Royally Yours Read online

  She followed the signs into the heart of the park, where white-topped tents sat like snow-covered wall-less gingerbread houses under a lush canopy of green.

  It wasn’t long before she had been pulled into the thick of things. She bought a handmade canvas grocery bag that was painted with sunflowers and soon had filled it with freshly baked pastries, fruits, and vegetables. She was making a beeline for an empty park bench when she saw that the last few tents were staffed with people her age. Intrigued, she walked closer.

  Melody saw a mountain of cherry tomatoes and nearly fainted. They were her absolute favorite; she used to sit in the vegetable gardens under the shade of sunflowers back home in Madrana, gorging herself on the sweet, juicy morsels until Herschel came looking for her in a panic.

  There was a crowd around the tent, so Melody had to slowly inch her way to the main table that was piled high with vegetables. A man next to her sampled one of the cherry tomatoes. She couldn’t resist. Her hand moved without her instructing it to go anywhere. She stole a cherry tomato off the topmost pint box and popped it into her mouth, closing her eyes to the world around her so she could get a proper taste. It was succulent and tasted like pure sunshine.

  “Hey!” said a feminine voice.

  Melody opened her eyes. There was a red-head standing behind the table. She looked highly annoyed. Melody couldn’t help but notice her freckle-covered cheeks and full, pink lips. She was cute, and wore a paper nametag with the words “The Block” and “Ellie” on it.

  “Hey,” Melody responded, swallowing.

  “You can’t just steal tomatoes.” The woman crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Stealing? I wasn’t stealing,” Melody said, highly affronted.

  “It looked like you were stealing. You and him.” She inclined her head towards the guy next to her, who rolled his eyes and walked away.

  “I’m buying about a half ton of these, I wanted to make sure they were worth my money,” Melody responded. She didn’t know who this woman thought she was, but Melody was annoyed. She was even more annoyed by how much more adorable this Ellie became when she was upset. Her nose scrunched up and her lips became even fuller as she pursed them together. “What’s ‘the Block’?”

  Ellie uncrossed her arms. “Huh?”

  “Your name tag. What’s it mean?”

  Ellie looked down at her chest. “Oh. Right. It’s an urban farming cooperative a few miles from here.”

  “Ah,” Melody replied. “And how do you join?” She was just making conversation; she found herself not wanting to leave Ellie’s space. There was something magnetic about her, even if she was rule-bound and annoying.

  “You apply,” Ellie said. “But the deadline is Tuesday and there aren’t that many slots left.”

  “So, you just…farm? In the city?”

  Ellie’s eyes lit up, and Melody listened as she launched into the many ways the Block was going to save the world through farming in a cityscape. Melody absentmindedly grabbed another cherry tomato and munched on it, enjoying both the tomato and the passionate way Ellie was describing her work.

  “Hey!” Ellie said again. “Are you going to buy those, or what?”

  “These are the best cherry tomatoes I’ve ever had. I’ll take them all.”

  Ellie looked surprised. “Seriously?”

  “I hope this makes you think the next time you want to accuse someone of being a thief,” Melody said.

  Ellie gaped at her. “I didn’t—I mean—I wasn’t—”

  “Relax, Ellie. You should lighten up a little.”

  Melody handed her three twenty-dollar bills and started piling the tomatoes into a second canvas bag that she purchased at the Block’s stand. Soon, it was overflowing with little round bites of pure New York City sunshine. “Nice to meet you, Ellie.” She paused. “Maybe I’ll see you around sometime. You have a good day selling vegetables to the good people of New York.”

  Ellie stared at her, open mouthed. “You…you too.” Ellie smacked her forehead. “I mean, have a good day. Not…not selling vegetables to New Yorkers. Because you’re not selling vegetables to New Yorkers, of course, I am. Anyway. Um, bye.”

  Ellie was the color of a fire engine. Melody laughed. “I knew what you meant. Bye, Ellie from the Block.”

  She walked away, her heart pounding. Ellie affected her deep in her bones. She grabbed another tomato and had an idea.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “Isn’t it going to be boring, being here in New York City with nobody but Herschel here alongside you?” Marcy asked, stealing one of Melody’s crinkle cut fries from the Shake Shack. “Sorry, Herschel. No offense.”

  Herschel was nose-deep in reading 2001: A Space Odyssey, and merely waved his hand to excuse the slight against him. He just kept turning the pages. They had all gone to the Strand, an enormous New York bookshop. Herschel, resigned to spending another few weeks in the city, had picked up a dozen cheap paperbacks to keep himself entertained.

  “I mean. Maybe,” Melody said. “Maybe this is the time for me to enjoy myself being all alone. Or mostly alone, I mean. Other than Herschel.”

  Dylan and Marcy glanced at each other.

  “Mm,” Dylan said.

  “What?” Melody asked, indignantly. “I can be alone.”

  “Mmhmm,” Dylan replied. “Sure you can.”

  Melody put down her hamburger and sipped her milkshake. “I can be alone. I’m an only child, remember?”

  “An only child who grew up in a house full of staff waiting to cater to your every whim,” Marcy said pointedly.

  “College,” Melody said simply. “I was alone plenty during college. I had my own room and everything.”

  “When, in college, did you ever spend time by yourself? You used to call me the second your homework was done—homework that you did amongst a crowd of people in the dining hall. You are never alone. Ever.”

  Melody chewed on the plastic straw in her milkshake, thinking. “Okay, maybe you’re right. But this is my opportunity to be alone. I went to the farmer’s market the other day all by myself.”

  Dylan laughed. “You sound like a child.”

  “Ha ha,” Melody said, finishing up her burger and standing up. “Who’s ready to go see Lady Liberty?”

  ***

  That night, as Marcy and Dylan were packing up their belongings, Melody sat in the quiet of her bedroom. She was itching to be in the middle of everything, but after the conversation that morning, she thought she could prove her point better this way. Taking out her laptop, she checked her email. There was a message from her mother wondering why Herschel hadn’t called to check in. It was from a few days ago; in the meantime, Herschel had snuck off to buy a burner phone. Naturally, he had memorized all the important phone numbers and had placed a call at once to the queen.

  He had yet to tell the queen that her daughter was in the United States and had no plans to return any time soon.

  That explanation would come later.

  Melody typed out a quick email to her mother, saying that Paris was lovely and that she’d made herself sick eating macarons. She felt a twinge of guilt as she wrote the words; they were obviously a lie. But it was a lie for a greater good, Melody told herself, and she was willing to do it to get what she wanted.

  She closed the email application and opened Safari. Her pulse quickening, she went to Google and typed in five words.

  The Block New York City.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “I heard you’re getting a roommate,” Constance said as they washed dishes late Wednesday night. The sun was setting and the nighttime city was rising before Ellie’s eyes as she stared out the window.

  “What?” Ellie said, shocked.

  “A roommate. I heard that you’re getting one.”

  Ellie nearly dropped the stainless-steel plate she was holding. She caught it at the last second with her soapy fingers. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously,” Constance said. “I overhead Velia talking to Jaso
n earlier.”

  “Where is he, by the way?”

  Constance shrugged. “He goes off to these conferences quite a bit. Says that he’s spreading the word about the Block.”

  Ellie passed a freshly scrubbed plate to her right where Constance rinsed it. “You sound skeptical.”

  Constance glanced around the kitchen. It was empty. “I’m not saying that he lies, but I don’t trust him.”

  “Why not?”

  Constance set the plate on a drying rack. “I don’t know. I just get this feeling. I mean, I’ve been here awhile now. We have yet to have a single meal that is even fifty percent food that we’ve grown here. It all goes to market.”

  Ellie felt a tickle of apprehension in her stomach but said nothing.

  “I mean, we pay a tuition fee to be here. Then we do all of the harvesting, planting, cleaning, everything. I just wonder where all the money goes.”

  Later that night, as Ellie sat in her room, alone, the sound of an episode of Scandal wafting under the door crack from Constance’s room, she pondered Constance’s words.

  But she couldn’t afford to be suspicious or even skeptical yet. She’d only just gotten here.

  Ellie turned over in bed and pulled out a copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the dark blue dust cover worn around the edges. She clipped a book light to the heavy hardcover, and began to read.

  Harry never failed to take her mind off things.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “We’re joining a what?” Herschel asked, coughing up some of the tea he’d just swallowed.

  “A cooperative. An urban farming cooperative built to prove a model of urban sustainability and dedicated to training young farmers in biointensive farming methods,” Melody said, sounding like she’d eaten the guidebook.

  Herschel gaped at her. He never gaped; it was an ungentlemanly thing to do. “You’re joking.”

  “I’m not,” Melody said. She pulled up a PDF on her phone. “I’m going to need to go shopping. Some jeans, t-shirts, and Wellington boots.”

  Herschel was still agog. “I’m sorry, I thought you said for a second there that you are going to be a farmer.”

  Melody speared a piece of pineapple on her fork. They were eating a large breakfast spread that had been delivered to their room. Marcy and Dylan had left days ago, and Melody and Herschel had spent their days wandering the city.

  “It’s a cool opportunity to do something different.”

  Herschel sighed. “Well, as long as we can both live in the hotel…”

  Melody laughed. “No. There’s housing at the property.”

  “Ma’am, I am not leaving you alone in some vegetable cult—”

  “You won’t have to.”

  Herschel tilted his head to the side inquisitively.

  “You’re coming, too.”

  Herschel’s expression froze, then he burst out in laughter. Tears of mirth dancing in the corner of his eyes, it took him a good minute to recover. “That’s funny. It sounded like you said I was coming with you.”

  “You are.”

  Herschel’s face fell. “I’m what?”

  Melody put down her half-eaten bagel. “I applied on your behalf. You got in.”

  Herschel looked horrified. “I am not getting my hands dirty.”

  “Good luck explaining that to the people who run the program,” Melody said lightly. “I’m guessing you will need some new clothes, too. I don’t think wool slacks are the proper look.” She grinned at him.

  Herschel buried his head in his hands. “How on earth am I going to explain this to your mother?”

  “Tell her we’ll be home for New Year’s Eve,” Melody said. “Oh! And I’m guessing I’ll need a winter coat, since we’ll be here through the entirety of the fall.”

  Herschel looked around the hotel room. “This is the last I’ll see of luxury until Christmas. God help me.”

  Melody reached across the table and patted his hand. “It’s an adventure, Herschel. Try to be excited, will you?”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Ellie spent the rest of the week alternating her thoughts between her new mystery roommate (who had yet to arrive) and the cherry tomato woman. She had been so gorgeous, so self-assured, that she completely threw Ellie off her usual game. Not that she had much game to begin with, but what little there was, she had been off it.

  Ellie was wiping up the breakfast table when Velia entered.

  “Hey,” Velia said, her usual clipboard in her hand.

  “Hey yourself,” Ellie replied, blowing a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. She was sweating; the September air outside was insisting on holding onto the last dregs of summer heat. There was no air conditioning in the building; every window was thrown open in an attempt to catch a nonexistent breeze.

  “So, you’ve got your roommate coming in today. And Constance’s roommate is also coming in along with her.”

  “Ah, so my roommate’s a woman?” Ellie asked, mostly to make conversation.

  Velia scribbled something on her clipboard. “That’s right. We’ve got one woman and one man coming in. Now, I’m assuming you haven’t spread your stuff all around the room?”

  Ellie nodded. “It’s all clear and ready to go.”

  “Good,” Velia replied. “Now, we don’t do roommate shuffles around here. Who you get is who you get, and you need to be an adult about it. We trust you can resolve any issues on your own time and your own terms. We don’t hold hands around here.”

  “I had plenty of roommates in college. It won’t be a problem.”

  Velia signed a checkmark with a flourish and turned the page. She slid the clipboard across the still-damp breakfast table. The wipe marks were gleaming under a beam of late morning sunshine. “Read this and sign it.”

  “What is it?” Ellie asked.

  “Basically, that you agree to what we just talked about. No squabbles will be brought to the staff. And no fraternization, which you already agreed to in your initial paperwork. It’s just a reminder.”

  “Fraternization. Right.”

  “Just to be clear: you won’t be sleeping with any of the other students or engaged in any kind of relationship other than being friends. It’s just a way of keeping drama at a minimum. We’re all about that here.”

  “I’m not looking for a relationship,” Ellie said reassuringly. She glanced at the document and signed it, then handed it back to Velia.

  “Great. Now, they need you up at greenhouse three.”

  Ellie finished wiping oatmeal off the tabletops, which was not an easy task; the grooves in the old wood proved to be attractive to the oatmeal. When she finished, she hurried up to her room so she could splash some water on her face. She straightened her quilt and gave one last look at her cozy little space. There was some mourning going on within her; she wasn’t quite ready to give up her peace and quiet.

  “It’s an adventure, Ellie,” she whispered under her breath. “Try to go along with it.”

  ***

  Ellie was pulling up carrots by the dozens when she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder later that day. Sweat was pouring down her face, and she was pretty sure she could feel dirt on her nose. Her arms were covered in soil and she had nothing to wipe her nose on. She turned around, nudging her sunhat up a little so she could see. It was Velia.

  “I’d like you to meet your new roommate,” she said. “And get her acquainted with what you’re doing. If you could train her, that would be awesome.”

  The sun was in Ellie’s eyes, so she put up a gloved hand to block it. She blinked.

  Standing in front of her was the woman from the farmer’s market. Her stomach did several complicated backflips.

  “You’re the tomato thief.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Melody grinned upon seeing Ellie. She was filthy and sweating, but somehow it made her seem even more adorable. It was probably the overlarge sun hat that kept falling down her freckled forehead.

  “Yes, I’m
the tomato thief,” Melody said. “Nice to meet you again. My name is Melody, by the way.”

  Velia looked confusedly from Ellie to Melody. “You’ve met, I take it?”

  “I was sampling one of your cherry tomatoes before buying the entire table,” Melody said. “I guess some of us are more sticklers for rules than others.”

  Velia seemed pleased with this answer. “Great, well. Get to work.” She started to walk away but stopped in her tracks. “I almost forgot. We’ve got a new man, Herschel, who will also be shadowing Ellie. It’s Constance’s free day, so she’s not here to get acquainted with her roommate. Are you okay with that?”

  Ellie nodded, her heart still pounding in her chest from seeing Melody again.

  “He’s taking a while to sign his paperwork. He’ll be up in a bit.” Velia left them.

  “So, we’re just pulling up the carrots?” Melody asked.

  Ellie gaped at her. “You’re farming in that?” Ellie pointed at her outfit.

  “What? It’s just jeans and a t-shirt.”

  Ellie laughed. “Those jeans cost more than my college apartment rent.”

  Melody froze, realizing she wasn’t blending in very well, which had been her plan. “They’re…vintage. I got them at a thrift store.”

  Ellie gave her an incisive look. “Right. Well. Yes, you pretty much just pull up the ones that are three quarters of an inch to a half inch in diameter. You look at their shoulders, see?” Ellie rubbed her nose with her forearm, which only spread the dirt there even further up her cheek.

  Melody bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Let me help you.” She pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and gently wiped Ellie’s nose and cheek. “There. That’s better.”

  There was a tense silence following Melody’s actions. Ellie’s heart was racing, and she was trying to think about anything other than how Melody’s arm smelled like coconuts and summertime. How her full lips were pursed just so as she concentrated on cleaning her face. At her gorgeous cheekbones, warm smile, and her skin that was the color of the smooth, gorgeous rocks she used to skim across the pond by her house.