Luka’s caravan, although small, was absolutely spotless.
‘Often things make the news simply because they are news, not the norm. You need medical attention, Luka. Attention I can’t give you.’ Dragan sighed. ‘As well as the medication, they’re going to need to get plenty of protein into you and a lot of calories to fight the infection, so they’ll probably put you on a drip. Once the needle’s in, it doesn’t hurt, and it’s the best way to get the right fluids into you.’
‘So you’re saying I’ll have to stay in hospital?’ Luka’s eyes widened.
‘It won’t be for that long.’
‘No. No way. I belong here.’
He’d heard that before. Very recently. From someone just as stubborn.
Except she wasn’t here now.
‘I belong with the horses,’ Luka insisted.
‘Then the sooner we get you to hospital, the sooner we can get you back here with the horses again.’
Luka was silent for a long, long time. Only the way he gripped Georgina’s hand gave any clue to what was going on in his head. Finally, he looked at Dragan. ‘All right. I trust you.’
Melinda hadn’t. The thought skidded into Dragan’s mind before he could stop it. He pushed the idea away. Now wasn’t the time to start thinking about the way his life had been turned upside down. He had a duty to his patients. ‘Let’s go, then,’ he said quietly.
‘Can I come with you?’ Georgina asked.
‘Better not,’ Luka said. ‘Your dad will go mad. You’re not even supposed to be seeing me. And with your mum ill…She doesn’t need the stress of your dad in one of his moods.’
‘Dad’s just going to have to accept it,’ Georgina said, lifting her chin.
‘His daughter moving in with what he calls a “dirty bloody gyppo”?’ Luka shook his head. ‘Don’t push it, Georgie. You don’t break a horse by smashing its spirit. You get it to trust you and work with you as a partner, so you’re a team.’
‘And you think you can make Dad change his mind?’
‘It just takes time. Softly, softly. The more he gets to know me, the more he’ll realise that true Romanies aren’t thieves or liars or unclean—that he’s got the wrong idea.’
‘Dad never admits to being wrong.’
‘He will this time.’ Luka squeezed her hand. ‘I’m not going to kiss you. I don’t want you to get this. But everything’s going to be all right.’
The irony wasn’t lost on Dragan. It was the same situation as his own: Malcolm Somers, the owner of the riding stables, might just as well be the king of Contarini. Just like Melinda’s father, Malcolm Somers wasn’t going to want his daughter seeing someone he considered to be of inferior social status.
Whether Luka would be able to work a charm offensive on Malcolm and make the older man realise that there was no disgrace—that Luka was Georgina’s equal and would treat her with the love and respect she deserved—Dragan didn’t know. But he seriously doubted that he’d be able to do that with Melinda’s family. Which meant they’d cut her off. She’d be isolated from her family.
So he was going to have to do the right thing and let her go. Let her be what she was born to be: a princess.
CHAPTER EIGHT
DRAGAN wasn’t answering his phone. Melinda frowned. He’d probably left it at home while he took Bramble for a walk. Dio. She missed the dog pattering around. She missed holding Dragan’s hand while they strolled down to the cliffs. She missed Cornwall. And, oh, how she missed Dragan.
But soon she’d be home. And she couldn’t wait to see him. She quickly tapped in a message. On way home. Will call you from Newquay.
‘Your Highness, are you sure about this?’ the pilot asked when she boarded the small plane. ‘Your mother…’
She smiled at him. ‘Don’t worry. She’ll be angry with me, but I’ll make sure you won’t get into trouble. I just want to go home.’
The pilot gestured out towards the airfield. ‘Contarini is your home, Your Highness.’
She shook her head. ‘Not any more. Please, can we go?’
‘No, you jolly well can’t,’ a voice said from the doorway. ‘You’re supposed to say goodbye first.’
‘Rena! What are you doing here?’ Melinda asked, surprised to see her sister.
‘Just making sure you’re all right.’ Serena boarded the plane and sat next to her sister. ‘Are you sure you’re doing the right thing? This isn’t…a…well…’
‘Fling?’ Melinda supplied.
The pilot withdrew to a discreet distance.
‘No.’ Melinda was very definite. ‘Dragan is the love of my life. For the first time I can ever remember, I belong somewhere. With him. And I want to be with him, Rena.’
‘Well, if his personality’s as gorgeous as his looks…’
‘It is,’ Melinda confirmed.
‘And he makes you happy?’
Melinda nodded. ‘Happier than I’ve ever been in my life.’
Serena hugged her. ‘Then follow your heart. I wish you both all the best. And I’m most definitely coming to the wedding—and I expect to be a bridesmaid—so you ring me as soon as you’ve sorted out a date.’
Melinda bit her lip. ‘I don’t think Mamma and Papà will be there.’ Her mother had expressly decreed that morning that there would be no wedding. And Melinda had finally snapped, telling her mother a few things she should have said years ago.
The ensuing row had practically blistered her ears.
They’d presented a united front at the funeral, for the sake of the media. But Viviana Fortesque had made it very clear that if Melinda went back to Cornwall it should only be to sort things out. ‘And then you will come back here, to your rightful place. You are next in line to the throne,’ she’d said coldly. ‘And you know your father needs to abdicate, to take things easier and leave the running of the kingdom to someone else. You cannot walk away from your duty.’
What about her duty to her patients, to her colleagues? Melinda refused to leave them in the lurch. And, most of all, she refused to leave Dragan. And she’d made that just as clear to her mother—who’d responded with the stoniest, iciest silence Melinda had ever encountered.
‘Mamma will calm down. In a week or so,’ Serena said. ‘Papà will talk her round, like he always does.’ She grinned. ‘Though I never thought I’d see the day you got the headlines above Raffi.’
‘It’s not funny, Rena. The timing was atrocious.’ And it had taken every ounce of backbone she’d had that morning, to face her mother’s fury as she’d banged the newspaper onto the table. ROYAL VET’S SECRET LOVER
‘Mamma would’ve had a fit whatever day she’d seen that headline,’ Serena said wryly. ‘Though yes, today was probably not the best of days for it to happen.’ She hugged her sister. ‘Be happy, Lini. And I’ll speak to you soon. Let me know you’ve arrived safely.’
‘I will. And thank you, Rena. For being there.’
‘It’s how families are supposed to be,’ Serena said softly. ‘How I wish ours had been when we were growing up. And how I hope yours will be now.’
So do I, Melinda thought. So do I.
The