AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That means you’re Vincent Von Carter.”
“I am.” They set an appetizer platter down on the table. “Shall I open some wine?”
“Goddess knows I could use a little something.” Gretchen laughed.
Vincent went into the kitchen, and Ralph took a seat. “Do you mind? We can go if you’d, rather.”
Pricilla laughed. “I enjoy having you here. Frank, you, and Vincent are my new family.”
Vincent came back in and handed out glasses of wine to everyone before he took a seat. “Where are we in the tales of how this lovely woman came to live here?”
“Pricilla, what happened?” Her mom reached for her hand.
“Well, I knew it was coronation night, but I wanted some time alone. So I went to the waterfall, you know, in the small cove and did some sketching. Tammy and her crew showed up and said they wanted to celebrate with me.”
“They came to me asking for your favorite cake and I thought they were genuinely trying to smooth things over.” Gretchen’s eyes filled with tears.
“They found me and we ate cake. They gave me cream and then my gift. A custom made Vincent Von Carter collar.”
Gretchen chuckled. “You always wanted one of those.”
“I did.” Pricilla laughed. “But not a cursed one.”
Gretchen lifted her drink to her mouth and when my girl mentioned the curse, she stopped and her face went slack.
“My body shifted to a lioness, and they got me into a travel crate and when I woke up, I was at the animal sanctuary here.”
Tears fell down Gretchen’s cheeks and her hand flew to her mouth. “My baby.”
“That’s where I found her.” I sat forward. “And we found out they cursed her when I removed the collar to bathe her and my cat, who fell asleep beside me, was a woman when I woke up.”
“Oh, my gods. One day you were just a little girl, and the next you were old enough to take over the pride. That Tammy though,” she shook her head. “After you didn’t come home, she threw down a challenge to your father. She rallied and had so many of the younger ones on her side.” She wiped a tear and continued. “I never thought Tammy would do something so devious. And Harold was so full of grief; all it took was a knockdown and a bite and he was dead.”
“I’m so sorry, mama.” Pricilla got up and hugged her mom.
“Oh sweetie, it’s not your fault.” She took a deep breath. “In one day, I thought I’d lost both loves in my life.”
“That must’ve been horrible.” Ralph wiped a tear from his eyes.
I pulled out a handkerchief and blew my nose before wiping my tears away. “We’ve only known for sure that she was the missing princess for a few days.”
“It was horrible,” she chuckled. “Imagine all that grief, and then you find your daughter alive. And thriving!” She wiped away some more tears.
“She’s going to be mentored by me.” Ralph smiled. “She’s so very talented.”
“Prissy! Your dream!” She cupped Pricilla’s face. “I’m so proud of you.”
I watched as my girl broke down in sobs and fell to her mom’s feet. Gretchen slid off her chair to join Pricilla on the floor and Ralph, Vincent and I slipped from the room, leaving the ladies to their reunion.
“Can you imagine if one of our parents lost us?” Ralph leaned against the counter. “I know my mother would’ve been crushed.”
“Mine too.” Vincent let out a sigh. “You worried, Frank?”
My head snapped up to look at Vincent.How the hell did he know what I was panicking about inside?
“How?” I wiped another tear away.
“It only makes sense that you would be worried about Pricilla wanting to go back to Oz.” He walked over and hugged me.
