She turned and ran to the bathroom to get Faye a dry towel. When she returned, she found Faye sitting in the small chair near the front door.
“Here you go, Aunty.” Sabrina handed her the towel and Faye used it to dry her hair.
As soon as she was done, Faye said, “Now that I'm here, we need to discuss your situation.”
Sabrina replied instantaneously. “I want to go home.”
“Back to Memphis?” Faye asked, looking shocked by Sabrina's sudden decision.
“Yes,” she said. “I've been going back and forth for two days now, but seeing you makes me realize that there's still a place on earth where people love me. It's home. It may not be the nicest place in the world, but at least the people there understand me.”
Faye slowly pushed herself up from the chair and approached Sabrina. She seemed a bit weary and Sabrina placed her hands on her shoulders to help her balance.
“You should sit, Aunty,” Sabrina said. “You must be exhausted from the trip.”
“Nonsense,” Faye said. “I'm fine. But you must listen to me, child, because I didn't fly all the way out here just to take you home. In fact, I came here to do just the opposite.”
“What do you mean?” Sabrina asked.
“I've been alive a long time, Sabrina,” Faye said. “And during that time, I've been in love. Not all of the time, of course. But some of it. Enough to know that true love is a rare thing and not everyone is lucky enough to experience it.”
“It's very rare indeed,” Sabrina agreed. “But I don't know what you're getting at, Faye. I'm not in love, apparently. If Marco loved me, why isn't he here right now?”
“You are in love, Bean,” Faye said, with a smile that caused the skin around her eyes to wrinkle. “You might be upset right now, but that doesn't mean you're not in love. The way you spoke of Marco over the past few weeks told the whole story. I've never heard you so happy and excited about life.”
“That was before everything went to hell.” Sabrina wiped the tears from her cheeks. “That was before I learned how awful people can be. You should hav
e seen it, Faye. I've never been so embarrassed in my life as when Queen Magdalena ripped my dress and shouted at me in front of the entire party.”
“I know, love, but you're not seeing my point,” Faye replied. “This is one moment in time. Queen Magdalena ripping your dress and you running off and Marco not chasing after you. It all happened within a few minutes. But what's a few minutes in the scheme of things? It's nothing. Do you really want to sacrifice potential love and an amazing future for a few minutes of friction?”
“But Faye, you were the one who first warned me about dating a nobleman, remember?” Sabrina asked, putting her hands on her hips.
“Yes, but that was before I looked at the whole picture,” Faye said, walking toward the kitchen. “I've thought long and hard about this and I truly believe that you need to give Marco another shot.”
Sabrina followed her Aunt to the kitchen and watched as she made herself a cup of tea.
“Faye, he didn't even come and say anything to me after Magdalena attacked me,” she said. “He just stood there arguing with her. And I've been here for two days and he hasn't shown up. He's the Prince, for crying out loud. You can't tell me that he hasn't been able to find me. You found me, why can't he?”
Faye spun around and raised an eyebrow. “I found you because you told me where you were staying.”
“Fair enough.” Sabrina shrugged. “But still. If Marco wanted to locate me, then he could. His family owns the island.”
“Bean, I understand you're mad at him, but I'm asking you to try to forgive him,” she said. “I know for a fact that he would be here right now if he could be.”
“Why are you sticking up for him?” Sabrina asked. “And what do you mean he'd be here if he could be? What's stopping him?”
Faye strolled back to the living room and took a seat on the love seat. “Sabrina, there are things that you don't know about me. I'm sure you've wondered how it is that I knew so much about royal families. I never told you much about my past, because I never wanted to relive any of it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, that if things went the way you say they did, he has to do damage control. Magdalena shouted to a ballroom full of powerful people that you only wanted to usurp the throne.” Aunt Faye shrugged. “He can't just go on national television asking for you, especially with the Law of Marriage hanging over him. Give him time to come up with a plan.”
Sabrina grabbed the chair next to the front door and brought it over in front of her Aunt. She sat down and leaned forward, listening intently.
“How do you know how this works? Tell me everything, Faye,” she said. “Please.”
Aunt Faye took a deep breath in and let it out with a long sigh.