The Prince She Never Forgot

eemed.

Ruby’s questions a few days ago had started to play on his mind. How much time did he actually get to spend with Annabelle?

He tried to be there most mornings when she had breakfast. He always tried to see her before bedtime. But in a world where visits to other countries were inevitable and midnight conference calls were normal it wasn’t always possible.

Annabelle was the spitting image of her mother. He’d already been friends with Sophia at her age. And, although he loved his daughter with all his heart, sometimes she was a painful reminder of the friend he had lost.

Perhaps he’d overreacted when the nanny had mentioned Annabelle’s speech seemed a little behind?

Alex had no experience with children. And the internet seemed like a dangerous tool sometimes. He’d paid for expert upon expert to assess her—all the while terrified that there was something wrong with his child.

When Ruby had said that as part of the assessment she wanted to see how Annabelle and Alex interacted with each other he’d felt a wave of panic. Was it a criticism? She hadn’t made it sound like that. Maybe he was just feeling under pressure.

He’d planned carefully. He’d had someone pack a picnic to take to the palace grounds, then they would walk into the centre and have some ice cream—just as Ruby had suggested.

Then he gone to find Ruby and she’d been surrounded by the dresses he’d ordered and been half dressed.

Maybe not strictly true. But that glimpse of the skin on her back had been enough to send his blood pressure rising. When he’d offered to zip her up it had taken all his strength not to pull the zip down.

Alex was always in control. That night in Paris years ago had been the first time he’d shaken off his security team in years. Bumping into Ruby had made the whole night perfect. Having her in the palace again was bringing a whole host of sensations he hadn’t acknowledged in years.

Rufus had mumbled in his ear all the way along the corridor. The look of surprise on his face to see Alex exiting Ruby’s bedroom had spoken volumes without a single word being said.

Neither of them had acknowledged it. Alex had immediately started talking business and given Rufus a list of instructions for the rest of the afternoon.

Annabelle and her nanny were waiting at the main entrance for him. After a few minutes Ruby came down the main staircase carrying a bright pink ball in her arms. Her face was slightly flushed. A sure sign they’d been doing something they shouldn’t.

Brigette gave a nod and left while Alex offered his hand to Annabelle and put the picnic basket over his arm.

‘A picnic? You never said we were having a picnic,’ said Ruby.

‘Didn’t I?’

He glanced at the ball, then at her feet. She was wearing a pair of white trainers with a yellow dress. It brought a smile to his face. Ruby didn’t really worry about who might take her picture and claim she’d made a fashion faux pas.

‘I didn’t take you as a footballer.’

Ruby pulled at the skirt of her dress and smiled. ‘I have lots of hidden talents. But maybe I should have worn something different—trousers, perhaps?’

He shook his head. ‘I think your dress will be perfect. Now, let’s go.’

There was a further little flush of colour in her cheeks. Both of them were remembering exactly why he liked the fact she was wearing a dress.

But Ruby wasn’t giving anything away. She bent down in front of Annabelle. ‘A picnic—wow. It’s been years since I’ve been on a picnic. Why don’t you take us to your favourite place in the palace grounds and we’ll eat there?’

She gave Alex a little smile and walked out through the door, waiting for them to join her.

He could sense the general unease in the air. There were a few members of staff staring at them. Was it really so unusual that he spent time with his child—or had word spread even more quickly than he’d thought that he’d been seen leaving Ruby’s bedroom?

He gave Annabelle’s hand a squeeze and they walked out into the beautiful sunshine. Ruby’s idea was good. He’d been trying to decide between going near where the horses were stabled, to the ornamental gardens, the duck pond or the palace maze. But Annabelle had other ideas. She was leading them around the side of the palace, her little footsteps assured.

It only took a few minutes, then she plunked herself down on the grass directly behind the ornamental fountain.

Alex blinked. This was the place where he’d had that picture taken with Sophia. They’d both been about Annabelle’s page and the photo had been zoomed around the world with the press headline ‘Future King and Queen?’

Had Annabelle ever seen that picture? He wasn’t sure, but he could tell from a fleeting glance at Ruby’s face that she certainly had.

Whatever her thoughts on the matter, she sat down next to Annabelle on the grass, not even waiting for him to lay out the picnic blanket he’d brought along.

The little girl started to fumble with her shoes. Ruby gave her a smile and knelt down next to her, taking off her white leather sandals and frilly socks.

She held out her hand to Annabelle and the two of them walked over to the fountain. Annabelle hadn’t said a word and he was confused. How did Ruby know what she wanted?

He moved closer as Annabelle stood up on the wall surrounding the fountain and dipped her toes in the water. She let out a little laugh and he took a deep breath.

His little girl’s laughter. How beautiful it was—and how rarely he’d heard it.

Annabelle was walking around the fountain now, holding Ruby’s hand to keep her balance. She had the biggest smile on her face.

He walked in pace with Ruby. ‘How did you know that’s what she wanted to do?’

He couldn’t take his eyes off his little girl. Couldn’t believe how much she looked like her mother. It alarmed him how much he noticed.

Ruby shrugged. ‘It’s exactly what I would do if I were Annabelle’s age.’

They reached the point where they’d started and Ruby put her arms around Annabelle’s waist and swung her in the air.

‘Whee!’

Annabelle laughed again as Ruby swooped her through the air and landed her on the blanket that he’d spread out. She picked up a corner of the blanket and started drying Annabelle’s toes.

Alex opened the basket and started unpacking the food. The palace chef had outdone himself, as usual, but the most curious thing was a small tub full of steamed-up food.

Annabelle gave a little shriek of excitement and grabbed it, pulling open the lid and searching for a spoon.

Ruby wrinkled her nose and leaned closer. ‘Macaroni cheese? Is this one of Annabelle’s favourites?’

Alex nodded. ‘Apparently.’ He peered in the basket. ‘I’m not quite sure how it managed to find its way into the picnic basket, though.’

Ruby grabbed an apple, bit into it, then leaned back on her hands, staring up at the palace. ‘I can’t say I’ve ever had a picnic in front of a palace before.’

He stared up at the hundreds of windows. There might be a whole host of palace staff looking down on them at any moment. It might look like a private picnic, with no one visibly around them, but the truth was it was anything but.

He pulled a bottle of water out of the basket and popped the tab for Annabelle. ‘Would you like to go and see the horses? Or the maze?’

She shook her head and continued to eat the macaroni. He reached into the basket for some more food, and squinted when his hand came into contact with something strange. A leg. A plastic doll’s leg. And another doll. And another.

He pulled them out. One was in a princess dress, one in a swimsuit and one in a semi-naked state with her arms partway into a spacesuit.

He winked at Ruby. ‘Ruby, I see you brought your dolls to play with.’

She laugh

ed and grabbed the blonde astronaut, pushing her arms and legs into the silver and white suit and fastening it appropriately. ‘Of course I did, Alex. I like playing with dolls.’

Annabelle’s head shot up and she gave a little smile, abandoning the macaroni and walking over to the dolls. Her comprehension was perfect. She understood everything that was going on around her. So why didn’t she talk?

Ruby held up the princess doll and the swimsuit doll. ‘Which one do you like best? The pink one or the purple one?’

He wondered what she was doing. Annabelle screwed up her face and shook her head. There were no pink or purple clothes.

Ruby just smiled, as if this was something she did every day—which she did. She held each doll higher. ‘Oh, I see. Silly me. Blue or red, then?’

Annabelle came over and picked the doll wearing the pale blue dress and pointed towards her own.

Ruby nodded. ‘You like blue, then?’

She gave Alex a secret smile. Every little thing she did was part of Annabelle’s assessment. Every other person who had come to see her had been much more rigid in their processes, wanting Annabelle to do certain things at certain times. Being three was difficult enough. But Alex had been made to feel as if Annabelle was being difficult or uncooperative. She didn’t seem that way with Ruby.

Annabelle took her dolls and walked over to the ornamental fountain with all three.

‘I think they’re all about to go for a swim—costumes or not,’ murmured Ruby.

She seemed perfectly relaxed out here. She picked up a ham sandwich and started to eat. He reached in and pulled out his favourite. Tuna. Hardly royal. Probably not the thing that most Prince Regents would eat. But this had been Alex’s favourite since he was a child.

The tension between them wasn’t as high as it had been in the room when they were alone. But then again, they hadn’t been on display there. He kept wondering if there were any unseen eyes watching what should be a private affair.

‘She knows her colours. For a three-year-old that’s good.’ Ruby was watching Annabelle again.

‘You can tell just from that?’

She shook her head. ‘Oh, no. I’ve done a few other exercises as well.’ She leaned forward and pulled her knees up, wrapping her dress around them. ‘Listen...’ she whispered.