"I’m so sorry, Nicky," she says.
I shake my head. "He left me a note. My heart only beats for you. He loved me."
"What are you waiting for, then?" Lisa asks.
"What?"
"Go after him."
I frown. "He’s already left the country."
"So? You have a passport, don’t you?"
I do have one. And it's still valid. I could pull all my savings. There'd still be time.
"Why are you contradicting everything you’ve told me about being in love and living my life independently?" I ask.
"Nicole, if Graham did that for me, I would have been there in a heartbeat. I wouldn’t have thought twice. This guy loves you. And he’s a prince. A prince. Go to him. What more do you need?"
She's right. I have to go to him. "You’re the best," I say.
"I know." I can hear the smile in her voice. I hang up.
At home, I pack a bag and find my passport. I write a note for my landlady. In less than an hour, I'm at the airport counter, buying a ticket for Elanda. I have no idea how I'm going to find him. The country isn't all that big, though, and there are only so many places the crown prince can hide.
Thomas
One month later …
"I think my father likes you," I say. We're at a café on Market Street, watching cars go by. Nicole sits across from me, sipping a decadent hot chocolate made from real cocoa bean and full cream milk straight from the dairy.
"Why?"
"He hasn’t lectured me about you at all. That’s a feat."
She smiles at me. She's brilliant in the European sunlight. Elanda has the
feel of an old village despite sporting the latest technology, and Nicole seems to fit right into the setting. It's as if she was destined to be here, all along.
When I’d left America, I had been heartbroken. I had headed toward a future that felt dull and suffocating. I would run a country, be expected to take a wife, and produce an heir. The only woman I’d ever wanted had been left behind, and I had been shattered.
Two days had passed in Elanda where my father had lectured me day in and day out about the divine privilege that had been bestowed on me. He had seemed to understand that I had left a part of me behind.
On the third day, a commotion at the gate had drawn my attention. The guards had been fighting with a woman who demanded to see the crown prince. This was impossible, of course. For a brief second, I thought Jessica had come all this way like the psycho stalker she was.
I had gone outside. Nicole had been there, arguing with my guards. I couldn’t believe it. I felt like I was dreaming.
"Your Royal Highness," the waiter says when he brings our baguettes.
Nicole tries to hide a smile. When the waiter leaves she shakes her head.
"It’s still weird, hearing them call you that," she says.
I shrug. "You’ll get used to it."
"I don’t think I will," she says.
She stays with me in the palace. I think my father realized, shortly after her arrival, that her stay wasn’t negotiable. I would do a lot of things for king and country, but I had lost Nicole once already. I wouldn’t risk that again.