Reluctantly Royal

“If you’re sure.” Sam frowned.

“I am, but thank you.” Meredith stood a little straighter and smiled. “Thank you again for letting me join you this morning.”

“Of course.” Sam raised an eyebrow I could see the wheels turning in her head and knew that Meredith was most likely going to end up with a bevy of assistants.

“This way, my lady.” I held open the dining room door and let her walk through ahead of me. The faint smell of lavender floated past me and I took a deep breath.

“I really appreciate you saying yes.” Meredith seemed to drop some of her strong appearance when she looked up at me. “I’m not sure what I would have done had you said no.”

“No need to worry.” I cleared my throat. She looked so vulnerable in that moment I would have agreed to anything.

We stopped at the front door and I saw her car idling out front.

“It’s a lot to ask of someone. You barely know me and hardly had any time to see my granddad.” She frowned up at me. “He was a good man, though.”

“I’m sure he was.” I reached out and touched her cheek. Her eyes closed briefly, before reopening with a soft smile.

“So, I think, are you.”

“I have my moments.” Warning bells filled my head and I took a step back. “Are you sure you don’t need anything else?”

“Not right now.” Confusion passed across her face before she straightened her shoulders and her winning smile curved her lips. “Thanks again.”

“My pleasure.” I watched as she walked down the stairs, her perfect ass swaying gently. Definitely my pleasure.

She got behind the wheel of her car and gave a small wave before pulling down the long driveway. Closing the door, I turned around and came face-to-face—well, face to the top of the head—with my sister-in-law.

“I’m sending Chadwick over there to help.” She looked up at me with stubborn eyes.

“What did Alex say?”

“That I should respect her wishes. But no one should have to deal with all of this on their own and I’ve heard that her father isn’t much help.” She put her hands on her hips, making her baby belly stick out a little further. “Plus Chadwick will just make a place over there. No one tells Chadwick no.”

“Chadwick will likely tell you no, though.” I shook my head.

“Why?”

“He’s not going anywhere while you’re pregnant. Are you kidding me? He barely leaves the house without an emergency baby kit.” Her assistant was almost as excited about the baby as Sam and Alex were, and his planning skills had turned to all things infant.

“Then he can pick someone to send over there.” She narrowed her eyes. “Or you could go.”

“What?” I felt my eyes widen.

“You could go. Make sure she doesn’t need anything. Hang out and keep her father from going off the deep end. Your mother had to pull some strings to keep an interview he did from going live.” Sam shook her head. “I can’t imagine what all Meredith is dealing with right now. And her son must be devastated. Good boy, that one. Smart too.”

“He is.” I thought about Marty being stuck in that house while everyone talked about the funeral and his grandfather drunkenly said stupid things. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Her brown eyes widened. “You’ll do it?”

“I’m no Chadwick, but I think I can help with some of it. Get the boy out of the house anyway.”

“Oh, that was way easier than I thought it would be.” She turned around and hollered, “You owe me twenty!”

“What?” I frowned.

“I bet Alex that I could get you to go help her out.” She smiled smugly. “Mr. Drama-Free-Zone has the hots for a single mother.”

“I do not have the hots for anyone.”

She poked me in the chest. “Don’t lie to me. I’m not stupid and I’m hormonal. Lying to me is a bad idea.”

Turning away from me, she headed back to the dining room. She had a slight waddle to her step which I found adorable, but again, I wouldn’t tell her that. Especially now that she had tricked me into doing what she wanted.

FIVE

I TOOK A DEEP breath and let the charade fall away. I was so relieved that he hadn’t told me no, I had thought I would faint. Walking into that home—the home of a ruling family—had been strange enough. Hell, Alex was next in line for the throne and he’d seemed normal enough. But to walk in and ask for something as odd as for one of them to carry a casket? Yeah, that had given me a sour stomach. Who else did I have to ask, though?

And now. Now I needed to go home and let my father know that he would also be a pallbearer. I had no idea how that would go over. It probably depended on how much he’d had to drink already. A shudder racked my body and I fought the tears that quickly followed. I needed to be able to see to drive. Taking a mighty sniff, I reined in my tears. My father was the one person who never did anything I needed. And if I asked for something? All hell usually broke out.

Damn you for leaving me with him, Granddad. Anger made me grip the steering wheel a little tighter and I had to take several breaths to calm myself. It wouldn’t do to run off the road because I wasn’t thinking straight. I was the only person Marty had left.

Lead filled my stomach at the thought and my hands steadied on the wheel. The only other person who was a fixture in Marty’s life was my father and he wasn’t exactly what you would call steady or secure. The urge to update my will and up my life insurance policy hit me hard. Sometime during all of this planning of the funeral, I needed to make sure Marty would be okay if something happened to me.