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“Not if you love my sister. Not if you treat her right.”
“What about my family’s reputation?”
“That’s rubbish and you know it.”
My heart rate increases. To have Topher’s blessing … it’s huge. I open my mouth to say so, but then my shoulders sink again. “That means a lot to me. Truly.” I breathe. “I don’t know if your sister has talked to you about this yet, but she might not be coming back to Kentonia.”
“Lauren mentioned something along those lines as well.”
“Wow, you have been rather busy talking aboutotherpeople on your wedding day.”
“When those people are some of the ones that I cherish most in this world—and one of them is being a cotton head—then yes. It tends to come up.”
A cotton head? Really? “The point is, I can’t serve the crownandbe with Chloe. Not if she’s here and I’m there.”
“So? Go do something else with your life then. I release you from whatever obligation you seem to think I hold over you.”
“I don’t know what to say.” But even without the obligation I felt toward Topher, there’s still the matter of my parents. “My father still expects me to carry on the tradition of serving the crown. His depression has reared its ugly head again, and I’m afraid that if I … well, they already lost Matthew. Father’s already lost his dignity. Can I really ask him to lose the only thing that brings him pride?”
“Mate,youbring him pride.”
Chloe said something similar. But I’m just not certain.
“Look, remember when my father was unsure about me asking Lauren to marry me? And you said it didn’t matter what my parents thought. That Lauren was worth it.”
“That was different. My dad is sick.”
“And he has your mum to care for him. He’s got modern medicine. He’s got his therapist. And he’s got you for a son. What does it matter what job you have?”
A tiny shot of hope takes root in my heart. I’ve had these thoughts before, but Topher just lays them out so clearly, so logically, like he always does.
“Besides,” Topher claps me on the shoulder. “The best way you can serve our country is to make the princess—my sister—happy. To take care of her. Cherish her. Keep her safe and support her. Can you do all of that?”
My throat burns, and it’s not the Scotch. “I want to. You have no idea how much.”
“Then do it. There’s literally nothing stopping you, except your own fear.” He cocks his head. “Don’t tell me my best mate—the guy who will tackle any danger if it’s coming after the people he’s protecting—is actually a chicken.”
With that, he stands and strides off toward Lauren, who’s chatting up her friends. She laughs at something someone says, then turns in surprise when Topher grabs her into a dip, where he kisses her nice and solid.
Everyone cheers and knocks forks against glassware.
I remember now. Topher, he was worried once too. He had to learn to compromise. To communicate. To tell Lauren what he wanted, but also be sensitive to her needs. I know, because I was there for it all, on the outskirts, observing him fight for his happiness. It hasn’t been easy, them getting here when they came from two very different worlds.
But it happened. They found love, and they held on. They were honest and true, and maybe that’s all two people need to be.
That’s how my parents are. Their marriage is the thing that first inspired me to believe in love, after all. Would theyreallytell me I should stay on as a bodyguard when my heart wants nothing more than to remain here with Chloe?
I thought so. I’ve run the scenarios so many times in my brain, but always get stuck at that point—what’s expected of me, because Matthew isn’t here. But maybe, just maybe, I was wrong.
I don’t know for sure.
But I need to find out.
* * *
My breath increases as I whip out my mobile from the inside pocket of my tuxedo jacket. It’s late here in California, which means it’s wicked early in Kentonia, but it’s possible my parents are awake since they like to rise at daybreak.
I find their number in my contacts and press it.
