Then he realized the ring was on her right hand, because on her left, she wore another ring. She laughed nervously when she recognized he was staring at it.
“What’s that?!” he exclaimed, grinning up at her with wide eyes. Her face was still flushed with tears, but she smiled as she shrugged, wiping her eyes.
“I, uh, I met someone,” she said.
“You have to tell me everything!” he replied, squeezing her hands with excitement, and she laughed again.
“Tell you everything?Youhave to tellmeeverything!” she exclaimed.
Florian laughed, then wiped his eyes, still overwhelmed. “Well, uh, I was making lunch for me and Kade, but I guess we’ll need more. Come on, I’ll show you to the courtyard. We can talk there.”
The rest of the day was spent talking with August and Nadia, sitting out on the patio well into the night. Florian was basking in the conversation, the novelty of everything that had changed since he was gone.
August was still in Coral Shores, but was visiting the Winter Court more often now. He had even spoken to Tatiana about figuring out a way to come visit Florian, but Kade had convinced him to wait, so they could surprise him together. Nadia had moved further south into San Diego with her boyfriend, now fiance, and had gone full time with her freelance graphic design. The pair had met on a dating app, and he worked as a web developer—he sounded nice, which would have to be enough. Florian would probably never get the chance to meet him.
Florian’s heart squeezed with a strange mix of happiness and jealousy and regret as she told him about her new life—a life he wasn’t a part of at all, but the kind of life they had dreamed of having. But when she got married, he wouldn’t be there like they’d always talked about. They really never would go on that road trip.
His voice was giving out, and he was exhausted by the end of the night. They were all still sitting out in the same courtyard, but had moved further down to sit around a small fire pit. He didn’t think he’d ever had this many people at the Summer Court vying for his attention all at once, but luckily they had enough guest rooms for everyone.
“How long are you staying?” he finally asked.
“As long as you’ll have me,” August replied without hesitation, making Florian grin.
“I was planning to head home tomorrow,” Nadia said, sounding regretful. “But I can stay for most of the day.”
Florian’s smile faltered, but it was still more than he had ever dreamed of having.
“I’ll have to give you guys the grand tour tomorrow,” he laughed, gesturing around self-consciously. “Should’ve done that today, but...”
He showed them to the guest wing and promised that he’d come get them for breakfast tomorrow, then show them around the Summer Court afterward. They said goodnight, then he was alone with Kade, finally.
Florian smiled up at the wolf shifter as they walked back to his room. “Thank you again.”
Kade’s smile was soft and affectionate, and he placed a kiss on Florian’s forehead in response. “You’re welcome. I’m glad we got to surprise you.”
“You definitely surprised me,” Florian laughed. “The best surprise ever. I’m so glad the ring worked.”
They walked in silence for a long moment, Florian’s thoughts swirling in his head. His life had become one of routine, so to have Nadia and August here was a huge, unprecedented change. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do first with them, what would be the most important, and if Nadia was leaving tomorrow evening… He would show them around the Summer Court, certainly, but what would be the most interesting parts to show them? What else did he want to talk to them about while they were here?
He leaned closer to Kade as they walked. “I don’t want to go to bed yet.”
“We can take a walk,” Kade suggested. “You said you were working on the garden in the north courtyard. I haven’t seen that yet.”
Florian grinned. “Yeah, okay. It’s pretty much done. I’ll show you.”
They changed course, now heading downstairs to the north exit rather than Florian’s bedchamber. The north courtyard had been the last part of the castle that Florian had worked on, but he was trying to set up the garden to match his memory of the gardens in the Winter Court. He had explained to Kade that odd homesick feeling, though the Winter Court had only been his home for a few short months, only for it to click into place when Kade replied that they’d admitted the first sparks of their feelings for each other in those gardens.
With Elodie’s help over the past several weeks, he had even created some statues made of stone to match the Winter Court’s marble statues, asking Kade to look them over and see if there were any details he had missed; but mostly, Florian was just hoping to show off his craftsmanship. Between that and the fountain he’d spent several days figuring out how to get running again, the garden was nearly done, although the plants were all pretty young and needed to fill out more. The plants weren’t entirely the same, of course, but he thought the vibe was pretty similar, especially in the evening. In a few years, it would really be something; but for now, he was just relieved to be done with the hardest parts.
Kade paused as they stepped out onto the balcony that overlooked the north gardens. Florian stopped to look back at him, watching as Kade looked out at the garden, an admiring smile crossing the wolf shifter’s features. When he met Florian’s eyes again, his smile widened.
“I’m so impressed by everything you’ve done,” he said. Florian chuckled nervously, shrugging.
“Gotta pass the time somehow,” he replied. Kade stepped closer to him and kissed his forehead.
“Still,” he said, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t know how to do half of this.”
“Lots of trial and error,” Florian laughed. “And Elodie helped too. And you brought me a ton of books! That helped the most. So you did some of this, too.”
