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“It’s a sanctuary for animals and the environment. The loch – you should see it. You will see it. You’ll come for the wedding when we arrange it, of course,” I say.
“When?” Rod demands. “You’re not going to rush into this as well, are you? You can have a nice long engagement. Five years or so.”
“Well,” I say and hesitate. “The thing is, it’ll be easier all around if we marry soon. Alana won’t need a work visa or anything like that – we can just get her our equivalent of a green card, thanks to the wedding. We’ll never have to renew it again, instead of having to worry about it every six months. And it will mean I can visit you there, too, without having to worry so much.”
Rod opens his mouth as if to start a whole new slew of objections, but then he sways slightly. Glancing to the side, I notice Sandra moving slightly back into her previous spot, and I wonder if she nudged or kicked him in some way.
Rod closes his mouth, then opens it once again. “If that’s what will make you happy,” he says stiffly, the comment clearly directed at his daughter.
“It will,” she says with a sigh, looking down at the ring on her finger and then bursting into a fresh round of happy tears. “It really will.”
“Then you’d better treat my daughter well,” Rod says. “If you don’t, you need to know I’m not above getting on a plane and kicking your ass.”
“Understood, sir,” I say with a grin. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Alright,” Sandra says, taking over the conversation with a businesslike attitude that doesn’t allow any room for argument. “I think we all need a bit of space to consider all of this and settle in with it. Don’t you? We can talk again tomorrow.”
“That’s a good idea, Mom,” Alana agrees with an exuberant nod. “I’ll call you again at the same time tomorrow. I don’t want you to think we haven’t thought this through. I know it will take time, but you’ll see how serious we are about this. I promise.”
“Alright, darling,” her mother says and smiles briefly before reaching toward what must be the button to end the call. “And congratulations.”
The screen goes blank, and I turn to the woman who is going to be my wife.
After a moment’s thought, I take the phone down from the holder just in case the camera turns back on – and then I pounce, pinning Alana to the sofa and kissing her until she stops giggling and starts to moan.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
ONE MONTH LATER
Alana
I stand in front of the mirror, holding the dress up against my body.
It’s perfect. It really is.
I can’t believe the wedding has crept up so fast.
I hear footsteps coming up the stairs and yelp, spinning around in fright.
“Don’t come in!” I yell in a panic, rushing over to hide my dress away in the closet.
Finlay gave me one of the spare rooms in the house to set up my things for the wedding, and so far, I’ve managed to avoid him getting a look at my dress – even though I’ve taken it out at least a hundred times just to look at it since going to the bridal store in the village to choose it.
Funny enough, they had a beautiful, classic dress exactly in my size, with no need for adjustments.
It’s as though the whole universe was moving everything in the right direction for us to ensure that our wedding could go ahead as smoothly as possible.
But I’m not going to take any risks by letting Finlay see my dress before the big day.
“It’s hidden,” I shout and hear his footsteps resume moving toward me. After a moment, he pokes his head around the door with a grin.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” he teases, but I simply roll my eyes and beckon him to come in. “I was just checking the booking. What do you think?”
He has a slim gray laptop under his arm and opens it up to show me his screen. It’s open to the resort we spent hours choosing for our honeymoon.
“The honeymoon suite?” I ask, looking at the details he picked out. “Are you sure? It’s so expensive. I don’t mind doing one of the smaller suites or even a normal room.”
Finlay shakes his head and kisses my temple. “Not for our honeymoon. We’ll only be doing this once, after all. So we might as well do it right. And besides, I need to spend my inheritance on something.”
