Some Like It Royal (Going Royal Book 1) by Heather Long

Author:Heather Long [Long, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2025-04-29T16:00:00+00:00

He rented a Lexus. A very nice, very comfortable, sink into the seats and let it cradle the body, Lexus. The man spent money like some people collected coupons. He didn’t look at the receipt when he signed the rental slip. Conversation lagged until he negotiated his way through traffic and put them on the road toward Woodland.

“Nervous?” He tossed a glance her way, but she shook her head.

“No.” She intended to leave it at that, but surprised herself. “A little uncertain. We’re assuming that the house is still there and that the people in it will have some idea of who lived there before.”

Was that why her stomach refused to settle? Why it kept flip-flopping like a fish caught on a line?

“We’re not assuming the new owners know anything. I didn’t think to have the P.I. investigate the property. He traced the sale of it, but that happened after your parents passed.”

Her stomach sank at the reminder, not that she needed one. The last time she’d tried to get answers, she ended up spending a small fortune in calling cards and getting nowhere. She’d finally given up. If the social workers had anything for her, maybe it had all gone to her care with the state.

“But—” he patted her thigh in the most casual and familiar of gestures, “—the area of Woodland you grew up in is known for longevity of its residents. I’m hoping your neighbors remember and can point us in the right direction.”

Neighbors. How easily he described them. Neighbors were not something she’d given a thought to or considered a potential source. Her life had revolved around fitting into a new home or a new school, not maintaining ties to a past that grew more distant, almost invisible in the rearview mirror of time.

“We’re assuming that my parents were social.” It was a lame rebuttal and the patient look he wore tweaked her.

“You don’t have to be social to notice your neighbors. When I was seven, we lived in this great little trailer park.” He grinned at the grimace she couldn’t hide fast enough. “Don’t knock trailer parks. They don’t always have the best reputation, but I loved living there. I couldn’t have told you the names of my neighbors, but I knew them all on sight and they knew me. They’d get after me if I was getting too rambunctious and they were always keeping an eye on the kids in the neighborhood. I went back about four years ago, just out of curiosity, and a lot of them remembered me.”

“Yeah?” A nugget of hope edged past the doubt coiling in her belly.

“Hmm-hmm. They remembered the windows I’d broken with my baseballs and the fact that I preferred reading and playing on that ‘damn’ computer to more manly pursuits. Mrs. Filmore, who taught my third-grade class, still lived in her trailer house across from our old lot and she was impressed that I grew into my brain.”

Alyx couldn’t help but join in with his laughter. There was something carefree about it.

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