“Thank you, Gretchen, for all your years of service at the royal palace.” Nico held his drink aloft, and I did too. Even the twins had a small flute of champagne. It was Gretchen’s anniversary of working at the castle and Nico had invited her for dinner.

“Thank you so much, Your Majesties—and Cara.” Gretchen smiled as servers brought in plates of steak and potatoes. She seemed excited to be joining us even though it was just a fairly regular dinner. The twins, too, seemed keyed up. Maybe it was because we’d be leaving for London the next day?

“Tell us about what it was like when you first started working here,” Nico urged.

“No, tell us what Nico was like when he was a little boy,” I countered, winking at the twins. “The more embarrassing, the better.” The kids grinned, eager to hear whatever Gretchen revealed.

The older woman smiled, her cheeks rosy. “Now, miss, don’t try to get me in trouble. Do you think I lasted thirty years here by telling secrets about the royal family?”

“I guess not,” I conceded.

“Mind you, if I did ever tell start telling stories… they’d be really good ones.”

Everyone laughed, and Nico smirked at me, pleased that my effort to get Gretchen to spill the beans had failed.

The steak was delicious. Fortunately, I’d finally gotten comfortable with the European style of holding the silverware. The food was too good to have to worry that each forkful might go astray.

Derrick and Elyse finished eating faster than us, both leaving food on their plates. They were staring at each other intently, and not for the first time, I got the impression that they had some kind of twin telepathy. They looked like they were having some kind of silent argument. Evidently Elyse won—she raised her eyebrows and nodded at her brother until he spoke up.

“Umm… dad?”

“Yes?” Nico put his fork and knife down.

“I’m really excited about Apollo.” The peregrine falcon was supposed to be coming by courier—a friend of Wilhelm’s—over the weekend.

“Me too.”

“But Wilhelm said it might get here by Friday.”

Nico drank some wine before responding. “That’s unlikely. It probably won’t be until Saturday or Sunday.”

“But it could be on Friday,” Derrick persisted.

“Then you’ll just have to meet Apollo when we get back from London.”

Derrick was momentarily quiet, seeming to think about this. An elbow from his sister spurred him into speech again. “I just… I’d really like to see him right when he gets here, when Wilhelm put him in the mews. I want to know what he thinks of his new home.”

“You can do all of that when you get back.”

“Yes, but I want to see the first time. I was wondering… could I stay here instead of going to London?”

Nico looked at his son in surprise. “You don’t want to go?”

“I do,” Derrick said quickly. “But I really want to see Apollo when he gets here. Please, dad? We’ve been waiting for him for weeks, and I don’t want to miss anything.”

Nico looked thoughtful. It wasn’t up to me, but I was torn. I’d really been looking forward to taking the kids around London. We had a lot planned for the two days when Nico would be tied up in meetings.

Finally, Nico spoke. “Well, I guess if it’s really important to you, sure. We’re going to miss you in London, though.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

I spoke up. “Elyse, we can pick out some nice souvenirs to bring back for your brother.”

“But I want to see the falcon, too. Can’t I stay, too?”

“Neither of you want to go? We’ve been planning this for over a week.” Nico sounded dismayed.

“I know, but Derrick keeps talking about Apollo all the time, I want to see him. We can take pictures and send them to you,” she added, looking in my direction.

“That won’t be necessary. I’m your nanny. If you stay, I stay, too.” I smiled cheerfully, but inside I felt a little disappointed at the turn of events.

“No!” Elyse said, looking at Derrick for a moment before turning her gaze to Gretchen.

“Oh, but miss,” Gretchen began. “You’ve been looking forward to seeing your friend at the theater.”

“Yeah, you have to give him the thank-you card I made for him,” Elyse added.

“We can mail that, silly. If you both stay, then I’m staying,” I said.

Derrick and Elyse stared at each other, silently communicating again. What was with them tonight?

“I can take care of them,” Gretchen said abruptly. “It would be my pleasure—just like old times. You should go to London, miss. It’s lovely this time of the year.”

“Yes, you should,” Derrick added. “We’ll be really good here. We won’t run off.”

“I can’t go without you two—can I?” Helplessly, I looked at Nico. He was staring shrewdly at the twins.

After a long moment, his gaze shifted to Gretchen. “Are you sure? They’re a lot to handle.”

“Of course I’m sure,” Gretchen said briskly. “We’ll be fine. They’re like my own grandchildren.”

“And Apollo will be your grandchild, too,” Derrick said eagerly.

“Naturally,” Gretchen responded without missing a beat.

Nico rolled his eyes. “Just what every woman dreams of—having a bird of prey in the family.” He shook his head as if in disbelief at this turn of events. “Well… if you all are sure… then I guess it’ll just be the two of us going to London.”

His hand found mine under the table, and the realization sunk in as his long fingers stroked mine. Nico and I were going to London. Together. Without two tiny, twin chaperones.

A warm glow was spreading through my limbs as my mind raced ahead at the possibilities. We’d be together for four days. It seemed almost too good to be true.

Later, after I tucked the twins into bed, I couldn’t help knocking on the way past Gretchen’s room. She opened the door with a smile.

We spoke for a few minutes about Derrick and Elyse. Yes, she’d looked after them for years, but currently, I knew more about their daily schedule than she did.

She asked some questions, jotted a few things down, and then did her best to reassure me. “We’ll be fine. You just go enjoy yourself. You haven’t had much time off since you started working here.”

Her mention of work reminded me of something. “It sure was nice having you at dinner tonight.”

“Thank you, miss,” she said, smiling innocently.

“And it seemed like quite a coincidence, too—today being your anniversary here.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

Her face gave nothing away, so I had to be more direct. “Is today really the anniversary of your starting to work here?”

She shot me a smile. “Goodness knows, that was a long time ago. It very well could be.”

I shook my head, but I couldn’t help the half-laugh, half-groan that escaped my lips. “I knew it.”

It’s not that I wasn’t grateful to her and the twins for scheming to send Nico and me to London alone. This trip seemed like a dream come true. But I was also bothered that Elyse, Derrick, and even Gretchen seemed so invested in the nature of our relationship. The last thing I wanted was for their hopes to be dashed. “Thank you, Gretchen.”

“I hope you and the prince have a very nice time, miss.”

I hoped so, too. But hope could be a fickle thing sometimes. Maybe it was best not to have any expectations of how our trip might go.

Or at least that was what I kept telling myself.