“Mom, I hate ties.” Marty walked into my room and threw himself on my bed. “Do I have to wear one?”

“Sorry, babe, but today is a definite tie day.” I walked over and held out my hand. “Here, I’ll help you put it on.”

“When can I take it off?” He stood up and lifted his chin so I could tie a proper knot.

“I’ll let you know as soon as you can.”

“Fine.” He frowned. “Is this going to take a long time?”

“I’m not sure.” I knelt down in front of him. “How are you holding up?”

“Okay.” He shrugged. “I like being here, but I’m still really sad about Great Granddad. And I miss my friends from school.”

“Maybe we can call one tomorrow,” I suggested.

“That would be cool.” He looked at me with worried eyes. “Do you think I’m going to get in trouble for missing school?”

“Nah.” I hugged him. “Things like this are excused.”

“What about homework?”

“We’ll talk to your teachers about that when we get back, okay?” I tweaked his nose before standing back up. “You ready to go downstairs?”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Might as well get it over with.”

“Get breakfast over with?”

“Yeah. I miss my Pop-Tarts.” He hung his head.

“I bet we can find some soon. Maybe we could ask someone to go to the store.”

“Would they do that?” He looked up at me with bright eyes.

“They might if we ask nicely.” I squeezed his hand. “Doesn’t hurt to try.”

Cathy was coming up the stairs and smiled at us. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

“Can I please have some Pop-Tarts?” My son smiled up at his friend.

“Marty, that is not what I meant.”

Cathy laughed. “It so happens that I asked for the kitchen staff to pick some up yesterday. I wasn’t sure what flavor you liked so we got a couple of boxes of each that the store had.”

“Yes!” Marty made a little fist and pumped his arm.

“Thank you. That was very thoughtful of you.” I smiled at her.

“It was no problem.” She continued her climb up the stairs. “I’ll see you guys in a little bit.”

There were quite a few people downstairs in the large living space. Prince Alex was talking with a man who had bright red hair and was wearing a snazzy pink tie with his dark gray suit. And Samantha was on the phone, her face serious as she described something about talons. A couple of staff members were hanging about, doing different odds and ends.

But no Max.

I shouldn’t be bothered by that fact. I should be putting as much space between the two of us as possible. And yet . . .

No, I couldn’t deal with what happened between Max and me. Not today. There were only so many emotions a person could filter at any given moment and I felt like I was drowning. There was too much happening for me to be attached to a man who would probably prefer that I had never walked into his life. I needed to focus on getting through today and tomorrow before I even thought of anything else.

“Good morning.” Alex bowed his head toward us and I dipped a slight curtsy. I was still getting used to the royal stuff. Was I supposed to do that right now, or should I be less formal now that I was staying at his house? Or more formal? Good grief, talk about overworrying things.

“Good morning.” I offered the room a smile.

“Hello, I’m Chadwick.” The man with the pink tie walked forward and held his hand out.

“It’s nice to meet you.” I shook his hand. “You’re Samantha’s assistant, right?”

“My reputation precedes me.” He winked at me. “I’m not as terrible as everyone pretends.”

“I’ve only heard good things.” I chuckled.

“Good. That means you’ve been talking to the right people.” He turned to Marty. “And good morning to you, sir.”

“Hi.” Marty leaned into my side.

“Are you ready for breakfast?” Chadwick motioned toward the hall that led to the dining room. “I believe it’s all ready.”

“Thank you.” I looked around the room. “Will the others be joining us?”

“I’m coming!” Sam closed her phone and headed in my direction. Her black wraparound dress showed off her adorable pregnant belly. She was wearing flats instead of heels and a string of silvery pearls. “If I don’t eat soon, I’ll be sick.”

The dining room had a huge spread of food, including Marty’s Pop-Tarts. Maybe I was a bad mother for letting him eat them the last few days, but with everything else going on, I wasn’t going to force him to eat sausage or eggs.

By the time we were ready to leave I had started to really worry that Max wasn’t going to show up. What would I do if he wasn’t there? I’d have to find someone else to help carry Granddad.

And even more importantly, why now? Why would Max flake out on me today of all days? I’d pushed and pushed to get him to leave me alone and he’d refused. Then the day I specifically asked for help he hadn’t shown up. And no one was saying anything about it. I had slept with him yesterday—given him something important to me. And now? I didn’t even know what to think.

“There are cars out front,” Chadwick said. He handed Samantha a dark gray sweater to go over her dress.