Page 44 of Once Upon A Bear

“I heard no such thing,” Kellan said, his voice as dignified as he could make it.

“Well, I did, so you’re going to have to listen to me,” Liliana said.

“I think Kellan is going to do exactly what the healer tells him to do,” Mother said smoothly as she handed Guinevere a cup of tea, “or I shall get your father involved.”

“There’s no need to bother Father,” Kellan said, just as the man in question walked through the door.

“What are we not bothering me about?” their father asked as he settled next to his wife on the couch.

“Hello, dear,” Mother said, leaning over to give her husband a kiss. Guinevere turned away slightly, as if she were embarrassed, and Gideon almost chuckled.

Whether one thought it was fortunate or unfortunate, kissing was a normal occurrence around the estate. His parents had never been ones to hide their affection, and his younger brother Caspian seemed to follow the same pattern with his wife, Sophia.

As if he’d made them magically appear by thinking about them, Caspian and Sophia arrived, hand in hand.

“Come sit by me,” Liliana said to their sister-in-law, and Sophia smiled as she settled next to the youngest of their clan.

“What’s all this?” Caspian asked, and then he noticed Guinevere.

He froze for a moment, then shook himself, glancing at Gideon with a look that spelled trouble for him. Perhaps he shouldn’t have sat by her. Perhaps he would regret it later.

But he couldn’t regret it when she looked up at him with those earnest eyes, as if asking him what the answer should be.

Why was she looking at him? She was the one who had introduced herself as the healer.

“She had to come help Kellan,” Liliana said. “He fell off a horse.”

Caspian and Sophia glanced from Guinevere to Liliana to Kellan and back a couple of times.

“Are you hurt?” Caspian asked finally, directing his attention to his oldest brother.

“I think I’ll live,” Kellan said. “Though I don’t think Mother agrees with me.”

“I’m allowed to worry about my children,” Mother said, “whether you like it or not.”

Gideon looked down at Guinevere, who was smiling softly at the chaos. She wasn’t intimidated by his family and their dynamic, which was a good thing. He’d never felt like he could be himself around the noble girls his mother brought down to meet him, but he didn’t have that problem with Guinevere.

Not to mention she was the only person who knew both sides of his true self.

“I think if it hadn’t been for my excellent assistance,” Guinevere said, lifting her teacup and pretending to inspect it, “Kellan might have had a very different outcome.”

Everyone laughed and Gideon took a deep breath as hope flared in his chest.

She fit into his family in a way he hadn’t seen since Sophia had become one of them…and he liked it.

Chapter seventeen

Guinevere

Guinevere left the Rendon estate without looking back.

It was too much for her.

What would it be like to be a part of a family like that—one that loved each other so unapologetically, one that was there for each other in that way?

She had been alone since her grandparents passed a few years ago, and she had done all right for herself. She had worked as a gardener at Eldenwilde before graduating to become Lady Beatrice’s maid, before they had discovered she could help break Alexander’s curse. And now she was well enough known as a healer that she was able to provide for herself simply through that, and by showing up at Eldenwilde for dinner with Beatrice whenever she felt like she couldn’t manage to get enough food.

Gideon had never experienced anything like that. He had never known what it was like to not know where your next meal was coming from, or had to work for his daily living, or even spent a day knowing there was no one waiting at home who loved him.