Hilda walked over to where Tabitha stood, her smile still planted on her face as she wrote a check and gave Tabitha her business card.
By the end of the day I had almost reached my financial goal and left with a light heart. If there was one thing I could be proud of, it was that I had planted the idea of this program into the minds of people who cared—people who would help me see it through.
“That was a very beneficial event.” Tabitha was looking through a stack of business cards.
“Wasn’t that great?” I smiled at her. “To know that they want to help, that they are helping?”
“Definitely.” She turned her phone on and started typing. “You’re going to have these kids swimming in crayons and paper in no time.”
“Well, I hope it’s more than that.” I frowned. ”I want them to experience as many different forms of art as possible—for them to experience it hands on.”
“And they will.” She never looked up and I tried to not be annoyed by her lack of interest. It wasn’t her fault that she didn’t seem to care about art. As long as she did her job, that’s all I could ask for.
Watching her play on her phone made me think about mine, though, and I pulled it out of my jacket pocket and frowned when I realized there were no missed messages. I stuck the phone back in my pocket and sighed.
Busy. He was busy.
Or I had done something wrong.
Or he was just busy. Which was probably the most likely explanation—and it did nothing to ease the worry that gripped me.
When we arrived at the hospital I dismissed Tabitha for the rest of the day. I wanted time alone with Selene before going back to the hotel. My appointment had run late, so Max was gone by the time I got to the room.
Unbuttoning my jacket, I sat down in the chair next to Selene’s bed and propped my feet up on a stool. The sound of Selene’s soft snore and the whir of the machines worked like a sedative. I was asleep before I realized I was tired.
“Your Highness?” A cold hand shook my shoulder and I startled awake.
“What?” I sat up and brushed the hair out of my eyes. “What?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” The doctor smiled at me. “I need to get to the machine behind you.”
“Oh.” I climbed out of the chair so he could get to the monitor.
“She’s doing really well. I think just a little longer and she’ll be ready to go.” The old man smiled at me.
“Excellent. Thank you so much.”
“It’s been my pleasure.”
As soon as the doctor closed the door, Selene popped one eye open. “Is he gone?”
“Yes.” I sat back down and laughed.
“Good. I’m tired of answering all of the same questions.” She sighed and reached for my hand. “You should have gone home. No need to sleep in the chair.”
“I’m fine.”
“I saw you on the news.” Selene raised an eyebrow. “David looked nice and you looked very happy.”
“Oh, you know how we fake it.” I winked at her. My heart did a little dip at the mention of his name and I had to fight the impulse to check my phone.
“Yes, I do. And I also know when you look truly happy.” She smiled at me.
“It was fun. We get along really well even though we’re so different.”
“That’s the key.” Selene smiled fondly. “I dated a boy like David once. All muscles and brooding eyes. He was a carpenter and made the most beautiful things. We had nothing in common, but that didn’t seem to matter.”
“What happened?”
“Oh, life. Things change, jobs change. But I wouldn’t trade the memories.” She patted my hand. “If you really have that special something, hold on to him.”
I frowned. I thought we had that special something. Had I been wrong?
Turning away from Selene I dug my phone out of my pocket and checked my incoming messages. Still nothing. Frowning I checked my e-mail. Nothing there either.
Had I broken some cardinal rule? Texted too soon? David wasn’t the kind of guy to play games. I’d dated those types of people—Kyle had been that guy. The one who thought when I said no I secretly meant yes.
Not wanting to give in to my worry, I decided to text him again. What could it hurt?
Is everything okay? Are the paparazzi bothering you?
I hit send before I could rethink it and turned back to look at Selene with a smile. “There. That’s me not letting him get away. I think.”
“Good for you.” A nurse with a rattling cart pushed open the door and delivered breakfast before leaving just as quickly.
I looked at the covered tray and felt bad for poor Selene. “That looks horrible.”
“Trust me, I know.” She picked up her cup and I moved to help her. “You should get out of here and get some real food.”
“When you’re done, I will.” To be honest, I’d have to leave. I needed to go back to the hotel and change before a video conference.
As soon as Selene was back asleep, I was up and running. Jameson called for the car and I didn’t even take the time to shower before changing. Instead I put my hair in a loose fishtail braid and freshened up my makeup just before my computer beeped.
“Hi, Mother.”
“How are you, dear?” Mother’s face popped up into view and I smiled. She was in a car, headed to parliament for the day. “How is Selene?”