Page 26 of Proslo

I handed him one of the cards. “They are all the same, so please make sure to change Mrs. Titchmarsh’s to this card instead of whatever she used.”

He swallowed. “Right away, sir.”

I handed Betty one of the room keys so she could take Pumpkin on up while I stood and waited for him to finish checking us in and altering Mrs. Titchmarsh’s entry.

“Done,” he said after a few minutes, handing me back my card.

“Thank you,” I replied simply and hurried towards the bank of elevators I’d watched my bride and her friend disappear into.

17

BETTY

My jaw dropped as I opened the door. We were in a fancy assed suite with a view of the ocean in all its glory. A single king sized bed sat in the middle of the room, which had a panoramic view thanks to the bank of windows. Upon closer inspection, two of the windows turned out to be a set of French doors leading out onto a balcony where two comfortable looking lounge chairs, each with their own side table, were placed for our relaxation and enjoyment.

“And I thought my room was schmancy pants,” Mrs. Titchmarsh said, eyes widening.

“What’s yours like?” I asked, curious.

“Two twin beds and I can see some of the beach from the windows. No balcony but that’s fine,” she replied. “I plan to spend my time after the wedding either at that pool or at the beach anyway.”

“That sounds fun.”

I turned to explore the mini fridge. It was well stocked but I knew not to eat or drink anything from there as the charges for doing so would be horrendous.

Pumpkin chose that moment to mew plaintively and I immediately felt bad for forgetting to let him out first. I was such a bad cat mom!

“I’m sorry, baby,” I crooned at him softly, setting his carrier down on the bed before unzipping it so he could make an escape. He stepped out, nose sniffing the air cautiously before hopping down to explore.

“Best keep a Do Not Disturb sign on the door so he doesn’t accidentally get let out,” Mrs. Titchmarsh said.

“That’s a good idea,” I heard Proslo’s deep voice rumble as he opened the door. He pulled the sign off of the inner door handle and after quickly making certain Pumpkin wasn’t about to escape, opened the door once more in order to place the sign on the outside handle.

“Thank you,” I told him. Yep, I was definitely not the best cat mom in the world today.

He smiled. “We wouldn’t want our fur young to become lost on our first family outing,” he said.

“Fur young?” Mrs. Titchmarsh looked amused.

“I called Pumpkin my fur baby and he ran with it,” I explained.

“Ah,” was all she said.

“I asked the clerk to make us dinner reservations. He will text me the details shortly,” Proslo announced. He turned to look at my former landlady. “I hope I did not overstep, but I asked him to include you in those arrangements.”

“You didn’t have to do that!” she said, swatting his forearm playfully but I could tell she was touched that he’d thought to.

“You are Betty’s good friend and our guest, so of course I did.”

“I’m just her old landlady,” she protested.

“Just nothing,” I told her. “We became good friends and you know it.”

She nodded. “I guess we really did. I got to feeling almost like you were sort of my daughter.”

I blinked back sudden tears. She had? Now I was really glad that this woman who’d become dear to my heart during the few months I’d lived there was here with us, sharing this time with us. It felt right. She was practically family and had been there during that whole Daryll disaster, and now she was here while I married my alien soulmate.

“I wonder if your bathroom is fancier than mine too,” she said, her eyes suspiciously bright. “Mine is really something. I wish I could pack it up and take it home with me.”