Page 16 of Once Upon A Royal Christmas
The more Nick thought about it, the more he seethed. Princess Snowball—or whatever her silly name was—had been issued a royal invitation, which she definitely didn’t deserve, and now she was waffling about accepting it? The Vernina royals were actual heads of state and they’d accepted the invitation to San Glacera for Christmas immediately.
She wasn’t even here yet, and already things were turning into a circus. If and when she did decide to turn up, what would happen if she decided to talk to the press? Nick could see the headlines now. Fake princess spills tea on San Glacera’s real royal family! Dress-up character takes the crown!
Nick’s gut churned. How far could they possibly fall?
“Do I need to call her myself and convince her to come?” Nick heard himself say. This entire situation was getting more absurd by the minute.
“No,” Jaron said a little too quickly, as if Nick’s abominable reputation had made its way clear across the globe. Perhaps it had. “I’m handling it. She’ll be here, right on schedule.”
The barber shot Nick a questioning glance, and he leaned back in the chair. At this rate, his makeover would take all day.
“Anything else I should be aware of?” Nick asked.
Jaron raised a finger. “Just one more thing. The king would like you to escort Princess Alana of Vernina to the opening evening of the Ice Village. He’s asked me to reserve side-by-side seats for the two of you in the royal box.”
Just what Nick needed—a royal blind date. As if this Christmas wasn’t going to be awkward and uncomfortable enough already, now dating was being added to the agenda, even though he’d already proven himself a spectacular failure in that department.
“It’s purely for diplomatic purposes,” Jaron added.
Right…because no one would actually choose to be romanced by the Abominable Snow Prince. Not that Nick would blame them.
Mittens dropped a dog toy shaped like a snowman near the foot of the barber chair and nudged it with his little snub nose. A tinny version of All I Want for Christmas is You rose up from the snowman’s plush form.
“Fine,” Nick said.
It was a formal royal function, not an actual date. Princess Alana was probably even less thrilled about it than he was.
“Shall we begin, sir?” the barber asked, holding up a pair of thin silver scissors.
Nick nodded, and thus began his transformation from a frog into a prince…
If only on the surface.
CHAPTER FIVE
I’d Rather be Stress-Frosting a Yule Log
“I’m not going.” Gracie dipped her frosting spatula into a bowl of chocolate icing, focusing intently on the lump of cake in front of her. “Besides, I thought this was supposed to be a Yule log party. It’s starting to feel a little like a royal intervention.”
She glanced up. Sure enough, not one other person seated around the kitchen island in her parents’ home had started icing their Yule logs. Her mom, dad, and Clara were all just sitting there, staring at her with unfrosted Swiss roll cakes in front of them. Even the family cat was eyeing her with judgment. But maybe that was simply resting feline face. Gracie wasn’t sure.
“Of course, it’s a party.” Jane Clark, Gracie’s mother, dropped a dollop of chocolate frosting onto her log. “This is the fifth year we’ve made Yule logs for the holidays. Can you believe it?”
“Bûche de Noël,” Gavin Clark, Gracie’s dad, said in an exaggerated Parisian accent. “Mom has wanted to go to Europe and try an authentic French one ever since the Yule log episode of that baking show she loves on television.”
“And I fully support that dream,” Gracie said.
“Dreams are important.” Her mother nodded. “That’s all we’re saying, sweetheart.”
“Really? Because it sounds like you’re all saying a lot more than that.” Gracie narrowed her gaze at Clara.
If Clara hadn’t been an unofficial member of the Clark household for as long as Gracie could remember, she’d be furious at her friend for telling her parents about the contest. As it stood, she wasn’t exactly thrilled. If her family hadn’t known, she wouldn’t be sitting here, stress-frosting a log.
“You never said it was a secret.” Clara shrugged. “They were bound to find out when you jetted off to San Glacera.”
“Except that I’m not jetting off to San Glacera. Or anywhere else, for that matter. Christmas is for family, right Mom?” Gracie said. If anyone would be on her side, her mother would. Christmas was a Very Big Deal in the Clark household.
Every Christmas Eve, Gracie and her parents went to the midnight service at church, and then Gracie spent the night in her childhood bedroom so she could wake up at home on Christmas morning. Mom got up early and made homemade cinnamon rolls from a recipe that had been in the family for more than fifty years. She and her parents stayed in their Christmas pajamas all day and after all the gifts were unwrapped, they watched holiday movies and did a jigsaw puzzle together. After Clara’s family celebration was over, she always came over for board games. Hands down, it was Gracie’s favorite day of the year.
