33. Kristina

33

KRISTINA

I was buying road snacks before we hit the highway again. I’d discovered that America did road snacks better than anyone else in the world: big bags of crunchy, salty chips, candy in every flavor from strawberry to cola and ice-cold soda to wash it all down with. I was so absorbed trying to choose between grape and watermelon candy, I bumped into Jakov, which was like bumping into a wall. His big fists were full of a selection of candy and he was glaring at it, trying to decide. All of the packets had one thing in common. I grinned: I’d never known that about him. “Cherry’s your favorite flavor?”

He looked up, startled, and blushed.

I frowned. What was embarrassing about that? Unless...I drew in my breath. “Is it someone else’s favorite flavor?”

He looked everywhere except my eyes.

“My father’s maid?” I asked, my voice rising in excitement. “The one with the long red hair? ”

He was flushing down to his roots. “Simone,” he mumbled. I’d never seen him embarrassed before. It was adorable. And after all the horror of the last few days, it was a relief to hear about something sweet and positive. “I thought she might like a gift from America,” he said.

“That’s a great idea. Buy all of them!” I pushed him towards the checkout.

But he shook his head. “I haven’t told her how I feel.”

“Why? Tell her!”

“For one thing, it’s against the rules.”

I sighed. That stupid rule. If Caroline and Sebastian hadn’t had to creep around in secret, we would have known she was messaging him a lot sooner. “I’m going to talk to my father about getting that rule lifted,” I told him. But then I frowned at his expression. “It’s not just that, is it?”

He shook his head. I could see the doubt in his face: he wasn’t used to sharing his problems with me, or maybe anyone. But this whole experience had brought us all closer together. “It’s her father,” he said. “He’s in a wheelchair.” He met my eyes. “Since the war.”

“Oh, Jakov…” His guilt over what Garmania did to us in the war was something he carried around all the time, a crushing weight on his shoulders. But now it was cutting him off from the person he wanted to be with. “Talk to her,” I said gently.

“What if she hates Garmanians?” He was staring off across the store, unable to meet my eyes. “A lot of people do.” He swallowed. “I’ve liked her for so long. If I talk to her and I find out she hates us….”

I nodded slowly. I understood. The whole vision of her he’d built up would be destroyed. I didn’t know what to say. But there was something I did need to say and now was as good a time as any. “Jakov, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I thought you were the traitor.”

He nodded. “It’s not your fault. It made sense, with my heritage.”

I put my hand on his arm. “I won’t ever doubt you again.”

He shook his head. “Thank you, Your Highness. But it’s not you who’s the problem. It’s everyone else.”

And he tossed the cherry candy back onto the display stand and walked away.

I watched him sadly until he’d gone. Then I gathered up the cherry candy and bought it. I might not be able to fix everything between our two countries but I was damn well going to help this one man be happy.