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Ethan turned to the crowd.
“Ladies and gentlemen, ten minutes ago my intention up on that podium was to announce that I was about to sign a deal with the Tween Council of Towns to build a new airport on human lands north of Motham. It seems, after the colorful performance you just witnessed, that—” He looked over at Beau and winked, and was rewarded with a huge grin in return. “That deal is probably off. And er, I want to thank my brother for that. Because tonight, Beau, you did something that matters far more. You warded off a cowardly attack on this precious woman standing beside me.” He paused, hauled in a deep breath. “The woman I am madly in love with. Since you’ve been in my life, Min, you’ve brought my family together, gone on shopping trips with my mom—and that takes courage. Sorry, Mom.” But Cressida just beamed at him. “And you’ve helped me repair my relationship with brother. Min, there’s just one more thing I need to ask you,” he turned to her, “while I have five hundred witnesses present.” His heart was pounding and all he could do was drown in her eyes. Eyes that told him she was so happy to hear what he was about to say.
“Will you, Minerva Westwind, do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
CHAPTER 27
ONE WEEK LATER
Min turned the key over and over in her slightly sweaty palm.
She’d been standing here for the last ten minutes, trying to pluck up courage to open her father’s study door.
She needed to do this. To go in there, tidy his desk, dust. Put away the books still in boxes. She would sort through her father’s things. Get organized. It was time.
But still she hesitated. She looked around, then called in a reedy voice, “Gingerbread, are you there?”
Where was that damn cat when you needed him?
She heard the bell tinkling, signaling that someone had entered the shop, and sighed with relief. A customer—she could put off the decision for a few more minutes.
When she walked to the front of the shop, it was Ethan standing at the counter.
He was much earlier than she’d expected, which was probably not good news. After a week of curt email communication, the Council of Towns and Ethan had finally met today to nut out the situation, having been locked in an icy stalemate since the gala dinner.
Min had told Ethan that she wouldn’t press charges against Quentin provided he was never allowed to come near her again. A restraining order had been issued by the Motham authorities, which made her feel safer, though it had probably done nothing to advance the airport deal.
Ethan had told her he wasn’t worried about the airport, that all he wanted was her, but she couldn’t let him leave it there. “No Ethan,” she’d told him firmly, “you need to see this through. It’s everything you’ve worked toward.”
But now, she couldn’t read his mood at all as he gazed at her, his expression inscrutable.
“Min, can we sit down?” They went into the office, and he sighed heavily as he sat down.
“It’s not going through, is it?” she said.
He shook his head, and she reached for him. “Oh, Ethan, I’m so sorry.”
“They’ve offered me some other land, just not where I wanted.”
Min’s heart sprang with hope. “Well, that’s good. Surely you can make that work. Where is it?”
He looked down at his hands. “It’s here, Min. It’s the Westerly.”
Min stopped breathing for a moment. “Right here—this land?”
He nodded. “It’s not what I hoped for, but I can make it work. So, I’ve agreed.”
Her eyes flew to his face, confusion and hurt jostling for supremacy.
“Y-you agreed.”
He nodded, tight-lipped.
Min gulped back the huge lump in her throat. Of course, she wanted him to fulfil his father’s dream… but her shop… her father’s dream. She looked helplessly toward her dad’s study, her enthusiasm for making a fresh start dying in her chest.
“Without… without asking me—or telling me?”
“There was no time. It was sign then and there, or forget it. Besides, I didn’t really think it was necessary.”
