AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thank you,” they both said.
It was true. They did look alike, though Holly’s illness had taken its toll on her body and face. She appeared to be mid-sixties when she was probably closer to fifty.
“Now you sit on down and tell me all about yourself,” Holly instructed.
“I would love to obey, but do you need any help with brunch?”
“It’s all ready.” Elise waved a hand. “Sit.”
“Thank you.”
He sat.
They prayed and then ate a skillet filled with eggs, vegetables, and chopped ham, turkey bacon, fruit, and the delicious cinnamon rolls. Aunt Elise and Holly asked him question after question about Augustine, his royal family, his growing-up years, and how he got into Ninja Warrior.
The food, conversation, and company were all fabulous. The only awkward moment came when Holly brought up the rumors about his brother Steffan disappearing with the murderous Hattie Ballard. Derek was under strict instruction to reveal nothing about Hattie and Steffan. He respected Ray’s instructions and would do anything to help his doctor brother and new bride stay safe from the underhanded manipulations of William Rindlesbacher.
“Steffan is currently volunteering as a doctor in Haiti.” Derek was grateful he could tell that truth.
“Didn’t he fall in love with Hattie and try to protect her?” Aunt Elise asked. “That’s what all the news feeds claimed.”
“I haven’t had a chance to chat with him about that,” Derek said, another truth, but hopefully one he’d rectify soon. A long chat, in person, with each of his brothers was long overdue.
“Is Hattie truly dead, or did she disappear to avoid a second murder charge?” Holly asked.
Ellery’s gaze was suddenly intense, and Derek felt a twinge of unease. He didn’t want Ellery to back out of the trip because of the rumors surrounding Steffan and Hattie. Hattie had been framed twice for murder by the scuzzy Rindlesbacher men Treven and William. Nobody understood the son or father’s motivation to stab someone and frame Hattie, but they philosophized Treven’s murder of Jane Presley had been an evil dare fulfilled by a rottenly spoiled young man and William’s elaborate setup and murder of Franz Wengreen and framing of Hattie for it had been to clear his son’s name. Sadly, that had worked, and Treven was walking around free with Chief Jensen, Ray, and all their men keeping a close eye on the murderous jerk.
Derek hoped Ray could smuggle Steffan and Hattie in for the wedding so he could see his brother and meet his bride and hear their stories for himself. Could they allow Ellery to meet the pair of them? He knew Ellery was trustworthy, but his family had to be extremely careful. Hattie’s ‘death’ and disappearance may have worked better if Steffan hadn’t followed her to Haiti to work in villages with her cousin Sadie and former American special ops hero husband, Wolf. Not that Derek blamed Steffan. If Ellery fell in love with him, he’d fake his own death and live in remote villages without modern conveniences to be close to her. He’d already stayed in Boston for months and missed out on his family hoping she would fall for him.
“Chief Jensen told me she was dead,” he answered Holly, his standard answer when media asked that question, and another truth. “I haven’t seen her body for myself to confirm that.”
“Okay, that was gruesome,” Aunt Elise teased. “Seen the body of a wanted murderer who went over a cliff and burned up in an explosion?” She shuddered.
Derek hated that the Rindlesbachers had convinced the media who’d convinced the rest of the world that Hattie was the guilty party, but what could he do if he couldn’t admit to the truth in order to protect Hattie and Steffan?
The conversation moved on to how Ray and Macey fell in love while Macey was engaged to T and then about how T was burned by a homemade pipe bomb planted by a jealous kid.
Before he knew it, they’d fixed up plates of food for Ollie and Braxton, cleaned up brunch, and Holly looked exhausted. It was time he left, but he didn’t want to. He couldn’t care less about the threadbare apartment. He wanted to have more hours to ask each of them questions about their family and where they’d grown up. Especially Ellery. He also wanted to know what had happened to Ellery’s dad and Holly’s husband. Apparently, Aunt Elise and her husband had raised their son on a farm in Iowa. When her husband died five years ago, she’d turned the farm over to her son and moved to Boston to be near her sister. It sounded like Elise spent every extra penny going to visit her son and his wife. It was quite the sacrifice to relocate for an ailing sister.
He got a hug from Aunt Elise and Holly, promised to take good care of their ‘girl’ on the trip, said his goodbyes, and Ellery walked him to the door with two plates of food wrapped in tinfoil and a mom and aunt watching on. He was definitely not going to lean in and taste those lovely lips of Ellery’s today.
“Thank you for saving my apostate soul and feeding me a delicious brunch,” he said at the open door.
“You are very welcome, though both were rough on me.” She smiled sweetly at him, counteracting her tease. “I’ll see you bright and early. I’ll need to push you extra hard the next two days after all those cinnamon rolls you ate and if you’re going to be playing around for a week.”
“I’ll definitely be playing around… with you.” He hoped that didn’t come across as weird. “Dunking your head in fountains, jumping off waterfalls, and showing you off all over Augustine.”
“We’ll see.” She grinned as she eased away from him. “Bye.”
Derek knew he had to walk away, but what did that ‘we’ll see’ mean? Was she going to back out? She couldn’t. Not now.
“See you in the morning, Elle. Bye, Aunt Elise. Bye, Holly.”
“Bye, Prince Derek,” they called in unison.
He lifted a plate of food in salute, turned, and walked out.
He had to get Ellery on that plane Tuesday night. His future depended on it. At least her mum and Aunt Elise would help push her onto the plane if he needed.
