Chapter Six
Back in the United States.
At nearly eighty-two, Delinda Westerly was forced to accept pain, in some fashion or another, as a constant companion. The clock running down on her life made every moment matter; there was so much she didn’t want to leave undone. It also freed her from worrying what people thought of her—not that she’d ever valued the opinion of many. Born into wealth and tested through tragedy, Delinda knew she’d have some explaining to do at the pearly gates, but if she were given her life to do over, she wouldn’t do much differently.
The door of her solarium flew open, and Hailey Tiverton, her grandson’s fiancée, rushed into the room. “I came as soon as I saw your text. What’s wrong?”
Looking worried, Alessandro Andrade, a man Delinda loved like a son, strode in. His mother, a woman who had been one of Delinda’s dear friends, would be proud of the patriarch he’d become. “Did you call the doctor? Is he on his way?”
Hailey sank to her knees beside Delinda’s chair, searching her face. “Where’s Michael?” She laid a hand on Delinda’s forehead to check for a fever.
Delinda smacked her hand away. “Michael is making travel arrangements for me. I don’t need a doctor.”
Hailey took out her phone. “I don’t understand. You asked me to come over because you were sick and almost dead.”
“What?” Delinda squinted at Hailey’s phone screen. She reached for her glasses and made a face at what appeared to be a text from her that said exactly that.
Alessandro sat in a chair next to Delinda. “I received the same message.”
“Because I included both of you in one of those group-message things. Spencer assured me that texting was better than calling, but I don’t see how, when my phone takes literary license with what I enunciate into it.” She pushed the phone away. “I said, ‘I’m sickened by what I just read.’”
Hailey rose to her feet and laid a hand over her heart. “I tried to call you back, and when you didn’t answer, I almost called 911. If we didn’t live so close, I would have.”
“I was on my way over or I would have done the same,” Alessandro said, shaking his head. “You aged me today, Delinda.”
Delinda pursed her lips briefly. Apologies had never come easily to her, but these were two of her friends as well as her family. “It’s a new phone, and it kept beeping and binging to the point that I silenced it. They call it a smartphone, but it announces everything like some bumbling idiot.” She sighed. “I didn’t mean to worry either of you.”
“It’s fine,” Hailey said. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“My health may not be in immediate decline, but I am far from okay.” She reached for her tablet and woke it with a tap. “I knew Rachelle shouldn’t have gone off to London without me. Look at what they’re saying about her.”
“Come now, it can’t be all that bad,” Alessandro said in a tone he often used when he thought Delinda was working herself up over nothing. He might be nearly sixty, but she still saw the precocious and carefree boy he’d once been. Delinda handed him the tablet and showed him a video clip of Prince Magnus walking away from Rachelle, followed by a slew of nasty comments.
Hailey gasped. “Oh, that is bad. People are horrible. Poor Rachelle.”
“It’s being translated and shared everywhere. How would you feel if this was about Maddy?” Delinda asked.
Alessandro’s hands tightened visibly on the device. Gone was his normally jovial expression. “I have friends in London. They can quash this.”
Delinda took the tablet back and scrolled to an article put out by online social pages. “It’s too late for that. Unlike the press, you can’t control the Internet. Did you see that some second-rate princess agreed? She called Rachelle American trash. My granddaughter? She is a sweet, educated woman who put her career aside because her brother needs her. Who do they think they are? With her inheritance, Rachelle could buy and sell every palace in those ridiculously outdated and minuscule countries.”
“It’s not good for you to get worked up, Delinda,” Alessandro cautioned. “You really could make yourself sick.”
Hailey merely sat there with wide eyes and a pained expression.
Delinda put the tablet down and rose to her feet. “When I’m done with them, they’ll be sorry they ever came after a Westerly.”
“Is she going to war with Europe?” Hailey asked with an uncertain chuckle.
“No. Delinda, calm down.” Alessandro stood. “Rachelle is stronger than you think. She’ll rise above this.”
Delinda smiled and she nodded. “Yes, with my help she will. The prince doesn’t think my Rachelle is good enough for him? He’ll be singing a different tune when I’m done with him. Hailey, do bring Skye over for dinner tonight. I’d like to see her before I leave for Vandorra, especially considering I’m not certain how long this will take.”
Hailey joined them, looking bemused. “How long what will take? I don’t understand.”
Alessandro tried to pin Delinda with a look, but she refused to meet his eyes. “If I thought Eric would be supportive, I would tell him that I have finally found a role worthy of my consideration.”
“Oh boy,” Alessandro said.
“I’m still lost.” Hailey threw up her hands in confusion.
“Those Europeans like their royalty and their fairy tales,” Delinda said. “In the end, that’s what this will be. Princess Rachelle de Bartelebon. It has a ring to it, wouldn’t you say?”
“No more matchmaking,” Alessandro warned.
“I don’t care if they actually marry,” Delinda bit out, “but Rachelle will receive a proposal from that prince, and it will be a public one. She can turn him down if she wishes.”
Hailey chewed her lip nervously. “I haven’t known Rachelle as long as you have, but I don’t think she would want us to get involved.”
“That’s why she won’t know,” Delinda said firmly.
“Oh no.” Hailey looked to Alessandro for help.
“Don’t do this, Delinda.”
“It’s done. I fly out tonight.”
A heavy silence settled over the solarium until it was broken by the arrival of Michael. “Would anyone like tea?”
“Michael,” Delinda said, “if Cinderella were real, could you imagine a better fairy godmother for her than me?”
Michael took his time before answering. “If Cinderella were real, I doubt she’d need a prince anymore.”
Delinda smiled smugly. “Exactly the point I will make clear to Prince Magnus de Bartelebon.”