Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
In mid-August, Lorne and I had our wedding. Charles and Allie supplied the vegetarian buffet, all the gorgeous flowers, and the boutonnieres for me and Lorne. Troy made honey mead, as well as a special lavender honey for the guests to take with them. Rita made Lorne a gorgeous platinum band with rough-cut diamonds so it looked like mine, even though mine—that Lorne had given me when he proposed—was iron.
“We should get you a platinum one too,” he said the night before we said our vows, looking at his stunning ring sitting on his nightstand next to mine. I didn’t like having it off, but Father Dennis needed to bless them both the following day. “Yours looks a bit shabby in comparison.”
“It does not,” I said defensively. “And I can burn fae with mine. What does yours do?”
He shook his head at me.
“What? My fiancé is a smart man who wants me to be protected. That’s why there’s diamonds in it too. Those ward demons, among other things. Did you know?”
“They’re the same kind of diamonds, since Rita made both. She made sure to match them.”
“Rita’s a true artisan,” I commented, then started laughing as he grabbed me, tumbled me onto the bed, on my back, and kissed me like he wanted something.
“None of that before the wedding,” I scolded him. “It’s not proper.”
“You’ve never been proper,” he murmured before kissing me deeply, and I went boneless in his arms. “You’ve always been wild and beautiful, inside and out.”
“Forget what I said. I’m all yours.”
“Have been since the first day I walked into our cottage,” he said smugly.
And he wasn’t wrong.
As I walked around outside the following day, looking at our friends, Lorne’s family, his mother, her now fiancé, Gerald, his grandmother, and of course, James and Cass, I was so happy, at some point I had to put my hands down into the earth and let some of it run out of me so I stopped shaking. The land seemed to enjoy that, if the scent of wildflowers on the breeze was any indication.
“My goodness, it smells amazing here,” Declan’s wife, Kim, said, seven months pregnant, sitting next to Amanda on a blanket on the grass, petting Argos, who was sprawled out beside her. “And my back doesn’t hurt, and this mint iced tea is just—may I come back?”
“Whenever you like,” I said, holding her hand.
Joining Declan a few minutes later, I pointed out that my cat was making friends with his luminous wife.
“You know he visits sometimes, especially now in the summer. It’s always so nice to see him on my back deck at night.”
“I’m sure he knows Kim is with child and is watching over her.”
“And to think I was scared of daemons once. It seems so silly now.”
“Yes, but you didn’t know any then. It was good of you to allow yourself to change.”
“Change is good as a rule, don’t you think?”
I certainly did.
When Eddie pulled me aside, later in the afternoon, I was surprised.
“Are you all right?” I asked him.
“I’m fine, but I’m planning to surprise Amanda with a trip to Paris for our wedding anniversary in two weeks, so I’m going to need you and Lorne to watch our kids while we’re gone,” he said, grinning. “If I could tell her that you’ve already signed on, she’ll actually go, and we need this.”
“I have noticed you’ve been playing a lot of golf lately.”
He sighed deeply. “Sometimes I worry that I don’t do enough, don’t bring in enough money, and I don’t want her to lose respect for me. Because of that, I’ve been concentrating on networking, schmoozing clients, and trying to increase the amount that my roster brings in. I’ve been really focused on building my business.”
I squinted at him.
“You don’t understand because you could never lose her,” he said miserably. “But I thought I could if I wasn’t careful.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“I did for a minute there, but I have now regained control of my faculties, and so you will be seeing much more of me, though not in two weeks, as I will be in Paris with my lovely wife.”
“Yes you will,” I assured him. “And I will most definitely keep your kids for you.”
“Oh, Xan, you’re the best.” He grabbed and kissed me.
“Hey,” Lorne grumbled, walking up beside me. “Who the hell do you think you’re kissing on, man?”
“Thank you too, buddy,” he said, giving Lorne a pat on the cheek. “You’re awesome.”
He left us then, and Lorne turned to me. “We’re watching their kids again, aren’t we?”
I couldn’t stop grinning.
Around six, Father Dennis stood with his back to the stream and called everyone together as Lorne and I clasped hands. Lorne’s brother, James, was his best man, and Amanda was my matron of honor. Toby was in charge of holding the rings, and JJ made sure that all around us was cast a mixture of herbs and rosebuds they’d foraged earlier in the morning. The circle of protection and blessing was a very nice touch, as was seeing my grandparents smiling at me from the doorway of the greenhouse Lorne had built. I could not have had a greater blessing.