Page 72 of Once Upon A Royal Christmas
Finally.
“Just Alana,” she said. “I’m so glad to see you. I feel terrible that we haven’t connected all week. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
“No apology needed. I just hope you’ve enjoyed your stay in San Glacera.”
“Absolutely. It’s been wonderful.” She glanced over his shoulder toward the door to Gracie’s room and smiled. “I would ask if you’d come looking for me, but you’re here for Gracie, aren’t you?”
Was it that obvious? Could everyone in the kingdom tell that out of all the people who’d fallen for Gracie this week, Nick had been the one who’d fallen the hardest?
Probably. But for once, Nick didn’t much care what everyone else thought.
“I am, yes.” He gestured toward the door to Gracie’s room. “But then I heard her singing, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”
Alana angled her head, straining to hear. Her eyes lit up. “She’s singing to Gumdrop again. Isn’t that sweet?”
“Gumdrop?” Who—or what—was that?
“She didn’t tell you? Gracie sure knows how to keep a secret. I asked her to keep things quiet, but I was sure you knew about it. Everywhere I look, I see pictures of you two together.” Alana pressed a finger to her lips as she pushed the door open a fraction further. Then she motioned for Nick to take a peek.
He hesitated, not wanting to invade Gracie’s privacy more than he already had. Alana seemed so sure, though. When she prodded him a second time, he leaned to sneak a glance inside the room.
Gracie sat on the bed closest to the door with a quilt thrown over her lap and a small lump of fur nestled in her arms. Nick squinted and realized the furry lump was a puppy.
A smile tugged at his lips as he shifted his gaze back to Alana. “Gumdrop, I presume?”
She nodded, grinning from ear to ear. “Isn’t she darling? My father lost his longtime canine companion a few months ago, and I wanted to surprise him for Christmas. I’m giving the puppy to him tonight at the Advent Night celebration. It seems like half the people in this B&B have been helping me keep Gumdrop a secret, so I thought it would be the perfect time for her unveiling. This Christmas gift has had me quite distracted in the past few days. I’m sincerely sorry I haven’t been able to make it to dinner at the palace.”
So this was the reason Alana hadn’t seemed interested in spending time with Nick. It wasn’t because of anything she’d read in the press about him. She’d simply been preoccupied with trying to hide a Christmas puppy from her father.
He couldn’t help but smile. “What a thoughtful gift. Where did you get her?”
“From that little animal shelter right here in San Glacera. I read about it before we arrived and made plans to visit and pick out a Christmas puppy for my father.” Alana waved a hand in the direction of the village square. “I believe you’re their patron?”
“I am, yes.” Nick had thought the dog looked familiar. Now he realized Gumdrop was the puppy that had waved at him during the candy cane toss, albeit with a little assistance from one of the shelter volunteers.
“Gracie has been such a help with her. I would never have been able to pull this off without her. She’s a very special woman.” Alana narrowed her gaze at Nick. “Then again, I have a feeling you already know that.”
“Indeed I do.” Nick’s eyes found Gracie again through the crack in the door. She was still singing to the dog in a quiet, peaceful voice. He wondered why she’d chosen such a sad Christmas song for a puppy lullaby.
He was probably reading too much into the song selection. He hoped so, anyway. But the poignant lyrics kept spinning through his mind on repeat.
“You don’t think Gracie had anything to do with the shelter’s big donation, do you?” Alana asked, dragging him back to their conversation.
He blinked. “Big donation?”
“You haven’t heard? I stopped by the shelter late this afternoon to deliver a batch of Ingrid’s Christmas cookies to the volunteers. They’d just gotten news of an anonymous donation. The shelter staff was delighted. They were toasting with hot apple cider when I got there. It was an impromptu holiday party.” Alana’s eyebrows lifted. “Apparently, the donation is going to go a long way. It was quite a sum.”
A warm, fuzzy feeling came over Nick, and he tried his best to push it away.
No. She wouldn’t.
It couldn’t have been Gracie. She had a business to run back home. Bills to pay. A whole staff of princesses to support.
But something in his heart stirred as he remembered how much she loved seeing the dogs at the candy cane toss. As soon as he’d mentioned the shelter’s troubles, she’d asked how she could help.
He glanced at her now, tenderly running her fingertips across Gumdrop’s tiny head and singing like an angel. “Do you know how much the donation was, Alana?”
His breath froze in his lungs while he waited for the answer.
