Maid For You 3

Chapter 68

The next day, Gretchen had just finished doing my hair for the day when a knock sounded at the door. She went to see who it was, and I heard Coleman's voice say, "Is Cassie here?"

"I am!" I said, standing up from the seat of my vanity and walking to the door. I was wearing a red wool sweater over jeans, and my hair was pinned up with two French braids leading to a low bun. When I approached him, I saw that Prince Coleman was wearing a green sweater over khaki pants and he wore a smile. "What's up?" I asked him.

"I have a proposition," he started.

"Oh?"

"How would you like to go sledding?"

"Sledding?"

"Yes! With Calista and I." His green eyes sparkled in excitement.

I glanced back into the room out of my window to see the tufts of white snow falling from the sky to grace the already white-blanketed land. I looked back at Coleman and grinned. "Count me in!"

Gretchen then hurried to find some snow pants I could wear along with a snow coat, gloves, snow boots, and a hat. After I was dressed, I met with Coleman and Calista downstairs before we all headed out together. To my surprise, there were two snowmobiles strapped with sleds waiting for us outside.

"Whoa!" I cried. "I've never been on a snowmobile."

"I find them rather terrifying," Calista said. "But luckily Coleman's a good driver." Calista rode on one with her brother, and one of the Durmanhein servants drove the other one for me. As we rode to whatever our destination was, I wondered what Luke was up to. Gosh, I really needed to talk to him. We finally arrived at a large hill that was perfect for sledding, and I thanked the servant for giving me a ride. Once our sleds were removed from the snowmobiles, Coleman, Calista, and I had lots of fun riding down the hills and playing in the snow. Over the next few days, I really felt like I could enjoy the Christmas season as I spent time with Calista and sometimes Coleman. We played in the snow, visited a Christmas market, looked at shops downtown, and even rode a horse-drawn sleigh. Luke did not accompany us on our outings, which surprised me. I wondered if Coleman was keeping him back because of me, but I couldn't know that for sure.

On December 23rd, Coleman came to my room again that morning and asked if I wanted to go out on the snowmobile again, which I eagerly accepted. However, when we got outside, I was surprised to see that there was only one snowmobile and no Calista.

"Where's Calista?" I asked him.

"Probably sleeping," Coleman shrugged nonchalantly as he climbed onto the snowmobile. "Hop on," he grinned.

I hesitated for a moment. Should I go? Probably not, but I was here now and it was probably better not to make a big deal of it. I took the rear seat and held on tightly to the little handlebars at the side of the seat.

"You're going to want to hold onto me," Coleman said, looking back at me with a mischievous smile.

"Oh, no," I said. "It's fine. I have my little handlebars here."

Coleman raised an eyebrow and grinned. "We'll see." Suddenly he revved the snowmobile forward and in a moment of panic I was so sure I was going to fall off that I instinctually wrapped my arms around his torso as I let out a yelp. I could hear and feel him laughing as we flew forward. He drove fast over the snow, taking small banks and hills at such a speed that we flew midair several times and I didn't dare let go of him.

"We're going to die!" I shrieked.

"I promise we aren't," Coleman laughed.

"Coleman!" I squealed as we flew midair once again. However, despite the ride being terrifying, it was also fun and exhilarating. Finally, we stopped at the top of a large hill, and I precariously unwrapped my arms around him before hopping off the snowmobile and laying down on the snowy ground with my arms sprawled out.

"What did you think?" I could hear the amusement in his voice as he sat himself down next to me.

"That was terrifying," I said. "But also really fun. It kind of reminded me of rollercoasters but scarier because you aren't strapped in on a patented safe ride."

He laughed, and he too laid down in the snow next to me. "Do you like rollercoasters, then?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm a big fan. Actually, the first month I was here, I won the staff raffle tickets to Sky Land."

Sky Land. Suddenly memories washed over me as I recalled my Sky Land outing with Luke. It was the first time we had really hung out and spent time with each other outside of work. I thought of the ice cream he had bought me, I thought of the way he yelped whenever we fell down the first big drop of any rollercoaster, the big smile on his face after every ride and the way his hair was blown back due to the roller coasters. I thought of the drive down to Sky Land in his nice red convertible with the radio playing. Gosh, it seemed so long ago, so simple. That was before I knew about the Marstella Incident—he didn't tell me until I had asked him on the way home. That was when all I knew was that he was the cute, sweet butler with a gorgeous smile who made me laugh.

And suddenly, I missed him. I missed Luke. I'd been avoiding him and our conflict for almost a week now, but in that moment it struck me that I really missed him. Christmas was in two days and I hadn't even approached him to talk about what happened at the debutante ball or address the fight we had had the night prior.

Sky Land.

Life had been so simple then. I was just a maid who fought with her employer and liked her coworker; I wasn't in the middle of all the royal schemes and ladder-climbing and conflicting countries and multiple princes. Things were so simple—I liked Luke and that was that. No-one was shaming him for being too poor or anything, because the two of us were poor together.

               I felt a flick of snow touch my face, which I knew wasn't from the sky as it wasn't snowing. I glanced over and saw Coleman had rolled so that he lay on his side.

"You must be pretty lost in thought—I don't think you heard my question."

"Oh, sorry," I said, likewise shifting my position so that I was on my side. We were separated by a few feet.

Coleman watched me thoughtfully. "What are you thinking about?"