Page 40 of Thalen

“It’s yummy!”

“Sure is!” Jason agreed, already digging in himself.

Thalen returned home before they’d quite finished their bowls, and I ladled him out a bowl, as well as one for me.

“You nearly missed dinner with the kids.”

He looked at me contritely. “I know. I’m sorry. Everything is sorted now, and I’ll make certain it doesn’t happen again.”

I squeezed his arm. “Thanks. You know how important family time is.”

He nodded, his expression earnest as he placed his hand over my forearm. “I do. Family is everything.”

Good. We were on the same page.

23

THALEN

It had been hard keeping a secret from Evan and our kits. When Kaelor commed me, I was positive Evan suspected I was up to something and was going to press me until I caved in and gave him the details. He hadn’t, and now, as I parked the flitter, I worried that he was going to be angry with me for surprising him in front of all these people.

“I’m glad we got all duded up for this. Everyone seems to be wearing their best clothes,” he said, glancing around.

“They sure are,” I agreed.

Doran waved to us, doing a bad impression of being sneaky and patting his pocket so I knew he had what he was supposed to bring.

“I wonder what is under those big tarps,” Jason said, eyeing the shrouded shapes off to one side of the small stage. He laughed. “Are they planning on pinning the sheriff and deputy stars on their chests under Jesse and Johree’s old wedding arch?” he asked, spying the two lawmen whose public swearing in ceremony was today. “Or are they also getting married?”

“You and Pata should get married,” Jason said. “Then you’d be husbands and mates, just like Johree and Jesse.”

Vrann nodded emphatically, agreeing with everything Jason said, just as he always did. He had a serious case of hero worship for his new older brother. Jason adored him in turn. They had an unbreakable sibling bond that was beautiful to see.

“Hi, boys,” Jesse said. “I bet you guys can’t wait to go play on those swings!”

“I wanna go on the monkey bars!” Jason informed him, “And then the swings!”

Jesse laughed. “You should go on up front so they can see better,” Jesse said.

I appreciated his casual subterfuge. Doran really could afford to take some lessons from him in case he needed to keep another big secret.

“Thanks, Jesse, I think we will,” Evan replied, leading the way as Jesse turned to greet someone else.

People gave way, surrendering a spot just next to the stage steps up front. Evan was so busy admiring the bunting and floral displays and seeing who he recognized in the crowd that he didn’t even notice how suspicious that was.

“Oh! I bet the sheriff and deputy are getting married!” he whispered excitedly to me as they stood a few paces before the arch.

“Do you really think so?” Doran asked mischievously as he joined us.

Then Johree and Jesse took the stage, about a foot in front of the arch, looking out over the crowd. Johree called for everyone’s attention, and the crowd quieted down.

Jesse smiled. “Thank you all for coming.” The conversations finished dying away. “I know we've had a lot happening lately. New people arriving, new buildings going up, new jobs being created, and more changes than most of us could have imagined when we first came to New Haven.”

A ripple of laughter moved through the crowd.

“You can say that again!” someone called out. A ripple of laughter followed.

“But that's exactly what today is about. Building something together,” he continued when it died down once more. He glanced toward the schoolhouse, on the other side of the playground from the main park. “And speaking of things we've built, I'm very pleased to announce that our new schoolhouse will officially open its doors on Tuesday morning.”