“No, it’s good. It’s a good, no, great change. It’s like you’ve suddenly grown into your skin or something,” she said and then shook her head with a giggle. “Sorry, now all I can think about is that scene in Men In Black when that woman is talking about the alien walking around in an Edgar skin and asking for sugar water.” She made a weird sound in her throat and then shook her head again. “What I mean to say is, when you were in Boston, you were different and now you’re here, you’re…”
“Different,” I said with a smirk which caused her to roll her eyes again but she smiled.
“Yes. Different better, though. I like it. I like seeing you this way.”
“Okay, so why were you upset with me then?”
“Because I thought you were going to bring your family back here and start up the distillery again and I think that would be a mistake.”
“I’m not—”
She held up her hand again, and I clamped my mouth shut.
“I think I was more upset that you were talking to Dorian and the king about your idea instead of talking to me about it.”
I groaned and scraped a hand through my hair. “Dorian ambushed me,” I said. “Before I had time to talk to you about it and then Jamie dragged me away and then, well, this morning happened and then you avoided me all day…I—”
“No, I get it,” she said, exhaling with a huff. “I’m just used to being the person you talk to, and it hurt my feelings.”
“Was that what this morning on the beach was all about?” I asked hesitantly.
Her eyes widened, and she swallowed. “Sure, yeah, that’s why I was upset.”
Hmm. I didn’t believe her, but I wasn’t going to push it, not now that she was talking to me again.
“So do you want to know what I’m working on, then?” I asked instead.
“Yes,” she replied with a nod. “Meredith said it wasn’t what I thought.”
“She was right. I am definitely not planning to include my family in this plan. I’ve already had Effie sign papers handing over the compound and what’s left of the distillery to me free and clear of the company.”
“Okay, so what’s the plan?”
“I want to set up a raïda co-op.”
I frowned at him. “Huh?”
“After talking to the men in the village, I realized they are already producing passable raïda and with a few tweaks it could actually be a viable and exportable product.”
“O-kay,” she replied slowly.
“So I want to take what they are already doing and turn it into a profit share. The villages will all have a say in the company and so will the growers.”
“Growers?”
“The alcohol in raïda comes from grapes but we also add other locally grown botanicals like aniseed and fennel, to just name a few. The growers are struggling right now, but they are producing. With a little bit of help, we could build it into something to rival Andino Raïda.”
Her eyebrows popped up at that. “And you’d be onboard with that? More important, your family would be onboard with that?”
I shrugged. “I’m actually negotiating with Effie at the moment for Andino Raïda to handle the export side of the business. Basically, we would sell it locally and they would handle all the international sales.”
“For a price.”
I laughed. “Yeah, for a price. But I think it’s the best way to go. It’s a great way to boost Kalopsia’s economy, and it gives Andino Raïda another income stream.”
“And the king likes this idea? Of course he does,” Frankie said, answering her own question. “It’ll both boost the economy and help the citizens.”
I nodded, beaming. “You actually gave me the idea,” I said.
“I did?”
I nodded again. “If I hadn’t gone into the village with you all those times and met all those people, I never would have even realized the potential.”
Frankie smiled at me and my heart just about leaped out of my chest. I wanted to make her smile like that every single day.
Francesca
If I hadn’t already been in love with Lucas, hearing his plans for the old distillery would have made me fall hard and fast. And that wasn’t good. Not good at all. Not for me or my sanity, anyway.
As if I needed more reasons to be in love with my best friend.
I watched him over dinner, which was a bit of a feat since he was sitting beside me and not across the table. Gone was the man who sat back and observed instead of participating. I probably looked like some lovelorn puppy with the way I couldn’t stop staring at him. Not that that was a problem. We were supposed to be in love, after all. No, he wasn’t the loudest at the table, but he wasn’t the shy, unspoken one either.
And he smiled. A lot.
I loved his smile and for so many years it had been something few other people got to see. Just me and occasionally my parents. I was talking about his genuine smile, not the polite smile he used at events and family dinners and business meetings. That ugly, fake smile was nowhere to be seen, and it made him all the more attractive…not that I needed him to be any more attractive. I was already fighting my response to him.
Meredith tapped her glass with her knife getting the attention of the table and I dragged my eyes away from Lucas.
“I have news,” she said with a humongous smile.
“You’re having twins,” I said, and she blanched before shaking her head.
“No,” she said and then mumbled, “thank god,” under her breath.
Jamie grinned and pressed a kiss to his wife’s cheek. “No. What we are having is a state visit from Merveille.”
“Alyssa and Will are coming here,” Meredith squealed in a most un-queen-like manner that had Jamie grinning at her fondly and Lady Elena frowning in disapproval.
I looked at Lucas and raised an eyebrow.
“The queen and prince of Merveille,” he whispered to me.
I shivered with the brush of his lips against my ear.
“When are they coming?” Lady Elena asked.
I hadn’t had much to do with Elena and I got the distinct impression she disapproved of me, although, she seemed to disapprove of everyone, the queen included. The woman was as intimidating as she was beautiful, and as stern as the stereotypical schoolmarm.
“Six months,” Meredith said, her smiling dropping fractionally. “It will be Alyssa and Will’s twins’ first official tour and we’re to be the first stop.”
Lady Elena whipped out her phone and started tapping at it. “We will need to have a ball, of course,” she said. “Perhaps we could fly in a chef from Athens—”
“No, we’ll use a local chef,” Meredith said, interrupting. “And as much local produce as we can manage.”
Elena frowned but didn’t disagree.
“What about dresses?” Sophia asked. “My mother knows some amazing designers in France…”
Elena perked up at that, but once again Meredith shot her down.
“Local,” she said. “We need to focus on building industry here on Kalopsia and this is an exceptional opportunity for us to showcase some young, up-and-coming designers.”