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Her eyes narrowed. “I see by the look on your face that you have quite a bit to say.”
“Why don’t we finish eating, and then we’ll talk?”
“All right. It’s not like I haven’t been waiting for the truth for over a decade. What’s another few minutes more?”
They finished their meal in silence. Gideon knew that anything they said from here on out would be related to the elephant in the room. And since he wanted Eve to eat, he refrained from talking. There would be plenty of that soon enough.
Once they finished, he cleared up the few dishes they’d used. She had offered to help, but he’d given her a look that had her backing away with a curt nod. The tension was rising every second, and though he fully intended to give her the truth, a part of him felt anger at the accusation in her eyes. Yes, he’d kept things from her, but everything he’d done had been for her, not against her.
Throwing the dishtowel on the counter, Gideon pulled in a deep breath. He was well aware he was trying to rationalize and make excuses, and that was not going to work for either of them. If she had done the same thing to him, he’d be spitting mad.
“Gideon?” Eve said softly.
He turned, his heart melting at the tenderness in her eyes. He might have kept things from her, but this woman knew him—inside and out. She knew he was dreading the next few moments, and her generous heart was telling him it was okay. Was it any wonder he adored her?
She settled onto the sofa and, without asking, allowed him to place a pillow beneath her leg. He went to the chair across from her, and the instant he was seated, she said, “Tell me.”
Gideon pulled in a breath, searching for the right words. Hell, were there any words that were right when breaking a heart?
Maybe it was best to start from the beginning. If she could understand how it had all begun, maybe she would be more forgiving on the harder things.
“Remember Homer?” he asked quietly.
Obviously startled, her expression a mask of puzzlement, she said, “Of course I remember Homer. I told you about him a long time ago.”
“Yes, you did. The thing is… I already knew about him.”
“How could you know?” she whispered softly.
He would never forget the day he’d made one of the most monumental decisions of his life. If a person lived long enough, there were multiple defining moments that would alter and change them, for better or worse. He was almost thirty-eight years old, so he’d had his share. However, one of his most significant moments had come early.
At age twelve, he’d been serious and motivated—a kid with an old soul, his mother used to say. He’d had three siblings to watch over while both his mother and father worked their fingers to the bone to provide for the family. The responsibility had never felt onerous. That had come later. At that time, it had just been part of his life.
Of course he’d heard the stories of Princesse Evangelina. Even a kid from the poor side of town had heard about her adventures. She was the youngest royal and the only daughter. With three much older brothers who had sown their wild oats for all the world to see, Princesse Evangelina could have been just as wild. She had been, but not in the traditional sense.
And from the moment he’d seen her that day, his life had changed.
Twenty-five years ago
His strides long and determined, Gideon ran the numbers through his head as he made his way home. The hot sun blazed above him and sweat trickled down his back. He didn’t mind the heat and had no problem walking home from his after-school job, but soon he’d be able to make the trip in less than half the time. If his numbers were right, he would soon have enough money for his bike.
The job at the market was finally paying off. He’d worried giving up his weekends as an usher at the movie theater to work more hours at the market would be a mistake, but he was glad he’d made the decision. With the tips he’d made today, he’d have his bike before the end of the year. He wished he could ride his bike to school, too, but since he walked his three younger siblings to school each day, he knew that would never happen. He would always be watching over them. That’s just what an older brother did.
As he strode down the sidewalk, he waved at the people he recognized. It was surprising the number of people he knew. Of course, most of that was because this area of town had been his paper route when he was younger.
As he drew nearer the midtown section, he glanced over at the castle on the hill. He rarely paid attention to the gargantuan structure. It was simply a part of the city of Amelie, as much as the bridge that passed over the river or the opera house on the next street over. Living in the city where the royal family resided was normal to him. Not that he knew them, of course, but he knew all about them. They had spent a whole semester studying the royal family and its lineage in his fifth-grade history class. The current royals consisted of a king, three princes, and a princess. He’d never seen them up close, though. He and his family didn’t exactly run in the same circles.
When he was about six or so, he had stood on the side of the road with his parents as they had watched the funeral procession for the queen go by. The king and his family had passed by in a limousine, and he’d caught a glimpse of their sad, ravaged faces.
He remembered how his mother had cried at the loss. Queen Noemi had been much beloved, and the fact that she had left behind not only a grieving husband and three sons, but also a two-year-old daughter named Evangelina, only added to the tragedy. The entire country had mourned her.
Spotting something peculiar, Gideon stopped midstride. A large crowd was gathered on the south lawn of the castle. Without even thinking about it, he headed toward the people. It looked like something was going on with the giant oak tree that had recently been in the news. The closer he got, the more curious he became. The stories of the princesse and her climbing tree were well known. She had fallen out of it twice already and, according to the gossip mill, had been forbidden to climb the tree again. Two days previously, she had ignored that order and had fallen again, this time breaking her arm.
The local news had reported that the king had demanded that the tree be cut down.
The princess and her tree was one of the current topics that Gideon and his family discussed at dinnertime. News events were always discussed at the dinner table, with each member expected to have a current event in mind to discuss. It was his parents’ belief that children should know what was happening in the world. The discussion about the princess was one of the few times he could remember his parents disagreeing. Though both believed cutting down the tree was a travesty and should not happen, his father claimed the princess needed more discipline, while his mother said she was merely high-spirited and needed a creative outlet.
Perhaps the four-hundred-year-old oak tree—the oldest one in the city—was about to be chopped down right now to prevent the princess from injuring herself again. He didn’t know what should be done about the princess, but he agreed with his parents—cutting down the tree should not be the solution.
