Pippa?”
Pippa smiles and then nods. She picks up her suitcase and rolls it out of the room. When I go to follow her, Kalindi stops me with an arm across the doorway. I look at her, raising an eyebrow. “Yes? Is there something that you want to talk about?"
Kalindi’s eyes narrow. "I saw you and Erik together this morning. How could you keep this from me?"
I look at her, my cheeks flushing. This is the second time I've been called out on this exact thing in this exact room. God, Erik and I are really doing a terrible job of hooking up in secret. I blow out a breath.
"It just happened. I just… I didn't tell you because it's all still very new. We don't even know what this is yet."
Kalindi opens her mouth to say something, but then Lars comes clattering down the hall, looking like he means business. "Are you guys kidding right now? We're all waiting on you. Let's go.”
He points down the hall, ushering both of us toward the front of the house. Kal gives me a look that says that we are definitely going to talk about this later. But I just give her a soft smile and don't feel any need to continue the conversation.
As I pull my suitcase along behind me, I find Erik in the kitchen, his phone pressed to his ear. His expression looks intense and he is pacing back and forth. He spots me and puts his hand over the phone's speaker.
"Do you mind waiting for just another few minutes? Let the others go. They are on a different flight anyway." He doesn't even wait for me to nod or say anything, he just goes back to arguing with someone on the other end of the phone. "Yes, I'm still here. I'm trying to talk to someone about my father…"
His father? My eyes widen a little. I've met his father once, which was enough for me. I was 12 and his father dressed me down for what he called inappropriate riding gear, whatever that means.
How Erik managed to escape that man without ending up with a nasty temper of his own, I have no idea.
Leaving my suitcase by the door, I shoot Erik a single backward glance and then head out to say goodbye to my brothers and my friends. It's a relatively quick affair; as soon as I say my goodbyes, they are hustled into the back of a big white limousine and then the vehicle trundles out, heading down the steep driveway.
I stay put for a second, squinting out towards the ocean. It's looking especially blue today, just an azure hue that makes all the white buildings and tan sand of the beach stand out.
I hear Erik shouting into the phone. “Why not?” He pauses. “Then get him back on the phone!”
I turn, surprised. He is quiet for a second. I’m aware of the hot Grecian sun on my shoulders as I float back toward the front door.
“Are you kidding me? He’s an old man. Make him do it! He— “
Erik falls silent. I can’t stay away now, not without knowing more of what is going on.
When I follow his angry voice back inside, I find Erik furiously tossing his phone down on the counter. He walks away, pressing his fingertips to his golden hair just beyond his temples.
I bite my lip, hesitating to say anything. Erik gets upset like anyone else. But I have rarely ever heard him yell at someone… and never on the phone. He is just radiating this angry, frustrated energy right now and it’s freaking me out.
I frown as I approach him.
He looks up at me with an irritated expression. Clearing his throat, he shakes his head. "I'm sorry. That… that was someone from the hospital closest to the palace. My father was taken in yesterday. It took them a full day to get in contact with me."
My eyes widen. I step closer to him, reaching out and touching his inner arm. He looks at me, still scowling.
"Is your father okay? What happened?"
He pulls a face. "Apparently my father had a heart attack."
It takes me a second to fully absorb that fact. "Heart attack… how bad?"
He frowns. "I don't know. The doctors can't really tell me much. Apparently, my dad is awake, and he is clamoring to leave the hospital already. I thought… I thought that I was going to have to rush to get on the plane and fly back to Copenhagen.