4
Darius stared up at the regal building that was the Barliamo Hotel. He shouldn’t have been surprised it was surrounded by other large stone buildings, but he’d expected it to have grassy grounds and gardens around it. Evidently not.
“Barliamo meansmajestic abode,” Joe said from beside him. “It first opened in 1902, but they did a major rehaul of it in the early 1990s. It’s now a five-star hotel.”
“I told you he was a great source of trivia,” Eve whispered as she came to stand by Darius.
“Is that a wedding party?” He pointed to four men who stood near the entrance, all formally dressed in suit jackets, ties, and matching kilts.
“It must be,” Sophia cried, pointing to a car that had pulled up to the entrance and was unloading a pretty, plump young woman in a white gown. “Oh, they’re adorable.” Sophia pointed to two young children, a boy also dressed in a kilt and a toddler girl wearing a formal white dress.
One of the four men stepped forward and approached the bride, his hand extended. She took it, and he pulled her to his side. That must have been a signal, because a man in a full-on formal kilt uniform and a furry hat appeared and started playing bagpipes. He then did an about-face and led the party, now being joined by others in formal dress, into the hotel.
“Does your father have a kilt?” Darius asked Eve.
“He sure does, and he’s quite proud of it too.” She looked up at him and grinned. “When he married my mother, she insisted that if she was going to marry a red-headed Scotsman, he had to dress the part for their wedding. I’ll have to show you the pictures sometime.”
“Wait,” Joe said, “you’re part Scottish?”
“Stewart. Duh. Did you think I was only African American?”
“But you don’t have an accent,” Noah said.
“Och, but I do, when I want to,” Eve said in an excellent Scottish brogue, “but dinnae fash yerself. I’ll translate when you need it.”
“IthinkI caught most of that,” Darius said with a chuckle. He’d loved it in school when she’d put on her accent. “I know dinnae means don’t, but what about fash?”
“Essentially it means ‘don’t worry about it,’” she said with her normal accent. “I must have heard that a million times when I was a teen and would whine to my dad about something. But Sophia is looking tired. Since the wedding party has gone inside, shall we?”
“Good idea.” Darius led the way. The luxurious lobby had a nice combination of dark wood furniture and light walls, with a beautifully crafted railing along the mezzanine above. He and Joe went to the counter to check in. “I should probably have made Noah come with us, but since he’s not going to be an administrative assistant, I guess it doesn’t matter.”
“You could have broughtyourassistant with you,” Joe said as they got in line.
“Hardly. Rafe would kill me since it’s Ahri, and she’s his new girlfriend.”
“Kayn’s sister?”
“One and the same. When he wanted to start dating her, that was my gain and his loss. He can’t date someone he supervises, so she came to work for me.” Darius was glad that Eve wasn’t technically working for him, even if he continued with the charity. He’d be removed from it.
They were next, and he stepped forward.
* * *
“Areyou sure you’re feeling all right?” Eve put her hand to Sophia’s forehead, a little worried that the girl seemed warm. “You’re going to want to make sure you get some good rest today and not do too much, or you won’t have enough energy for tomorrow. The last thing we want to do is to bring on a flare-up.”
Sophia looked irritated, shooting a glance at Noah. She must hate anything that would draw attention to her condition, especially around a cute boy.
“It’s so luxurious,” Carmen said, scanning the room. “I wonder how many rooms they have. It must be insane having to coordinate the cleaning staff.”
“Right,” Eve said. “I wonder how many medical emergencies they have each week.”
“Enough that my granddad has almost come out of retirement because he’s being called to Tasheton Castle so often,” Noah said.
“Where’s that?” Carmen asked.
“Ireland,” Noah and Eve said at the same time and laughed. She added, “It’s an eight-hundred-year-old castle that’s also a five-star hotel.”
“We’re ready,” Darius said, approaching them with their room cards in his hand. He turned to Sophia. “We’ve got a special treat for you. Eve thought you’d love to stay in the same room that JK Rowling finished writingThe Deathly Hallowsin.”
