Читать книгу Mills and Boon Christmas Joy Collection - Liz Fielding - Страница 38

CHAPTER SIX

ALEX’S HANDS WERE still shaking. That had been it. The situation that—in his head—he’d dreamed about being in.

Him and Ruby alone.

Getting private time in the palace was harder than it seemed.

Ruby’s questions a few days ago had started to play on his mind. How much time did he actually get to spend with Annabelle?

He tried to be there most mornings when she had breakfast. He always tried to see her before bedtime. But in a world where visits to other countries were inevitable and midnight conference calls were normal it wasn’t always possible.

Annabelle was the spitting image of her mother. He’d already been friends with Sophia at her age. And, although he loved his daughter with all his heart, sometimes she was a painful reminder of the friend he had lost.

Perhaps he’d overreacted when the nanny had mentioned Annabelle’s speech seemed a little behind?

Alex had no experience with children. And the internet seemed like a dangerous tool sometimes. He’d paid for expert upon expert to assess her—all the while terrified that there was something wrong with his child.

When Ruby had said that as part of the assessment she wanted to see how Annabelle and Alex interacted with each other he’d felt a wave of panic. Was it a criticism? She hadn’t made it sound like that. Maybe he was just feeling under pressure.

He’d planned carefully. He’d had someone pack a picnic to take to the palace grounds, then they would walk into the centre and have some ice cream—just as Ruby had suggested.

Then he gone to find Ruby and she’d been surrounded by the dresses he’d ordered and been half dressed.

Maybe not strictly true. But that glimpse of the skin on her back had been enough to send his blood pressure rising. When he’d offered to zip her up it had taken all his strength not to pull the zip down.

Alex was always in control. That night in Paris years ago had been the first time he’d shaken off his security team in years. Bumping into Ruby had made the whole night perfect. Having her in the palace again was bringing a whole host of sensations he hadn’t acknowledged in years.

Rufus had mumbled in his ear all the way along the corridor. The look of surprise on his face to see Alex exiting Ruby’s bedroom had spoken volumes without a single word being said.

Neither of them had acknowledged it. Alex had immediately started talking business and given Rufus a list of instructions for the rest of the afternoon.

Annabelle and her nanny were waiting at the main entrance for him. After a few minutes Ruby came down the main staircase carrying a bright pink ball in her arms. Her face was slightly flushed. A sure sign they’d been doing something they shouldn’t.

Brigette gave a nod and left while Alex offered his hand to Annabelle and put the picnic basket over his arm.

‘A picnic? You never said we were having a picnic,’ said Ruby.

‘Didn’t I?’

He glanced at the ball, then at her feet. She was wearing a pair of white trainers with a yellow dress. It brought a smile to his face. Ruby didn’t really worry about who might take her picture and claim she’d made a fashion faux pas.

‘I didn’t take you as a footballer.’

Ruby pulled at the skirt of her dress and smiled. ‘I have lots of hidden talents. But maybe I should have worn something different—trousers, perhaps?’

He shook his head. ‘I think your dress will be perfect. Now, let’s go.’

There was a further little flush of colour in her cheeks. Both of them were remembering exactly why he liked the fact she was wearing a dress.

But Ruby wasn’t giving anything away. She bent down in front of Annabelle. ‘A picnic—wow. It’s been years since I’ve been on a picnic. Why don’t you take us to your favourite place in the palace grounds and we’ll eat there?’

She gave Alex a little smile and walked out through the door, waiting for them to join her.

He could sense the general unease in the air. There were a few members of staff staring at them. Was it really so unusual that he spent time with his child—or had word spread even more quickly than he’d thought that he’d been seen leaving Ruby’s bedroom?

He gave Annabelle’s hand a squeeze and they walked out into the beautiful sunshine. Ruby’s idea was good. He’d been trying to decide between going near where the horses were stabled, to the ornamental gardens, the duck pond or the palace maze. But Annabelle had other ideas. She was leading them around the side of the palace, her little footsteps assured.

It only took a few minutes, then she plunked herself down on the grass directly behind the ornamental fountain.

Alex blinked. This was the place where he’d had that picture taken with Sophia. They’d both been about Annabelle’s page and the photo had been zoomed around the world with the press headline ‘Future King and Queen?’

Had Annabelle ever seen that picture? He wasn’t sure, but he could tell from a fleeting glance at Ruby’s face that she certainly had.

Whatever her thoughts on the matter, she sat down next to Annabelle on the grass, not even waiting for him to lay out the picnic blanket he’d brought along.

The little girl started to fumble with her shoes. Ruby gave her a smile and knelt down next to her, taking off her white leather sandals and frilly socks.

She held out her hand to Annabelle and the two of them walked over to the fountain. Annabelle hadn’t said a word and he was confused. How did Ruby know what she wanted?

He moved closer as Annabelle stood up on the wall surrounding the fountain and dipped her toes in the water. She let out a little laugh and he took a deep breath.

His little girl’s laughter. How beautiful it was—and how rarely he’d heard it.

Annabelle was walking around the fountain now, holding Ruby’s hand to keep her balance. She had the biggest smile on her face.

He walked in pace with Ruby. ‘How did you know that’s what she wanted to do?’

He couldn’t take his eyes off his little girl. Couldn’t believe how much she looked like her mother. It alarmed him how much he noticed.

Ruby shrugged. ‘It’s exactly what I would do if I were Annabelle’s age.’

They reached the point where they’d started and Ruby put her arms around Annabelle’s waist and swung her in the air.

‘Whee!’

Annabelle laughed again as Ruby swooped her through the air and landed her on the blanket that he’d spread out. She picked up a corner of the blanket and started drying Annabelle’s toes.

Alex opened the basket and started unpacking the food. The palace chef had outdone himself, as usual, but the most curious thing was a small tub full of steamed-up food.

Annabelle gave a little shriek of excitement and grabbed it, pulling open the lid and searching for a spoon.

Ruby wrinkled her nose and leaned closer. ‘Macaroni cheese? Is this one of Annabelle’s favourites?’

Alex nodded. ‘Apparently.’ He peered in the basket. ‘I’m not quite sure how it managed to find its way into the picnic basket, though.’

Ruby grabbed an apple, bit into it, then leaned back on her hands, staring up at the palace. ‘I can’t say I’ve ever had a picnic in front of a palace before.’

He stared up at the hundreds of windows. There might be a whole host of palace staff looking down on them at any moment. It might look like a private picnic, with no one visibly around them, but the truth was it was anything but.

He pulled a bottle of water out of the basket and popped the tab for Annabelle. ‘Would you like to go and see the horses? Or the maze?’

She shook her head and continued to eat the macaroni. He reached into the basket for some more food, and squinted when his hand came into contact with something strange. A leg. A plastic doll’s leg. And another doll. And another.

He pulled them out. One was in a princess dress, one in a swimsuit and one in a semi-naked state with her arms partway into a spacesuit.

He winked at Ruby. ‘Ruby, I see you brought your dolls to play with.’

She laughed and grabbed the blonde astronaut, pushing her arms and legs into the silver and white suit and fastening it appropriately. ‘Of course I did, Alex. I like playing with dolls.’

Annabelle’s head shot up and she gave a little smile, abandoning the macaroni and walking over to the dolls. Her comprehension was perfect. She understood everything that was going on around her. So why didn’t she talk?

Ruby held up the princess doll and the swimsuit doll. ‘Which one do you like best? The pink one or the purple one?’

He wondered what she was doing. Annabelle screwed up her face and shook her head. There were no pink or purple clothes.

Ruby just smiled, as if this was something she did every day—which she did. She held each doll higher. ‘Oh, I see. Silly me. Blue or red, then?’

Annabelle came over and picked the doll wearing the pale blue dress and pointed towards her own.

Ruby nodded. ‘You like blue, then?’

She gave Alex a secret smile. Every little thing she did was part of Annabelle’s assessment. Every other person who had come to see her had been much more rigid in their processes, wanting Annabelle to do certain things at certain times. Being three was difficult enough. But Alex had been made to feel as if Annabelle was being difficult or uncooperative. She didn’t seem that way with Ruby.

Annabelle took her dolls and walked over to the ornamental fountain with all three.

‘I think they’re all about to go for a swim—costumes or not,’ murmured Ruby.

She seemed perfectly relaxed out here. She picked up a ham sandwich and started to eat. He reached in and pulled out his favourite. Tuna. Hardly royal. Probably not the thing that most Prince Regents would eat. But this had been Alex’s favourite since he was a child.

The tension between them wasn’t as high as it had been in the room when they were alone. But then again, they hadn’t been on display there. He kept wondering if there were any unseen eyes watching what should be a private affair.

‘She knows her colours. For a three-year-old that’s good.’ Ruby was watching Annabelle again.

‘You can tell just from that?’

She shook her head. ‘Oh, no. I’ve done a few other exercises as well.’ She leaned forward and pulled her knees up, wrapping her dress around them. ‘Listen...’ she whispered.

Alex sat a little straighter, straining to hear what Ruby had heard above the constant trickle of water from the fountain.

There it was—floating across the air.

Ruby touched his arm. ‘She’s humming. She did that the other night with me.’ She gave a tiny shake of her head. ‘I know that one of the reports about Annabelle questioned whether she could even make sounds. But she can. You’ve heard her laugh. You’ve heard her squeal. And she can communicate with sign language. She’s choosing not to speak.’ A frown marred her complexion. ‘I’ve just got to figure out why.’

Her eyes were fixed on Annabelle playing with her dolls. This was all so easy for Ruby. Annabelle was just a patient. She didn’t have the same investment, the same emotional connection that he did. She didn’t have the same frustrated feeling that there must be something else he could do. She was a professional with a puzzle to solve.

‘You make it sound so easy.’ He couldn’t help the way the words sounded. He’d forced them out through gritted teeth.

But Ruby didn’t react. She just kept looking at Annabelle. ‘I don’t think it’s easy, Alex. I just think that you—and I—are going to have to be patient. That’s the only way this can work.’

Her eyes met his. For a second he wasn’t quite sure what she was talking about. They were talking about Annabelle, right? Because those words might sound as if she were talking about them instead.

‘What’s your first memory, Alex?’

‘What?’ He was surprised by her question.

She smiled at him. ‘I can honestly say the first thing I remember is from around age seven. I was on holiday with my mum and dad in Boulogne in France. I can remember walking about with cases because we couldn’t find our hotel. Then my father thought it would be interesting to go and watch the fishermen.’ She gave a shudder. ‘Watching fishermen gut their fish was not something I wanted to see as a seven-year-old.’ She turned and smiled at him. ‘That’s my first real memory.’

He sat back a little, unsure where this was going. ‘I can remember having to sit very still for a long, long time. It was at some awards ceremony and my father glared at me every time I moved. I hated the shirt and tie I was wearing because it felt too tight.’

She nodded. ‘What age do you think you were?’

He shrugged. ‘Around five, I think.’

She lifted her hand towards Annabelle. ‘Here’s the thing. Science tells us that the first three years are the most important for a child’s brain development. It’s the first time we’re supposed to form memories—but I can’t remember anything from back then. The experts tell us that young children’s memories change over time, replacing old memories with new ones. So I’m looking at Annabelle and wondering what she remembers.’

‘What do you mean?’ This was starting to make him uncomfortable.

She interlinked her fingers. ‘The brain has connections—hard wiring. Children’s brains are like a sponge—they take in everything all around them. Children are born to learn. By their first year seventy-five per cent of the hard wiring is in place.’ She pointed at Annabelle again. ‘By age three ninety per cent of the hard wiring is there.’

She ran her fingers through her hair.

‘Under the age of two, lots of their development depends on attachment. I wonder if Annabelle’s speech issues could actually be down to the loss of her mother.’

‘What?’ Alex shook his head. It was something he hadn’t even considered. ‘But she was only eleven months old when Sophia died.’

Ruby nodded slowly, ‘Exactly. A baby recognises its mother’s voice in the womb. Once it’s born it puts the face and voice together. It responds to those. You said that Sophia was a good mother and spent most of her time with Annabelle?’

He nodded. ‘Yes, she did.’

‘Then for eleven months Annabelle’s hard wiring was formed all around her mother.’

Ruby sat back, letting what she’d said sink around him. She seemed to know when she’d said enough.

She wasn’t apportioning any blame. She wasn’t being confrontational. She was being logical. She was giving him information and letting him think for himself what it might mean.

He sat quietly. Ruby was relaxed and Annabelle seemed happy. She was busy trying to drown all her plastic dolls in the ornamental fountain and probably block the pumps from here to eternity.

No matter what Ruby had just told him it was comfortable. It was relaxed.

The sandwiches disappeared quickly, followed by some little cakes at the bottom of the picnic basket. Ruby didn’t feel the need to chatter and fill the silence. She was entirely happy to lie back on the blanket and watch Annabelle.

This was something he never got time to do any more.

There was always something to be signed, someone who needed to talk to him urgently. An email or a letter to write. A dignitary to entertain. A celebrity to pander to in order to bring extra publicity and business to Euronia.

Where was the time for Annabelle in all that?

Where was the time for him?

He never got time to be just a father. He never got time to be just Alex. Did anyone in the palace even think of him as just Alex?

He watched as Ruby moved, crawling on all fours, ignoring her dress and bare knees, creeping across the red stones to meet Annabelle and start splashing her with water from the fountain.

Annabelle shrieked in delight and ran around the fountain. It was the finest sound he’d ever heard.

Two minutes later Ruby had the pink plastic ball and was throwing it over the top of the fountain to Annabelle at the other side. But that was soon too safe—too ordinary. Within a few seconds they’d both climbed on the wall at each side of the fountain and were throwing the ball to each other while balancing precariously on the low wall.

He should intervene. He should tell them to stop being so silly. Last time they’d had to replace the blue tiles in the wall of the fountain it had taken for ever. He couldn’t even remember the cost.

But both of them were laughing out loud. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Annabelle so happy. And it was Ruby who was responsible for that.

Something twisted inside him. Part of it was pride, part of it a little inkling of jealousy. Deep down he knew that he should be the one making his little girl laugh like that. But if it couldn’t be him he was so glad that it was Ruby.

Ruby was genuine. Ruby related to his daughter in a way that none of the other professionals had.

He had been so right to bring her here.

Even when the palace officials had voiced their obvious concerns about his latest plans to get Annabelle assessed he’d known that this was the right thing to do.

He’d been right to remember the passion in her eyes when she’d spoken about missing out on the job she would have loved. He’d followed her for years...sent her unsigned flowers. He remembered his surge of pride when he’d found out she’d got her dream job, when she’d been promoted, when she’d published professional papers. All those things had made him happy for her.

Now, in a few short days, she’d started to connect with his daughter.

With him.

There was a scream, followed by a huge splash. A flash of moving yellow rushed before his eyes. He was on his feet instantly.

Annabelle’s eyes were wide. She jumped down from her side of the fountain and ran around it towards the splash, meeting her father as they both peered down into the few feet of clear water.

Ruby was completely under the water, tiny bubbles snaking out from her mouth, her yellow dress billowing around her. Alex leaned over to put his hand in and pull her up—then gasped as she opened her eyes.

The expression on her face was priceless. Annabelle dissolved into fits of laughter as Ruby burst up through the surface of the water, shrieking with laughter.

Alex’s eyes shot up towards the hundreds of windows of the palace. He could only imagine what anyone on his staff might say if they’d witnessed this.

But the laughter was infectious. And Ruby wasn’t at all worried about the fact that her hair was sodden and she was soaked to the skin.

She reached towards his outstretched arm, smiled, and tugged sharply—pulling him straight in next to her.

Even though the sun was shining the water in the fountain was freezing.

His landing was partly cushioned by the soft body of Ruby. Water was dripping from the end of her nose, her hair was flattened to her head and her clothes hugged every part of her body.

‘Who are you laughing at?’ She winked.

He couldn’t do anything other than laugh. Annabelle was still jumping up and down at the side of the fountain.

Ruby reached down and picked up a submerged princess doll. ‘I came in to rescue the doll—what’s your excuse?’

He smiled, their faces only inches apart. He lifted his eyebrows, ‘Oh, I definitely came in to rescue Ruby.’

His arms were on either side of her, his chin just above her head. Every part of him was soaked.

‘Who says I needed rescuing?’ she quipped.

She didn’t care. She didn’t care about her wet clothes or how she looked. She wasn’t constantly looking over her shoulder for a camera. Ruby was just Ruby.

And it was at that moment that he realised. Realised this was bigger than he ever could have imagined.

Every thought, every memory of this fountain had been imprinted on his brain for thirty-four years. That famous photo had been shared firstly in the newspapers, and later around the world on the internet.

Every single time he’d looked at this fountain it had brought back memories of Sophia and their childhood. He could clearly remember sitting on the edge of the fountain with her, banging his heels on the stonework.

But now, and for ever, every time he looked at this fountain this was what he’d remember. This. A water-soaked, laughing Ruby with a twinkle in her eyes and a bright-eyed little girl watching at the side.

Some memories were worth changing.