Page 43 of Royal Rebel

“He does have that look about him.”

Anne Bowling is the mother everyone wishes they had, but the one I got. She’s taught me to always stand up for myself and at the same time, always be a lady. “That he does,” I agree, going down the line, hugging my family. “I’m so glad all of you could be here today. I know you’ve only met Shannon once, but she’s like family to me.”

“Then she’s like family to us.” Dad reaches in, hugging me.

“Thank you.”

Tristan comes in, he and Thomas immediately start talking to one another. I’m unsure how long it’s been since they were able to have a private conversation, but as they put their heads together, they’re making up for lost time.

Parker comes into the room. Looking over at him, I give him a nod. He whistles loudly, motioning for me to take the floor.

“Thank you all for being here tonight.” I look around at the group of people who have gathered. Shannon has been in the same circle as Tristan for a long time, so he knew exactly who to invite, but the rest of this? It’s totally my doing. “Shannon is a very important person to me, and I appreciate all of you celebrating her birthday. She’s driving up as I’m speaking, so if we could all get prepared. She won’t know what’s hit her.”

There’s a loudness in the room, mixed with a tinge of excitement, as everyone tries to hide. Tristan takes my hand, pulling us behind one of the curtains. I can’t help but giggle as I try to stay quiet.

“Stop.” He smiles at me. “You’ll give us away.”

“No I won’t,” I protest, but as we hear the door open, we freeze.

“Amelia?” I can hear Shannon questioning where I am. After all, I’m the one who got her here.

“Be right there,” I call out.

Parker turns the lights up and everyone jumps out of their spots to yellsurprise!

We come out from behind the curtain, and I take in the look of bewilderment on her face, until she realizes what this is.

“Oh my god.” She laughs, looking around the room. She’s waving at people she knows and if I’m not mistaken, there’s a little bit of moisture in her eyes. “I can’t believe someone did this for me.”

Parker speaks it. “It was Amelia. She got all of this together.”

“How?” She looks at me. “With the wedding and everything, how did you have time to do this?”

I walk over, grabbing her outstretched hands. “Are you kidding me? You take care of almost everything I need to do every day. This was my pleasure, Shannon.”

She wipes at her nose, laughing. “Let’s eat cake!”

“You did good,” Tristan whispers in my ear as wewatch Shannon open her gifts. “I’m not sure anyone has ever done anything like this for her before.”

“She’s an important piece of my life, I want her to feel as if we’re her family.”

“Speech! Speech!”

Those are the chants as she stands in the middle of the room. She’s beaming as she looks around at all of us. Her blonde hair is shining, and she’s got a glow I’ve never seen before. Parker stands not too far away from her. I’ve noticed him watching her all night, and she watching him. I’d love to question her about it, but now isn’t the time.

“Okay, okay.” She laughs as she looks around at us. “I’ve worked for the Haldonian Royal Family for the last four years. I started at the bottom.” She grins. “The first job I had was polishing the silverware in the castle.”

This surprises me, but I listen intently as she continues.

“Once I got really good at that job, I was promoted, upward and upward until finally I was given the task to start picking out Tristan’s clothing. I bet you didn’t know that.” She winks over at him.

“I didn’t, but it explains why I’ve become fashionable,” he jokingly brushes off his shoulder.

The group laughs as they watch the two of them.

“I thought that was the top for me.” She shrugs. “But then an excited utterance started going around the castle. Tristan was to marry, and the lovely woman who would marry him would need someone to dress her.” She looks over at me. “Very early on, I saw a picture of Amelia, and I was awestruck by her beauty. It’s old Hollywood beauty, a timeless treasure that so many in this day and age would contour to death. They would tell her to get extensions so her hair would be fuller, they may even encourage her to lose weight.Immediately I was worried about her, I didn’t even know her, but I felt a kinship. I knew I wanted to help her learn to navigate these sometimes curvy roads. Even today I can’t explain it. I just knew.” She stops and holds her palms up as if to say, I don’t know. “I just knew she’d be my friend and I’d be the one to help her.”

“I’m glad you’re the one to help me.” I hold my glass up, wanting to toast to her.

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