comment. “Marie Anna, I expect you at that airport at eight-thirty tomorrow evening.”
Her father was right. She couldn’t leave poor Tanner stranded at the airport.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll see to it that he has a ride. But that doesn’t mean I’m engaged to him.”
Her father sighed. “You didn’t used to be so difficult.”
“Neither did you.” The memory of sitting on his lap and feeling as if nothing in the world could harm her was back, practically choking her with unshed tears. “But no matter how difficult we both are, I love you, Papa.”
“And I you, Marie Anna. And I you.”
He disconnected.
Parker sat staring at the phone in her hand.
Tanner was coming to Erie.
The boy she used to know was a man now…a man who thought he was coming to meet his fiancée and bring her home in order to plan a wedding, say “I do” and settle down into wedded royal bliss.
Poor Prince Eduardo Matthew Tanner Ericson of Amar.
Her father had misled him and now it was up to Parker to set him straight.
Call your father, Shey had said. This was all Shey’s fault.
So maybe Shey should be the one to pick up the prince?
Chapter Two
Parker was a basket of nerves by the next evening. She might not have been willing to tell her mother about having her access to her trust fund cut off, but she had no compunction about hoping her mother could talk her father out of Tanner coming to the U.S.
“Your father won’t budge. But I’m sure you can handle Tanner, honey,” her mother said. “I know how strong you are.”
“You don’t think I’m running away, like Papa does?” Parker had asked.
“Not running away, running to. Looking for a life that works for you.”
“And if that life is away from Eliason?”
“I hope that you’ll find a way to include Eliason, even if you don’t live here. But regardless, we’re your family, no matter what.”
Talking to her mother had centered her. It always did. Her mother had been thrust into the spotlight when she’d married. She understood the costs that type of scrutiny entailed and she understood that Parker wasn’t willing to pay the price.
If only Parker could make her father understand.
Even if she couldn’t convince him, she was going to have to convince Tanner that she wasn’t going back.
Shey had agreed to pick up the prince, but that meant someone had to watch the shop. And by process of elimination, Parker was elected.
It was the first time she’d been left in charge of Monarch’s. She hadn’t wanted the responsibility but had said yes because her other option was picking up Tanner.
Watching the shop was the lesser of two evils. But being left in charge of the small coffeehouse wasn’t all that was making her nervous. She’d actually gotten through the whole evening without a major accident or problem.
No, the idea of Tanner coming to Erie—that was what had butterflies dancing around in her stomach.
He’d probably be as difficult as her father.
It wasn’t just a royalty thing. It was a man thing.
Parker most certainly did not agree with her father and she was pretty sure that she wouldn’t agree with any of Tanner’s ideas either.
“Miss?” a woman, the last customer in the shop, asked.
That shook Parker from her dark thoughts. The dark-haired woman looked upset.
“Sorry,” Parker said. “I was thinking. Can I help you?”
“Is there anyone who could walk me to my car? There’s a man lurking in the park. He’s watching us through the window and he looks sort of…” She paused and turned a little pink. “Well, this sounds a bit much, but he looks sort of ominous. He’s dressed all in black and just standing behind that tree, looking in here.”
All in black?
Parker was hit with a sneaking suspicion that she knew who it was. A premonition of sorts.
She wasn’t sure why she was so certain. There had to be a lot of men who liked wearing dark colors. And she’d never been prone to second sight, although rumor had it that her great-aunt Margaret on her father’s side had been the type of woman who had all kinds of hunches and premonitions.
Maybe Parker had inherited a touch of the gift.
In between worrying about Tanner and her father, she’d found time to think about her dark customer on more than one occasion since yesterday.
Actually a lot more than one occasion.
He’d featured prominently in her dreams last night, to boot.
That had to be why the first thing that came into her head when the woman mentioned a man in black was Jace.
But what if she wasn’t just being a bit much? What if he was watching the store? Did it have anything to do with the fact that she was sure she’d seen him before?
Parker knew she wasn’t going to find the answers if she continued to ponder over it.
“Let me lock the register and I’ll walk you out,” she said.
When the woman didn’t look convinced, Parker added, “I can protect us. I have pepper spray.”
“You’re sure?” she asked, her hesitation obvious.
“Have you ever gotten a face full of pepper spray? We’ll be safe enough. Just give me one minute.” Parker went to the small doorway that separated Monarch’s and the bookstore, Titles. “Hey, Cara?”
“Yes?” the small brunette said as she hurried toward Parker.
“I’m walking a customer to her car. No one’s in the store and I’ve locked the register, but keep an eye on the coffeehouse a moment, would you?”
“Sure,” Cara said. “Is there a problem?”
“No. I’m sure it’s nothing. Just a jumpy customer.”
“Okay. But if you’re not back here in ten minutes, I’m dialing 911.”
“Thanks.”
Parker returned to the woman. “I’ve got my pepper spray and someone to watch the store. We’re good to go.”
“You’re sure?” the woman asked again.
“Positive.”
“I’m just across the street,” she said.
They walked out onto the sidewalk.
Parker squinted her eyes, trying to see across the street and behind the tree bordering the Perry Square park that the woman had mentioned.
She spotted a shadow.
“Straight ahead?” she asked.
“Yes. Behind that big tree,” the woman whispered. “My car’s just in front of it—the little Tracker.”
“Let’s go.”
They walked across the street to the car. Parker waited patiently while the woman unlocked the Tracker’s door and climbed in.
“Thanks,” she said.
“No problem. Hope to see you at Monarch’s again soon.”
The woman shut the