Christmas Royalty: A Clean, Christian Romance (Holiday Harbor: A Christmas Series Book 2) by Eliza Boyd

Author:Eliza Boyd [Boyd, Eliza]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Choose Love Ink
Published: 2023-07-17T23:00:00+00:00

Nine

At breakfast the next morning, Cora sat with Valerie at the table. Paul had left earlier with the boys to get some last-minute presents, so it was just the two of them, enjoying eggs and pancakes the day before Christmas Eve.

“It feels like I’ve barely seen you,” Val commented, cutting into her pancakes.

Cora felt a pang in her chest when she thought about that. “I’m so sorry,” she replied, setting her fork down. “I didn’t mean—”

Valerie raised her hand in the air and wiped her mouth with her napkin. “No, no. I didn’t say that to make you feel bad or anything. I know you’ve been helping Sam out with Amber, and that’s a great thing. As long as you’ve been enjoying yourself, I’m happy.”

“I am,” Cora managed to say before a blush rose in her cheeks. Then she stuffed her mouth with a forkful of eggs so she didn’t have to explain right away.

But Valerie wasn’t going to let her off the hook that easy. “I’ll wait.”

After chewing each bit into oblivion, Cora swallowed her food and then sipped from her glass of orange juice.

“Okay. Time’s up. Spill it,” Val said. “Does that color on your face have anything to do with Sam?”

When Cora didn’t say anything, her cousin’s face split into a grin.

“I mean, I knew you were spending a lot of time with Amber, but I didn’t realize Sam was around all that much. This just got interesting.”

“It’s not that interesting,” Cora insisted. Then she thought, I mean, we almost kissed yesterday, and he still has no idea I’m a princess, but whatever. No big deal, right?

“The way you won’t look me in the eye tells me it’s definitely that interesting.” Valerie stood and collected their plates.

Cora followed her to the sink, remembering when she’d been at Sam’s sink. “Okay, yeah, it’s kind of interesting,” she admitted, hoping to get some sense knocked into her. “But I know I shouldn’t feel this way. And I’m sure it has a lot to do with Amber. She’s a great kid and we’ve had a lot of fun together.”

In fact, spending all of this time with the girl had Cora wishing she’d had children of her own. Of course, she would have needed a husband for that, yet the right man had never come along. Not even in their stuffy high society. One guy might have been close, but she came with a lot of baggage. Having the king and queen as parents put a lot of pressure on possible suitors. No one had been ready to take that on—or they just hadn’t measured up.

Plus, she knew that her life wouldn’t have been like Sam’s if she’d had kids. She wouldn’t have Christmas Week and a whole community like Holiday Harbor to lean on. Though she would have had nannies and tutors and possibly her brother, she never would have had this experience. And her parents definitely wouldn’t have been regular grandparents. Not a chance.

Sam… Well, he didn’t yet know her lineage or situation.

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