“How long have you been planning this?” I ask him.
He turns on the bench to look me in the eye and gives me a wink. “Sixteen years.”
I laugh. “You never fail to surprise me.”
“Wait until you see what’s in there.”
Only then do I notice a small cooler under the edge of the blanket. I open it to find a steaming hot cup of cocoa in a River’s Tavern cup. I pop off the lid and see dozens of mini marshmallows and a sprinkle of cinnamon. “I love you, Seven Delaney.”
He flashes his most disarming smile. “Good, because that will make this so much easier.”
I take a long sip.
The band starts to play, and Seven taps the reins and nudges our reindeer into motion. Snow drifts from the star-filled sky. There’s not a cloud above us. This is Godmother’s magic. Beautiful.
I wave at the cheering crowd as we drive by, my mind flashing back to the nightmare I experienced sixteen years ago. The memories that flood me are just as painful as they were then, but now they have to war with new memories, joyful ones. I can feel the story I’ve told myself changing, morphing into a tale of misunderstanding, of redemption, of love and connection, of things working out over time. I let it all wash over me, the good and the bad, and I smile at the sharp edge of emotion it creates in me. The snow on my face makes me feel alive.
By the time we park the sled in the special parking area created for this event, I’ve finished my chocolate and feel light as a feather, like the past is finally truly in the past. Accepted, part of me, but not any more important than any other moment in our lives. I feel healed.
Seven hops down and helps me out the back, and I throw my arms around him. “Thank you for this.”
He presses a kiss into my hair. “We’re not done.”
Taking my hand, he leads me to the gazebo where a satyr band plays and white lights cast dancing couples in their warm glow. My mother and father are there, as is Arden, who’s dancing with River; Penelope, who’s swaying with her husband Flick; and Eva, who’s taking a turn around the floor with a completely healed Saul, along with a dozen more faces I recognize from Dragonfly. “Are we going to dance?”
He smiles as he leads me up the stairs and nods at the string quartet. They stop playing, and all the dancers pause to look at us.
I turn to Seven to ask him what’s happening and find him on one knee. In his hand is a box with a ring. Seven once said there would be a day he’d buy me a ring with a diamond large enough to be seen from space. I can’t attest to that, but as I look at the monstrosity he’s holding, I question whether I’ll get tired carrying it around.
“Sophia Larkspur, for as long as I can remember, you’ve been my best friend. Then you became my lover, and then when you were gone, the one I thought about when I looked at the moon. Somehow I have you back, and all I want is to be with you forever. You are who I think of when I hear the wordhome. All my life, people have said that I’m lucky, but tonight is the test. Will you make me the luckiest man alive? Will you marry me, Sophia?”
Everyone is watching, but we might as well be standing there alone. My attention narrows like a tunnel until I can see only him.
“Yes,” I say. “I guess the rumors are true. You are lucky, and so am I, because I can’t wait to be your wife.”
He slips the ring on my finger, and the world starts again amid flashing cameras, claps, and cheers. He pulls me into an embrace.
Seven’s power wraps around me with his arms, making me feel safe and loved. He’s never told anyone that he’s the king of the fae, and he refuses to use his new power for fear of drawing attention to himself. But I know and Arden knows. And I pity anyone who tries to get between the three of us. They won’t succeed. Not now. Not ever.
“Would you care to dance?” he asks me.
“Oh yes,” I say. “And then we must complete the rest of our plan.”
He quirks a half smile. “Our plan?”
“Sixteen years ago we planned to ride in the parade, dance in the gazebo, and…”
He arches a brow as he remembers our plan to lose our virginity to each other, and a wolfish grin spreads across his face. He sweeps me into the middle of the dance floor. “In that case, maybe half a dance.”
Epilogue
Six years later…
Seven fills a glass with champagne and hands it to me. “Congratulations, Mrs. Delaney.”
“Don’t congratulate me yet. Not until it’s done.”
“Everything is going to be fine. I have a feeling.” He smiles, and his eyes glint with power. “Today is a very lucky day.”
