ChapterOne
"How many days 'til Christmas?"
I schooled my face so that my daughter Alice couldn't see any impatience as I glanced at her across the kitchen table, where she was finishing up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for her lunch, her pretty blue eyes alight with anticipation.
"The same as it was fifteen minutes ago, sweetheart. Twenty-three."
Her small eyebrows knit together, and her lips pursed into an adorable pout. "That issomany days. That is forever. I can't wait that long!"
Ah, the innocence of children. Shaking my head, I reached across to use my napkin on her chin, dabbing away the last few crumbs of her sandwich. "It might seem like a long time to you, but we have so much to do . . . " I smothered a sigh. "Auntie Bria arrives in a week, and—"
"And Uncle Rhys is coming with her, too, right?" Alice grinned. "Uncle Rhys is so much fun."
"Sure. Fun. That's what I was going to say, too." I snorted ruefully.
Last Christmas, my husband Nicky had had the bright idea that his cousin Lord Rhys Corbyn should salvage his tattered reputation by pretending to be my younger sister's boyfriend. The ruse had done its job—in fact, it had worked so well that Rhys and Bria had fallen in love for real, and Rhys had spent the better part of this past year living in the states. Although it wasn't common knowledge, the two had recently shared the news of their engagement with our family.
"Is Auntie Bria going to have a baby?" Alice inquired matter-of-factly as she stuffed the last piece of crust into her mouth.
"What? No! Why? I mean, did you—why would you think that?"
My daughter leaned forward and blinked at me. "Because that's what happens when you fall in love. You get married and then you have babies. Just like you and Papa did."
"Oh." I nibbled at the corner of my lip. "Yes, sometimes that happens, but Auntie Bria isn't married yet, and no, she's not having a baby." I added extra emphasis to that assurance. The last thing my sister needed was a surprise pregnancy. She was already stressed by the idea of marrying into the Royal Family, even if Rhys was a distant relation, far removed from the line succession. She and Rhys were still trying to work out where they'd live after their marriage; Bria's work with our family's company Honey Bee was important, but she could do it from London. Heck, I'd been working from our London offices since I'd moved here over six years ago to be with Nicky. But with our grandmother Honey now a widow and stepping back from the company as she slowed down, Bria felt keenly her responsibility.
"Who else is coming to Christmas this year?" Alice licked a smudge of peanut butter from the side of her hand. "Nana and Grampy? Auntie Liesel? Honey?"
"Not this year, baby girl. This Christmas, we're celebrating with Papa's side of the family. We'll see Grandmama and Grandpapa, and Auntie Alex, Uncle Jake and Auntie Daisy . . ." I tapped my daughter's pert little nose. "And of course, Gan-Gan." Gan-Gan was Alice's special name for the woman the rest of the world knew as Her Majesty, the Queen.
Alice's expression turned somber. "But not Grandpa."
"No, sweetie." I slid a chair from under the table and sat down next to my daughter, pulling her onto my lap. "We're all going to miss Grandpa so much, and I know sometimes, we'll be a little sad. Especially Grandpapa and Gan-Gan. So we have to do our best to behave and be cheerful and happy, all right?"
Alice nodded. "I'm going to give Gan-Gan extra special kisses. And I'm going to make a present that will make her smile so she doesn't have to be so sad."
Before I could express my feelings about that plan, the kitchen door opened just a crack behind Alice, and Penny, her nanny, poked her head into the room.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but it's one o'clock, and you wanted Alice and me to tidy the nursery this afternoon."
Penny, bless her, was a proper British nanny down to her very sensible shoes. She was my age or close to it, but she had an unshakeable air of efficiency that might have been daunting if she wasn't also so cheerful and kind. Alice, who had not had a nanny for the first three years of her life, had loved the first woman who'd taken that role, and I'd had some concerns about how she'd adjust to having Penny take over after Brynn had moved on. But Alice and Penny were fast friends now, even though Penny had a way of quietly demanding respect and obedience.
Case in point . . . Alice didn't whine or wheedle about going upstairs now. She climbed down from her chair onto her sturdy four-year-old legs.
"Okay," she said cheerfully. "Mummy, would you tell me when it's twenty-two days until Christmas, please?"
Chuckling, I drew her to me and brushed a kiss over her hair. "Sure. I'll do that." Glancing up at Penny, I inquired, "Hasn't she been opening the Advent calendar that Honey gave her at Thanksgiving?"
Penny nodded. "Every morning, ma'am. But you know, this time of year is difficult for the little ones. So much excitement and anticipation, and for them, the days move like molasses." She smiled. "I remember driving my poor mum mad by asking how many hours until Father Christmas would visit!"
I grimaced. "Last year, we were in Florida for the holidays, and she was so busy with my family that the time flew by. But this year has been challenging in so many ways." I rubbed my forehead, thinking back over the past months and everything that had transpired.
"Try not to worry, ma'am." Penny offered me an encouraging pat on the arm. "Christmas has a way of bringing hope and joy to even the most troubling of times."
I considered everything that had to happen between now and December twenty-fourth, all of the potential complications that threatened. "I hope so, Penny. I really hope so."
ChapterTwo
"Kyra, could you pass me the remote, please? Before you either break it or trigger a seizure in one or both of us?"
