A Very Merry Princess
Page 9

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CADE HAD SEEN videos of Rida in action but watching him in person was a whole different experience. The horse was that perfect combination of strength and agility. The same could be said of his rider. Beth and Rida were a well-matched team—anticipating, respecting each other. Seeing them together was a hell of a show.
One of the barn cats leaped up on the railing post and meowed at him. Cade scratched the side of its face. Beth slowed Rida and urged him closer.
“I named that one Harry,” she said with a grin. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Did you make sure he was a boy first?”
“I didn’t. It seemed rude. If he turns out to be a she, we’ll say it’s short for Harriet.”
“I like that you’re a problem solver,” he teased.
She laughed. “Thanks. I try.”
She swung her right leg off the saddle and jumped to the ground, then reached for the gate. Cade opened it first and they walked to the barn, Rida trailing behind.
“I met your sister yesterday,” Beth told him as they stopped in front of the tack room.
“Pallas couldn’t believe the El Baharian royal stables were sending a woman, so she had to come check you out for herself.”
“El Bahar is a great advocate of women’s rights both at home and abroad,” Beth told him. “Girls have been educated alongside boys for over fifty years. University is free to all. While we still value our traditions and culture, women aren’t second-class citizens.”
Before Cade could react, Beth groaned. “Sorry. That came out way more like a lecture than I’d intended.”
“Still, good information,” he teased. “I can probably use it on Jeopardy.”
“Is that game show still on?”
“It is. Are you a fan?”
“The theme gets in my head for days at a time,” she admitted. “Anyway, back to your sister. She seems really nice.”
“She is.”
Beth hesitated for a second. “She invited me to Thanksgiving dinner. Is that okay?”
“That depends. I have a big, loud family and my mother is weird. If you can handle it, you’re more than welcome.”
“Will I be in the way?”
“Do you plan to eat over six pounds of turkey, because unless it’s that, you’ll be fine.”
She unfastened Rida’s saddle and lifted it off him as if it weighed nothing. “I am unlikely to eat more than five pounds of turkey. I was thinking more about your personal life. Will your girlfriend mind me tagging along?”
He reached for the saddle, but she shook her head. “I’m good. I do this all the time.” She carried it into the tack room, leaving him to ponder the girlfriend question.
For a second he allowed himself to pretend she was fishing for information rather than being polite. Then he reminded himself his luck wasn’t that good. He’d had his share of women, but very few of them had been as beautiful as the curvy horsewoman walking Rida’s saddle blanket into the tack room.
“No girlfriend,” he said when she returned. “No wife, either.”
“I kind of assumed that last one,” she admitted, setting several brushes on the table by the door. “Seeing as I haven’t seen one lurking around the house.”
“Why would I marry someone who lurks? What are you saying?”
She grinned. “I take that back. You would never marry a lurker.”
As they spoke, she patted Rida’s front shoulder, then gently nudged him. The huge stallion politely shifted his weight to his other three legs, then raised his front hoof for her to inspect. Beth used a small brush to clean the outside of his hoof, then pulled a hoof pick out of her back pocket.
It was the kind of grunt work they all did every day, but he had to admit on Beth it look sexy as hell. Which made him an idiot. Or possibly something worse.
CHAPTER FOUR
“WHAT ARE YOU going to wear?” Queen Liana asked, her face showing worry on their Skype call.
“Mo-om, seriously? I’m not five. I know how to dress.”
“I know you know how to dress, Bethany. What I’m asking instead is do you have anything that isn’t a T-shirt and jeans? I saw your luggage. I would be thrilled to think you actually packed two duffels worth of clothes, but we both know the second duffel held a sleeping bag and pillow, don’t we?”
Bethany suddenly felt like that five-year-old. “How come you know me so well?”
“I love you and you’re my favorite daughter.”
“I’m your only daughter.”
Her mother laughed. “Then you don’t have to question my sincerity, do you?”
“I have one nice shirt,” Bethany said with a sigh. “And a pair of dark wash jeans. And flats.” Not exactly her mother’s elegant style but hopefully it was good enough for a family Thanksgiving. “Did you have a nice dinner?” Because while it was still late morning in Happily Inc, it was after ten at night in El Bahar.
“We did. We had a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Louis outdid himself. I had him freeze leftovers for when you get home, darling.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Louis was the family’s French chef and a master at both the fancy and the simple. The man made a grilled cheese sandwich that could reduce Bethany to whimpering.
“Enjoy your dinner tonight,” her mother said. “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too. Give my love to everyone.”
“I will.”
Bethany hung up, then headed for the shower. She’d already fed and exercised Rida. One of the other stable hands would check on him later that afternoon and Bethany would see him after dinner. With Harry hanging out near his stall all the time, she didn’t have to worry about her horse being lonely.
After showering, she blew out her hair, doing her best to use her round brush to add a little curl. It wasn’t as if she’d brought her curling iron, so that was all she could do.
She dressed in her good jeans and pulled on her shirt, then reached into her duffel for her flats. There was a plastic folder at the bottom of her duffel. She pulled it out and opened it, then unfastened the heavy cardboard protecting the document underneath.
Handwritten calligraphy covering thick parchment paper detailed Rida’s lineage back over five hundred years. Tiny drawings at each corner depicted Arabian horses in four different scenes.
She would give this to Cade before she left. He would receive a bill of sale, along with other documents, but to her, this was the one that mattered most. It didn’t just say Rida was his—it explained who Rida was.
Twenty minutes later, Bethany joined Cade in the living room and they went out together to his truck. Like her, he wore dark jeans, but with a long-sleeved shirt and leather boots. With luck, everyone else would be dressed similarly and she wouldn’t have to worry about fitting in.
“Do you know how to drive?” Cade asked as he held open the passenger door. “You’re scheduled to be here another three or four weeks. That’s a long time to be stuck on the ranch. I can arrange for you to have the use of one of the ranch trucks if you want to head into town or something.”
“I’d appreciate that.” She settled in the seat. “Thanks. I do know how to drive.”
One corner of his mouth turned up. “On our side of the road?”
She laughed. “Yes. We have that in common.”