Page 6 of A Royal Promise
“Sorry, my last meeting ran a few minutes late. How’s my girl doing?”
“Great. I hiked a new trail this morning.”
Her father rubbed his short beard. “I heard about your littleadventurefrom Bastian.”
She sighed. “I promise, I was perfectly safe.”
“As long as you’re being careful.”
Bri nodded. “How did your surprise date with Mom go?”
A warm smile pulled at his lips. “It was wonderful. She loved the symphony.”
The look on her father’s face reminded her that true love was still alive and well in the world. She hoped to have a love like theirs in the future—one that was sacrificial and all-consuming. But for now, Bri liked not being tethered to one person or place, which gave her the freedom to travel the world as she pleased.
“I’m glad you had such a good time.”
He leaned forward. “Do you have any updates on your initiatives?”
Bri ran her fingers through her long blonde waves as she thought through everything she wanted to share with her dad. Every week, he set aside time to meet individually with her, her brother, and her mother to talk about projects they were working on in the community. He wanted to hear how his people were doing and what the royal family could do to better the lives of all the citizens of Westridge.
She placed her hand on the table, reaching for her notebook, but quickly realized she’d forgotten it in her rush to get there. Bri ran through the list of projects she’d been working on, but with how full her week had been, it seemed impossible to convey the details. She decided to focus on one initiative in particular.
“Our new family center is thriving. They have more visitors each week, and citizens are responding well to all the activities offered. I’d like to start exploring the possibility of offering grants and scholarships to patrons. Things like grant money forChristmas gifts and scholarships to fund study abroad for high school and college-aged students.”
“That’s a brilliant idea. I’ll need you to draw up a full proposal about how to fund an initiative like that—and how we could sustain it into the future.”
Yet another thing she loved about her father: he truly listened to her ideas and supported them. “Thanks, Dad. I already have some ideas.”
“What else?”
“Um…” Bri bit the inside of her lip, trying to think of other local initiatives on her plate, but her thoughts kept wandering back to her concerns about Drew.
He leaned back in his seat, rubbing the scruff on his chin. “You seem distracted today. Is there something else you want to discuss? Work can always wait. I care more about how my daughter is doing.”
She sighed. “I’m worried about Drew. He’s seemed off all week. Has his father said anything to you?”
“I haven’t heard anything of concern from Max. How exactly has Drew seemedoff?”
“He’s been short in his text conversations with me all week. It’s not like him.”
His lips pulled to the side, looking like he was processing what she’d said. “I’m sure he’s busy with work after traveling for Rosalie’s vow renewal last weekend. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Plus, you can ask him how he’s doing tonight when his family is here.”
A smile covered Bri’s face. She’d forgotten Drew’s family was visiting for their monthly game night tonight.
“You’re right. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“Good.” He stood and walked over to her, helping her rise from her seat. “I hope you don’t mind if I cut our meeting shorttoday. Your mother will never let me forget it if I’m late tonight, and I have a lot of work to get done before then.”
“Of course not. I’ll see you then. And I’ll have the proposal for the family center to you in the next few weeks.”
Her father led her out of the room to the hallway, their shoes echoing on the wood flooring with each step. “Sounds good.”
Her smile never left her face as she walked back to her room. This was just the kind of evening she needed. Hopefully, time with Drew would help them get past whatever was feeling off this week.
“You’re going down tonight.” Bri narrowed her eyes at her younger brother as she pointed at him and then the ground.
Phillip smirked. “Lucky for me, it’s my night to pick the game.”
