She said it as if she suffered no pain herself, but Pippa knew she did. She took a quick glance at Nic and caught the tightening of his jaw. She was struck by Amelie’s determination to grab at every experience in life and Nic’s struggle to hide a myriad of the emotions he was experiencing.
“I’ve heard the recovery from a broken foot can be a bear,” Pippa said.
“Oh, and trust me, Paul is a being a complete bear,” Amelie said. “He doesn’t like being restrained. Never has.” Amelie glanced at Nic. “It runs in the family.” She turned back to Pippa with an expressive, interested gaze. “But enough about us. Tell me about you, your interests, your life. Over the years, I’ve read a few stories in the news about the Devereauxs, and I must confess I wondered about Edward’s children. I’m sure he must have been proud of all of you.”
Pippa paused. The truth was her father hadn’t been very involved with any of his children. He’d given the most attention to her brother Stefan because he would be the heir, but her father was mostly pleased that he had enough children to do the work, so he could spend more time playing on his yacht. Often with women other than his wife.
“I’ve always been a bit of a bookworm. I’m working on my doctorate in genealogy with a specialization on the medical impact on the citizens of Chantaine. My brother Stefan is determined to improve the health care of our people, so he has approved my path of studies.”
“That’s fascinating,” Amelie said. “What have you learned so far?”
“Like many countries, our people are more susceptible to some diseases and conditions than others. These can be traced back hundreds of years to the introduction of different immigrants, new foods and changes in our environment. The neurological disease that struck down my father can be traced back to his great-great-grandmother’s family. There are also certain cancers that became more common such as when Chantaine experienced a large immigration from Iceland.”
Amelie gave a slow nod. “I wonder if—” She glanced up and broke off with a smile. “The crepes are here.”
Just as she’d said, Amelie only took a bite of each crepe. She savored each bite, closing her eyes and making a mmm sound. “I’m tempted to eat more, but I know it would be a mistake.” She leaned toward Pippa and extended her hand. “Dear, I must tell you that even though I couldn’t marry your father all those years ago, I wished him only the very best after we parted. I hope he was happy.”
Pippa tried to think of how to respond to Amelie’s words. The story about Edward and Amelie’s courtship was the stuff of tabloids. Before he’d taken the throne, Prince Edward had fallen for Amelie and Amelie had been entranced by him for a short while. When she’d met Paul Lafitte, from the States, however, she’d fallen for the tall, dark Texan hook, line and sinker. The Lafittes descended from pirates and even Pippa had to agree the Lafitte men held a dark, irresistible charm.
When Amelie tried to break off her engagement, Prince Edward had refused. Paul had intervened on her behalf and there’d been a terrible brawl. Her father the prince had been humiliated and Pippa wasn’t certain he’d ever truly given his heart away again.
“I think he enjoyed his life,” Pippa finally said. “He loved his yacht and the sea and we always felt glad that he was able to indulge his passion.”
Amelie patted Pippa’s hand. “You’re a lovely girl. As they say in Texas, you do him proud. Now, if you’ll both excuse me while I powder my nose,” she said and stood.
Nic also stood. “Need an escort?” he asked.
“Not this time, darling. Maybe you can talk Pippa into nibbling on some of those crepes,” she said and walked away.
“Is she okay?” Pippa asked when he sat down.
He shrugged. “For the moment. The next moment could bring something totally different. She knows her time is short and she’s decided to make the most of it. The only problem is she’s turned into an eight-year-old. Impulsive, runs off without thinking. With my father down due to his broken foot, I’ve become her keeper.”
Pippa swallowed over the knot of emotion in her throat and began to put the crepes in the carryout boxes. “I’m sure it’s difficult. On the one hand, you want to give her everything she wants. On the other, you want to keep her safe. It’s an impossible situation. She told me,” she said, biting her lip, “that she wants to die in Chantaine.”
His gaze narrowed. “That’s going to be a tough wish to fulfill given the fact that my father isn’t allowed to set foot on Chantaine.”
Cold realization rushed through her. “I forgot all about that. I can’t believe that would be enforced after all these years.”
He gave a rough chuckle. “After all these years, your family still hates me. I can’t take the chance that your family would lock him up in prison.”
“It wouldn’t be my family. It’s a silly law,” she said.
“Same result. It sucks, but Amelie can’t have every wish on her bucket list. I’ll do my damn best to make sure she gets as many as I can,” he said and stood as his mother arrived at the table.
Amelie met his gaze and sighed. “We should leave, shouldn’t we?”
He nodded and placed the boxes in a bag.
“Let me look around just one more moment,” she said, surveying the room as if she wanted to savor each detail, the same way she’d savored each bite of the crepes. “I’ve already spoken to Bebe. She’s lovely as is her granddaughter. Ciao,” she whispered and picked up the bag, then led the way to the door.
A terrible helplessness tore at Pippa as she followed Amelie out the door. She felt Nic’s presence behind her and tried to tamp down the painful knot in her chest. Seeing him again had been like ripping off a bandage before the wound was healed. She’d thought the longing she’d felt for him before was awful, but now it was even worse. Knowing that he was facing some of his darkest days and that she shouldn’t, couldn’t, help him, was untenable. Meeting his magical mother face-to-face and seeing her courage and joy made her feel like a wimp. Her biggest challenge to date was writing her dissertation.
Amelie stopped beside Nic’s Mercedes and turned to Pippa. “I hope we meet again, Your Highness. You’re the nicest princess I’ve ever met. I’m sorry I frightened you with my annoying fainting spell. But then you gave me water and helped me remember Bebe’s. I certainly came out the winner in this situation.”
“I beg to differ,” Pippa said. “It was my great pleasure to meet you.”
“Ciao, darling princess,” she said and Nic opened the door for her.
Pippa should have turned away, but she couldn’t resist one more look at his face. It was the worst kind of craving imaginable.
He turned and met her gaze for a heart-stopping moment that took her breath away. “Ciao, Princess.”
Still distracted by her encounter with Nic and his mother after she’d returned to the palace, Pippa started down the hallway to her living quarters. She would need to set the Lafittes’ situation aside if she was going to make any progress on her research today, and heaven knows, progress had been very slow coming since she’d made the insane mistake of getting involved with Nic. The problem was that even after she’d broken off with him, he still haunted her so much that she struggled to get her work done.
Just as she turned the corner toward her quarters, she heard a shrill scream from the other wing. Tyler, she thought, easily identifying one her sister’s toddler stepsons. He was going through a screaming stage.
“Tyler, darling, you’re not dressed,” her sister Bridget called, her voice echoing down the marble hallways. “Don’t—”
Pippa heard Tyler cackle with glee. She also heard the sound of her sister’s heels