She waggles her eyebrows and makes a playful growl.
38
EVERLY
Grey, Bran, and I spend a good portion of the night cleaning up the ballroom. Doing something mindless like cleaning seems like a good choice to help ease Bran back into his memories as he and Grey pick up and leave off conversation.
It’s nearly sunup when we leave. We all sleep until noon before putting in a call to Bran’s last known commanding officer.
We arrange to bring him to Walter Reed, where he’ll have medical and psych evaluations along with care before he’s cleared to return to civilian life, if he wants to. As I pack up my things in the hotel, my diary peeks out of my bag. “I could really go for some cookie dough right now.”
“How about cookie dough ice cream?” Grey asks.
I tilt my head. “That could work.”
Before I zip my bag, I leaf through the recent entries, never expecting that when I drew the Viking on my flight to Concordia—who I wanted to ride in and save me from Manimal—would be the one to rescue me from Todd. I turn the page to the doodle I’d made of him before his makeover and couldn’t have dreamed that I’d fall in love with my husband.
I send up a prayer of thanks to God who guided me through the tumult, uncertainty, and sadness of the last months and led me to Grey.
My husband pops his head out of the bathroom on a billow of steam. “Your phone is beeping.”
“For the record, I blocked Todd’s number.” Looking back, something kept me from doing that and I’m thankful, otherwise, I might not have been able to connect with Princess, who led Bran back to us.
She’s already shipped out, in her own little version of La La Land, where she’s at the center of it all. I can’t fathom why she wouldn’t want to spend every waking moment with Sonny, even the sticky ones, but I’m not going to complain because I get to be his Mamma.
“Buttercup?” Grey says, holding my phone. “I think you’ll want to get this.”
I brace myself for Cateline to give me an earful about Blancbourg’s reputation. Then again, I already gave my notice and she partook in the food fight. Wolf even said something about it reminding him of their engagement party. I didn’t ask for details, but the timeline would be worth noting if she has anything to say about my manners.
Instead, Ice King’s name scrolls across my phone screen with an incoming call. I answer.
Skipping pleasantries, he says, “I put my best people on suppressing the events of last night. It’s better that we keep this relatively quiet.”
It takes me a moment to move past him wanting to save face because, once again, I did something to embarrass him, when I realize it was my father who punched Todd in the face.
“I have my lawyers on it. But I want to discuss your little episode.”
I’m practically shaking. After all, my father is the king of intimidation. “Throwing doughnuts at people?”
“No, getting married and not telling me.”
“Considering you didn’t try to reach me after I didn’t show up at my wedding, I figured you didn’t care about my married life.”
“Of course, I cared. Who do you think I am, the Ice King?”
“Well...”
Silence spreads between us and then we both laugh.
“I suppose I have some work to do, huh?” he says.
“If by work you mean thawing out and having a relationship with me and your grandson, then yeah.”
“You have a—?” My father sputters.
I explain about Sonny.
“I wish you’d told me about Todd.”
