Princess in Training (Prince Harry #3)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Meredith's Dad took Harry out on the boat for fishing, while Meredith was sent into town with her mother for shopping. When she returned, she had little to anything beside a few more books but a lot of annoyance. Her mother hadn't stopped talking about the upcoming wedding and how Meredith needed to act, which was also known not like herself.

Escaping from the cabin, Meredith wore her bikini down to beach. Her eyes followed along the lake, but she saw the pontoon nowhere. The not-full resort was quiet tonight as Meredith slipped into the lake and swam out to a large, blue floating mat. Pulling herself up onto it, she laid on it as the sun brightly reflected off the lake.

Staring up at the white puffy clouds in the sky, the harsh wind threatened to blow her straight off. Already it gave her the chills. Goosebumps arose on her skin, turning white like the peaks of mountains.

Cold water pushed against her skin, especially as she was almost flipped off. Letting out a shriek, Meredith's fingers dug into the material. Opening her eyes, she found Harry barely holding himself out of the water as he laughed so hard. She splashed him and got comfortable on the thing again.

"May I join you?" he asked.

She patted the mat, and he pulled himself up beside her. They both stared up at the sky.

"Are you wearing sunscreen?" Meredith wondered.

"I was wearing it on the boat. Some probably came off from being in the water," Harry admitted. She was worth the burn. Already her skin had started to become pink. Unlike him, Meredith had the possibility to wear a tan.

Meredith glanced up, looking left and right. When her neck crammed back, she caught sight of the pontoon as it floated past. Her dad waved and went around the curve of the peninsula. "Did you just jump out of the boat and swim here?"

"Maybe." Harry smiled. "Would it earn me a kiss if I did?"

"It might earn you something for stupidity."

"The water isn't that cold."

"I didn't say it was cold, but--" Meredith stopped, like she needed to stop worrying. Leaning over, Meredith kissed Harry. Her body relaxed against his. He didn't just earn one kiss, but he deserved many. It was one peck after another, never allowing it to go more than a child rating. "There you go." She lied back down against the mat.

A blush had made its way onto his cheeks, and Harry glanced away for a second. "I wish you had been on that one a bit more out," he joked. "It would've been easier to get to you."

Meredith had wanted to go out to that mat, but she wasn't sure how deep the water was. Being a good swimmer, it was easy to get there, but she feared the seaweed that would cling to her legs as she swam. For all the things that scared her, ever since she was a little girl, it was this irrational fear: the seaweed would grip her legs and she would be dragged down, drowning alive.

"Let's go," Meredith said and nearly jumped off the mat.

Harry looked back at her but followed her lead, slipping off of closer blue mat to the shore.

After being able to walk for a few feet, seaweed started to grow. Her feet became stuck in the mud and clay. Fear burrowed in, and panic started to grow in Meredith. She wished to kick back, but her feet fell lower.

"Mere?" Harry asked, standing next to her, not having the fear she did.

"I'm fine." Taking another step forward, seaweed nipped at her feet, touching her legs. A scream almost escaped her sealed lips. With another step forward, the seaweed tickled the bottom of her feet and wrapped up her legs. Splashing back, Meredith floated in the water, careful not to fall for one moment.

"Mere?" Harry stood back. "Do you not like seaweed?"

She nodded meekly.

He laughed. "Come on. We don't have to go out there."

"Yes. We do. I want to."

Harry arched an eyebrow. "The seaweed is only going to get worse."

"If I don't conquer this fear now, when will I?" she asked.

To make her point, Meredith started to swim out, not allowing her feet to touch the seaweed too much. It still managed to snake out, grabbing at her legs. Each time a flash came into her mind of being dragged down. Harry swam next her, not working nearly as hard. He watched his future wife intently, ready to jump in to help her.

"Mere, you're almost there," he cheered on.

These twenty-two feet of swimming was the worst. Fear gripped her muscles like seaweed gripped her legs, and tension was high, not allowing her to glide through the water.

Reaching out, Meredith took a hold of the further blue mat and pulled herself up. Harry did the same with himself. They basked in the sunlight. Meredith's chest went up and down quickly. She was proud on having done it, but it all felt like too much. This fear wasn't something she could just get over.

"Swimming away from your problems?" Harry asked with a smile.

"That's why I just took an airplane to the middle of nowhere," Meredith responded. Why did she need to swim away from her problems in the United Kingdom when she had the ability to fly away from them? Honestly, there weren't too many problems, but it was just a lot of stress. "I'm a little concerned about the whole... citizenship thing."

"You're going to ace the test."

Meredith knew that, since she did well on exams, but there was that fear.

"What would they do anyway, kick you out of the country?" Harry wondered. "The government and everyone else is going to make so much money off of our wedding and everything; by the way, the wedding is in four months. I hope you're counting down the days."

Rolling her eyes, she hadn't really wanted to count it down. It was all too much in her mind, and these last five months had flown by. If this was the rest of her life, it was already too short, but she was going to make the best of it.