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“I hope that you’re going to ask me for her hand before you propose. I know that’s usually something that a young man asks the girl’s father. But given the circumstances …”
Bentley had to think on his feet. It hadn’t occurred to him that he should speak to her before he proposed to Alyssa. He already planned to talk to Russ; that went without saying.
Instead of admitting that he wouldn’t have thought to talk to her, he smiled and said, “I will ask you. However, I’m trying to get the details right in my head first.”
“What details?”
What the hell, he might as well tell her. “First of all, I want to get the ring right, but I’m working on that.” He was – he’d put in a call to Smoke’s wife, Laura, after his conversation with Jacob. “And apart from that … What are her favorite flowers?”
He kept wondering how he might stage a proposal that would be meaningful. He could hardly borrow Jacob’s idea and decorate someplace with her favorite flowers, but inspiration hadn’t struck with anything else yet, so he might as well at least find out what they were.
Her mom smiled. “She loves bluebells. I don’t know if you have them here. They’re very English.”
Bentley didn’t know, either. He wasn’t exactly big on flowers. But he could ask Willow. She’d know. And he had a little while longer to work on it – about a week if all went according to plan.
Julia frowned. “But I should warn you; bluebells are no good to you if you’re thinking about what flowers you want to give her.”
“Why not?’
“You’re not supposed to pick them – they’re wildflowers, you know? There’s a lot of folk history about them.” Julia smiled. “Bluebells are the flowers of the fairies. It’s said that the fairies hang their spells on them to dry, so if you pick a bluebell, youdon’t know what spell you might be picking up. You never want to anger the fairies.”
Bentley raised his eyebrows, and she laughed. “Don’t look at me like that! It’s true.”
Alvaro smiled beside her. “I believe in duendes.”
Bentley had to chuckle. Of course, he’d side with Julia no matter what she said.
“If you need a more concrete reason, there’s a fine for picking wild bluebells in England – again, I don’t know what the deal is here.”
“Okay. Well, I don’t want to anger the fairies.” He remembered the way Willow had told him that he was away with the fairies – they seemed to be a common theme lately. He wasn’t a superstitious man, but still.
Julia smiled. “On the other hand, bluebells are supposed to stand for constancy, gratitude, humility, and everlasting love – don’t look at me like I’m some cooky old bat!” she said with a laugh. “I looked up what they meant years ago – they’ve been her favourite flowers since she was little. We stayed with a dear friend, Robert, in the New Forest one spring and she fell in love with the bluebell woods.”
“Thanks.” Bentley wasn’t sure what he could do with all that information about bluebells, but he’d save it and hope that there might be something.
Alyssa had her phone in her hand and was frowning when she came back from the bathroom.
“Is everything okay?” Julia asked before Bentley could.
“Oh, sorry. Yes, everything’s fine. It’s just…” She looked at Bentley. “I just got a message from Trent Pearson at Bayside Media. He wants to postpone the meeting again.”
Bentley’s heart hammered in his chest. That meeting tomorrow was the only reason that she needed to leave. He cocked an eyebrow at her, not wanting to say too much, not wanting to give himself away.
“He’s asked if we can push it to the same time next week.”
“Next Wednesday?”
She nodded.
He couldn’t help smiling. “I want to say that I’m sorry that they’re jerking you around. But I can’t say I’m sorry that it means you don’t have to go back – if you don’t want to.”
He was relieved when her frustrated look immediately transformed into a big smile. “I can stay, can’t I?”
“You can.” He wanted to add that she could stay forever. But her mom and Alvaro were watching them, and even though he may have interfered a tiny little bit, he still wanted the choice to move here – and the timing of it – to be hers.
Chapter Twenty-Three
When they came out of the airport, Bentley held open the passenger door of his SUV for Alyssa to get in.
