Page 49 of Redemption of a Prince

He shook his head. “They think it’s connected to the substation in town. There shouldn’t be any trees that could take out the lines to the house, but that’s not to say the weight of the ice alone couldn’t have done it. I don’t think they know for sure yet, though.”

“It could be a combination.”

“That’s possible.” He ate another big spoonful. “Regardless, we’re going to be here a few more days at a minimum.”

She poked at a carrot. “And we’re going to need to talk about what happened earlier.”

“When you’re ready.”

Nikki didn’t know if she’d ever be ready, but at least he was giving her the option.

“Iwantto want to give us a try,” she blurted out before she could think twice about it.

“What does that mean?” His tone indicated a genuine curiosity and not anger or even sarcasm.

“It means every time something good, or something that could be good, happens to me, something bad follows. I find my high school sweetheart, I get pregnant, and I never see either of them again. I lose my parents, most of my friends, and never get close to anyone else. I have acquaintances but not friends. No one I’m close to. I get my dream job and end up working with that same guy.”

Understanding crossed his face. “And you’re afraid if we get back together, and you find yourself happy again, something will happen to tear it all apart?”

She nodded, a single thought niggling at the back of her mind. Something she’d long ago resolved never to think of again.

Something he should probably know about.

But she shoved it back into a box in her mind and closed it off.

“Do you think the same thing would happen to me? Do you think every time I have a chance to be happy about something, a bad thing comes along to ruin it?”

Nikki shook her head. “No. But you’re a prince.”

He reached over and took her hand, linking their fingers together. “Nik, I had everything you did. I realized what I’d be missing out on for the rest of my life during those weeks when we were split up. But it could be argued that I lost as much or more than you did when we gave the baby up for adoption. Yes, I get to be a part of her life, but I also gave up my birthright.”

She started to protest, but he squeezed her hand.

“I’m not trying to say you didn’t give up as much, that your pain wasn’t worse than mine, because it was. I saw her regularly, still do, but she calls another man Papa, not me. She doesn’t know she’s adopted. It’s the way it had to be - the way it should be - but that decision also took everything I thought I knew about myself, my future, about my career path if you will, my destiny even, and turned it upside down.”

He took her other hand in his as well. “It wasn’t easy for either one of us. It was different hard. But just because things were hard, and still are, doesn’t mean we can’t have good things in our lives. That this time things won’t be different.”

Nikki wanted to believe that. With everything in her she wanted to believe that.

But did she dare risk another broken heart to find out?

* * *

A buzzing phoneinterrupted their conversation, but this time it was Nikki’s phone.

Zeke let go of her hands as she reached to answer it.

“It’s your sister-in-law.”

He watched as she swiped across the screen to answer the phone. She talked to Kari for a few minutes while Zeke continued to eat his soup.

She set the phone back down on the table. “She just wanted to check in and make sure I’m okay.”

Zeke grinned. “And that I was being nice to you?”

“Exactly.”

“And you told her I was being a perfect gentleman.” He knew his grin turned a bit cocky, but it was all in good fun.

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