“I’m…” I stared into his beautiful eyes. “I…” His expression was a mix of sadness and expectation.
“I’ll have to call my father right now if you want us to cancel the engagement.” It wasn’t a threat.
“No. I don’t.” I shook my head and tried to toss out my doubts. “I’m good. Let’s do this!” I grabbed his hand and kissed his knuckles, much the way he did with me.
“We can slow this down if you want. We don’t have to get married right away.” His voice was distant.
“I want to get married. You’re the best man I’ve ever met. I hope I’m pregnant and I want to see you be king. It’s just… a month ago, I would have never thought that I’d be here sitting in a car about to tell the world that I am engaged to the future king of Ireland. I keep waiting to wake up.” There it was… honesty. “I’m here for you. I’m doing this… just please remember, I’m here too, okay?”
“I also never thought I’d be marrying someone as delightful as you, Avery. I’m very happy that we’re doing this. A month ago, I was watching my life careen into a deep dark hole, but you’ve brightened my entire world. I know what you are sacrificing, and I promise, we will make it work…” He leaned in and kissed my lips. “Now let’s tell the world Avery Johnson is going to be my wife. Oh,” he said almost as an afterthought, “You’re going to need to wear this.”
Liam slid an enormous diamond ring onto my finger. I didn’t have any idea how many carats the diamond was, but it sparkled in the light so brightly that truly no one could see anything but the rock on my finger. The ring was quite lavish with a huge stone surrounded by sparkling emeralds. It was stunning. I understood grandeur, expense, and lavishness, were the trademarks of a royal family as much as cold and stubborn adherence to tradition.
Yes, Avery Johnson was going to be the wife of a future king, but even she didn’t know who she was anymore. Ireland would be getting a princess crafted in a room by Georg the magnificent makeup artist. More than anything I was his creation.
“Let’s do it.” I took a deep breath as we rolled up to the event hall where media trucks, lines of people, and police awaited us.
We exited the car to the sounds of cheers and screams, which made my knees buckle. Liam just held me tighter. As we entered the ancient hall the smell of wood, stone, and flowers filled my nostrils. There was a string quartet playing Pachelbel’s Canon in D and everyone was using hushed voices. It was as if we were already getting married.
Liam graciously bowed and shook hands with dignitaries who were standing in a line and at the end of the procession was his father wearing his full royal regalia. The other family members flanked him and of course, Lucy was there, looking nice, but horribly sad. Liam lead me to where his father stood and both of us bowed when we reached him.
“We are honored to celebrate this grand occasion, son.” With that, we followed the king into the main hall where there was a huge buffet lining the walls on both sides of the room with several tables set about the space.
People started to file in and mill about and I basically tagged along as Liam made small talk. Some of the guests dared to mention my fashion designs and my being an American, but shockingly few people even spoke to me. Most just stared at me like I was Liam’s pretty arm piece. Barbie was right, I represented very little more than a pretty doll hanging on Prince Charming’s arm.
Despite my discomfort, the engagement party wasn’t half as horrible as I expected it would be. As soon as the music became more lively, people broke off into smaller groups and conversations bloomed around the room. There were media influencers, actors, singers, and models who had attended. The King and Liam’s family kept to themselves. Liam and I were at a table of our own where we were met with several well-wishers. Finally, in the middle of lunch, Liam got up and made a toast.
“I want to thank you all for coming this afternoon,” he started. “I am so grateful that you were able to pry yourselves away from your busy schedules to join us on this momentous occasion. I have rarely been as excited about anything as I am today. Finally, I get to share a very precious secret with you. Love is rare. Finding everlasting love is even more elusive and precious. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I was ever going to find that precious love.”