A Very Merry Princess (Happily Inc. #2.5)
Susan Mallery
CHAPTER ONE
DE-PRINCESSING ONE’S life wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. There were the obvious items to leave home—tiaras, scepters, ladies-in-waiting. But there were also actual problems. For Bethany Archer, otherwise known as Princess Bethany of El Bahar, the complications included her passport. As in, which one to take on her trip.
She had her American passport by virtue of being born in California and spending the first nine years of her life there. But once she and her mom had moved to El Bahar and her mother married Crown Prince Malik, who two years ago had become the king, Bethany had become an honest-to-goodness princess, with an El Baharian passport. One that under Occupation actually said Princess.
She looked at the two official booklets on her bed, then groaned and shoved both in her backpack. She would enter and exit the United States with her American passport, but have the El Baharian one with her just in case. Because where she went, complications followed.
If only her mother had fallen in love with an ordinary man. Someone as wonderful and loving as King Malik, but less...royal. Not that Bethany hated living at the famed El Baharian pink palace. Or working in the royal stables, or being with her three younger brothers, or her mother, Queen Liana. As for her adoptive father, the king, Bethany had loved him from their very first meeting when she’d been nine years old. But the monarchy thing really, really sucked.
Bethany’s late biological father had raced cars for a living. Looking back, she had no idea how her parents had ever thought they could make their marriage work. After their divorce, Chuck had been far more interested in maintaining his cars than paying child support and he’d forgotten to spend time with his daughter.
In an effort to provide a home and college fund for her daughter, Liana had taken a job as a math teacher at the American School in El Bahar. The well-paying position was to be a temporary thing—just long enough to provide the two of them with a little financial security. But Liana and her daughter had caught the eye of the then-Crown Prince and within a matter of weeks, the couple had been married and Bethany had become a princess.
Bethany added her e-reader to her backpack, along with a few protein bars. The flight from El Bahar to the small airport near Happily Inc, California would take nearly seventeen hours, including one fuel stop. While meal service would be offered, she couldn’t know if she would be able to leave the back of the plane for more than short bathroom breaks. That all depended on Rida and how he handled the journey.
She’d already packed her two duffels. She wasn’t going on vacation, or traveling officially, so she wouldn’t need much. Jeans, shirts and boots should do it. Her entire skin care regimen consisted of soap, water and sunscreen. Her idea of nonprincess makeup was mascara and lip gloss. The second duffel held her sleeping bag and a pillow.
“Are you ready?”
She turned toward the door and saw her mother walking into her suite. Queen Liana of El Bahar was a beautiful woman in her forties who dressed stylishly and always looked perfectly pulled together. Bethany supposed it helped that famous designers were forever dropping by with new clothes for her mother to try.
Her mother never forgot where she’d come from. One of her favorite charities helped women get an education so they could raise themselves out of poverty and take care of their families. In addition to serving on the board of the charity, the queen purged her wardrobe every year and sold the pieces at a fund-raising auction.
One day, Bethany promised herself. One day she would be as smart and gracious and pulled together as her mother. As of yet, that day had not arrived.
“I see you’re packed,” Liana said as she hugged her daughter. “I wish you didn’t have to go.”
“Me, too, but there’s no way Rida can go by himself. He’ll need me along.”
“You’ll miss Thanksgiving dinner and I’ll miss you.”
Bethany tried not to smile. “I’ll miss you, too, Mom, but Thanksgiving dinner? Seriously? Do you want me to remind you about last year?”
Her mother’s mouth twitched. “I would prefer you didn’t. It wasn’t my fault.”
“Yeah, those wily calendar people tricked you.”
El Bahar, known diplomatically as the Switzerland of the Middle East, was a multicultural haven of many faiths. There were always myriad holidays to celebrate and the royal family enjoyed all of them, including Thanksgiving.
After nearly twenty years away from California, and with no in-palace turkeys and pilgrims to provide a reminder, Thanksgiving occasionally took a backseat to other events. Last year Liana had forgotten completely until two o’clock on the very day. The staff had been uncomfortable watching the queen run shrieking through the palace, begging for a turkey with stuffing and gravy, along with pumpkin pie, all by seven that evening.
The family had agreed to celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday instead, with Bethany’s three younger brothers not understanding the big deal. Of course they had been born and raised in El Bahar. Their knowledge of the United States was limited to a few visits and what their mother told them. Plus none of them especially enjoyed turkey.
“I have the holiday on my calendar now,” Liana said with a sigh. “I was planning on a big turkey dinner with lots of leftovers. What will you do? I might have forgotten last year, but you’ll be in the States. It will be all Thanksgiving, all the time. I don’t want you to be lonely.”
“I’ll be fine,” Bethany promised. “Rida and I will try to make sense of American football. You know he’s a fan.”
“Very funny.” Her mother looked around the room and smiled. “I still like that you’re living in this suite.”
The huge apartment was the same one Liana and her daughter had been given when they’d first come to the palace, all those years ago. The furniture had changed, but the view of the Arabian Sea was still the same, as was the decoration on the wall.
The mural of beautiful Arabian horses galloping across the desert had been the first thing that stirred Bethany’s interest in their new home. Then she’d seen the Crown Prince’s large stable of beautiful horses and she’d been a total goner.
When her mother had married Malik, Liana and Bethany had moved in with him. On her eighteenth birthday, Malik had presented Bethany with this suite to be her own.
“It brings us back full circle,” she told her mother, then shook her head. “Mom, I’m going to be fine.”
“I know. You’re perfectly capable of taking care of yourself.”
Bethany knew there was more. With her mother, there was always more. “But?” she prompted.
“I just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy.”