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“Tylik’s not a duke. He’s . . . I suppose you could call him an herbal pharmacist.”
“His aunt’s a duchess. He’s her heir, even if he doesn’t want the title.” She stuffed my feet into sneakers, double knotting them like I was a little kid. Snagging my jacket off the chair, she put that on me too. After she zipped it, I expected her to tap me on the nose, but thankfully, she didn’t. “Let’s go, sugar butt.”
“Jeez, Seyla,” I said as she dragged me from the room. I might protest, but I was grinning. She was my fairy godmother, and I’d never been one to turn down a shopping trip. I’d bake her cookies. She loved my pumpkin chocolate chip.
It was quiet downstairs.
“Where is everyone?” Seyla asked, tiptoeing across the front hall.
“Uncle Bub mentioned earlier that he and Grannie Vi were going out on a brunch date. I assume they’ve already left. The other guests must be at work.”
Seyla poked her head into the parlor. “No Goreg or Violet. Maybe they’re outside? Violet loves to garden. She has the magic touch.”
We stepped outside to find them standing in the driveway beside a shiny red SUV, talking to a big, burly, green-skinned orc—though all of them were big, burly, and green-skinned. He wore snug black pants and an equally black button-up shirt. At first, and with his back to us, I couldn’t tell who he was.
Until I spied the cute little dragonette perched on his shoulder.
Seyla paused, turning wide eyes my way. “It’s Vrok.” She ran her fingers through her hair and smoothed her shirt. “I’m a wreck. Why am I a wreck? I should’ve worn something nicer.”
“You look fine.” Beautiful, in fact, like always.
Vrok glanced our way, and his gaze froze on my friend. He took in Seyla striding toward him, but rather than step forward to meet her with a besotted look on his face like every other guy, he turned his back to her.
She stopped on the walk, frowning. “What’s up with him?”
A very good question. “No clue.”
Saying nothing, she went with me to join the others.
“There you are,” Goreg said. He dipped his head forward. “Wellisteer aradesc.”
I returned the gargoyle phrase for well wishes, taking in our gargoyle landlord who held his wife’s hand. They were so cute together, it made me swoon. His wing rested protectively across her back, and despite following along with the conversation, she kept looking up at him with complete adoration. Her baby bump was just as cute. They expected their first child around Christmas, and I couldn’t wait to see if their baby had Goreg’s gorgeous stony skin and wings or her almost white-blonde hair. Maybe a bit of both.
Violet’s little sister, Halle, rode her bicycle up and down the drive, singing a tune about monsters and flowers.
“I don’t know if you’ve met Vrok yet, Kate,” Goreg said. “Tylik sent him.”
“We actually did,” Seyla said, leaning into me for emotional support. “At the ball.” While guys might flock around Seyla, she barely noticed any of them. But she remembered Vrok, which said he meant something to her. Him showing no interest must hurt.
“Tylik hired me to watch out for you,” Vrok told me.
A polite way of stating he was my bodyguard.
“We were just about to go into town to do a little shopping.” Seyla kept peeking through her lashes at Vrok, who studiously ignored her.
“I’ll be glad to accompany you,” Vrok told me. He opened the front door of the shiny SUV. “Please. Have a seat, unless you’d prefer to drive.”
“Drive your car?” I said.
“It’s your vehicle, compliments of Tylik.” He flashed me a sweet smile. “I can either drive or ride shotgun.”
“I don’t need a car.”
“And yet, you now have one.”
“Sometimes, it’s just easier to go with the flow,” Violet said, watching our interaction with amusement. From what I’d heard, she’d inherited the B&B from her grandmother, but there were conditions she had to fulfill to claim full title. Goreg stepped in and helped her fix the place up, as did his gargoyle brothers, and along the way, she and Goreg had fallen in love.
“But . . .” I sputtered, knowing she was right. When Tylik and I got engaged, my focus had been on a baby and trying to keep from falling in love. But as his fiancée and later this week, his wife, I’d be expected to act like a sort-of elf/maybe duchess, and that would include riding in style.
