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It seemed to her that he was fishing for information. She didn’t know if he was some obsessed royal watcher or just making conversation. “I guess he does. It’s not that uncommon.”
“No it’s not. But surely now that he’s going to be king he won’t be,” Stan added.
“I have no idea,” Emily admitted.
“Mind if I take this paper?”
“Be my guest,” she said.
“Thanks,” he said, walking out.
“Here’s your breakfast to go,” Cara said, coming over. “What did he want?”
“The newspaper,” Emily said. She started to get up but Cara pushed her back down. “Sit for a little while. I called Harry to come and get you.”
“Cara.”
“What? You’re family, Em. We take care of our own here,” she reminded her.
She felt tears burn the back of her eyes and blinked so they didn’t fall. She’d always felt as if Key West was her home, ever since she was three years old and her mother moved them there. The people she knew were like family to her, but she had always figured it was a one-way street. The feelings of a girl left too many times by a mother whose job was her life, her obsession.
“Thanks, Cara. But I’m a big girl.”
“Even big girls deserve to be looked after,” Harry said, walking into the coffee shop and approaching their table. “We got time for me to grab a cup of coffee?”
“No need to wait, Harry,” Cara said, handing him a cup and a bakery bag.
Unless Emily missed her guess, that bakery bag would have a toasted everything bagel in it. Cara was right. They were all family.
This place was as much a part of her as the baby growing inside her. And though she didn’t need the reassurance, it was nice to know that she wasn’t alone. That if Rafe made the choice that any sane man would and took the throne of Alma half a world away from her, she’d still have family around her. Her baby would grow up with the family she’d chosen for herself and not the one she’d been born into. The family her mother had chosen for them when she’d moved them to Key West.
“You okay, kiddo?” Harry asked.
“Just morning sickness.”
“Another thing that I will bring up to Rafe Montoro the next time he shows his face here.”
* * *
Rafe stretched his long legs out in front of him as he settled in for the flight. His cousin Juan Carlos—the one in the family who was the best suited for royal life since he seemed to know so much about it—sat across from him reading a book on the history of Alma from the 1970s to today.
His father, brother and sister were all sitting in the back of the plane talking quietly amongst themselves. They were happy enough to follow his lead especially when he mentioned that the oil deal needed his attention in Miami.
Rafe had been surprised by Juan Carlos’s understanding but now he realized he shouldn’t have been. He knew his cousin as well as he knew Gabe...though he had to admit that he’d known both men better when they were children. But the bond among all of them was still strong. And Rafe felt less isolated that he had before. Felt a little more as if his family had his back.
Rafe read the book last week, since the government people wanted to make sure that everyone in the Montoro camp was familiar with the past. The common consensus being that maybe then they wouldn’t make the same mistakes again. Rafe didn’t want to have to flee the country in the middle of the night and start over with nothing.
At least his great-grandfather had his wife by his side, and his family. Something that was becoming more and more important to Rafe.
“Juan, what would you do if you were going to be king?” Rafe asked. “I’m tempted to invest Montoro Enterprises money into the manufacturing sector so that Alma isn’t just reliant on oil.”
“That’s a start. They really need stability so that Alma’s citizens will start staying on the island instead of emigrating to countries in the EU. I think we should try to become a member of the EU as well,” Juan Carlos said.
“It’s one of the prime minister’s top priorities. He has me scheduled to go to Brussels next month for meetings on the subject,” Rafe said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I can go with you if you like,” Juan Carolos said. “I’m not as impatient as you are at the negotiating table. Of course, you are always very shrewd at getting the best deal for Montoro Enterprises.”
“That would be great. I’d love to have you there with me,” Rafe said. One thing about his family that had been made clear during the last few weeks as they’d traveled to Alma and gotten a handle on their new lives was how they all banded together. “When is Tia Isabella going to join us in Alma?”
