But this light went on and it illuminated everything and in a second I knew that I had to go.
I had to be with Viktor.
At any cost.
That the only thing that makes sense in this world is the two of us together.
Without him, I’m just surviving.
So I packed with April’s help and then when Pike got back with the kids, I hastily told them the plan and begged for him to drive me to LA where I could catch a plane. I know Pike wasn’t all that happy that I would be using some of our savings on something that might not pan out but by the time the minivan was pulling up to LAX, everyone was chanting Sweden, Sweden Sweden! and that’s when I really knew that my family has my back as much as I have theirs.
I never had a chance to tell Viktor I was coming.
Actually that’s not true.
I wanted to just show up and surprise him like he did to me but I realized you can’t really do that with royalty. I mean, I can’t go throw rocks at his window. I’m not athletic enough to scale the fence, nor throw rocks at a three-story window. So I sent him a text just before my plane took off.
Hey we need to talk. I’m coming to Sweden today. Will text when I land.
But by the time I put the phone in airplane mode, it hadn’t shown his text as delivered.
And when the plane lands and I frantically switch my phone back on, it’s still not delivered.
Shit!
I get my carry-on and go into the airport, checking my phone every minute.
Nothing, nothing, nothing.
I go through passport control with no problem.
I get to the arrivals and expect to see Nick there with a sign, thinking maybe Viktor somehow got the text and contacted Pike or something and got the details about my flight.
But there’s no one.
I’m standing here in the airport looking like an utter fool and I swear to god there’s a few people here who already recognize me.
Double shit.
What does Viktor say?
Helvete!
I don’t have much choice. I go into a bathroom stall and call Freddie, whose number I’ve always had for emergencies.
He’s surprised to hear from me, of course.
“I don’t know what to say,” he stammers. “His Highness isn’t here.”
My heart sinks.
“Isn’t here? Where is he?”
“Uh, he’s on a trip.”
“Well when will he back?”
“Uh. Not sure. Look, stay where you are and I’ll have Nick come get you, okay?”
“I haven’t booked a hotel,” I say feebly. “I haven’t…I haven’t thought any of this through.”
“I’m glad you didn’t because then you probably wouldn’t have come,” Freddie says wryly. “And the palace will always be your home. Just sit tight.”
Half an hour later, Nick comes striding through the terminal looking for me. I’ve been hiding in the corner at a coffee shop with a book over my face and giant sunglasses.
“Are you trying to look…what is the word in English? Inconspicuous?” Nick asks as he looks me over.
“Not working, is it?”
“No,” he says, looking around at the people watching us with interest. “But you’re here now. I’m so very glad to see you.”
“You too, Nick,” I tell him.
He was starting to feel like family to me and when I’m in the back of the town car on the way to Haga Palace, I realize that Bodi and Freddie felt like family as well. It was like while I was here, I was gaining more family than the family I had lost. It’s like the palace in the end wasn’t some strange and stuffy and formal royal life that I couldn’t relate to, it was something warm, with so much love and laughter in the walls. I told myself – and Viktor – there was no way I could be a princess and live that life because I couldn’t be farther from one but the truth is…I don’t think a title like that defines you. I think you define the title.
The palace is still covered by layers of snow but the moment I walk in those doors, I feel warm and relieved. Is this my home?
Could this be my home?
Will he take me back?
“Make yourself at home,” Nick says to me just as Bodi appears around the corner.
“Maggie!” he cries out, throwing his arms out to me and enveloping me in a big hug until my feet aren’t even touching the ground. You’d think that I’d been gone for months, not a few weeks.
“Hey Bodi,” I tell him after he puts me down. “What is this, a beard?” I reach out and tug the end of his red scruff.
“Going for the Viking look,” he says, mugging for me. “What brings you back here? We hoped we’d see you again but we weren’t sure. You all left so fast, so soon.”
I wince, wishing I hadn’t been so hasty. “Viktor and I…”
“Yes, I know. You had a fight. I can’t blame you for leaving Maggie, Viktor is not an easy person to be with.”
“It’s not that he’s not easy. It’s just…this lifestyle.”
“It takes some getting used to,” he says with a solemn nod.
“I just didn’t think I was strong enough to get used to it,” I tell him.
“Glad to see you’re coming around then,” he says, patting me on the shoulder. “Because you’re stronger than you think. Come on, I’ll put your suitcase in Viktor’s room.”
“Oh, please don’t,” I tell him as he hauls it up and starts carrying it up the stairs. “I don’t want to assume anything. The guest room that Magnus normally uses is fine.”
Bodi nods. “As you wish. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable in the lounge and I’ll bring you some coffee. You must be exhausted.”
I nod and head to the lounge while he runs the bag upstairs. You think I would be tired since I didn’t sleep on the plane at all but I am so wired that it feels like I couldn’t close my eyes even if I tried. I must look like such a freak.
Bodi brings me a cup of coffee and we sit and chat about everything except Viktor. I want to ask him about where he is since Freddie was so vague but I don’t dare. It’s not their place to tell me and if it turns out he’s visiting a girl or something, then I would just die on the spot.
There’s a knock at the front door and my heart starts to race. Is it Viktor? I look at Bodi and he looks surprised more than anything.
“Pardon me,” he says to me and gets up, leaving the lounge.
I hear the door open and then Bodi exclaim, “Your majesty!”
Majesty?
Majesty?!
Holy fuck it’s the king.
Seconds later The King of Sweden appears in the doorway, looking down at me with a look on his face that makes me want to shrink in my seat.
But that would be uncouth, I know that much, so I scramble to get up to my feet, to curtsey. He quickly motions with his hand for me to stay put.
“Please, stay seated,” he says, striding over to the chair across from me. He sits down, folding his hands over his lap, and looks me sternly in the eyes. “The two of us, we need to have a talk.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Viktor
“Do you know what they call a turnip in Sweden?” I ask Callum.
He shakes his head, smiling. I swear I can ask this kid anything and he’ll smile. It’s especially disturbing when you’re talking about something horrific.
“They call it a Swede,” I tell him.
“But aren’t you a Swede?”
“I am.”
“Am I going to be a Swede?” he asks.
“That all depends on your sister. If she was here, I would ask her.” I study his face carefully. “Are you sure you don’t know where she is?”
He just grins. That gives me nothing.
It’s my fault, really, for having such flights of fancy and for it to actually lead me on a flight which actually put me back in Tehachapi, looking for Maggie.
After she left, I spent a long time wrestling with what I was going to have to do to w
in her back. I knew that just because she was scared, just because we had a fight, it didn’t mean that things were over between us. It might have felt like it was over, especially from the way she basically packed up her family and left. They were all gone the next day on the next flight home and I didn’t have any time to even realize what was going on.
That I had lost her.
I had lost them.
I had lost…everything.
With her gone, the media storm didn’t die down either. Rumors started spreading. She had been spotted at the airport, people speculated why she was leaving. People started noticing that we were never seen together, or that she was never seen at all.
I ignored it. That’s all you can do. And I tried to move on.
I did everything that I thought I was supposed to do. I threw myself into my role and tried to become a better public figure. I tried to pretend that my heart wasn’t breaking inside even though it was slowly splintering to pieces until nothing was giving me joy anymore. Maggie had been my joy, my light, my everything. My persika, my Miss America, my mayhem. Oh, her middle name couldn’t have been more fitting because she brought mayhem to my heart, my life, turned my world upside down and I was a better man in the end because of it, because of her.
But putting on a mask only works for so long. I should have known that.
Eventually the mask crumbled away.
Eventually the feelings came pouring back in.
Eventually I realized that if I didn’t have her, I had nothing.
Without her I wasn’t worthy of the crown on my head.
The next thing I knew I was having Freddie find the next possible moment I had a break and we were booking tickets and that was the end of it. The plan was to surprise Maggie like I did last time, to fall to my knees and propose like I should have done before when I lost my nerve. To go and not come back unless I had her with me.
So with my guard and driver Janne waiting in the car outside, I burst into their house hoping I’d run right into Maggie.
What I found instead was Callum, sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of milk and reading a comic book. Rosemary, Thyme and April were at Rosemary’s soccer game while Pike was upstairs napping. Callum says that Pike is too tired to deal with anything these days.
But when I asked where Maggie was, Callum wouldn’t say. I know he knows, but he’s just not saying anything.
“What the fuck.”
I turn to look at Pike standing all groggy in the kitchen doorway, trying to focus his eyes on me.
“Bad word,” Callum scolds him, shaking his head.
“Viktor?” Pike says, blinking hard. “Viktor! What. The fuck. Are you doing here?”
He sounds far more surprised about me being in his kitchen than I thought. It looks like I’m blowing his mind.
“Nice to see you too?”
“He’s a prince, Pike, show him some respect,” Callum says.
“Yeah this coming from herdy schmerdy bork bork over here,” I mutter under my breath. I look at Pike. “Look, I’m sorry to just drop in like this without any warning but I wanted to talk to Maggie. Face to face.”
“Well, I hate to break this to you but a little warning would have been nice.”
I frown. “Why, what’s going on?”
Pike looks at Callum. “You didn’t tell him.”
“Hey,” Callum says, “I get to have secrets too!”
“Tell me what? Where is she?”
“Maggie is in Sweden.”
The planet begins to tilt on its access. “What?” I say, my voice coming out in a hush. “Sweden?”
“She went for you. Suddenly decided she was wrong and couldn’t live without you or whatever and that was that. We drove her to the airport yesterday.”
“Oh my god,” I groan. I bring out my phone but I don’t see any texts from her or from anyone. “She would have texted me right?”
“She wanted to surprise you. Looks like you two both had the same idea. Been watching too many romantic comedies, maybe.”
I look at my phone again and then notice that the data isn’t on.
Helvete.
I toggle it onto airplane mode and back and this time a million texts come in.
One from Maggie saying she’s going to Sweden.
A bunch from Freddie, saying that Maggie is in Sweden and Nick has gone to get her and he doesn’t know if he should tell her where I am.
And then a few from my father. Wanting to know where I am, wanting to know why Maggie is at the palace and I’m not.
And then…
The worst text of them all.
My father saying that he went to the palace and had a long talk with Maggie.
He didn’t say anything else.
Fuck.
That is not good. For all I know he convinced her to leave and that she has no place in the royal family and now she’s on her way back here again.
I send Maggie a text: I’m in Tehachapi! In your kitchen! Don’t go anywhere, I’m coming back for you.
I wait a few minutes to see if she’ll get the message but then I realize with the time difference, it’s late there and she’s probably asleep.
If she’s even there.
“I can’t believe the both of you were in the air at the same time,” Pike muses.
“I can,” I say with a sigh. “This seems like the crazy type of shit that happens to us.”
“Do you want to stay for dinner?” Pike asks. “I was just about to get started. The girls will be back soon.”
“Can you cook for us?” Callum asks me. “Pleeeeease?”
I shake my head. “Next time. I promise.”
“There won’t be a next time.” He pouts.
“There will be if Maggie agrees to marry me.” I eye them both. “You’re all okay with that idea still, right?”
God I hope so.
“Yes, d’uh,” Callum says with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.
Pike nods. “The idea has grown on me. Still can’t say if I would join you out there, I think I’m more of a sunshine and palm trees kind of boy at heart. But you have my blessing. You have all of our blessings.”
“Okay.” I get up out of my seat, leaning against the table, summoning strength to go through this travel shit all over again. “I guess I have a plane to catch.”
* * *
***
* * *
Jet lag is a bitch, as they say in America.
After criss-crossing numerous time zones in twenty-four hours, by the time I land back in Stockholm, I barely know what day it is, what time it is and who I am. All I do know is that I have to get to Haga Palace ASAP.
I have to propose to the woman of my dreams.
The future royal highness, future princess, future queen.
Of course being that my brain is so fried, I realize that I don’t have any rings on me. The ring I had chosen for Maggie is tucked away in a drawer in my room. Fuck it, I’ll just have to wing it.
Unless…
I tap Nick on the shoulder as he’s driving. We’re just minutes away from the estate.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a ring, do you?”
Nick shoots me a pensive look. “I have my wedding ring.”
“Can I borrow it?”
Nick’s face scrunches up. “Do you have to?”
“I’ll give it back, I promise.”
“I don’t know.”
“Nick. As the Crown Prince of Sweden, I command you to give me your wedding ring. As a subject of, uh, this royal…order…you must obey. Or face the consequences.”
I can tell Nick really wants to tell me to fuck off.
He sighs and then raises his left hand for me to pry the ring off. It takes a bit though. “When was the last time you took this off?” I ask him, grunting as I finally get it loose.
“I think my wife got it extra small so that I’d never lose it.”
“Or you got fat.”
“I think my wife got me fat so tha
t I’d never lose it.”
“Fair enough.” I twist it around in my fingers. It’s tarnished and plain but it will do for now.
“If you lose it,” he warns me. “Then you have to deal with my wife. And you have to arrange for me and the girls to meet Harry Styles.”
“Done. Hey, now you want me to lose it, don’t you?”
He doesn’t say anything.
I stuff the ring in my pocket, then call Bodi on his cell.
“Viktor!’ he exclaims through the phone. “You’ll never guess who is here!”
“I know,” I tell him. “I’m almost there. I need your help in keeping Maggie away from the front windows.”
“What?”
“Just do it.”
“For how long.”
“Give me ten minutes.”
“Okay but--“
I hang up.
Soon we’re pulling into the back of the house and I immediately grab the cook, Else, and Nick and tell them what to do.
I have no idea if it will turn out or not but after I talked to Magnus before I boarded the plane yesterday, he gave me the idea. Considering all of his knowledge of The Notebook, and now this, I’m starting to think he’s a true romantic at heart. Though lord help the woman who ends up with him.
With Nick running around the front lawn and doing the rough outline with a shovel, Else and I gather sticks and branches from the woodpile and then go about laying them on top of the outline. In theory, when Maggie looks out from the top windows, she should see giant words clearly spelled out on the snow.
Now, I know she knows I’m coming. I had texted her yesterday and though she didn’t text back, probably because what do you say other than, oh shit, how did that happen I made sure via Nick that she was at home.
I also called my father and though I didn’t ask what they talked about, I told him that I was coming home.