“This old manis headed to bed.” Reese caught Bel’s elbow and gently pulled her from the dwindling crowd.
“Thanks so much for coming, Dad.” Bel wrapped her arms around her father’s neck, and the pair lingered in silence for a moment. “And thanks for helping Eamon set up. Today was perfect.”
The party had been enjoyed by all in attendance save maybe Olivia, who’d hidden on the opposite end of the room from herex-boyfriend for the duration of her hour stay, but Bel tried to ignore the fact that her friend had ducked out the minute she finished eating. She’d come, and that was progress.
“You know what’s perfect?” her dad asked as they separated. “That I can go upstairs and sleep in a real bed and not on your couch.”
“Tell Eamon to stop conspiring with my family members,” she spoke loudly for her boyfriend’s benefit. “Besides, just a few months ago, you never wanted to see him again. Now you’re teammove-into-his-house?”
“What? I like sleeping in a guest room.” Her dad feigned ignorance. “On a serious note, I’ve actually been here for a few days.”
“You have? How?” Bel asked. “I was here during the week.”
“I was hiding in one of the far bedrooms,” he answered. “Eamon installed a TV, microwave, and mini fridge for me, and the floor has a private bathroom, so we never had to cross paths. I stayed in the room until you left for work.”
“Wait…” Bel glanced between her dad and her dog. “Is that why Cerberus was adventurous this past week?”
“Yeah, he kept trying to blow my cover. Eamon had to keep chasing him down.”
“I can’t believe you were here, and I had no idea. I should check these rooms more often. Who knows what else is hiding? Why were you here?”
“Eamon needed help to finish the library. He had a whole construction crew here when you were at the station, and on the nights you stayed at your cabin, Ewan and I took over. I guess that’s why I changed my tune about him. We spent a lot of hours together without you. It gave us a chance to talk.”
Over the winter, Bel had confessed half-truths about her boyfriend to her father. Like Sheriff Griffin, Reese wanted to learn enough to understand his daughter’s relationship and nota fact more. She’d been vague in her descriptions, leaving out the most brutal and terrifying moments from the past year, but by the time he’d left, Reese understood Eamon was not someone you messed with. And because of that, neither was Bel.
“And how was that?” she asked.
“Good… weird, though. We were alive during the same years, so he gets all my references, yet he looks the same age as my kids. We also talked a lot about you since I now know some of the truth. May the Lord strike me down for saying this about a man clearly so dangerous, but being here changed my opinion of him. I can confidently say he loves you as fiercely as the dog does... which is saying a lot.”
“So we have your blessing?”
“You have my blessing… and not only because I prefer sleeping in a proper guest room instead of on your couch.”
Bel rolled her eyes before kissing her dad’s cheek. “Well, before you move me into his house, you’re more than welcome to sleep here when you visit. It’s no bother to Eamon. Clearly, since I never noticed you were here.”
“I’ll be more visible now. He invited the entire family to stay the weekend,” Reese said.
“Thank god,” Briar chimed in as she hoisted an irate child onto her hip. “I would go insane if we had to drive home with these two tonight. They’re so cranky.”
“Too much fun.” Bel plucked her nephew out of her sister’s arms.
“And too much sugar,” Briar said. “Your boyfriend really knows the meaning of the word spoil.”
“Cerberus is an expert on that. The only reason he isn’t chunky is because Eamon exercises a lot, and he takes Cerberus with him.”
“It was a wonderful party, though.” Briar hugged her sister after her husband, Flynn, reclaimed the screaming toddler fromBel’s arms. “We’ll do a family breakfast in the morning. Happy Birthday, Isobel. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Bel spent the next half hour saying goodbye to her guests, and when the library was finally silent, Eamon handed her a glass of wine and led her and Cerberus out into the moonlit garden.
“That was such a surprise,” she said as they sank onto the bench hiding among the roses. It matched the new one Eamon had installed in her mini garden at the cabin after the television show producer bled to death on her original.
“Did you have fun?” Eamon wrapped an arm around her shoulders to shield her from the cool spring air.
“I did. A far better birthday than a night at a stranger’s wedding.” She sank into his embrace to watch Cerberus toss one of the garden balls around. “I can’t believe you built me a library without me figuring it out. I can’t believe my dad was here all week, and I didn’t catch on. Maybe this house is too big. You could have a whole host of people hiding here.”
“I keep all my girlfriends in separate wings so that you guys never run into each other.” He brushed a finger over her book charm necklace. He’d given it to her after a witch had cursed him to kill her. Miraculously resisting the curse and saving her life, he’d paid a lesser witch to bless the necklace, but after Bel dove into a kidnapper’s car to save Hollywood’s sweetheart, he realized magic wasn’t enough to protect her. One of his contacts had since installed a stolen government tracker inside the charm. Complete with a panic button linked to Eamon’s devices, it had already saved her from a werewolf’s violence, but it tracked her every step. There was no longer privacy in their relationship, but it was a small price to pay to ensure she wasn’t kidnapped for a fourth time. She could take it off if she chose to—their running joke that she needed to remove it to see her otherboyfriend—but she hadn’t so much as lifted the chain from her neck even to change. She had no intention of removing it either, but the teasing had become an inside joke.
