“Well done, Your Highness.” Dottie smiled at him. “She wouldn’t have made that sound this fast without your help.”
He reciprocated with a slow, lazy smile, making jelly of her insides. The afternoon was exhilarating for Dottie, a divine moment out of time. Anyone watching would think they were a happy family. Before she knew it, dinner was served beneath the umbrella of the table on the sun deck. Zoe displayed a healthy appetite, pleasing her father and Dottie.
Toward the end of their meal he said, “Attention, everyone. I have an announcement to make.” He looked at Zoe. “Guess who came home today?”
She stopped drinking her juice. “Uncle Stasi?”
“Yes. Your one and only favorite uncle.”
“Goody!” she blurted. “He’s funny.”
“I’ve missed him, too. Tonight there’s going to be a party to welcome him back. I’m going to take you two ladies with me.”
Zoe squealed in delight.
“After we finish dinner, I want you to go upstairs and get ready. Put on your prettiest dresses, because there’s going to be dancing. When it’s time, I’ll come by for you.”
Dancing?
Adrenalin surged through Dottie’s body at the thought of getting that close to him. Heat poured off her, but she couldn’t attribute all of it to the sun. She suspected his announcement had caused a spike in her temperature.
Her mind went through a mental search of her wardrobe. The only thing possibly presentable for such an affair was her simple black dress with her black high heels.
“Will it be a large party, Your Highness?”
He darted her a curious glance. “Thirty or so guests, mostly family friends. If you’re both finished with dinner, let’s go upstairs.”
After gathering their things, Dottie said she’d see them later and she hurried back to her bedroom for a long shower and shampoo. She blowdried her hair and left it loose with a side part, then put on her black dress with the cap sleeves and round neck.
While she was applying her coral-frost lipstick, she thought she heard a noise in the other room. When she went to investigate, she saw Zoe looking like a vision in a long white dress with ruffles and a big yellow sash. But her face was awash in tears. She came running to her.
Without conscious thought, Dottie knelt down and drew her into her arms. It was the first hug she’d given her, but she could no longer hold back. Zoe clung to her while she wept, exactly the way Cory had done so many hundreds of times when he’d needed comfort.
“What’s wrong, darling?”
“Daddy’s going to get married.”
Dottie was trying to understand. “Don’t you mean your uncle?”
“No—I heard Yiayia tell Sofia. My daddy’s going to marry Princess Genevieve. But I want you to be my new mommy. When I kissed Yiayia good-night, she told me Princess Genevieve will be at the party and I had to be good.”
A stabbing pain attacked Dottie until she could hardly breathe. “I see. Zoe, this is something you need to talk to your daddy about, but not until you go to bed. Does he know you’re here with me?”
“No.”
Dottie stood up. “I need to phone Hector so he can tell your daddy you ran to my room.”
When that was done, she took Zoe in the bathroom. After wetting a washcloth, she wiped the tears off her face. “There. Now we’re ready. When we get to the party, I want you to smile and keep smiling. Can you do that for me?”
After a slight hesitation, Zoe nodded.
Dottie clasped her hand and walked her back in the other room. “Have I told you how pretty you look in your new dress?”
“Both of you look absolutely beautiful,” came the sound of a deep, familiar voice.
Alex.
Dottie gasped softly when she saw that he’d entered the room. Since Zoe had left the door open, he must not have felt the need to knock. The prince, tall and dark, had dressed in a formal, midnight-blue suit and tie, taking her breath. His penetrating black eyes swept over her, missing nothing. The look in them sent a river of heat through her body.
“Zoe wanted to show me how she looked, Your Highness. In her haste, she forgot to tell Sofia.”
He looked so handsome when he smiled, Dottie felt light-headed. “That’s understandable. This is my daughter’s first real party. Are you ready?”
When Zoe nodded, he grasped her other hand and the three of them left the room. He led them down the grand staircase where they could hear music and voices. Though Zoe lacked her usual sparkle, she kept smiling like the princess she was. Her training had served her well. Even at her young age, she moved with the grace and dignity of a royal.
Some of the elegantly dressed guests were dancing, others were eating. The three of them passed through a receiving line of titled people and close friends of the Constantinides family.
“Zoe?” her father said. “I’d like you to meet Princess Genevieve.”
For a minute, Dottie reeled. She’d seen the lovely young princess in the news. Zoe was a trooper and handled their first meeting beautifully. One royal princess to another. Dottie loved Zoe for her great show of poise in front of the woman she didn’t want for her new mother.
Dottie was trying to see the good. It was natural that Alex would marry again, and Zoe desperately needed a mother’s love. Plus their match would give Alex more children and Zoe wouldn’t have to be the only child. In that respect it was more necessary than ever that her speech improve enough that when Alex married Princess Genevieve, his daughter could make herself understood. Zoe also needed to be strong in her English speech because she would be tested when French was introduced into their household. Princess Genevieve would expect it. The House of Helvetia was located on the south side of Lake Geneva in the French-speaking region.
Now that she knew of Alex’s future plans, Dottie had to focus on the additional goal to pursue for his daughter. She needed to help prepare Zoe for the next phase in her life and—
“My, my. What have we here?”
A male voice Dottie didn’t recognize broke in on her thoughts. She turned her head to discover another extremely attractive man with black hair standing at the end of the line. Almost the same height as Alex, he bore a superficial resemblance to him, but his features were less rugged. The brothers could be the same age, which she estimated to be early to mid-thirties.
When she realized it was Crown Prince Stasio, she curtsied. “Welcome home, Your Highness.”
He flashed her an infectious smile. “You don’t need to do that around me. My little brother told me you’re working with Zoe. That makes us all family. Did anyone ever tell you you’re very easy on the eyes?” His were black, too. “Alex held back on that pertinent fact.”
What a tease he was! “Zoe told me you were funny. I think she’s right.”
The crown prince laughed. She noticed he had a fabulous tan. “Tell me about yourself. Where have you been hiding all my life?” He was incorrigible and so different from Alex, who was more serious minded. Of the two, Dottie privately thought that Zoe’s father seemed much more the natural ruler of their country.
“I’m from New York.”
His eyes narrowed. “Coming to Hellenica must feel like you dropped off the edge of the planet, right?”
“It’s paradise here.”
“It is now that