“How’s school going?” I asked.
“Ugh,” she groaned. “I’d rather talk about anything but that.” So, she swiftly changed the subject. “How’s wedding planning?”
“It’s been, like, three days!” A hand came over my shoulder, and I thanked James with a gentle smile for the drink he’d set in front of me. “I don’t even know where to start with being someone’s husband.”
Or being a vampire.Absently, I scrubbed one of the bite marks on my neck, surprised at how hot the skin was to the touch. Two tries and nothing was happening, other than being sick and sore afterward. I knew I was useless on the paranormal front but when James and Gabriel couldn’t pinpoint why, something big was about to happen.
Hannah’s gaze noted the placement of my hand, but before she could comment on the mark, I spoke. “I did find these cufflinks that belonged to my dad.” Ha. That got her attention.“He always said I could have them if I got married, but it was more or less a nice idea. I don’t think he ever expected me to need them.”
I took the box from my pocket and slid it across the table. Hannah eagerly lifted the lid, gasping at the jewelry inside. “These are stunning,” she said. “Are they vintage?”
I nodded, taking a sip of my drink. “My dad wore them on his wedding day, and his dad before him.”
Hannah picked one up for a closer look. They needed to be cleaned, but the plated gold and the deep ruby oval crystals still shone under the light.
But so did something else—a dainty gold band on Hannah’s left ring finger. All it took was a tilt of my head to make her drop the cufflinks back to the box and snap her hand under the table.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Nothing!” But even as she said it, she knew that arguing was useless.
“Show me your hand, Hannah.”
Knowing she was caught, Hannah couldn’t fight the grin that teased the corner of her lips. She brought her hand out from beneath the table, the tiny stones in the band glittering under the lights.
“You’re engaged too?”
A laugh bubbled out of her. “Not exactly.” Her eyes drifted over my shoulder. “We kind of skipped a step.”
I followed her dreamy stare to Kian at the bar. He looked up, his lips falling into an easy smile, his hands rolling a bottle of gin between their palms. Instead of lingering, he spun to put the bottle back on a high shelf, light glinting off of a new band encircling one of his fingers.
I spun back to my daughter. “Married?”
She only nodded, admiring the ring on her finger.
At thirty-six years old, I was still trying to wrap my head around the whole “dad” thing. First, it was discovering I had a daughter to begin with. Next, it was having a daughter old enough to drive, wear makeup, have a job, and go to college. Now, I was supposed to comprehend the fact that shegot married.
“When?” I demanded.
“A few days ago.” As she spoke, she still watched Kian over my shoulder, smile widening. “As soon as the courthouse opened after the holidays. After the accident, we, uh… decided we didn’t want to wait until I finished school. We love each other. Why put it off?”
My lips quirked. “You didn’t want the big white wedding?”
Hannah shrugged. “I’m a college student. Kian’s a bartender. We couldn’t afford it even if we wanted to, and I didn’t want to wait until the day we could.” She smiled at me. “This way, I get all the benefits for years while I plan exactly what we want.”
That was unsurprisingly sensible. Hannah had always been more mature than I was. “Want to plan mine in the meantime?” I grumbled into my drink.
“You’d let me?”
“Would you really want to?”
“Um, hell yeah I would! I love organizing stuff like that. All I need is a date, guest list, and a budget.”
I took a moment to consider it. It would be a lot of work to put on a nineteen-year-old who was still in her first year at an Ivy League University. Then again, the thought of organizing guests, and caterers, and florists, and…
Shit, there was that fist constricting my lungs again. Before I could tell Hannah that I’d ask James, my phone chimed with a text.
“Go ahead, love. I’ll help her.”
