“Oh, no,” said Esme, taking a step down from her cloud of happiness. “Leo, I’ve kept you from your party. And I’ve messed you up.”
She dusted at his jacket, but only wound up smearing more of the flour on his dark suit. Leo didn’t stop her. She felt the sparkles going off with each brush of her hand on his person. By the widening of his gaze, she knew he felt it too.
A sharp intake of breath broke their connection.
“I’ll handle it,” Giles came between them. “I believe this tutoring session is over.”
“But the cookies,” said Penelope.
“Cookies before bedtime?” frowned Giles. The man couldn’t be much older than Leo, but he looked like a grandpa telling the three of them to get off his lawn while handing out toothpaste at Halloween.
“Giles, you do know that we are the King and princess of your home country?”
Giles only raised an eyebrow and held out his hand for Leo’s jacket. Leo sighed and shrugged off the ruined garment. Giles looked down at the flour prints with utter dismay. When his gaze lifted, he gave Esme the full side eye.
“I have an idea.” Esme raised her hand as though she were the new kid in class. In a way, she was new to the trappings of royal life. “How about one last lesson in fractions? Your highness, if we took one cookie and split it evenly so that we all received a piece, what fraction would that be?"
“One third,” Penelope said after some thinking. “Because Giles doesn’t have a sweet tooth.”
Leo didn’t try to hide his grin. Giles was at the sink dabbing at the jacket with wet paper towels.
Penelope used a butter knife to expertly and exactly slice one cookie into three equal pieces. She handed the pieces to Esme and her father and then popped the third piece into her mouth and sighed.
“You can have more tomorrow,” said Leo.
“What about Ms. Pickett?” said Penelope.
“No worries,” said Esme. “They’re for you. You did all the work.“
“Now it is your bed time, little pea,” said Leo. “Go wash up and hop under the covers.”
Penelope gave her father a hug. “Can we do this again? Practice fractions with baking?”
“Of course,” said Leo pulling the girl in for a tighter hug.
“I’m sure Uncle Alex will join us,” said Penelope. “Maybe we can invite Ms. Pickett again?”
Leo swallowed before looking up. Esme’s heart flipped under his perusal. But the light that had burned bright in his eyes every time he gazed at her had dimmed.
“I wish that were possible,” he said. “But we leave tomorrow night.”
Esme’s lips parted. She inhaled, but her chest felt tight. Her stomach clenched and not from want of food.
“Maybe you can come to Cordoba for a visit one day?” Penelope said to her. “This weekend is our annual Union Day Celebration. There will be lots of baking and pastries. There’s even a pie making contest.”
“Ms. Pickett has a day job, your highness.” The way Giles said her last name evoked memories of Principal Clark.
“Thank you for the invitation,” Esme said to Penelope. Then her gaze went to Leo. “Maybe one day?”
He didn’t respond. He didn’t look at her. In fact, he swallowed again.
Oh, no. Had she read the signs wrong? Were they at the end of the story? It wasn’t possible? Only happy should come after this, and the mood had decidedly turned somber.
“Your guests, your majesty.“ Giles handed Leo’s d
inner jacket back to him. It was pristine as though it had just come from the dry cleaners. All trace of Esme’s hand prints gone.
Leo slipped into his coat. “I’m going to walk my daughter’s guest out first.”