Page 54 of Royal Games (The Royals of Monterra)

What was I doing? How would I cope with any of this?

There was another knock at the door. Saved by the bell. Er, knock. I expected to see a bodyguard, but was surprised to find Amanda standing there. I turned the lights on and invited her in.

“Sorry for not calling first.” She kicked the snow off of her boots and came inside. “Did you tell her yet?”

Aunt Sylvia shook her head. “Not yet. You can, if you want.”

“Tell me what?”

Amanda’s eyes danced with happiness. “Rafe has hired me as a full-time caretaker for your aunt. Which means I don’t have to drive into the city anymore! No more two-hour commutes!”

“He what?”

“And he hired me to be on call for his new offices. I’ll be able to tell people whether or not they need to go see a doctor, run some educational classes—it’s going to be so great. The best part is how much more time I’ll be able to spend with Austin and work at the B&B.”

She opened up her bag. “So I’m just here to check on your aunt. If you wouldn’t mind giving us a moment?”

I stepped into the kitchen, listening to the two women laugh and talk.Rafe strikes again. Pretty soon he was going to have the entire town on his payroll. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

Whitney had worried that I was going to have an uphill battle getting the town on my side. I was more worried about the uphill battle I was about to have with myself.

Amanda popped her head in the kitchen. “I’m all done, and I’m heading out. If you ever need anything, I’m now officially on call for you and your aunt.” I thanked her, and she started to leave. “Oh, by the way, even though I’ve thanked him a thousand times, please thank Rafe again. I can’t tell you what this means for me and my family.”

With that she plunged a knife into my heart and twisted. So far, since coming here, he’d spent gobs of money, taken care of me and my aunt, and solved so many problems for the little community that I considered my extended family.

So now I had to invite him over. I would be such an ungrateful wretch if I didn’t. My guilt was like a large, ugly toad, squatting on me until I did the right thing. I also felt bad about him being away from home. Given that he was from such a large family, they probably had a million different traditions that he was missing out on because he had chosen to be here. I put on my coat, telling Aunt Sylvia I’d be right back. I was glad I couldn’t see her face, because I could hear the smugness in her voice when she said, “Okay!”

While I trudged across the yard, I decided that there were some decisions that had to be made. I needed to get away from him for a little while. I wanted a chance to clear my head and think when he wasn’t constantly around, influencing me. I had that appearance scheduled tomorrow night at a club called Element in Iowa City. That would be a good chance to think about what I wanted and whether or not I could do as Pastor Dave suggested. To figure out if I could forgive him and if I could trust myself.

You shouldn’t go alone,a voice said in my head.What about John-Paul?

John-Paul was in Washington. Where the postmark was from. I wasn’t going to stop living my life. I needed that Rafe-free time to evaluate our situation.

I knocked on his door, unprepared for his smile that nearly bowled me over. “Hi. I came to see if you’d like to come over and have some hot chocolate and help us decorate our Christmas tree.”

“Yes. Let me grab a coat.” I stepped inside, closing the door. He walked back toward his bedroom, which surprised me because his coat was hanging next to the front door. I was about to point that out to him, but he had already returned, picking up the coat and sliding his arms into the sleeves. “Let’s go.”

He opened the door for me and closed it behind us. “What’s new with you?” he asked.

“Same old, same old. My guild can’t find a decent healer for our Saturday night raids. I got a C on my organic chemistry lab work and I’ll have to redo it. And a megalomaniac cult leader knows where I am.”

That earned me a laugh, but I could only smile. Too many warring emotions struggled inside me. Right as we got to the back porch, he put his hand on my arm. “Wait. I have something for you.”

I hoped it wasn’t a kiss.

Okay, that was a lie. I hoped itwasa kiss.

But it wasn’t. He pulled out a small wrapped box that made my heart cease all function until I realized it was too big to be a ring box.

“Open it,” he encouraged.

The silver paper ripped off easily, and I could tell that he had done it himself because there was tape everywhere. I wondered if he had ever wrapped a present before. The fact that he had personally done it softened me more than I would have admitted out loud.

I opened the box, and inside was a perfect glass slipper ornament. I held it up, and the kitchen light sparkled and danced against it. It was dazzling. “Oh,” was all I managed.

“Sometimes when you lose a shoe at midnight, it’s so your prince can return it to you.”

My first instinct was to give it back. To tell him it was too much. I even said, “You have to take this ...” I closed my eyes, fighting the impulse while letting my voice trail off. Because I had the sneaking suspicion this was like Swarovski crystal or something and probably cost more than my car. Rafe never did anything small.

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