“Mom, stop that, you’ll scare her off, and I kind of like her,” Taylor said from behind them. “But that does smell wonderful. When do we eat?”
“Everything is ready. If you could carve up the chicken while I dish up the rest, we can eat,” she said. Mrs. Gordon, why don’t you go sit down? We’ve got this.”
“Please call me Shelly,” Taylor’s mom said. “Or, Mom, if you want, either will work for me.”
She smiled at the older woman. “Let’s start with Shelly and work our way up,” she said, smiling at her. “Now let’s eat before it gets cold.”
After Taylor carved the chicken, they filled their plates and silence fell over the little cabin as they satisfied the worst of their hunger. “This is wonderful,” Shelly said, pausing to take a drink of the tea in the glass in front of her. “Thank you for inviting me, it’s nice to have someone cook for me for a change.”
“You’re welcome. I love to cook, I just don’t get to do it as often as I like,” she said. “And working with ingredients as fresh as these was a real pleasure, everything tastes better, and I didn’t have to do anything.”
Shelly laughed, “You can come over and help me with thechickens tomorrow,” she said. “That will really make you appreciate the grocery store.”
They all laughed, then ate in silence for a few minutes. “Mom, I need to know exactly what I need to do when I go see Grandfather and the Elders’ Council,” Taylor said, breaking the silence. “It’s the only way to stop Sebastian from trying to sabotage my life. This can’t go on; he hurt an innocent person just to try and get to me. I can’t let him do something like that again; next time, it might be even worse.”
His mother nodded, set down her fork, and pushed her plate away. “I’ve been thinking about this and talking to a few people I’m still in contact with from back then,” she said. “Taylor, Sebastian isn’t the only one who would like to see you disappear. The clan is divided, and several factions are pushing their own candidates. These are dangerous people; you have to know that.”
“I know, I’ll be careful,” Taylor said, setting down his fork and pushing his plate away as well. “I’ll have the guys and Emily with me; they’ll have my back, and as soon as everyone hears why I’m there, they’ll back off.”
“I think you need to keep your visit a secret until you get there. Don’t give anyone time to prepare for you coming,” his mom said. “There’s a clan meeting in two days. If you show up, you can do what you need to and get out of there, hopefully unscathed.”
“Do you know where the meeting is?” Taylor asked. “I won’t be able to surprise them unless you know.”
“I’ve got the address, it’s about two hours from here,” his mom said, then hesitated. “They won’t let Emily in; she’ll have to wait for you outside.”
“I’m not letting him go anywhere without me,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not going to let Taylor face his grandfather alone, I’m going with him, there has to be a way.”
Shelly was silent for a second, her eyes darting betweenthem. “Well, there is one way, but it’s a bit…extreme,” she said, then paused, clearly trying to decide if she should tell them or not. “If you two were married, they’d have to let Emily in and she would be safer traveling with you in their territory; no one could challenge you for her.”
“I’m sorry, did you just say someone might challenge Taylor for me?” she asked. “I’m not a piece of property.”
Shelly reached out and patted her hand. "You are in my father’s clan territory,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s wrong—I know that—but I don’t make the rules—he does, and if you’re in their territory, his rules apply.”
“Then we’ll get married,” she said, making Taylor choke on the drink he’d just taken. “I’m not staying behind; it’s not going to happen.”
“Emily, you can’t be serious,” Taylor said, setting his glass down with a thunk. “Marriage is a big commitment.”
She studied him for a second. “Did you mean everything you said to me earlier today?” she asked. “Because if you did, then we’ve already pledged to stay together forever. Why not take the next step?”
Taylor stared at her for a second, then started laughing. “Why not?” he asked, then jumped to his feet and pulled her into his arms. “Emily Torres, will you marry me?”
“Of course, I’ll marry you,” she said. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, even if you come with a bunch of drama.”
CHAPTER 22
***TAYLOR***
It was a beautiful fall day, a perfect day for a wedding, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping in the trees, and his mother’s backyard was a hive of activity, but Taylor didn’t notice anything as he paced back and forth across the front porch. Emily’s dad was due to arrive in just a few minutes, and he wasn’t very happy about their rushed wedding, even though Emily had done her best to explain to him why they couldn’t wait. He couldn’t blame the man; he would have been just as suspicious and unhappy if it had been his daughter, and he hoped that a talk with him would help.
When the car pulled up a few minutes later, the look on the man’s face when he spotted Taylor waiting for him killed a little bit of that hope, but he remembered what was at stake. The last thing he wanted was to start out his marriage to Emily with bad blood between him and her father, so he took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and put a smile on his face.
“You must be Mr. Torres,” he said, walking to meet him halfway, his hand out. “I’m Taylor. Thank you for gettinghere on such short notice; I know how much it means to Emily.”
“Where is my daughter?” Mr. Torres demanded, ignoring his hand. “I need to talk some sense into her, this is crazy.”
“She's upstairs getting ready, but I was hoping we could talk before you go in to see her,” he said, his voice shaking a bit with nerves. “I know that you think this is all happening too fast, but I promise you I care very deeply for your daughter, she’s a very special woman, and I’m lucky to have her in my life. She’s my soul mate. I know not everyone believes in stuff like that, but we were meant to be together, we’re perfect for each other, and no amount of time is going to change that.”
The older man’s stiff expression softened a little bit. “My daughter is a handful. She has a strong will and mind, and she won’t be dominated by any man,” Emily’s father said. “She has hopes and dreams of her own, and I would hate to see her give those up for anyone, especially someone she’s only known for a couple of weeks.”
