“I’d heard tell of such,” I say. It was a little before my birth, however.
Arlo’s smile is bitingly cold. “Yes, and that was over a thousand years ago, so I don’t see how it has any relevance to lunch. Speaking of which, maybe we should go and help Mum, Gunnar?”
“Here we are!” Natalie says cheerily, bustling over with a tray laden with teacups and a steaming kettle. “Bill, would you get the sandwiches?”
William smiles. “Certainly, love.”
Natalie hands out teacups, then hands me my coffee. “Milk, sugar, cream?”
“Cream,” I say. She lifts a tiny saucer and pours a dollop of cream into my coffee. Once the teacups have been handed out and the sandwiches served, I distract myself by sipping my coffee. William brings another tray stacked high with little biscuits.
“Try a scone, Gunnar,” Arlo says. “Nan makes the best scones. They’re delicious with clotted cream and jam.” He hands me one, and I waste no time stuffing it into my mouth. The sweetness explodes on my tongue.
“These are delicious,” I declare through a mouthful. A crumb flies out of my mouth and smacks Patricia’s cheek.
William mutters, “Clearly, they don’t teach table manners in the eight hundreds…”
I fight back a growl. I don’t understand why William has it out for me, but I’d love to shut him up.
Arlo snatches up a scone and crams it into his mouth. “What’s table manners among family?” he asks, cheeks bulging with chewed-up scone. “These are delightful! I can understand why he could hardly wait to finish chewing, Nan.”
Patricia’s face flushes with pride. “I can hardly take all the credit. It’s my late husband’s recipe. I’m sure Frank would be honored.”
“So, tell us how you met,” Natalie says.
My scone goes down wrong, making me cough. “My brother Anders had lost his mind and—”
Arlo steps on my toes. “I was tasked with ensuring Anders got the proper documents after he arrived in the present. I went to their home to speak to him and ran right into this guy.” He elbows me with an overly cheery laugh. “The minute I saw him, it was like a neutron star collision. I knew at once who he was to me.”
“Aww,” Natalie says. “How sweet.”
“I must say, we were very surprised to hear about your engagement!” Patricia says.
Arlo forces a laugh, squeezing my thigh hard. His palm is clammy. “I was worried you wouldn’t approve of me dating a werewolf, so we held off.”
There’s an uncomfortable pause that confirms they aren’t at all thrilled with Arlo’s choice in partner.
William breaks the silence. “Still, it’s unusual for you to keep secrets from your own family, Arlo. How do we know—”
Natalie clears her throat and says, “You must tell us your engagement story.”
My heart lurches into my throat.
Time to see if we can convince his whole family we’re madly in love…
Chapter 6
Arlo
Oh goddess, save us.How I wish Gunnar and I were connected through a pack bond right about now.
Gunnar clears his throat. “Would you like to tell them or shall I, dear?”
The endearment makes my cheeks flush. Damn it, how could we not have thought of this? We’d discussed the location, but I don’t even remember if we agreed on who proposed to whom. Him or me?
I plaster on a cheerful smile. There’s no time to overthink this. “Oh, it was so romantic. We were sailing on Gunnar’s boat—”
“Ship,” Gunnar interjects.
