Erik chuckled to himself but, once composed, jumped onto her point. “She wants stability in a time of uncertainness, Gray.She’s forging it alone.” He held up a hand to stop my protests. “She wants to marry you. Why are you making us all wait?”
My brow crumpled. “What if they all think I’m taking advantage of her?”
Larkin barked out a laugh. “When did you care what other people think? You’ve gone soft in your old age.”
“It’s not about me. I don’t want anything to affect her reign.”
“It won’t. Look at her. She’s been handling it with a lot more grace than you could have.”
I couldn’t argue with her there. Work was Quentin’s domain. She knew how to organise things. She listened to residents, took things on board, worked towards a solution. All of this was done while she hid her own pain and heartbreak. And all she’d asked from me was to get married. To know that without a shadow of a doubt that we were a family here in Elysia.
“I’m an idiot,” I grumbled, shoving my chair back. The table rattled, and coffee spilled, earning a groan from Erik and a hiss from Larkin. “Thanks for the pep talk.”
“I’m putting all this on your tab!” Larkin yelled after me as I made my way home.
When I arrived, the house was quiet, and I stalked my way through, popping my head into rooms in a bid to find Quentin. Eventually, as I stepped out onto the grounds, I found her sitting on a bench with her feet curled up underneath her.
“You look comfortable,” I said, making my way over.
“Hey!” she said, looking up from her book. “I didn’t think you’d be back so soon. Was everything okay?”
“Peachy. Quen, we need to talk.”
The colour drained from her face. “About?”
“No. It’s nothing to worry about. I… I realise that maybe I’ve not been attuned to what you need,” I explained.
She closed her book and took her feet out from under her so that we sat side by side. “I’m not sure I’m following.”
“You want to get married.”
“Yes,” she said. “That’s why I accepted your proposal.”
“No. I mean, you want to get married. Soon.”
“You said?—”
“Forget what I said. Do you want to do this?”
There was a silence in which she studied me carefully. Finally, she placed her hand across my forehead. “Are you feeling okay?”
I swatted her away affectionately. “I am fine. Answer me, golden girl. Should we set a date?”
“Please don’t joke about this.”
I took her face in my hands. “No jokes, Quen. Let’s do it.”
Haveyou ever felt a day that dragged on? As a God, living for an eternity, you never really felt that, but today was the longest day of my existence.
“We should head down to the pool.”
Erik’s words were like music to my ears because it meant Quentin was finally ready. It had taken long enough. The only thing that woman was ever punctual for was for work. Everything else she took her time with, and why would our wedding be an exception?
Following Erik, we walked to the pool. Chairs had been set up along the bank and bright floral arrangements took up any space that was available. Lanterns lined the aisle, giving light to the area as the sun began to set.
“You really went all out,” I muttered to Erik, feeling a swell of love and appreciation for my little brother.
“I did it for Quentin,” he replied with a smug smile. “She has an image to uphold now. Already damaging it marrying you…”
