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“It’s a song about people dying. Frozen people dying. Not exactly the sentiment I would want to start my married life on. Then again, why am I surprised?” I shrugged. “She has a Titanic chip boat.”
“What would you prefer?” He snorted. “ ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’?”
“It would be either brilliant or brilliantly tacky,” I agreed.
“She’s very happy,” Gabriel observed.
“Ah, don’t do that,” I said. “Don’t make me petty.”
I watched as Zeb twirled his wife across the clearing with surprising grace. Jolene was happy. She had all of the things I wanted for myself. A man whose love couldn’t be questioned, or, if she could question it, she didn’t. A firm handle on her special condition. Professional contentment. Parents who adored and accepted her, even if other members of the family didn’t.
I would watch Jolene, learn from her. I’d ask myself, “What would Jolene do?” the way most people ask, “What would Oprah do?” Even if that meant not asking my boyfriend about the mysterious and apparently unhinged Jeanine until he was ready to talk about her. I would not look for trouble in my relationship and create problems where there was none. I would trust that Gabriel loved me. Even if it came back and bit me on the ass in a major way.
Turning to my undead date, I poked him in the side and asked, “Are you going to dance with me or what?”
“Why can’t you wait to be asked?” he muttered.
“Have you met me?” I asked. “Surely you must have figured out some of this by now. I’m contrary … and you love it.”
He shrugged.
“So, really, which one of us is the sick one?” I asked.
“Will the best maid, the man of honor, and their escorts please join the happy couple?” the DJ asked.
“Now you have no choice,” I told him.
Dick yanked Andrea onto the middle of the dance floor and offered a courtly bow. Andrea looked vaguely embarrassed but laughed as he drew her into his arms. Gabriel and I made a less dramatic entrance.
“I’m a terrible dancer,” I told him.
“I don’t care.” He pulled me into a box step, which my vampire grace still didn’t help me master. “So, I’ve been thinking.”
I smirked. “That can be dangerous.”
“You haven’t quite used your triumph settlement the way you wanted to.”
“Not true. Look at how happy they are.” I nodded toward Jolene and Zeb.
“I know it took quite a bit of money to do that. And it will take quite a bit more money to get the shop going.”
“Which is your clever way of saying that Ophelia told you exactly how much I got.” I gave him a wry smile.
“I cannot comment,” he said. “Because Ophelia’s scarier than you are.”
“Not going to argue there. But I am going to have a nice healthy nest egg. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Well, we both know that’s not true. The point, which we rarely get to painlessly, is that I know that you wanted to spend some of your ill-gotten wealth on travel.”
I eyed him suspiciously. “What did you do?”
“Nothing yet, but you say the word, and we will be on a plane. I’ll keep my schedule open. I figured we could start in London and work our way east. I want to be with you when you see the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, harass some poor gondolier in Venice with questions. I’ll even go to the Eiffel Tower if you want to be prosaic. Anywhere you want to go we’ll go.”
“Travel?” I asked. “For how long?”
“Until you get tired of me.”
“When can we leave?” I asked.
