I picked her up, carried her down the hall to our bedroom, and tucked her in.
“You don’t have to treat me like an invalid,” Avery complained.
“I’m not. I’m treating you like a princess.”
“Like a fairy princess?”
“Well maybe, except that your rabbit could probably fight off a bunch of burglars, so you’re probably more of a badass princess with an evil rabbit henchman.”
“That’s exactly the kind I want to be.”
I sat next to her on the bed as she fell asleep. Then I carefully removed the large watch from her wrist and inspected it. The Patek watch was a remarkable piece of craftsmanship. I wished she would stop wearing it as an everyday accessory. It probably needed to be sent to Geneva to be carefully cleaned.
You should tell her about the watch and what it’s really worth.
Except Avery had promised it to me, so what did it matter? We had shaken hands. It still felt a bit like lying. Actually, scratch that. It feltexactlylike lying.
I brushed off the guilt. I would tell Avery the whole story on our honeymoon, and we would laugh about it. I was already planning on giving her additional money to renovate her house. Hell, I’d buy her anything she wanted. Knowing about the watch now or later wouldn’t change anything. Besides, Avery was already so stressed out that I didn’t want to add to it.
54
Avery
“Another day, another wedding event,” I said the next weekend as we pulled up in front of the Gray Dove Bistro in Harrogate.
“Maybe we should have done it at the Manhattan location,” Blade said, putting the car into park.
I opened the door before he could run around the other side and do it for me. Blade had been waiting on me hand and foot. He even told me to take a day off of work, but there was no way I was leaving him to the mercy of the interns.
All week, I had been looking forward to the couple shower. My nose felt fine; the swelling was nonexistent. The shower was at a nice restaurant. It was going to be the classy, tasteful wedding event I always wanted. I had a big smile on my face when Blade opened the door of the quaint little café. Then I had to use all of my will power not to screamWhat the fuck?when I walked inside.
The whole restaurant, a cute historic building with exposed brick and antique café chairs, had been transformed into what could only be described as a knockoff woodland Disney set.
“Yay, you’re here!” Hazel said, hugging me then Blade. “Do you like the decorations? Blade was very adamant that this was your favorite theme.”
“I—” I took in the giant painting of a rabbit in a hollow that was hanging on a wall. It wasn’t as if the décor was bad, it was just… “It’s very woodland.”
“You like rabbits and hamsters and things,” Blade insisted.
I couldn’t yell at him and say,Yes I like them but don’t want a party centered around them!I would sound like a bitch and would also blow our cover.
“You know how much I like rabbits!” On the table were little miniature statues of mice, hedgehogs, and otters having meals.
“You look like you need a drink,” Shirley said, handing me a wooden mug filled with alcoholic cider.
I looked down at it in suspicion.
“Some ciders have more alcohol than cocktails,” Edward informed me, a plate of pasta in one hand and a large mug of cider that resembled a tree trunk in the other.
“Where did you find those meatballs?” Shirley asked, inspecting Edward’s plate. “Do you want us to bring you a snack?”
“Sure,” I said faintly.
“You can’t deny that this is better than the penis party,” Blade said in a low voice after we had greeted several well-wishers.
“I’m not mad,” I told him.
“You look mad.”
