Lisa Laurel - The Prince's Baby

Lexi found her tongue at last. “I am Princess Lexi of the first grade,” she said proudly, dropping a curtsy. And then she smiled at him, her bewitching, little-girl smile. It revealed the gap where her two bottom teeth were missing. It revealed the dimple in her left cheek. And, in some intangible, inexplicable way, it revealed the secret that had weighed heavily on Drew’s heart for seven long years.

Drew knew it had as she watched Whit’s smile slowly fade. She squeezed her eyes shut, but when she opened them, the scene was still before her, the excited whispers of the crowd still flowing around her.

“I am at your service, princess,” Whit said formally.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Lexi said gravely. She conjured up her best royal vocabulary for the occasion. “When I require your services again, I shall not hesitate to summon you.”

The prince bowed to Lexi once more. “Then I will bid you good-day.” As abruptly as he had materialized, he disappeared, but not before looking out into the audience again. This time he skewered Drew with a sharp, questioning glance that boded ill.

The lunch bell rang, and teachers began lining up their classes at the gym door. Everyone was still buzzing about the fact that Lexi had conjured up a real prince, and Drew saw that the smile was still on her daughter’s face as she got in line. Mrs. Vittorini reappeared at Drew’s side.

“I thought she was doomed to disappointment,” the teacher said to Drew, still breathless with the excitement of the royal visit. “But it looks like your little girl got her happy ending after all. I only wish the prince would have stuck around to fill us in on how she managed it.” She sighed dreamily. “Oh well, I guess you can go now. I’m sure Lexi will be fine. As for the rest of us women—” She paused, her eyes twinkling.

As she studied Mrs. Vittorini’s flushed face, Drew realized she wasn’t the only one who’d been affected by the prince’s startling appearance at the school. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your concern for Lexi,” she said, not wanting to speculate with the teacher about the reasons for Whit’s visit. “I apologize for the disruptions she’s been causing. I assure you, that behavior is going to stop.”

“Don’t be too hard on her. She’s going through a rough patch, as we all do from time to time.” Mrs. Vittorini smiled. “But she’s a bright young lady with a wonderful imagination. Give her lots of support, and she’ll sort things out on her own. Lexi will do just fine in this world.”

“I just hope I survive to see it,” Drew said, managing a weak smile. “Sometimes being a mom makes my job as sheriff seem like a stroll on the beach.”

Mrs. Vittorini laughed. “No one ever said parenting was easy. Especially not me. I’ve got three teenagers.”

And nineteen six-year-olds, Drew thought as she watched her lead a ragged line of jumping, talking, laughing first-graders out of the gym.

Drew made a quick exit herself. It was chickening out, she knew, but she wasn’t ready to face Whit just yet. And though she was curious herself about how he’d known of Lexi’s dilemma, she didn’t like that look he had given her. The last thing she wanted was to run into him now.

She did run into Whit, though. Literally barreled right into him as she left the school building.

He seemed to have been expecting it. He never budged an inch, just propped his hands on his hips and stared down at her.

“That was your daughter,” he said in a dangerously low voice. It wasn’t a question.

Drew didn’t shrink from his gaze. “Yes. Thanks for what you did in there. She—well, she got herself into a tight spot, and if you hadn’t—”

“Forget it,” he said roughly, cutting her off.

“Well, then…goodbye,” Drew finished breathlessly, eager to get away.

She turned to leave, but the sound of Whit’s voice, low and vibrating with warning, stopped her. “It’s time you and I had a little talk, Drew.”

All of Drew’s instincts warned her to go on the defense. “Sorry to refuse your gracious request, Your Highness, but I don’t have time to chat,” she told him, forcing a light tone. “Some people in this world have to work for a living, and I am one of them. So you’ll have to excuse me. It’s late, and I’ve got to get back to my office.”

“Your office be damned. You’re coming with me.” He led her down the front walk toward where a limousine was parked.

She planted her feet. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Fine. Then we can have it out right here on the sidewalk.”

From the look on his face, Drew knew that he meant it. She glanced at the school building with its row of windows facing in their direction. One of those rooms was Lexi’s classroom.

“All right,” she said shortly, giving in. “Since I have no alternative.”

The driver started to get out of the limo, but Whit waved him off and held the back door open for Drew himself. She refused to look at him then, or during the drive, which lasted no more than a minute. Whit had the driver pull into a turnoff for a scenic overlook of the ocean. No one else was there.

As soon as the limo rolled to a stop, Drew opened the door herself and scrambled out of the back seat. She waited while Whit followed, his movements slow and deliberate.

Drew faced him defiantly, knowing that she had to make the most of her anger, because it was the only thing holding her together right now.

“What did you want to talk about, Your Highness, that you had to practically kidnap me?” she asked, her voice sounding far more in control than her insides felt. Her heart was pounding so hard it drowned out the sound of the surf crashing onto the rocks below.

His jaw looked like it was carved out of granite. “You owe me an answer, Drew.”

“What answer?” she asked, crossing her arms to stop them from shaking.

“Let’s not play games, here. This is damned well as important to you as it is to me.”

Drew hitched her trembling chin higher and forced herself to keep looking right at him, her silence warning him to go on only if he dared.

He did dare. His blue eyes were cold as the icy waters surrounding his North Atlantic homeland as he fixed a stare on her.

“So tell me. Tell me how a little girl kissing frogs in Maine could bear such a striking resemblance to a portrait of a child that hangs in my father’s castle on Isle Anders.” His voice was low, strained. “My portrait, Drew.”

The moment Drew had been dreading for years had arrived at last, and it was far worse than she had feared.

All of her maternal instincts screamed at her to protect Lexi at any cost. Warring with them was her conscience, which protested that, no matter what the consequences, Whit had a right to know the truth.

Her inner battle raged until she heard Whit speak again. This time his voice was rough with emotion.

“Drew, tell me. Is Lexi my daughter?”

The word that would change three people’s lives forever came out as barely a whisper.

“Yes.”

It had come down to no decision at all, for Drew. It was one thing not to have sought Whit out to tell him about Lexi. It would be something else entirely to stand there and answer his direct question with a lie.

She watched the reactions play across his face and was relieved when he settled on anger. That gave her back the strength to face him.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” he demanded.

“You weren’t here,” she reminded him. It still hurt to remember. Safe in his love, she had dared to dream for the first time in her life— -foolish, foolish girl. She had built them a lovely castle in the sky, and when her prince had walked away, it had come crashing down all around her. After he’d left her, she’d found out she was pregnant. Day by day, challenge by challenge, she had survived. She would survive this day, this challenge, too. Taking a deep breath, she returned Whit’s stony stare.