“I hope Afton doesn’t tell Arabella this,” Logan says gloomily. “Because that is some romantic shite.”
Ethan laughs, handing us one last glass of whisky. “Only a MacTavish would find that romantic, but aye, Mason. You’ve outdone yourself.”
“Straighten up gentlemen, and put those glasses down.” The Lady Elspeth is no taller than a grasshopper, but with herjade eyes and fierce expression, she is not a woman you want displeased with you. “We’re about to begin, so kindly get into place.”
“Ye ready, son?” Dad steps up to me, straightening the collar of my black Prince Charlie jacket. “Do ye need any advice this time around?”
“No,” I say firmly. “But do remind me to tell you how I recreated your hasty marriage to Mom. Without the threat of gunfire, of course.”
He could not look happier. “Dinnae ye make me cry, lad. I’m looking forward to it.”
It’s late afternoon and astonishingly, the blue skies held without a hint of rain. The smell of sage and rosemary from the herb garden waft over the crowd, seated on bent willow chairs that the gardeners carried out today.
The sounds of the bagpipes soar through the air as my Afton comes down the aisle to me, escorted by her brother. I much prefer the wedding dress she’s wearing this time, onesheselected. It’s a simple white silk, with a back that dips to just above her pert, round ass and a long, embroidered train. I also much prefer her expression of shy happiness, versus the misery and fear she wore at that ostentatious mess in Seattle.
Father Hamilton smiles politely as if he’d not just seen us at midnight. “Dearly beloved. We gather here today…”
“You look beautiful, my lass,” I murmur.
“Your Scottish is showing,” she whispers back with a wink.
***
While I recognize that this is our wedding, I’m trying to decide how long we’re required to be here before I get her out of hereand on board theBeau Soleil.She’s getting a honeymoon this time, and as far away from the long reach of my family as I can take her. No distractions. Just us.
“Did I tell you that I had a run-in with your grandmother earlier?” I ask.
She turns on my lap, eyes wide and alarmed. “Oh, yeah. She doesn’t know you were the one who took out her son. How did that go?”
“That would be incorrect. She seemed quite sure that it was me.”
“What?” Afton gasps. “Did she pull a gun on you? Nana always keeps a little Smith & Wesson in her purse.”
“No, and I’m grateful for that,” I say wryly, “taking down your eighty-two year old grandmother would land me a special spot in Hell. Well, at this point I’ll be sharing the corner suite in Lucifer’s office building for the damned. But fortunately, that will not include murdering your Nana.”
She looks a little pale under her fancy makeup. “What happened?”
“Nana Cavendish found me in the library in the mansion, having drinks with the cousins. She told them she wanted to offer some grandmotherly advice and they were gone without a single look back. When she fixed her glare on me, I might have been wondering if she was carrying something in that Birkin bag of hers.”
“Oh, my god.” She looks across the garden where her Nana, resplendent in a lavender suit and a hat bigger than a manhole cover is speaking to the Lady Elspeth, smiling sedately.
“She told me that she was certain that I killed her son, she said that Sam, what were the exact words? She said ‘The boy doesn’t have the heart for it.’ She didn’t seem too upset about it.”
“That was it?” she asks incredulously. “I mean, he was her son.”
“She implied that she’d lost any sympathy when he slapped you at the wedding in Seattle.” I grind my teeth together. I would have preferred more time with that supercilious prick.
“How are you feeling?” Afton wraps her arms around me from behind, and I turn to kiss her.
“I believe I should be asking you that, wife.”
“I’m so happy.” She nods at her sister Lucia, who’s flirting madly with one of my handsome and equally clueless second cousins. “My family is happy this time, your family is much more at ease, and thank the good lord, the Lady Elspeth is pleased. Oh! Did I tell you that I finally discovered Talon’s real name?”
I frown. Even I don’t know Talon’s real name.
“Yeah, you know he insisted on working today, but I invited Niles, our barista at The Red Poppy?”
“I noticed him at the ceremony,” I agree.
