The Last in Line (The Royal Inheritance Series Book 1) (7 page)

“This is Chanel. It’s classic.” He handed the pieces over and told her to try them on.

Renee did as she was told and disappeared into the fitting room. She did not like the results. Although the pieces were well cut, she felt boxy and thought she looked like an office secretary. She reemerged and waited for opinions.

“Marvelous,” gushed Roberts. “You look ready to give a speech at a charity event or open Parliament.”

Cassandra made a face. “I think you look old.”

“Thanks, honey,” said Renee. It was what she had been feeling herself. Behind Roberts’s back, Chase made a cutting off motion across his neck. Renee smiled. She agreed completely.

“Do you think you can do better?” Roberts said, peering down his nose at Cassandra.

“Yup,” said Cassandra and hopped off her chair to find clothes.

Roberts harrumphed and continued to tell Renee how elegant she looked and that the former queen had been the epitome of a Chanel model when she was younger.

Cassandra returned five minutes later with her arms laden. She pushed her mother back into the dressing room and dumped everything on the upholstered bench. “Layers, Mom. Or sharp and fitted.” Seeing her mother’s confusion, Cassandra stayed to help her mother sort through the pile. Renee had to admit that her daughter, who never wore anything fancier than high top sneakers with pink laces, had an eye for fashion. Renee loved everything Cassandra dressed her in and each time she emerged from the dressing room, Roberts gave his grudging approval. Chase was in and out on the phone, but flashed thumbs up whenever he saw one of Cassandra’s selections.

They went from store to store and all of them had shopping bags hanging from their arms.

“You’ll need formal wear, also,” Roberts announced. “Some cocktail dresses and a couple of evening gowns should hold you over until we can do a proper shop in London and Paris.”

“You mean this isn’t enough?” said Renee in wonder.

“Of course not! You need to have enough clothing so that you are never seen in the same thing twice in a five year rotation. We just need to get you through the first month for now.”

“Are you crazy! I’ll have to spend my whole life shopping to fulfill that requirement. It will cost a fortune.”

“And a fortune you have.”

“When can I wear my cowboy boots?” she demanded.

“Never. Well, perhaps on All Hallow’s Eve, in the dark of the night while you feed your dogs and no one can see you.”

Renee stuck out her tongue. They entered another shop.

“Mom, try this on,” said Cassandra, bringing over a satiny evening gown. It was silver and had bits of crystal sewn along the bust line. Renee fingered the smooth material in awe. This put her wedding dress to shame and she had loved that gown; had saved three months’ worth of wages to purchase it. She went into the dressing room and slipped it on and came back out. Roberts and Cassandra clapped their hands.

Chase, who was on the phone again and not paying attention to the proceedings glanced at her and stopped talking mid-sentence. He lowered the phone to his side and stumbled a bit to find his words. “That dress is lovely, Mrs. Krebs,” and returned quickly to his phone conversation.

She tried on several more items, though none were as magnificent as the first. Chase was back with them now, but not saying much. Roberts had left to inquire about alterations with the sales woman. Chase looked so grimly serious, always staring in a direction away from Renee, that she couldn’t help but tease him a little.

“Do you even have a change of clothes? You’ve been wearing that same grey suit since I met you.”

“I know how to travel light,” he said. “That’s what they teach you in the Special Forces. Here in civilized society, however, an extra shirt and pair of knickers is all one needs. I wash them out every night and dry them with the hotel blow dryer.”

They had wandered near the men’s section of the store with Cassandra trailing after them, yawning. Renee pointed at a smart, charcoal grey suit. “Why don’t you try that on? It’ll be my treat, as queen.”

Chase looked askance at it. “The expense accounts are examined. How would it look when the auditors come across a men’s suit on the heiress’s shopping account?”

“You’re just making that up. Come on, don’t be a sissy.” She motioned for the salesman to assist them. “He wants to try on that suit,” she said.

“Mrs. Krebs, I really don’t think—”

“Come on, Mr. C., please try on the suit.” Cassandra grabbed one of his hands and Renee took the other as they started pulling him towards the men’s fitting room.

Roberts came up behind them. “Oh excellent, are you going to try that on? I’d been meaning to have a word with you about your attire,” said the always immaculate Roberts. Chase, seeing that he was outnumbered, gave in and went, grumbling, to the dressing room with the salesman who held a measuring tape. A few moments later he came out and the transformation was remarkable.

This time it was Renee’s turn to fall silent and for Chase to turn slightly reddish though he covered it up by turning towards the mirror and brushing off his sleeves.

“You have to get that,” said Renee when she found her voice. Cassandra nodded in agreement.

“It does you wonders, you know,” said Roberts. 

“I can’t justify this,” said Chase.

“You can’t, but I can,” said Renee. “I can’t have my assistants walking around looking like homeless people—it’s an embarrassment to England.” She was beginning to enjoy this royalty stuff. “Oh, and why don’t you try that blazer and jeans combination? Here, take these button down shirts with you.” She stuffed things into his arms, ignoring his protests.

Twenty minutes later, their items had been purchased and they were back out on the street. “Next on the agenda is a visit to the hair salon,” said Roberts. “Come on, it’s just this way.” Cassandra walked with Roberts up ahead, which left Renee and Chase paired off.

“This must be very boring for you, shopping all day,” said Renee.

“It’s all part of the job. Trust me, I’ve had worse assignments.”

“So you were in the Special Forces?” she asked.

“Yes, eight years.”

“What did you do?”

He looked at her and cocked his head without saying anything.

“Well, when I’m queen I can have you tortured to find out anything,” said Renee, casually.

“You don’t have to go through all that trouble. You’ll have access to my personnel file.”

Renee noticed that the closer that they got to England, the quieter he became.

“Until then, I get bupkis?”

“You got it,” he replied.

The silence between them had to be endured only a few minutes before they were hustled into a salon with blaring music and panels of flat screen televisions in front of every hair station and hanging from the ceilings like in a gym. Renee was steered into a seat and watched helplessly as her strawberry blonde locks fell to the floor. There was a wash, some snipping, a blow dry, some more snipping and finally a daub of mousse run through her hair. When she looked in the mirror she hardly recognized herself. She had always been used to pulling back her hair into a ponytail to keep it out of her way at work, but this new hairstyle was too short for that. It fell perfectly across her forehead and tucked behind her ear. She couldn’t help smiling. She was next directed to a manicurist. Cassandra joined her there and they squealed when they saw each other because Cassandra’s unkempt straight hair had been layered and given bangs which brushed her eyebrows. When their nails were filed and polished, a makeup lady came to Renee’s seat and quickly lined her eyes and swept some gloss across her lips.

“There, how do you like that?” asked the lady.

Renee looked in the mirror and bit her lip to keep from crying. She had never looked this pretty and wanted to ask who the woman in the mirror was because she looked half a decade younger. “Don’t bite your lip, you’ll ruin the makeup,” admonished the beautician. Renee complied.

She got up to find Roberts and Chase. Roberts was in the lobby, but Chase was nowhere to be seen.

“He’s getting his hair cut also. He can’t keep walking around with that mop top. Really, I thought the government paid better than that. Ah, here he is now, looking fresh and shaved for once.”

“I can’t believe you made me get a trim,” said Chase, rubbing his hand over his chin and around the back of his head. He smelled nice. Some kind of aftershave. “You’re worse than my mother, Roberts.”

“Really? I was under the impression you were raised by wolves. Now, I want both of you to change into some of your new clothes. No arguing. You do a disservice to these expensive haircuts by walking around in wrinkled clothes and
Rodeo Daze
jumpers.” His lip curled as he read Renee’s sweatshirt.

Chase angrily snatched his single bag of clothes and marched into the men’s room. Renee picked at random one of the shopping bags and went into the ladies room. Roberts sure was bossy. She wished Cassandra would have come with her because she was having a hard time figuring out how to match things. Finally, she settled on a black fitted blazer, white blouse and black capri slacks with flats. Keep it simple, she said to herself. She added earrings and a bracelet. Despite her discomfort with the fancy clothes, she had to admit that she looked like a better version of herself than she ever could have imagined. She rolled her jeans and sweatshirt into a bundle and stuffed them into the boutique shopping bag.

When she left the restroom she could see through the glass that Cassandra and Roberts were people-watching outside on the sidewalk. They had obviously needed to escape the blaring noise inside the salon. She didn’t see Chase anywhere. She stepped down the two steps onto the sidewalk and gave a little cough. Roberts and Cassandra whirled around.

“Your Highness, you look remarkable,” said Roberts, tearing up a little as he came forward to clasp her hands. “So elegant. A true lady and queen.”

Her usually verbose pre-teen was speechless, uttering only a dazzled, “Wow, Mom.”

Renee was pleased by their reactions, but wished Roberts would quiet down with the “your highness, the queen” stuff because there were people around. There was a guy on a phone just a few feet away who might overhear them.

“Where’s Chase?”

The broad-shouldered man a few feet away who’d had his back turned to the group while speaking on a mobile phone was the one she had been thinking of when she’d wished Roberts would quiet down. The man ended his phone conversation and began to turn. Renee desperately hoped he hadn’t heard Roberts. She gasped when she saw his face. In front of her was the most handsome man she had ever seen. Sandy blonde hair was gelled into perfection. She couldn’t believe it was Chase in front of her. He also seemed surprised by her appearance. The city was moving around them, but she didn’t hear any of it. They seemed to be in their own bubble.

“Mrs. Krebs, you look very…um…Cassandra picked a good outfit,” Chase said finally. His voice was tight as he spoke.

“Thank you,” said Renee, feeling self-conscious.

Somebody tapped Renee on the elbow and Chase moved swiftly to intercept. He grabbed the wrist of an overweight woman wearing an “I Love NYC” t-shirt and Ogden Raptors baseball cap. A tourist.

“I’m sorry,” the woman said, clearly shocked by Chase’s reaction. “I just wanted to know if I could get a picture of you two.”

“Of us?” said Renee. “Why?”

“You’re famous, aren’t you? Normal people don’t look as good as you.” She held up a camera.

“Umm, I guess it’s ok?” She looked at Chase. He nodded curtly and stepped away a few feet.

“I meant both of you!”

Chase sighed and stepped back into the picture range. He put his arm around Renee’s back and rested his hand on the small of her back. She was intensely aware of it. She leaned into his shoulder a bit. She was also aware of the admiring stares of passing women, their eyes directed at Chase. She managed to smile for the picture, but knew the woman behind the camera would wonder if her lens filter was faulty since Renee’s face would appear stunningly red. As soon as the picture was taken, Chase dropped his hand and the lady went away happy, believing she had just snapped two celebrities.

“That was strange,” said Renee, mostly to hide her embarrassment.

“Get used to it, Ma’am. In a few weeks everyone will want to take your picture. This woman at least asked for your permission. The hordes of paparazzi will not be so considerate and they will hound you on the street, in your home, and on your vacations,” said Roberts.

“Golly, you really make me want to go through with this,” said Renee.

The rest of the day was spent in getting some clothes for Cassandra. These came from a department store. Renee and Roberts tried to steer her away from combat boots and long woolen socks that reached to her knees, but Cassandra was adamant. They did manage to persuade her to choose a few skirts and blouses. She picked a different patterned scarf out for each.

People kept turning to stare at her and Chase as they walked down the street. She wondered what they must look like. She got her answer at dinner when the waiter who served them earlier failed to recognize them and fell over himself to serve such obviously important people. Cassandra couldn’t stop laughing behind her napkin.