“Your Majesty.” Malcolm bowed. “May I introduce Vivian Forest? She’s a guest at Sycamore Cottage.”

Without thinking about it, Vivian dropped into a quick curtsy.

“Ms. Forest, a pleasure. I saw you out there earlier on Polly. Excellent seat.”

Vivian swallowed hard.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” What in God’s name was happening to her? Did she actually just address someone as “Your Majesty” for real? “I had a lovely time riding her; she’s a beautiful horse.”

The Queen nodded.

“She is indeed.” She turned to Malcolm. “Thank you for your note; we can discuss it in our meeting tomorrow morning.”

Malcolm nodded again.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

The Queen lifted a hand in farewell and walked ahead of them out of the stables, back toward Sandringham House.

Vivian hadn’t realized she was standing still and staring straight in front of her until Malcolm slipped his arm through hers and turned to lead her back toward Sycamore Cottage. They didn’t speak a word to each other until they were well out of the stables.

“After all your scorn of the monarchy and making fun of people who bow and curtsy to them, who was it I saw drop into an impeccable curtsy just now?” Malcolm had an enormous grin on his face.

Vivian threw her hands in the air.

“I didn’t do it on purpose, okay? It just happened! It’s not every day in my life a queen just lands in my path as I’m walking out of a stable! I saw you bow and I just lost my mind!”

He shook his head.

“So many revolutionary ideals that came crashing to a halt!”

The Queen. She had really met the Queen. Vivian laughed out loud.

“I cannot believe that just happened!” She turned to Malcolm. “Did you know she was going to be there?”

Had he brought her to the stables both to try to get her to ride a horse and to “accidentally” get her to meet the Queen?

“I didn’t,” he said. “But you should be honored by her compliment on your seat; she would never say that if it wasn’t true.”

Not only had she met the Queen, but the Queen had given her a genuine compliment on her horseback riding?

She’d definitely fallen down a rabbit hole. None of this felt real.

She stopped to look around.

“What a strange place this is,” she said.

Malcolm followed her glance, from Sandringham House to the stables to Sycamore Cottage to some of the other buildings in the distance.

“Quite,” he said.

She laughed out loud.

“Maddie isn’t going to believe this,” she said. “I never even thought I might meet the Queen while I was here—I thought there was no way someone like me would be allowed near her. I did sort of hope . . .” She stopped herself. She didn’t need to admit that.

Malcolm touched her elbow.

“No, you can’t stop like that. What did you ‘sort of hope’?”

She shouldn’t have started this, but now she’d have to finish.

“This is silly, so please don’t judge me for it. But I did ask Maddie if we’d get to see some tiaras. I’ve never seen one in real life before. A real one, I mean.” She sighed. “But Maddie said no. Apparently, they don’t wear them that often.”

Malcolm smiled at her and took her arm again.

“No judgment here. The jewels of the royal family are really something to see in person. Some of them come out for the holidays, but your daughter was right; not the tiaras.”

They turned back toward Sycamore Cottage. Vivian suddenly remembered what she’d been about to ask Malcolm when they’d been interrupted by the Queen.

“How much longer are you at Sandringham? What are your plans for Christmas? Is your family expecting you?”

He shrugged.

“The timing all depends on work, but I’ll spend Christmas at my sister’s.”

She had to just ask it. She was dying to know.

“Just you? Are you married?”

He looked taken aback for a moment but smiled at her.

“No, not anymore. I’ve been divorced for . . . almost six years now.” His eyes crinkled at her. “And you?”

She forgot that he might wonder that.

“Oh goodness, no. I’ve been divorced for almost thirty years now!”

They both laughed.

“What does your family usually do for Christmas?” he asked. “I assume you would be with your family if you weren’t here?”

She nodded.

“I would be—we all go over to my aunt’s house. My aunt and cousins do a lot of the cooking, but everyone is in charge of something. I’m sure I’ll be homesick on Christmas Day, but I’m actually pretty excited not to have the same food and watch the same sports as I have all of my life. It’ll be fun to experience something different.”

She was actually looking forward to trying all of the English Christmas foods she’d only read about in books. She really hoped Julia made mince pie—she had no idea what mince pie was even made of, but she wanted to try it.

“What will you and your daughter do for Christmas here?” he asked.

“For Christmas Eve, I think Julia is going to make a big meal for all of the staff at Sycamore Cottage, and though the Duke and Duchess have treated me and Maddie like guests, that includes us. I’m looking forward to that. I’m sure her cooking will be delicious. The Duke and Duchess will both be at Sandringham House that night, and again on Christmas morning and for lunch. So I think on Christmas Day, Maddie and I will just have a relaxing and low-key day, which is very different from our Christmases with our family at home, so that will be a nice change. We leave for London the next morning to spend a few days there before flying back to California.”