The Royals Next Door by Karina Halle

Epilogue

Two Years Later

“They’re heeeeeeeere,” my mother says, channeling the creepy little girl from Poltergeist.

Except she’s not holding on to a staticky TV, but poking her head out onto the deck where I’m sitting with Harrison, nursing a glass of wine. It’s the middle of summer, the sun is hot and glinting off the waves below us, and the two of us have been out here all afternoon, getting sufficiently buzzed while waiting for the arrival of our favorite people.

You guessed it, Monica, Eddie, and baby Madeline have finally made it back to our rock on the Pacific. Honestly, when we first parted ways, I doubted I’d see them again. It felt like their fairy-tale presence was only for a brief moment in my life, perhaps just enough to bring Harrison and me together, like a pair of enchanted matchmakers. I mean, it feels absolutely unreal at times that Harrison and I are together (let alone engaged, but more on that later), the royal bodyguard and the small-town schoolteacher. The last thing I expected was to still be friends with a duke and duchess.

And yet, here we are. I’ve managed to keep in touch with Monica, texting with her at least a couple of times a month. She listens to my podcast too—she says it helps her sleep, but whatever, I’ll take it as a compliment.

Of course Harrison has kept in touch with them as well, talking to Eddie often. It just took two years for them to finally find the time to come here. They’ve tacked it on to a trip down to Seattle to see Monica’s parents, but they haven’t told anyone except us, so it’s kind of secret.

Or at least that’s the plan. I’m just waiting for the helicopters to start showing up.

“Bert got them okay?” Harrison asks my mother as he gets to his feet.

“Yes, they should be here any minute,” she says just as the timer dings from the kitchen. “Oh, and the pie is ready.”

“Mom, they just got here after an incredibly long journey. You think the first thing they’re going to want is pie?”

“Oh, sweetie, don’t be such a pastry hater,” she says with a dismissive wave, heading toward the kitchen.

Harrison makes a tsking sound as he holds his hand out for me. “You know nothing interrupts our pie Sundays.”

I put my hand in his, and he effortlessly hauls me to my feet, then places a kiss on the top of my head.

Pie Sundays are a thing now. Well, they have been since Harrison opened his bakery. I swear to god that job keeps him busier than being a royal bodyguard did. He’s up before dawn, working crazy-long hours, and yet he still finds time to make a pie with my mother on Sundays, which I find incredibly sweet, since I know he just wants to relax and do nothing on his day off.

But it means something to my mom, especially since we got engaged. She really wants to make him a part of the family, which has been pretty easy considering she lives next door to us.

And us, well, we’re in the mansion.

Naturally, a schoolteacher salary and owning a bakery does not buy a house of this magnitude, but what does is a tell-all book. Harrison wrote one (I helped, but that’s neither here nor there), with Monica and Eddie’s permission, of course. The thing is, the book wasn’t really about the royals. It was more about baking, with some personal stuff interspersed in there.

And by personal, I mean it was really all about Harrison. He talked about his youth, his family, growing up, the army, being a bodyguard, and finally being a baker on a small island on the Salish Sea. Since he’s such a private person by nature, it really pushed him out of his comfort zone to open up, especially about the nitty-gritty. But as he’s said a few times before, fuck the part of society that doesn’t understand, and I couldn’t be more proud of him for being so honest and vulnerable. There’s really nothing sexier.

It did extremely well. It definitely helped that I convinced him to do TikTok videos for a bit, which in part really helped promote the book, and it became a runaway success.

So now we live in the mansion, and my mother and Bert live next door to us.

They’re officially together now. Not engaged or anything like that. I’m not really sure if either of them will take that step, even though my mom does seem to be warming up to the idea. But they’re honestly the sweetest thing and so good for each other. Bert is a real take-charge, protective guy, which is perfect for her, and she’s still going to her therapy and taking her meds. Sometimes there are setbacks, but with an arsenal of people who love her around, she always gets back on her feet. Of course, she has Liza, who runs around on the compound, using the doggy doors to each house, just like we’d imagined.

“Shall we go meet the mini royal?” Harrison says, grabbing my hand.

“Of course.” We step inside, and I yell at my mother in the kitchen. “When you’re done fussing with the pie, can you get the white wine out of the fridge? That’s what they’re going to want first, believe me.”

“Which one? You have a million bottles,” she asks, staring at the fridge.

“The Garry Oaks Pinot Gris,” I tell her. I don’t normally have a million bottles in the fridge; it’s just that we had a small party on Friday night, just me and Harrison, Cynthia and her new boyfriend, and Georgia and her husband. We try to do a couples thing every other week, just to keep me from going into my antisocial hermit zone, and I have to say it’s really helped me stay connected to society, especially during the summer, when I’m not with the kids every day. I’ve made some deep, lasting friendships in this place, and, coupled with Harrison’s business and working with the public every day, I no longer feel like an outsider. Just takes a bit of effort sometimes on my part.

Harrison and I walk through the house and step onto the driveway just as we see the gates open and Bert’s RCMP vehicle pull up to the house. I cringe a little—for some reason I expected him to pick them up in a black SUV, and yet here they are, being deposited like they’re being dropped off at a police station.

After an amused glance at Harrison, I can tell he’s thinking the same thing.

Nevertheless, the doors open and they step out. Eddie, Monica, and little Madeline.

“Hey!” Eddie cries out, jogging over to Harrison and wrapping him in a tight hug before he does the same to me. He’s dressed down in a polo shirt and jeans and looks as relaxed as he did the last time he was here. “We made it.”

“Got them here in one piece,” Bert says proudly as he exits the vehicle just as James, the bodyguard, gets out the passenger side. He gives me a polite nod as a greeting.

But I’m already looking at Monica, who is as beautiful as ever in a sundress. She’s still glowing, so obviously that’s nothing to do with pregnancy; it’s just who she is.

“Piper,” she says to me in a subdued squeal, and we have a quick embrace. “So good to finally see you.” She smiles down at Madeline, who has the gangly limbs of Eddie and the dark hair of Monica. She’s shy, barely making eye contact, but she radiates the same kind of calm energy that her mother does. “This is Madeline. Madeline, do you want to say hi to Piper?”

“Hello,” Madeline says quietly.

It looks like what Madeline really wants to do is bury her head against Monica’s leg, and I’ve never related to a kid more. I want to tell her that I get that way when meeting new people too, except this kid is a royal and she’s been trained to push past that discomfort and put on a good face, something I need to learn.

“She’s shy,” Monica whispers to me. “Which is a challenge considering who we are.”

“She’s lovely,” I tell her. “How was your flight over?”

“Well, Madeline slept for most of it,” Monica says, reaching down and scooping her daughter up into her arms. “And I can tell she’s still a little sleepy. I, on the other hand, was kept up by a book.”

“What book?”

A sly smirk plays on her lips, her eyes dancing mischievously. “A book you bought me years ago.”

I have no clue what she’s talking about. “When did I buy you a book?”

“Well, it was Harrison who gave it to me, but I know you had something to do with it. At least I hope.” She leans in close to me and whispers in my ear, “It was about pegging. I didn’t even know what that was. I had to look it up, and oh boy.”

I burst out laughing. “You read that on the plane?”

She grins at me. “Well, it gave me some ideas for Eddie, at least.”

I don’t even want to think about the two of them in a compromising position, but I’m saved by my mother appearing at the front door in her apron, proudly displaying her baked goods.

“I hope you’re all starving, because it’s pie time!” my mother exclaims, grinning at us before disappearing into the house.

“Don’t worry,” I say to the royals as we head inside. “There’s wine and beer too. Figured that’s what you really need.”

“No wonder we get along so well,” Monica says to me with a grin. “I feel like I’ve got lost time to make up for, since I couldn’t drink a drop last time.”

“Well, considering you’re staying with us for a week, let’s not get carried away,” Harrison warns.

“I see you’re still no fun, Harrison,” she says to him, playfully smacking his arm.

I grab Harrison’s hand and give it a squeeze, watching as the duke and duchess walk inside their old house, Bert leading the way, the hunky Scot James trailing after them. I look up at my fiancé. “Don’t worry, I think you’re fun.”

“Only because you’ve rubbed off on me, love,” he says, lifting my hand to his mouth and placing a kiss on the back of it, his eyes boring into mine. “Though it seems I still have a lot to learn.”

“Eh,” I say with a mock shrug. “You’ll get there one day. After all, I’m a good teacher.”

He breaks into a grin, making him look devastatingly handsome, before he leans in and kisses me sweetly on the lips. “The best.”

Then we walk back inside our house to be with the people we love.