Page 43 of The Prodigal Prince

The king.

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Talkingwith two monarchs in one day had never been on Fiona’s bucket list, especially not the same week she’d already talked to another one - or two when you counted both King Edward and King David. She decided to mentally check it off anyway.

After a few uncomfortable minutes, she’d been rescued by her friend and sometimes co-star, Sir Peter Barker. How could she have forgotten that Pete was married to Princess Evangeline? Fiona had met her a few times, though she’d been introduced as Evie with no reference to her genealogy.

The conversation with King Benjamin continued, but Fiona didn’t feel so unnerved.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Mac as he interacted with others in the family. He didn’t seem fully at ease, but not overly uncomfortable either.

She also kept an eye on Gray out the window overlooking the gardens. He and other children about his own age ran around playing some version of freeze tag. The way he laughed made Fiona smile.

An hour later, the adults and very young children, found their way into a dining hall of some kind. A buffet had been set up along one wall. A wide variety of foods meant everyone could find something they liked.

Fiona made certain she wasn’t the first one to fill her plate. With her luck, she’d commit some sort of faux pas and take the king’s spot or something equally mortifying.

There didn’t seem to be a pecking order to the seating, outside of the king and queen at one end of the table and Beau and Angie at the other. Fiona found herself seated between Pete and Levi, who had married Genevieve. Genevieve was the second oldest sibling and twin sister to Pete’s wife.

At least, Fiona thought she had everyone right.

She knew who the king and queen were. The twin sisters were different enough that someone else could likely tell them apart fairly easily, but not Fiona. She knew who Beau and Angie were. There was another couple she suspected might be the parents, but she hadn’t been introduced to the elegant, early middle-aged woman or the bald man with her.

For the most part, Fiona chose to listen to the conversations going on around her and only join in when spoken to directly. She typically found that easier in a large group of people already comfortable with each other than jumping into the middle of everything.

She enjoyed not being the center of attention all the time.

Over the course of the meal, there were questions about her movie roles and the direct-to-streaming show she’d been on for several seasons. Pete had guest starred a couple of times, but was the mostly unseen love interest for Fiona’s character.

Everyone seemed to carefully avoid questions about Gray and the situation a few days earlier. She did learn that the kids were eating in another area of the building and that Gray seemed to be enjoying himself.

Once the meal ended, they broke off into several groups, though Fiona wasn’t quite certain how they decided who went into which group - or where each group went.

She and Mac ended up with Mr. and Mrs. Batten, the couple who had taken care of the property since before Beau and Angie arrived. They were shown to their quarters. The three-bedroom suite had an incredible view of the ocean at the edge of the property.

“How are you?” Mac asked once they were alone.

Fiona blew out a breath as she nodded. “I’m all right. Not at all what I expected when we decided to come here.”

“Me either,” he admitted. “I’ve met all of those people any number of times throughout my life, though I’ve never been close to any of them. Most of the time, it’s been at official functions, not family gatherings.”

“They all seem lovely and down-to-earth.” Fiona looked down into the gardens between the house and the beach. Gray and the others were back outside running around. “I’ve known Pete a long time. We’ve done several movies together. We’ve worked onSeating 4 Sixtogether a few times, though he’s mostly off-screen.”

“Today’s the first time I’ve met him, but he seems like a good guy.” Mac stood next to her, also watching their son as he played with his... second cousins? First cousins once removed?

Did it matter?

“I almost feel like they’d welcome me into the family if they knew,” Mac told her quietly. “Regardless of what my biological father has done. I don’t think they’d hold it against me.”

Fiona nodded slowly. “From what I saw today, I think they would accept you. Pete would, but he’s not the one you’d need to worry about in the first place.”

“So do I tell them?” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “How do you decide whether or not to tell the king of another country that his evil mastermind uncle, who tried to usurp his throne, is your father?”

“I think you wait until the time is right. You’ll know when it is, I think. It’s possible one or more of them already know. King Edward did, though he never told anyone.” Fiona leaned to the side until her shoulder rested against his forearm then tilted her head against his shoulder. “You’ll know when it’s time.”

He took her hand as they continued to watch their son play.

They hadn’t said anything else when a knock on the door surprised them both.

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