there,” Drew admitted grimly. “Growing the company and making room for their firstborn.”
Their only born, he added silently. Nothing would make his parents—mostly his mother—happier than having him take over the family bank for a couple of years, and then join his parents’ lobbying firm. While he was all over the first half, he had no interest in being a lobbyist.
“Not your dream job?” Jasper asked.
“Not even close.”
Jasper grinned at Cade. “Too bad they’re not your parents. Imagine how happy they’d be to know their son was marrying a genuine princess.”
“I don’t know where to start with that,” Cade admitted, then looked at Drew. “Have you told your mom about the engagement?”
“No, and I don’t plan to. The last thing any of us want is my mother camping out in town so she can go to your wedding or whatever it turns out to be.”
Cade had bought a stallion from the king of El Bahar. The “stable girl” who had delivered the stallion had turned out to be a royal princess in disguise. Cade and Bethany had fallen in love and were getting married. While the details hadn’t been worked out, there would be some kind of event or celebration locally, complete with the royal family attending.
“Your mom is going to find out.”
“Not from me.” Drew wouldn’t do that to someone he didn’t like, let alone a cousin.
“Have you two decided on your wedding plans?” Jasper asked. “You could always elope.”
Cade grimaced. “We’ve talked about it, but Bethany doesn’t want to disappoint her parents. We’re definitely holding the ceremony in El Bahar, but we’re going to do something here, too. The details are being worked out.”
Drew supposed that the logistics of marrying into a royal family put his life questions in perspective.
“Let me know if there’s going to be a party,” Jasper told him. “I’m heading to New York in a couple of weeks. I can rearrange things if it means hanging out with royals.”
Cade didn’t look convinced. “You’re like Drew. You don’t care anything about someone being royal or important.”
Jasper grinned. “That is true, but I’m always looking for ideas for the next book. Plus, you’re a friend. Someone has to be around to keep the crazies off your back.”
Drew nodded. “Jasper will handle them and I’ll run interference with my mother if she shows up.”
Cade winced. “Thanks, Drew. You’re a good friend.”
“You know it.”
SILVER LAY ON the carpet, her feet propped up on the sofa. She rested her cell phone on her stomach and adjusted her earbuds.
Leigh was due to call in about three minutes and her friend was nothing if not prompt. While she waited, Silver thought about all that had happened in the past few days and wondered if she had an answer to the obvious question—what was she going to do about the trailers?
She was tempted. Very tempted. They were exactly what she wanted and with them she would have a chance to expand her business. Between the extra twenty grand Drew was throwing in on top of her own savings, she could refurbish both of them, buy the trucks needed to pull them, have enough left over for an emergency fund and have some work done downstairs.
Her second-floor loft apartment sat above retail space. Currently, Silver used the downstairs as a showroom, with large posters showing her trailer at a variety of venues and a couple of tables set up like a party. There was a place to go over drinks menus and discuss specifics. But she kept thinking she should do something to monetize the square footage. Right now it was just deadweight.
Again, with Drew’s help, all that could change. The price would be both working with him and having to share the profits. He wasn’t buying into her business for the thrill of it. She had so much to think about.
She picked up her phone and smiled. One minute to go. While she was waiting, she touched the screen to display her photos. She went right to the folder that held the pictures of Autumn, then scrolled through a half dozen.
Autumn was eleven, with dark hair and deep blue eyes and looked a lot like her dad. She was smart, pretty and kind. Okay, and yes, she had a bit of the devil in her, but she wasn’t mean—just adventurous.
Silver studied the child she and Drew had created and knew that at some point she was going to have to come clean. Especially if they were going to work together. Not that she’d done anything wrong. She’d gotten pregnant and she’d told Drew. They’d agreed on adoption and Silver had returned home to find the right family.
What Drew didn’t know was that while pregnant, Silver had gotten close to the adopting couple. That she’d ended up living with them the last few months of her pregnancy and that she and Leigh had formed a tight bond that still existed today. Drew didn’t know that after Autumn’s birth, when Silver had felt confused and uncertain about her future, she’d gone back to Los Angeles and had lived with Leigh and her husband. Although the two of them had eventually divorced, Silver, Leigh and Autumn were family. They talked all the time, visited a lot, and Silver regularly took Autumn for a weekend or two every year.
The familiar guilt returned. Silver pushed it away, telling herself that it wasn’t as if she’d lied to Drew. He’d never once asked. For all he knew, she could have lost the baby. For him, once the decision had been made, he’d totally forgotten about the pregnancy, while she’d had to live it for the next six months. And beyond.
Her phone rang. She pushed the talk button and smiled. “Hey, you.”
“Hey, yourself.”
Leigh’s voice was happy and filled with affection. They were only twelve years apart in age, so more like sisters than mother and daughter.
“I got your text about the trailers,” Leigh continued. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m still thinking.”
“It seems like a good opportunity.”
“You think I should work with Drew?”
“If he’s going to be a minority partner, then why not? You get the trailers, you don’t have to worry about a bank loan and you can grow the business how you want to.”
“But it’s Drew.”
“At least you know him and he has a strong business background.”
“Maybe knowing him is the problem,” she grumbled. “I don’t know if we can work together or not.”
At one time, she’d been wildly in love with him, but they’d both been young and that was so different from a business relationship.
“Could you trust him?” Leigh asked. “Because without trust, there isn’t anything.”
“I have to think about that, too,” Silver told her. “I would need to get to know him again.”
Leigh laughed. “Good thing he’s already committed to the trailers. It means he’s stuck with your timetable.”
“I hadn’t thought about it that way, but you’re right. So what’s new with you?”
“I do have some exciting news. At least I hope you’ll think it’s exciting.”
“Yes?”
“Denton has decided he really wants a wedding.”
Silver smiled. Leigh’s fiancé had been all in on a big wedding, then had wanted an elopement and was, apparently, back on with a wedding.
“That