Chapter 32

Tamara

The car was empty. I frowned.

What was I expecting? Of course the car would be empty. Alex was probably busy rehearsing his speech or combing his hair, and I’d been a fool for thinking he would accompany me to the press conference personally. My nerves were a little less understanding.

Alex was in hot water. He could play it down all he wanted, but I could tell last night’s phone call had stressed him out. Whatever was going on with his charity intertwined with our engagement, and I suspected that all the reporters baying for blood wanted nothing more than for us to fail.

I slipped into the car and did what Alex had told me to do. I banished the negative thoughts with dreams of our home, our future. It was a future I believed in and nobody would take that from me. No matter what happened today, how the press reacted, how Alex’s family treated me, we were in love and that was all that mattered. Everything else was just background noise.

It was a comforting thought, more comforting than I expected. I could face anything with Alex by my side. How many people could honestly say they’d met their soulmate and set up the perfect future together over the course of a summer? I was lucky.

A quiet calm stole in, filling the gaps left by the expired negative thoughts. I could do this.

The driver pulled up to the back of a hotel, where a security team had cordoned off part of the lot. “One of them will escort you into the conference room through the back,” he said.

I thanked him and stepped out of the car, smiling as I approached the security team. One of them split off from the group and directed me inside, and even though his stoic silence gave me the jitters, I still felt completely in control. Nothing could shake my confidence now, not with a lifetime of stargazing and tea drinking ahead of me. Nothing else mattered.

They’d set up a sort of staging area in the smaller of the two conference rooms, which was where my security escort dropped me off. The room bubbled with life. I hadn’t expected so many people to be there, no less so many I didn’t recognize. I craned my neck to find Alexander but there was no trace of him.

Edward’s face swam into view and he smiled at me, making his way through the crowd.

“Hello, Tamara,” he said smoothly. “How are you?”

To my surprise, I could tell he meant it.

“I’m a little nervous,” I admitted.

His eyes crinkled in tender concern. “You don’t have to be here. Nobody would blame you for wanting to shirk this particular spotlight.”

I shook my head. “No, I want to be here. I’m going to swallow my anxiety and get up on that stage with Alexander.”

“On stage?” His eyebrows drew toward the ceiling. “You don’t want to stay with the others?” He pointed to a TV in the corner. “You can watch it back here.”

“I want to be there for Alex. I need to support him.” I chuckled. “After all, it’s not like I’m completely uninvolved.”

Edward’s lip curved slightly and he gave a slow nod. “Very well. Don’t worry about all the fuss everyone’s making. It’s a standard press conference, it’s just that Alexander has been a bit of a loose cannon in the past and everyone thinks he’s going to do something stupid.”

“Do you?”

“I can’t think of a single decision he’s made recently that I disagree with.” Edward winked. “There’s refreshments in the corner but if you need anything else, let somebody know and they’ll get it for you.”

“Thanks, Edward.”

He smiled and left me to digest his comment. Was that his way of saying he approved of Alexander asking me to marry him? It must’ve been, right? Only after Edward had disappeared out the door did I realize that I forgot to ask him where Alexander was.

I scanned the crowd for someone familiar who I could ask, but before I could decide, Svetlana caught my eye and approached me.

“Remember me?” she asked, smiling sheepishly.

I laughed. “I never forget a drunk Swede.”

Her face relaxed. “I’m so sorry for how I acted that night. I was excited to meet you because I know how much Alex loves you and I think you guys have a special relationship.” She grimaced. “I’m afraid I may have taken it a little too far.”

“No, not at all,” I assured. “I was only a little confused, but I’ve heard wonderful things about you and I’m glad we got to meet. Maybe next time we could get drunk together.”

Her smile lit up the room. “That would be fantastic! If you’re half as fun as your sister, I think we’ll get along just fine.”

“I’m exactly two-thirds as fun as my sister, so you’re in luck.”

We both laughed, and I had a feeling in my gut that Svetlana would turn out to be a great friend. I was just about to ask her where Alex was when a man with a headset at the front of the room called for everyone’s attention. We both turned to watch. He explained that all those going into the main conference room should assemble by the doors, so I did.

Edward joined me. “Alexander is making a couple last minute tweaks to the speech,” he explained. “He needed to be alone.”

“Ah.”

Our security detail guided us down the hall to the next room, which came to life the moment we stepped inside. Flashes of white painted the backs of my eyelids in starbursts, and I treated the walk up to the stage as if it were a red carpet. Minus the posing, obviously. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time.

Edward and I stepped up and stood at the back of the stage. The doors opened again and this time Alex walked through, smiling and waving at the reporters as they snapped an endless stream of photos. My heart did a nervous cha-cha but I kept my face composed. This would be over soon.

Alex’s smile grew when he saw me up on stage and he practically leapt up the steps to kiss me.

“You didn’t have to come up here,” he said.

I rolled my eyes playfully. “Well I’m here now. Not like I can just walk out.”

“I dare you,” he said, eyes twinkling with mischief.

“Shut up. Don’t you have anything better to do than tease me?”

“I guess I’ve got this speech thing,” he acknowledged. “Though I think teasing you is miles more important. And a lot more fun.”

His smile chased away any residual stress from this morning and I found myself grinning back. Dozens of reporters murmured in the background, cameras flashing and tongues wagging, but I didn’t care. I saw only Alex. Felt only Alex. He was the start and the end for me, and I could face a sea of adversity if he smiled at me the way he did now.

“Ed’s giving you the eye,” I whispered.

Alex glanced over at his brother, who was indeed giving him the eye. He chuckled. “Guess duty calls. What are you doing after this?”

I batted my lashes. “Are you asking me out, Mr. Rainhall?”

“Hey, that’s Your Royal Highness to you.” Alex winked. “I’ll take that to mean you’re free and you definitely have time for ice cream by the river. I think we’ll both need it.”

“Fine, fine.” I pushed his gently on the shoulder. “Now get over there before Edward blows his lid.”

Alex kissed me again and then stepped beside his brother. The murmurs of the crowd went down to whispers and Edward walked to the podium.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the press, thank you for meeting us here today,” he said in a voice deeper than I was used to. I had to hold in a snicker. “There have been a number of questions raised by the media these past few weeks about my family, and we invited you all here to clear the air. My brother Alexander will say a few words, and then both of us will be available to take your questions.”

He nodded to his brother, and Alexander stepped forward. Edward patted his arm on the way past and Alex nodded with a solemn expression much different than the one I witnessed a couple of minutes ago.

“Good morning everyone,” Alex greeted, adjusting the microphone higher. “I’d like to join my brother in thanking you for coming. These past few months have been a whirlwind for me and I know you’re all very curious what I’m up to.”

The assembly laughed. Edward’s lips pressed together ever so slightly and I wondered if that was part of the prepared speech.

“We have a special relationship, don’t we?” he continued. “You and I, I mean. You’ve been there with me through all the ups and downs of my life, documenting my failures, my faux-pas, my poor fashion choices. As you should. I’m a prince of this country and I lead a public life. I have a responsibility to my people to do my best with that life. That was something my mother believed with her whole heart, and she practiced her belief every single day.”

One look at Edward confirmed my suspicions. Alexander was not reciting the speech Edward gave him, though from the complete silence of the crowd it seemed to be going well anyway.

“And that’s just it—being a good person, a good prince, is a practice. One you have to work at.” Alexander’s lips pulled into a half-smile. “And I’ve been doing a poor job of it.”

Hushed chatter in the crowd. I could tell what they were all thinking—this was gold. The man second in line for the throne had just admitted his failures.

Admittedly I didn’t know much about royal decorum, but I knew that confessing failure was an invitation for public outcry.

But Alex didn’t have his tail between his legs. He didn’t seem ashamed, nor did he plead forgiveness. The man at the podium was the picture of confidence and dignity, and though the crowd were thinking of ways to spin his words against him, they hung onto his every word.

“Something changed in me recently,” he continued. “Two things, actually. The first was that I realized the kind of man I wanted to be, even though I couldn’t quite figure out how to get there. The second was that I fell in love with the person who showed me the way.” He looked back, smiling as he spoke. “Love doesn’t always make sense. It’s not always convenient or proper, and it doesn’t pay heed to distance or time. Love is just love.”

Alexander faced the press again. “I love Tamara Callahan, and for whatever reason, that love has earned both of us a great deal of negative attention and has damaged the reputation of a project very close to my mother’s heart. And that’s why we called you here today, to set the story straight and lay out all the facts. But before I take any questions, I would like to introduce you to someone.”

Alexander held his hand back to me and smiled reassuringly. I tried not to shake as I took it, especially because Edward looked very tense and it made me nervous.

Alexander pulled me beside him on stage and laced his arm around my back. “People of the world, this is the woman I love—Tamara Callahan. You know her as the star of Princess of Nowhere. I know her as a woman who loves disco, dotes on my dog, and wants nothing more than to care for the people she loves. She’s not a princess or an aristocrat, but I’ve never met someone more poised. Our courtship may not have been conventional, but I wouldn’t wish for our journey to have gone any other way.

“No matter how much I believe in us, there will still be those who don’t, and that’s okay, but the organizations my brother and I are working to refurbish are organizations of good. All I ask is that even if you don’t believe in our love, you believe in my dedication to my mother’s memory and the people of this country. Don’t punish the many to spite the few.” He grasped my hand and lifted it to his chest. “I love Tamara Callahan. I know you will love her too. And together we’re going to accomplish great things.”

To my surprise, the room erupted into applause. Alex beamed from ear to ear and swooped down to kiss me.

And the world stopped on a dime.