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Pausing for a moment, he put the envelope down on the kitchen table and turned on the light. He needed a minute to collect his thoughts. No matter what was in that envelope, it didn’t change his reality right now. He was home. He was with Kate. Those things would still be true, even if the letter was officially disowning him forever. Or even if it wasn’t. He had some control over his life now; something he’d never have thought possible when he was in the palace.
Sinking into the chair, he pulled the letter out. It was, unsurprisingly, typed on official letterhead paper and he could see his parents’ swooping signatures at the bottom. Would it have been too much to handwrite a letter to their son?
Dear Emile,
Thank you for passing on your new address to us. We were surprised to learn that you have been spending time in America, but we hope that you have found it to be productive. After much deliberation, we would like to request your return home to Charcieux. We have restored access to your credit card to facilitate your journey but will be monitoring your transactions and will act accordingly should any unexpected expenditure be flagged up.
We are satisfied that you have done what was required of you during this time and would like to find a way to move forward upon your arrival back in Charcieux. Please inform the palace of your travel arrangements and we will set up a meeting accordingly.
Sincerely,
King Philippe and Queen Marie
Emile almost tore up the letter in disgust. There was no expression of love or regret. Just a summons back to the kingdom, written as if to any other subject. Not their own son.
He didn’t know what he had been hoping for, but this wasn’t it. A few weeks ago, all he’d wanted was for them to rescind his exile and now that it had happened, it felt bittersweet. He was so torn; on the one hand, Charcieux was his kingdom. He was the prince. Everything he owned, other than the clothes he’d managed to shrink on his first attempt at laundry, was there.
Without access to his trust fund, he couldn’t offer Kate the kind of life she deserved. But would returning to Charcieux mean giving up Kate? The thought lanced through him like a white flash of pain. That definitely wasn’t what he wanted. But would Kate want to come to Charcieux? She had so much here that she wouldn’t want to give up. She didn’t seem the type to be swayed by palaces and power, and that was all he had to offer her in his country. Miller Springs was far superior, in his mind at least, but he had been summoned. How could he say no? He didn’t want to shun his family entirely; he would want to see his country again at some point.
He wished Kate was there. Her calming presence would help the roiling thoughts in his brain to quiet down so he could find the path through. He wouldn’t make a decision until he had had a chance to speak to her.
He pushed the letter out of his mind as much as possible, tucking it into his bedside drawer before he climbed into bed and attempted to sleep before his shift at the cafe in the morning. He was restless, however, until Kate snuck in a few hours later, shedding her clothes and cuddling up to him in the bed, her head on his chest and her hand on his stomach. With her there, he could finally get some sleep.
CHAPTER22
KATE
The sunlight streaming in through the drapes was an unwelcome wake-up call. Kate had been perfectly content, cocooned in the comforter, and now she was being unceremoniously wrenched from sleep against her will.
Grumbling, she checked the clock. It was already nine a.m. She hadn’t slept in that late in… well, she couldn’t remember the last time. Even on days when she wasn’t opening the cafe, which were few and far between, she was so programmed to wake up early that she found it hard to sleep in. But last night, Emile had given her the gift of a few extra hours in bed, which meant that she could relax for once.
Only, Laura had persuaded her to stay out later than she’d anticipated and the beers had turned into margaritas had turned into tequila shots and so what should have been a relaxing morning spent in bed was actually… kind of unpleasant. Kate’s mouth was dry and her head was fuzzy and even though she’d been asleep for hours, she didn’t feel rested at all. She vaguely remembered the feeling of a hangover; it had been a long time since she’d had one.
She really should get up and get to the cafe to help out Emile. Although she knew he could handle it — he’d come a long way since he’d first arrived — it didn’t feel fair for her to be lying around in bed while he did all of the hard work.
The memory of him encouraging her to stay out with Laura, though, gave her that warm, fuzzy feeling in her heart; he was so considerate of her. She and Laura had had a great time catching up; it was really great to have someone she could spill all of her feelings about Emile to and have them celebrate with her. Laura had been trying to set her up for years, but somehow Kate had found her own Prince Charming without even looking.
While her mind was willing her to get up and do her job, her body wanted to do the exact opposite. If she buried her face in the sheets, she could still smell him. She wasn’t sure when they’d agreed that separate beds were a waste of time, but it had been weeks since they’d slept in their respective bedrooms. They did, however, swap rooms. There was no rhyme or reason to it, but since Emile had gone to bed earlier than she had, they’d ended up in his room. She vaguely remembered climbing into bed and finding him naked, pressing herself against the heat and comfort of him.
Life was good. Other than her pounding headache.
Turning over, she spotted that Emile had left her a glass of water on the bedside table and smiled to herself. This was what it was like to have a partner, she realized. Someone to share the burden, to take care of you in small ways, and to make life easier. However, hydration alone wasn’t going to touch this hangover. She needed painkillers.
Pulling out the bedside drawer in search of something to ease the ache in her head, her hand landed on a thick envelope. When she pulled it out and saw the broken wax seal, her heart started pounding.
You’re being ridiculous.
Kate tried to calm herself, staring at the envelope as though it was a ticking time bomb. It was none of her business, was it? This was definitely some sort of official communication. The swirling writing on the front, the heavy paper, the wax fricking seal, for God’s sake. This could only have come from one place.
Why hadn’t he mentioned it to her? It wasn’t like she didn’t know that he was a prince and that he’d been waiting for his family to contact him. Unless… unless, it was a summons back to Charcieux. Maybe he was leaving her. After everything he’d said to her on their hike, about how he was home and he didn’t want to go back. That was all well and good to say when you didn’t have the option, but if the palace had called and now he had the choice to go back to living a life of luxury instead of working in a cafe and living in her small apartment, maybe it suddenly seemed a lot more appealing to leave than to stay.
Unable to stand not knowing, Kate slid the letter carefully out of the envelope, unfolding it delicately. Her heart was racing, her eyes flicking towards the door as if he was going to burst in and catch her in the act. She knew it was wrong to go snooping around in his private correspondence. But this was her life, too, and if he wasn’t going to tell her then she needed to know somehow.
Her eyes skimmed over the letter; it was short and unfeeling, but the message was clear. Come home. Immediately.
Kate felt as though the whole world had been pulled out from underneath her. Dizzily, she stood up, trying to make sense of the whirring thoughts that were careening through her brain. There was no way he would do this to her… not Emile. Not the man who had only shown her kindness and generosity during their time together. But why would he hide it, if he was going to stay?
Hangover forgotten, Kate pulled on some clothes and threw her hair up into a ponytail. Her reflection in the mirror looked wan, last night’s mascara still smudged under her eyes. Grateful that Emile was only just downstairs and she could sneak into the kitchen unnoticed, she kept the letter clutched in her hand as she made her way into the cafe where the two of them had first met.
