Read Online Princess Ever After (Royal Wedding Series) by Rachel Hauck - Free Book Online

like the princess she would’ve been trained to be. Very much indeed.”
    “Even the bit about the shoes? And driving herself around?”
    Tanner laughed. “Perhaps not. But all the rest.” He set his attaché case on the desk. “Shall we start from the beginning?”
    Miss Beswick sat down slowly. “Please. From the beginning.” She made a face. “She was really a princess?”
    “Yes.” Tanner handed her the royal dossier. “As are you, Miss Beswick. The Hereditary Princess, the Grand Duchess of Hessenberg.”

SIX

    A t the kitchen table, Daddy read the official document signed by King Nathaniel II. He was too quiet. Too calm.
    “Daddy?”
    “Hmm,” he said with a grunt. “I’m reading.”
    “You’ve been reading for the past ten minutes.”
    Reggie looked at her stepmom, Sadie, sitting next to Daddy, her expression somber. Over her shoulder, in the corner of the family room, a cop show was paused, frozen in mid-action, on the television screen.
    Still reeling with the news, Reggie had left the shop with Mr. Burkhardt and headed straight to Daddy and Sadie’s. The only thing she craved more than a shower to wash the oil from her face was the truth.
    She’d anticipated shock and surprise from Daddy and Sadie when she barged in on their Friday night programs with Mr. Burkhardt in tow, announcing Gram was a princess. Which made Mama a princess, rest her soul. And now Reggie.
    “Daddy,”—Reggie tapped the table in front of him—“did you know about this?”
    Sadie slapped her palm down and scooted back her chair. “I’m in the mood for baking.” Sadie jumped up from the table.“Who’s up for chocolate chip cookies?” She baked when things got tense.
    “Bake?” Reggie peered at Daddy, then Sadie. “Daddy, what are you not telling me?”
    “I’m off to the store.” Sadie snatched her purse from the small, inset kitchen desk. Yep, she was a bank president by day and a stress-relief baker by night.
    “Sadie,” Daddy said, stopping her with the tone of his voice. “I need your help here.”
    “Help?” Reggie glanced between her father and Sadie. At the end of the table, Mr. Burkhardt watched and listened. “What kind of—”
    “I told you this would happen, Noble.”
    “We didn’t know for sure.” Daddy set the king’s letter on the table and looked at Sadie. “But when I wanted to tell her, you fought me, Sadie. Said she’d get all bigheaded and run off.”
    “Bigheaded?” Reggie echoed. “When was this?”
    Sadie dropped her bag to the counter with a huff. “Oh, when you were seventeen and going through that rebellious patch. Your dad wanted to tell you, thought it might make you feel special, help you deal with the stress of your senior year, but I said to wait because, really, we didn’t know if any of it was true—”
    “What rebellious patch?” Reggie demanded. “I came home late a few times and wanted to study abroad for the second half my senior year.”
    “We”—Sadie motioned to Daddy—“thought it best to wait.” She clasped her hands at her waist, her cupid face pinched with thought.
    Sadie had been one of Mama’s best friends. A career woman, not a wife or mother. But when Mama died, Sadie stepped up and devoted herself to serving Daddy and Reggie. A year after Mama’s funeral, Daddy proposed.
    “To wait for what?” Reggie said.
    “I really need to bake.” Sadie started opening cabinets. “Mr. Burkhardt, do you like sugar cookies?”
    Tanner stood, buttoning his suit coat, hemming himself in all proper and stiff. “Ma’am, there’s no need—”
    “Oh, but there is a need. And a simple ‘Yes, I love sugar cookies’ will do.” Sadie pulled out the flour tin.
    He cast a glance at Reggie. “You heard her. Just say yes,” she said.
    “Yes, ma’am, I love sugar cookies.”
    “Wonderful.” Sadie continued to inventory her cupboards. “Oh look, I’ve found leftover sprinkles from the Fourth of July.”
    For a moment, the only sounds were the