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Next to his wife.

* * *

The pants Bekahbought two days earlier no longer fit.

With a groan, she sank into the chair in the large closet. Who knew it would come in so handy?

“You all right?” Josiah walked through the open door. If it had been closed, he wouldn’t have. She knew that.

“Yeah. These pants don’t fit. That’s all.”

He grinned. “I tend to put on a couple of pounds when I come home. Better food than what I make for myself when I’m in Missouri.”

She didn’t correct his misimpression. It made as much sense as anything else.

And was easier than telling him the truth.

For now.

Although, telling him the truth would get harder and harder the longer she waited.

“There’s no real dress code for today,” he told her. “We’re just driving up to the cabin.”

She’d looked it up. Cabin was a misnomer. Quasi-palace in the woods on the lake was more accurate. “I know, but I like these pants.”

“They’ll fit again in no time, I’m sure.” He grabbed some jeans and a collared shirt then started for the door. “We do need to be ready in a few minutes, though.”

“I’ll be right out.” What was the hair tie trick she’d read about? Grabbing a plain black elastic band, she looped it through the button hole and then used the other end to go over the button. A long shirt and she’d be in business.

Ten minutes later, she was in an SUV with Josiah as he drove out of the palace. Several cars were making the same journey.

“Why take so many cars?” she asked. “Why not have more people in fewer cars?”

“We’ll all come back at different times, most likely.” He flipped his blinker on. “We don’t usually leave at the same time like this either.”

“I see.” She stared out the window as they drove through the capital city of Akushla. She noticed the other drivers and those on the sidewalks rubbernecking. A few took pictures, but most just sort of stared. “How long is the drive?”

“About two-and-a-half or three hours.” He eased into the other lane as Bekah yawned. “Take a nap if you want.”

That sounded nice, but not until they were farther out of the city. The last thing she wanted was people taking pictures of her drooling or something. Like Anna inFrozen. That’s how she looked when she slept.

Instead, she studied the people and places until they reached more of a countryside area. Then she closed her eyes and let herself doze.

Bekah had no idea how long she slept but woke up to Josiah talking to someone on his phone.

“What pictures?” he asked whoever it was. He must be using a Bluetooth earbud.

“Huh?” Bekah shifted, sitting up straight and blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

“They got pictures of Bekah at the daycare opening?” He reached over and covered her hand with his.

Who got pictures of her?

“And what did they see? I’m not following.” His grip on both her hand and the wheel tightened. “We’ll be at the cabin in about half an hour. We can video conference in an hour or so.” After listening for a minute, he continued. “I know you want to get ahead of it, but if what you said is right, we may just want to ignore it. Not dignify it with a response.”

A few comments later, he tapped on his earbud.

“What was that about?” She was a little more awake but not enough for a full conversation. She’d have to do her best.