Page 23 of Romancing Rayne

“Here.” He placed the pen in my hand. When I didn’t move, he pushed the door farther open revealing the back side.

I had to blink a few times before I understood what I was seeing. “What’s this?”

“Exactly what it looks like.”

“Ghost! You’re not thinking of adding our names to the back of this door, are you?”

I scanned the names and dates carved into the wood. The earliest one I could see dated back to 1870. In the center, there were more recent additions. Elizabeth and Philip 1947. William and Catherine 2011. Harry and Meghan 2018.

“I cannot write on this door. That’s the queen’s name.”

“Indeed it is.”

“I can’t.” I handed the pen back to Ghost.

He had no issue adding our names near the bottom of the door.

Princess and Ghost 2018

“There, our names are forever etched into a royal heirloom,” he said proudly.

“I cannot believe you did that,” I said through a fit of nervous laughter. “That is the most insane thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I promised you a twenty-five year anniversary scavenger hunt. Now we’ll have to come back.” He started back to where the group was waiting for us. “We’d better hurry; we wouldn’t want Spike to miss his tea,” Ghost mocked.

Did that really just happen? I was truly at a loss.

“Lunch sounds great. I’m starving,” I said, trying to mask my giddy satisfaction.

Harry, Meghan, and Oliver were all waiting for us near the exit by the time we came back around.

“Ready?”

“Yes. Thank you,” Ghost answered.

“When we get to the bottom, we’ll head out through the Royal entrance. Oliver will go with you and drive,” Harry explained.

And down we went, 344 steps. I used the time to memorize every moment of this adventure; I never wanted to forget a single minute of the day.

10

Ghost

“Where are we going for lunch?” Rayne asked from the back seat.

“It’s a surprise.”

“I don’t think I can handle any more surprises, Ghost. I feel bad I didn’t get to say a proper goodbye when we parted ways with—”

“You’ll see them for lunch. We’re joining them.”

I knew she was fishing for hints. Spike had told her we had lunch plans while in the belfry.

“Oh, that’s right,” she pouted. “Is that Hyde Park?”

“It is,” Oliver answered. “Have you been?”

“No, never.” Rayne’s face was almost pressed against the window as she took in what she could from the moving vehicle.