Page 26

She laughed. “I’mfine.”

The boat had left the dock just moments earlier, and she didn’t seem seasick, but didn’t pregnancy come with nausea? Wouldn’t being on the lake make it worse?

Come to think of it, though, he hadn’t seen any signs of her being sick.

“You don’t get motion sick?” Maybe it wasn’t just limited to the water. People got airsick or carsick too, though he hadn’t seen evidence of that while traveling either.

“Nope. A little airsick recently, but not bad at all. I’m fine, Siah.” She leaned back and closed her eyes as the sun hit her face. “Just enjoy it.”

The breeze rippled through his hair as a member of the family security team eased the boat away from the shore.

“I would imagine the water is too cold to swim?” Bekah spoke loudly to be heard over the rush of air as they picked up speed.

“Without a dry suit, yes. Some people use wetsuits, but not a whole lot. The water is too cold to swim in unprotected.” He stretched his legs out in front of him. “Would you like to go swimming?”

Bekah shrugged. “Not if it’s cold.”

Josiah laughed. “We have a heated pool at the cabin.”

“You know that’s not actually a cabin, right?”

He moved to sit next to her, his arm stretching along the back of the seat next to her. The proximity would make it easier to hear her. “I know. Not compared to the cabins in the States.”

“Not compared to cabinsanywhere.” She elbowed him lightly. “It’s a mansion, a mini-palace really, on the lake, but definitely not a cabin.”

A grin crossed his face. “On one level, I understand what you’re saying, but at the same time it’s all I’ve ever known, at least until a few years ago. I have a hard time thinking of my home in Missouri as normal-sized and not small and cramped.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You live in a twenty-five-hundred square foot house on three acres. That isnotcramped. My parents had three kids in under nine-hundred square feet and two bedrooms, for a while anyway.”

“I know it doesn’t make any sense. I’ve learned a lot about the real world since I started university, but my life still isn’t normal. I won’t be a working royal, but I’ve also been left enough in various inheritances that I never have to work unless I want to. I don’t need to in order to live a very comfortable life.”

“That’s good.”

The boat never did pick up too much speed. Boating wasn’t allowed on the lake for many people. A few charter companies. A couple of families who owned property on the lake. There were strict rules to follow. It wasn’t as clear and pristine as some of the lakes in Iceland where no boating was allowed, but there were regulations everyone - including the royal family - had to follow.

One of those had to do with the speed at which they were allowed to travel.

When they reached the center of the lake, the driver cut the engine and let them drift. Josiah stood and held out a hand to Bekah. She put her hand on her head to hold her straw hat in place as a gust of wind threatened to take it but then took his hand with her other one. He helped her up, and they carefully walked to the flat area at the back of the boat.

“It’s so clear,” she whispered. “Nothing like Serenity Lake back home.”

Josiah chuckled. “Nope. I was a little surprised the first time I went out on Serenity Lake with friends. I knew not all lakes are like this, but I’d never been on one that was murky.”

He sat carefully on the edge of the boat and took his shoes and socks off. “We can’t swim, but we can put our feet in. Not for overly long.” The water, this time of year tended to be about fifty or fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit and much too cold to do much more without a dry suit.

Bekah sat next to him, but kept her legs criss-crossed rather than putting her feet in. “I don’t like being cold,” she told him. “I have a hard time warming back up, I think. I don’t know if it’s harder than other people or not, but definitely harder than my very warm-natured brother.”

“Duly noted.”

They sat in silence for several minutes before she broke it. “Do you have any idea how the investigation is going?” She didn’t look at him as she asked.

“I don’t. Benjamin hasn’t said anything. I don’t know that he could say anything even if he knew.”

“How long do you think it’ll take?”

“I have no idea.”

Another silence settled between them.