spotted Pippa coming through the gate carrying a bag. She was wearing a skirt that fluttered around her knees and a lacy cotton blouse. As usual, her wild hair was pulled into a topknot. He’d always thought her hair was a sign that she wasn’t nearly as proper as she seemed. He knew she considered herself the plainest of the Devereaux sisters, but during that brief period they’d spent time together, he sure had enjoyed making her fair skin blush with embarrassment or pleasure. She was the most sincere and sweetest woman he’d ever met.

Appearing intent on her plan, whatever that was, she walked right past him as if she didn’t see him. Just as she lifted her hand to the door to knock, he gave a loud wolf whistle.

His men stopped their work and gaped at him. Pippa stood stock-still, then lifted her hand again to knock. “Hey, PD,” he called, climbing out of the pool. “What’s the rush?”

Hearing his voice, she whirled around to look at him. “I didn’t see you.” She glanced at the pool. “You were working?” she said as if such a thought was impossible.

“Yes, I pitch in with manual labor every now and then. It’s good for the soul, if I have one, and it usually helps me get a good night’s sleep.” He liked the way her gaze skimmed over his shoulders and chest, then as if she realized, she was looking where she shouldn’t, her gaze fastened on his nose. “My parents are both taking naps. They’re worn out from the move.”

“It’s already done,” she said. “You move quickly.”

“When it’s necessary,” he said, thinking perhaps he’d given Pippa too much wiggle room all those months ago.

The door suddenly opened and his mother, wiping sleep from her eyes, blinked at the sunlight. “What—” She broke off when she saw Pippa and her lips lifted in a smile. “Well, hello, fairy princess,” she said.

“Mom,” Nic said. “Don’t use the P word. Remember this is all on the down low.”

“Oh, sorry,” she said with a delicate wince. “I’m just so grateful and you made it happen with the snap of your fingers.”

“My cousins made it easy,” Pippa said.

“But you made the call,” Nic’s mother said. “I must leave them something in my will.”

Pippa bit her lip.

“TMI, Mom,” Nic said. “What’s in the bag?” he asked Pippa.