I fight the urge to roll my eyes. “Y’all have to keep up the dances. Blair—you want them, right?”
Chelsea elbows her. “Not if Devlin Ross keeps showing up.”
Blair scowls at my sister.
Ophelia enters and places a tray of cookies on the table along with a pitcher of sweet tea. I thank her and she nods before slipping out the door.
Chelsea picks up a shortbread square and takes a bite. She moans. “Oh my gosh. I think there’s rose petals in this. It’s amazing. Try one.”
She pushes the plate toward me, but my appetite’s dried up. “What about Devlin Ross?”
Chelsea smirks. “He showed up with a woman on each arm—twins, and then he had the nerve to ask Blair to dance.”
My sister exhales like she’s the north wind trying to stir up a blizzard. “If I can keep from having to lay eyes on him, I’ll be happy.”
Crap. This isn’t the way the conversation’s supposed to go. Ovie’s got to be on board with continuing to marry off my sisters, which means I’ll have to whittle away at her resolve until she relents.
“Won’t the family’s power be secured as more of us marry?”
My aunt tips her head back and forth. “There’s truth in that, but even just getting one of y’all married will help.”
“But two are better.” She hasn’t touched the cookies, so I pick up the plate and shove it toward her. “Don’t you think? Two weddings, double the power?”
She studies the cookies closely before picking one with chocolate chips. “Maybe. I’ll have to think about it.”
“But Blair wants to marry,” I blurt out.
“Addie,” my sister snaps.
“Sorry, but it’s true.”
“Maybe she’ll finally tame Devlin,” Chelsea adds with a laugh.
“Never.”
My younger sister smirks. “Never say never.”
Ovie munches on the cookie for a moment. “We should really be focused on your wedding and not balls right now.”
“But life has to continue as it should be. It has to keep on going. You can’t stop just because I’ve been snatched up.”
“Haveyou been snatched up?” Blair questions skeptically.
I love my sister, but right now my only wish is for her to shut it. “You’ll see this afternoon at the ceremony. Y’all will be so amazed at how in love I am with Feylin, and how much he loves me, that you’ll be begging Ovie to have a ball next week.”
Blair folds her arms in a display of sulkiness, but it’s Chelsea who says happily, “I can’t wait to meet him. The whole community can’t.”
Wait. “What?”
“Yes.” She sips her tea and grins. “Everyone’s coming to the ceremony—the whole town. They’re excited to see a witch and fae marry. It’s historical, you know.”
My gaze darts to Ovie. “The whole town’s coming?”
She wrings her hands. “Well, probably not thewholetown.” I pin my laser-beam gaze on her and she wilts. “Okay, maybesomeof them. You know how word spreads. Last night, as soon as Feylin announced that y’all were engaged, tongues began wagging. No one knows these people—I mean, fae. Even though they’ve lived here for years, they keep to themselves.”
“For good reason. The backyard’s climate-controlled.”
“What’s that mean?” Blair asks.
