Page 25 of Enter if you Dare: Part Three

He puts his tools down and holds out his hand, so I step closer and take it. “My mother knows I am in a relationship that is not conventional. She knows I am with you and Cave. She is not concerned, so long as I am happy. Besides, I message her daily about us.”

“You do?”

He nods. “And don’t worry about Noa’s mom—she will love you. That woman loves everyone Noa loves.”

He holds my gaze, and I see there is more he wants to say.

“My father will take a little longer. He won’t make you feel unwelcome, but he just doesn’t understand how it all works and doesn’t need to know the finer details.”

“I have never met a boyfriend’s parents before. I didn’t exactly have a life that left room for relationships. Rowan made sure of that.”

“You will be fine, and if at any point you’re not, tell me and I will deal with it.”

“When do they arrive?”

“A couple of days before Christmas.”

Thankfully, that gives me a few days to get used to the idea and get my mini freak-out under control. I squeeze Cipher’s hand. “Okay, let’s talk about something else before I spiral.”

As if some twisted Christmas spirit with a warped sense of humor heard my words, Leni rushes into the shed with Khodi hot on her heels, looking panicked. “Does anyone answer their phones around here? We have an issue and I need Noa.”

“What’s happening?” he says from the sofa, popping his head up.

“What’s happening is you ordered a thousand Christmas trees, and they can’t take any back.”

Noa jumps up from the sofa. “I only ordered a hundred.”

Khodi laughs. “Add an extra zero at the end.”

“Shit, shit, shit,” Noa says in a panic.

“The delivery drivers need to know where to put them.”

Noa scratches his chin. “The cornfield. Cave might kill me, but it’s the only open space we have available. Any that won’t fit will have to be moved into the paintball zone.”

Khodi pulls out his radio. “Unload into the cornfield.”

“Do you have a death wish, loser?” Vesper’s voice comes over the radio.

“No, Noa does. This one is on him. I will hide behind his girlfriend’s sister—there is no way Cave will touch her.”

“If anyone is using the sister as a shield, it’s me. I will gut the rest of you,” the reply crackles back.

“She speaks to my cold, dead heart,” the Jester’s voice chimes in.

“Ignore the decorative idiot. I will get them to unload the trees there, but this better not come back on me.” With that, Vesper’s voice vanishes.

“We better make sure this is sorted. Do you want to come?” I ask Cipher.

“No, I’ll stay here.”

I nod and lean down to place a kiss on his lips, then we head out. As we walk toward the main path, I fill Leni in on the family situation, which she thinks is hilarious. Neither of us really knows how to deal with parental figures since we lost ours so young, and neither of us has really ever been in a serious relationship before, as Rowan was not someone you wanted people around.

The Jester is near the cornfield when we arrive, watching the men unload trucks of trees. He appears to be teaching a group of guests a card trick. He spots me over the head of a woman in a Christmas jumper and gives me a wave.

I wave back, and he extracts himself from the group with a bow and bounces over, his bells jingling with every step. “You look worried,” he says. “Is it Cave? Do we need to move to Plan B? Because I have been thinking a lot about it, and I think I can pull it off easily.”

“I don’t doubt you could, but Cave is fine. I’m just processing some news.”