The Crown Read online

  Nico’s phone dinged again and she wondered if it was Monique.

  Her father’s face looked a little more ashen, but otherwise calm. His confusion and anxiety were so much less since he had changed his medicine. She reached for his hand. He gave hers a reassuring squeeze.

  The king entered and they stood. Everyone was present, all the brothers, the sister, and the queen, whose face was a mask. They simply waited for Francisco to take his spot at the head of the conference table, and they joined him. He looked at them all in turn, and when his eyes reached her, they were filled with such kindness, a warmth she had not as yet seen fully from him. And he said, “Jo.”

  She swallowed.

  The queen reached for his hand. “We could have never predicted such a reaction. But it looks as though the citizens’ response to your Alzheimer’s initiative is predominantly negative.” She shook her head. “They haven’t rallied like this in over a decade. Their complaints are many, but the tourism department is concerned we will get an influx of elderly tourists and it will destroy the more active part of their industry, the tours, the hikes, zip lining, jet-skis and similar things. The literacy community is upset because they incorrectly feel this will divert funds and resources from our initiative to have a fully literate nation.”

  Jo shook her head again.

  The queen held up her hand. “I know you are as dedicated to the cause as we all are. And we thank you.”

  She adjusted the papers to her front. “But what matters here is what the people understand.”

  Jo listened, still unsure what the family thought. What did the king and queen want to do about this?

  The king continued. “We have not yet pinpointed the cause of the initial complaint, the one who is exciting the press. But we agree that this outrage is a concerted and organized effort, and we have people working on the origin.

  Nico fidgeted in his seat. His phone dinged again and he turned it upside down. “Groups have been courting me, pestering me for months, years even, to choose this cause or that one. But I always knew I hadn’t heard the right cause yet.”

  Jo needed some clarification. “But is there not room for more than one cause? Why can we not lend our voice of support to many?”

  “The new crown generally assumes the causes of past monarchs, like the literacy effort. But with that cause, at last we have succeeded. And we can thank our current queen for the vast success. Which places us now in the happy situation to be the first in many generations, to choose a new direction, to map a trajectory for future monarchs.” He leaned back and turned his electric blue eyes on her. They seemed bothered, stressed, sad even. “Whatever cause we choose as our main initiative is guaranteed success. We make it so.”

  The strength of his declaration struck her, filled her with love for him. “And you chose my idea for my non-profit for this?” Her eyes filled with tears. “Thank you. I didn’t realize what a huge gesture that was.” She was so touched, but felt a need to not be the reason the country was in an upheaval of complaint. “Is there a way to alter our chosen effort? To perhaps have a dual effort? I don’t mind supporting any number of other things.”

  The king shook his head. “If we backpedal now, we show our weakness and it diminishes your cause.”

  Her father cleared his throat. “Might I say something?”

  Jo was touched by the deference they showed him as they gave him their full attention.

  “I feel responsible for this direction of Jo’s heart. Naturally she has the desire to help ease my situation. But we all know that whatever comes of the research, the attention, will be too late for me.”

  Jo’s eyes filled with tears again, and she squeezed his hand.

  “But Jo, if you need to step away from this, to give it less attention to smooth over the upheaval, I won’t think you love me any less.”

  Francisco cleared his throat. “Thank you Mr. Finley, but I have decided. We will move forward with the Alzheimer’s and elderly research.” He drank from his cup. “And we will consider how much of the crown’s support to give to these other causes, like the environmental concerns Jo has also mentioned.”

  The king sat back, a spark of pride lighting his eyes. “I must say Jo has already been a remarkable addition to our Valdez team. Stirring up trouble and urging us all to seek other ways to make a difference.”

  Nico’s phone rang. His eyes glanced from Jo to his phone and back. “I should take this.”

  “Who could you possibly need to talk to right now?” His father’s tone demanded an answer.

  “Monique.”

  “Oh Brother, what could she want?”

  Nico waved them off and left the room. An uncomfortable silence settled, and Jo said, “She’s been texting him, and he says she is trying to help.”

  Daniel humphed and Trane raised an eyebrow.

  Jo laughed but it sounded hollow. “And I’m sure you can guess how much I believe that.” She lifted one side of her mouth.

  “You are wise to see her for what she is.” The queen nodded in her direction. “But she is a valuable resource, has her fingers in the public relations of this nation better than most of us.”

  The king turned on the television.

  Images of her father played out across the screen. Jo gasped, watching her father. They showed the marina, with the manager they hired to keep things going while they were gone. They had images of her father coming out of the hospital after his first visit, when he was originally diagnosed. His eyes, wide, fearful, his hair mussed, carrying a hospital bag, the big plastic ones that hold all your belongings.

  Then it showed his nurse, June, their house, and their town.

  And a shot of her father clutching onto June’s arm, with a frantic look on his face.

  Jo cringed and clung to his arm like he was shown doing to nurse June, afraid to look away from the screen, but dreading what she might see next. Then the screen flashed to Jo’s apartment at Vanderbilt, her schedule, and then Kevin came on the screen. “Jo still has a good life here. She is in the middle of her fellowship, has her MBA. She is giving up a lot to help her dad. Left it all on hold. The Dean won’t hold it forever.” He stood taller. “And then she took off with that Prince. I just hope it is still available when she gets back. I know she won’t stay forever. She has a whole life here she loves too much.”

  Jo was horrified. How could he talk to the press about her? What was he thinking? She didn’t dare look at anyone in the room. Her father’s hands shook. “I didn’t know all that you gave up to come, Jo. Your fellowship? I’m sorry I didn’t know.” His eyes were pained. “There is so much I don’t know, or forgot. I … I’m sorry Jo. I can’t let you ruin everything for yourself. Your life at Vanderbilt, your opportunities here. It’s not about me, Jo. Live your life. Take it, run with it. Follow your dreams.” He stood. “I think I’ll go find Nurse June.” His voice shook, cracked, and his face wrinkled in pain. His steps were steady though, and he held his head erect as he made his way out of the room.

  Jo choked on a sob. “I…I don’t know what to do” She looked around the room. Many wouldn’t meet her eyes.

  The queen waited, watching her. “This life, it requires sacrifices. We know it is a lot to ask of anyone. It is too much for some. Those in our set, we are used to this. We know that the crown comes first, the country, Torren. But for you, you came to us with everything already moving forward in your life. We know not everyone can handle that kind of sacrifice.”

  Jo opened her mouth, unsure what to say, shocked at the direction the queen had gone. “What? Do you think I can’t hack it? That I don’t already know what I am sacrificing?” She stood. “Did you not just see my father?”

  She couldn’t stand to bare herself in front of these strangers any longer. They looked sympathetic but the sterility in their eyes, the separation of their emotions hurt her. Nico still hadn’t returned, but she had to leave, she needed to go after her father.

  Nico came in as she was standing to l
eave. “My father is really upset. I need to go to him.”

  His eyes showed compassion and fear, but it was the touch of uncertainty that did her in. “Nico? Do you think I can handle it? You believe this will work, don’t you?”

  His answer came too soon. “Of course. Jo, we’re in this together.”

  His phone vibrated and instead of ignoring it, or pocketing it, he looked. And she saw Monique’s picture again. And that was it. She just shook her head and left the room, determined to find her father.

  8

  She hurried down the hall. If her father was determined to leave, she could not let him go alone. She would at least travel with him, get him settled and then determine her next step. She texted her assistant on the way. She was going to miss having an assistant. “I need to pack. I’m leaving with my father.”

  She rushed to his room, and just as she suspected, he and Nurse June had pulled out the suitcases, and he was directing her to load her things.

  “Dad.”

  He looked up when she entered. “Don’t stop me. I’m done being a burden to you, Jo. Your life has so much potential right now. The world is at your feet and I can’t be a bump in that any longer.” He came towards her. “Why didn’t you tell me, that you gave up so much at Vanderbilt? I thought you had finished.” He clenched his fists. “This is so frustrating. Not having the full use of my mind.”

  He turned back to his things, and hurried through the packing. “I’ve told them we are to catch the first flight out.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  June stopped, but her father kept working. “Of course you aren’t.”

  “I am. They don’t think I can do it. They aren’t sure I have what it takes for the crown. And maybe they’re right. Maybe I don’t. Cause you are more important to me than any crown. And what they did to us, blasting our pictures all over the news, your picture. I can’t handle that. You matter more to me than anything.”

  “Anything?” Nico stood in the doorway.

  Her heart leapt and sank at the sight of him. How could she do what she was about to do? “You will always be my everything, Nico, but I am not what this country needs. I don’t have what it takes. My father…”

  Her father threw more clothes in his suitcase. “Is just fine Jo. I’m fine. I’ve been taking care of you, and myself, for a long time now.” He closed his suitcase. “I’ll see what kind of flight they found for us.” He went to the other side of the room and picked up the house phone.

  “Jo.” Nico approached her, and the nurse left the room.

  “What, Nico? Your mother is right. I’m not ready for this. The press, what they did to my father. I can’t handle that. He matters to me.” She hated to say it, but he must know the truth. She felt her throat constrict as she tried to say her next words. “The crown isn’t everything. Not to me. I wish it were.”

  He searched her face, her heart melting at the sight of the love and kindness she saw in his eyes. “But you. You are everything.” She stepped into his arms. And buried her face in his shoulder. “I love you Nico. I wish I could do it.”

  “Hush, hush Jo.” He ran his hand down her back. “This is all new to you, but you have to trust me. It’s not new to me. I chose you, asked you to be my wife, already knowing things like this might happen. And I would not,” He held her cheeks in his hands and repeated. “Would not have wanted you to be a part of it, if I didn’t think you could do it. When I asked, I knew what I was asking of you. I knew I was asking a lot. But I knew you could do it.”

  Jo loved him for all that he said. She wanted to agree with him, wanted so badly for all of the awful to go away. But even though she closed her eyes tight against it for a moment, when she opened them back up, the press had still attacked her father personally, the queen doubted her ability to be the next queen, and Jo felt like the wrong person to stand at Nico’s side. Perhaps the right person personally, but the wrong person to be his queen and since that person had to be one and the same, she just wanted to go home.

  “I love you Nico. But I need to go home and think about things. I need to get father in a better situation for him. I need to check on the marina. I just can’t stay here any longer.”

  “What? Jo, no. We can talk this through. We can do whatever it takes to make it better. Running away won’t help anything.” He stopped and stepped closer. “I’m afraid you won’t come back.” His words came out in a whisper, fear filled his eyes, and Jo’s heart almost broke. Tears blurred her vision. She squeezed his hand once, then turned and ran from him, unable to speak for fear she would agree to stay.

  9

  Nico groaned again. He paced along the balcony outside his room. The sound of distant crashing waves, hypnotic to him generally, did little to ease his heart. He had to convince her to stay. She was perfect for him. She was everything he had ever wanted. He was so much better when she was around. He panicked for a moment. He knew he could never continue this charade of being a respectable and reliable future king if she wasn’t around. He felt like the imposter he was. Stepping into overlarge shoes, clomping along in paths his father carved out. He knew he couldn’t do it without Jo.

  And he loved her. Nothing in his life had meaning without the thought of her in it. She was perfect for the country. She didn’t know it. The country didn’t know it. His mother didn’t know it. But Nico couldn’t be more sure. Jo was just what Torren needed.

  Trane knocked on the sliding glass door that led to the balcony where Nico stood. Nico waved him in. He rested his forearms on the balcony railing. “She wants to go home, plans to leave as soon as we can get a flight for her.” His voice caught. Then he turned to Trane who had come to stand beside him. “I can’t do this without Jo.”

  His brother rested a hip against the railing. “She’ll be a way better monarch than you.”

  “I know that. Better than most.” He couldn’t be irritated with Trane and his usual high expectations. He didn’t have the energy, plus he needed his brother’s help. “What do I do, Trane? She thinks it is too much. They got to her, throwing her father up on the television.”

  He frowned. “Do we know who is responsible?”

  Nico shook his head. “They are working double time to find out. Of course it’s no coincidence. Someone is out to get her.” He clenched his fists. “And it worked.”

  “You know who did it, right?” Trane crossed his arms.

  “I just said, we don’t know yet.” Nico didn’t like the self-satisfied, smug expression on Trane’s face.

  “If you can’t see it plain as day, I’m not gonna be the one to point out the obvious.”

  “Brother, what can I do? I need to convince Jo to stay.”

  Trane chuckled. “Love really does fuddle the brain.” He shook his head.

  “That’s not helpful.”

  “Maybe not. But think. If you didn’t love Jo, if this were some other woman, what would you do to convince her to stay, to give yourself more time?”

  Simple. Genius. He loved Trane more than ever. Nico gripped his brother by the shoulders. “The Fairweather.”

  Trane shrugged, “Or just a nice date. But a vacation on the Mediterranean would work also.” He chuckled. “If you can get away.”

  Nico groaned again. “I could never. You’ve noticed, perhaps, how much father is requiring of me lately.” He frowned.

  “I’ll take over your responsibilities. You take Jo and Julian and her best friend out on the yacht for a week.”

  Nico’s heart unclenched and his stomach relaxed. “You always did want the crown.”

  “The thing weighs a ton.” His expression turned more serious. “The crown is a Valdez responsibility. We need Jo as much as you do.”

  Nico searched his brother’s face and saw nothing but sincerity. Then he almost smiled. He wanted nothing more than to be able to take a break with Jo, to win her over, to simply enjoy his fiancé. And in the process convince her she could never live without him, and that she needed to be the queen of
Torren.

  The next morning Nico knocked on Jo’s door, then he peeked his head in. The sight made his heart clench anew.

  Jo hugged a pillow to her chest, her eyes red, her body shuddering. “We are leaving in a few hours.”

  He hurried to her side and pulled her onto his lap. “No, honey, you don’t have to.”

  She shook her head. “I do. We already talked about this.” She leaned her head down on his shoulder and snuggled into him.

  “I never took you out on The Fairweather.”

  She sighed. “I would have loved that.”

  He ran a hand down her arm and pulled her closer to him. “Can you put off leaving one more week? We’ll do what I should have done first, take a vacation out on the boat.”

  She sat up and looked at his face. Her tears left unchecked, glistened on her face, and his heart ached for her. He almost held his breath. “Sierra and Julian can come with us. One last party before you go?”

  Hope lit her eyes, just slightly, but it gave him courage. “It’s gorgeous. We can travel all over in a week. It gives us time to see as much as we want.”

  “Or just stay on the boat?” She smiled.

  “Absolutely.”

  Her face clouded. “But what about everything here?”

  He shrugged. “Trane is taking care of it.”

  She leaned back into his shoulder, grabbed his hand and toyed with his fingers. “I want this so much.”

  He waited. But the silence killed him.

  “Can we do this?” The hope in her voice thrilled him.

  He knew he had her. “Absolutely. Dance parties every night. Big, beautiful blue water in every direction, excellent sailing. Our best friends. Us. Quiet.”

  She sighed.

  “And your father can stay here with Nurse June.”

  She tensed and then relaxed. “He’s been telling me to let him be every time I see him.”