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The look on his face before they’d been interrupted earlier seemed to say he thought it might be something more.

He’d wanted to kiss her.

She’d stake her life on it.

Well, maybe not her life, but she’d put... something important on the line.

Should she talk to him about it? Or wait to see if he talked to her?

What if they both waited for the other one to make the first move?

Wasn’t that what the missed connections section on websites was about? Neither one making the first move?

When she reached the staircase leading to the family’s section, she ran into the queen and the two little princesses.

Eleanor, the older of the two girls, slid her hand in Bekah’s as they walked slowly up the stairs. Katrín asked a few questions, but Bekah knew she’d never remember what they talked about, not when she had so much going on in her head.

At the top of the stairs, they stood for a few more minutes and talked about the girls as they ran around - just like little girls anywhere.

Was this the life she wanted for her baby? Living in a fish bowl. Always needing to be careful about where they went or what they did while they were there.

She remembered hearing about what it was like for the Bush daughters when they headed to college and started to spread their wings. They’d both moved on to be successful career women, wives, and mothers. The Obama girls had some of the same, though they’d been younger while their father was in office.

But Josiah wasn’t the President of the United States.

He wouldn’t even be the regent if something happened to his brother before the little girl pulling on her mother’s hand as they walked away turned eighteen.

Walking slowly down the hall toward the apartment she still shared with Josiah, Bekah wondered if she’d have the guts to make the first move.

Or if she’d have to hope Josiah would?

* * *

When Josiah walked backinto the apartment after finishing his meeting with his brother and stepfather, something immediately seemed... off.

Years of training to be ultra-aware of his surroundings - just in case - made him stop and take in the whole place before going farther in.

There wasn’t anyone in the living area. The door to the kitchen was ajar so he could see there wasn’t anyone there either.

The bedroom door also stood wide open. He could see most of the bed from where he stood and it was empty.

Where was Bekah?

That’s what seemed off.

There wasn’t anyone else here. Where could she have gone?

A knot formed in the pit of his stomach.

Could she have already left? Decided this life wasn’t the one for her and headed for the States?

He went toward the bedroom, hoping she might be in the bathroom or in one of the corners he couldn’t see.

Instead, his heart dropped when he realized she wasn’t in the apartment at all.

Josiah tried to keep his mind from heading toward worst-case scenarios. More likely, she’d simply gone for a walk or one of his sisters or sisters-in-law had come by and they’d gone somewhere.

There was nothing that he could see to indicate she’d left permanently. Her phone charger was still on her side of the bed. A glance in the bathroom showed her toiletries still in their places.