A disgruntled huff sounded.
James jumped and looked to his left.
Then Cat’s disembodied voice floated on the breeze. “I didn’t think anyone was looking.”
“She’s a ghost,” Bastien explained.
James’s eyes grew even wider.
Cliff grinned. “How’s that blood pressure, Dad?”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid to check it.” Then he examined Cliff. “How’s yours? Are you nervous?”
“Hell no.”
James laughed. “Neither was I when I married your mother.”
Emma’s father joined them. “Cliff, James,” he said with a nod.
Both greeted him.
Bastien extended his hand. “Sebastien Newcombe. I’m a friend of Cliff’s.”
He shook Bastien’s hand. “Ray Williams, father of the bride.”
“Good to meet you.”
Smiling, Ray nodded at the house behind them. “Are the ladies still inside?”
All nodded.
He met Cliff’s gaze. “You nervous?”
Cliff grinned. “No, sir.” Not about the wedding, that is. He had been nervous as hell around Emma’s father at first. He really wanted the man to like him. And Ray had been understandably wary. But once Cliff had shown him the deck and outdoor living space he’d added to Emma’s home, the two had started talking about remodeling and fixer-upper projects and it now felt like they were on their way to becoming good friends.
Emma’s brother, Andrew, would take a little more work. He gave off all kinds of hurt my sister and I’ll fucking kill you vibes, unwilling to relinquish his role as her protector yet. But even he seemed to relax a little after watching the two of them together. And Emma seemed to think he’d come around.
Ray leaned in and lowered his voice. “I was nervous as hell on my wedding day. Not because of any second thoughts, of course. I knew Rayna was the one. But because my mother-in-law insisted on making it a huge affair. There must have been 150 people there, most of whom I didn’t know from Adam. And the ceremony was held in a cavernous church.” He motioned to the small grouping of chairs and attendees. “This is much better. Just those you care about the most.”
That’s exactly the way Cliff and Emma had wanted it to be. “Yes, sir.”
“So, Cliff…” Ray’s voice returned to normal. “I was thinking. If you and Emma want to relax out here at night and maybe do some stargazing, you’re going to want to keep mosquitoes from bothering you.” He motioned to the field of wildflowers not far away. “What would you think about adding a fish pond?”
Cliff smiled. “Emma and I were just talking about that the other night.”
Leaning on the deck’s railing, the men began to discuss all the job would entail.
Emma smiled as she, her mother, Melanie, Sadie, and Cynthia lounged in the house, drinking tea.
“This is nice,” her mom said with a satisfied smile. “You aren’t nervous at all, are you, sweetie?”
“Nope.”
Rayna grimaced. “I was a nervous wreck when I married your father. You know how your grandmother is. She wanted me to have a huge wedding, one she could show off to her friends. Huge church. Huge flower arrangements. Huge crowd. And every time I tried to steer her toward something smaller, she’d scowl and ask me if your father was pushing for a cheaper ceremony.”
Emma groaned. “Poor Dad.” He’d always had a hard time pleasing his mother-in-law. Fortunately, Cliff would have no such problem. Rayna already loved him.
“Henry and I eloped,” Sadie said with a smile. “So it was just us and our two best friends on our wedding day.”
Melanie smiled. “Our ceremony was small, too.” Because Bastien had still been widely disliked by the Immortal Guardians, Cliff had told her. “But it was lovely.”
Cliff had served as Bastien’s best man.
Emma looked at Cynthia and arched an eyebrow. “What about you and Todd? Are you guys ever going to tie the knot?”
Her features twisted into something that was half wince and half smile. “He’s been asking me to marry him for forever. But…” She bit her lip. “My parents didn’t have a great relationship and split when I was a little girl. They had a very bitter divorce. I mean very bitter. And I think it made me skittish.” She glanced at the windows that overlooked the backyard. “I don’t know though. This is starting to make me feel like some couples really do live happily ever after together.”
“They do,” Emma, her mother, Sadie, and Melanie all said in unison.
Everyone laughed.
Emma jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “What do you think the guys out there think we’re doing in here?”
Sadie snorted. “Probably running around like a bunch chickens with their heads cut off.”
Cynthia nodded. “Double-, triple-, and quadruple-checking your makeup and painstakingly prettifying your hair.”
Again they all laughed.
Cliff himself had styled Emma’s hair that afternoon, drawing it up and back in one of the lovely series of intricately patterned braids he’d learned to fashion for her while trying to keep the voices in check. And Emma had only added the barest touches of makeup. Cliff loved her the way she was, so she saw no need to embellish.
Her mom shook her head. “I can’t believe Cliff did your hair for you. It’s absolutely beautiful, sweetie.”
Melanie smiled. “It must’ve taken him a long time to learn how to do that.” And her eyes told Emma she knew why he’d spent so many hours applying himself to the task.
“It did.” Emma still found it hard to believe sometimes that those years of struggle were behind them. “But he likes toying with my hair while we laugh and talk and enjoy some quiet time together.”
“Bastien and I like brushing each other’s hair, too,” Melanie said.
Everyone stared at her, their expressions as stunned as Emma’s probably was. Bastien had wrought so much havoc and made such an art of antagonizing others that it was hard to imagine him doing something so… sweet and gentle.
Rayna looked at the women. “Why does everyone seem so shocked?”
Emma wondered how to explain that without revealing any Immortal Guardian secrets. She, Cliff, Seth, and Mr. Reordon had all thought it best her family be kept in the dark about that. “Because Bastien has a reputation of being a…” How could she put this without raising Melanie’s ire?
“Bad boy?” her mom suggested.
Melanie responded with a good-natured laugh. “That’s actually a bit of an understatement.”
Rayna looked surprised. “Really? He seemed like a very nice boy when I met him earlier. Good manners. Friendly and respectful.”
Emma had to fight hard not to laugh at the benign description of the infamous immortal.
Melanie beamed, happy—no doubt—to find someone who saw in her husband what she did. “He is. There was just a… misunderstanding a few years ago. And Bastien inadvertently rubbed some people the wrong way.”
Cynthia choked on her tea.
Sadie reached over and pounded her on the back.
Emma grinned. “Bastien’s a good guy, Mom. Some people just aren’t as quick to see that as you. He even helped Cliff build the deck and everything out back.”