Secret North: Book 4 of The Wishes Series (33 page)

I suddenly felt like I was betraying Charli in the worst way imaginable. She’d spent the past six years standing her ground and bucking the system, and I was undoing all her good work by agreeing to play by the rules. That made me a traitor.

Fiona seemed to pick up on my angst, and the root of it. “Just to be clear,” she stressed. “I sincerely adore my daughter-in-law.”

“I do too,” I whispered.

She walked to the dresser, picked up a frame and studied it. “I couldn’t have wished for a better mother for my granddaughter,” she continued. “And I know how much she loves my son.”

It wasn’t a confession I expected to hear. It made me wonder if she’d ever shared the sentiment with the girl in question. She held out the frame.

The photo of Adam, Charli and a tiny Bridget made me smile. Charli had shorter hair. Adam had messy hair and baby Bridget had no hair.

“I just wish she was more mindful of the fact that her family extends further than the three of them,” she continued.

“I’m sure she knows,” I said weakly.

“When Charli opted out of this life the first time, she stole my son and granddaughter away too,” she said. Dread washed over me as I waited for her to speak again. I should’ve known she couldn’t shower praise on Charli without it being conditional. “I won’t tolerate losing Ryan the same way,” she warned. “You need to be very sure this is what you want. If you marry him, your life is here.”

The queen was laying down the law and I had no skill when it came to handling her.

“I love Ryan,” I promised. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She smiled at me, brightly enough to make me think she wasn’t about to claw me again. “Wonderful. That’s all I needed to hear.” She walked to a chest of drawers near the window and took out a familiar small orange box. I used the time it took her to walk back to plan my look of surprise.

“I was in Hermès yesterday.” She handed me the box. “I saw this and immediately thought of you.”

I pulled off the brown ribbon and held the scarf out in front of me. I wondered why it made her think of me. Then I wondered how Ryan would work a seventh scarf into his designer outfit. I killed the thought when I felt my cheeks prick with heat.

“It’s lovely,” I replied. “Thank you.”

She drew me into a hug. “All manner of lovely things await you, Bente,” she whispered, sounding far more threatening than she’d probably planned. “Starting with the wedding.”

55. MEANINGFUL SMILES

Ryan

I had no idea what was behind Charli’s black mood. As soon as Mom and Bente were out of sight, I asked.

“I. Am. Fine.”

I pulled a face. “O-kay.”

She cracked a tiny smile. “I just have a few things on my plate at the moment,” she explained. “Nothing to worry about.”

“How’s work?”

“Busy. I need more hours in the day.”

“For making babies?” I hinted.

She widened her eyes and her mouth fell open. No words followed so I spoke again. “Adam told me.”

She shook her head, looking more pissed than before. “You know something, Ryan?”

I grinned slyly. “No; tell me something, Charlotte.”

“If I were you, I’d be less concerned about our business and more concerned by the fact that the queen is upstairs interrogating your fiancée.”

“She brought her a gift.” I shrugged. “That’s all.”

“That’s never all,” she taunted. “I’ll be surprised if you still have a fiancée when she comes back down.”

I looked up the stairs. “Do you think I should go up there?” I asked, sounding more worried than I was comfortable with.

Charli didn’t answer. She was already walking away, cackling like a demon.

***

Announcing our engagement to my family was unnecessary. It turned out to be the worst kept secret in the room because everyone except Bridget already knew.

Marriage was a concept that my little niece didn’t quite grasp. Her questions flew thick and fast across the dining room table. “So we can’t go to the park any more?”

Her father answered for me. “Not unless his wife lets him.”

Two things stopped me from stabbing Adam with my cutlery. First, the boardroom-sized dining table meant he was too far away. Second, my mother would’ve throttled me.

“Nothing changes, Bridge,” Bente assured her. “You can go to the park whenever you want.”

An odd look flashed across Adam’s face. It took me a moment to work out that it was probably jealousy. I had the sneaking suspicion that I’d been spending more time with his kid than he had of late.

Charli cottoned on too. She moved quickly to change the subject. “Do you have a ring yet?” she asked, darting her eyes between the two of us.

“It’s being resized,” replied Bente.

I’d picked the ring up from Mr Shultz earlier that day. News of the engagement might not have been a surprise, but the presence of the ring was. I took the box, flipped the lid and angled it toward Bente.

The list of things I knew about women was growing daily. Bente burst into tears, but because I’m well versed in craziness I knew it was because she was happy. My mother cried too, but her tears quickly turned into unadulterated wailing. “It’s lovely,” she sobbed, craning her neck to peer into the small box. “I’m so proud of you, Ryan.”

I took the ring out and slipped it on Bente’s finger. “Perfect,” I told her, leaning to kiss her.

Mom grabbed Bente’s hand, twisting it in every direction so the diamond twinkled as it caught the light. “Look, Jean-Luc,” she ordered. “Isn’t it lovely?”

Dad didn’t look like he cared either way. He downed a mouthful of wine before replying. “Exquisite.”

Charli rolled her eyes at me from across the table, annoyed by his indifference. “Congrats, guys,” she said quietly. “I hope you have a wonderful life together.”

Adam charged his glass and winked at Bente as he wished her luck. He then held his glass in my direction. “To meaningful smiles.”

I’m not a sentimental man, but his words got to me. My reply came out in a croak as I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Thank you.”

Bridget held up her tumbler of juice, somehow managing not to spill it as she thrust it forward. “Let Ry come to the park every day, Bente.” Clearly, making toasts was another concept Bridget didn’t quite grasp.

Bente played along and clinked her glass against hers. “Monday, Thursday, and all days in between.”

56. FIFTY-EIGHT FACETS

Bente

Fiona Décarie must’ve been planning her eldest son’s wedding in her head for years. Before we’d even made it through the main course she’d overloaded me with a hundred suggestions for the big day. “We need to book a venue straight away,” she demanded. “Good places are booked out many months in advance.”

“They’re not suitable for us, then,” replied Ryan. “We’re getting married October twenty-fifth.”

He might as well have told her we were eloping. “That’s not enough time to plan properly!”

Ryan was unmoved. “It will have to do,” he said. “We don’t want anything over-the-top anyway.”

“You’ll need time to get your affairs in order, Ryan.” Jean-Luc had barely said a word since we’d sat at the table. The sound of his voice was almost startling and his words were downright terrifying. He made it sound like Ryan was dying.

I wasn’t sure what he meant, but Charli and Adam did. The way he slipped his arm behind her and rubbed her back seemed designed to comfort her.

“I’ll work it out,” replied Ryan.

“I can do it for you,” offered Jean-Luc.

“I’ve got it, Dad,” snapped Ryan.

I stared at Charli, silently pleading for the explanation I knew she couldn’t give me. Perhaps picking up on my discomfort, she changed the subject. “Why did you choose a solitaire diamond?” she asked.

Ryan glanced at me. “Because it’s sleek and simple and gorgeous,” he replied.

She nodded. “It denotes unity and decisiveness,” she told him. “It’s important.”

Ryan leaned back. The cocky stance was a tell-tale sign that he was about to take her to task. “So I pledged unity and Adam gave you a finger-load of little diamonds. What does that mean, Charlotte?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer. “You got indecision and separation?”

She shook her head, but she smiled, which was a good sign. “Adam didn’t give me diamonds.”

Ryan laughed derisively. “I knew it,” he said looking straight at his brother. “You gave her CZ’s.”

Adam dropped his head, chuckling down at the table.

“I like BC’s,” announced Bridget, waving her fork like a wand.

“They’re not CZ’s,” corrected Adam, glancing at Ryan. “They’re stars.”

“Absolute nonsense,” barked Jean-Luc.

Everyone ignored him, except Fiona who swatted her napkin at him.

“The number of diamonds isn’t the most important detail,” continued Charli. “It’s the shape. Round diamonds have fifty-eight facets for a reason.” I looked at the ring on my hand, trying to figure out where she was headed and how the heck she could be sure it had fifty-eight facets. I was grateful when she elaborated. “Years and years ago there were two young lovers from India called Mahir and Nayana,” she began. Jean-Luc groaned but Charli continued without paying him a skerrick of attention. “They shared absolute true love – the kind of love that makes your heart hurt even when things are good.”

Ryan reached for my hand under the table. He was silently talking again and I loved it.

“The problem was, Mahir’s father was a tyrant.” She actually dared to glance at her father-in-law as she said it. He pretended not to notice but it was obvious that he had. Tension was practically steaming off him. “He owned a diamond mine, the biggest in the world. It was deep underground and the conditions were terrible.”

“Were there lots of diamonds under there, Mummy?” Bridget asked, leaning across her dad to see her.

Charli leaned too, sandwiching Adam in the middle. “So many, Bridge,” she confirmed. “Thousands of them.”

Bridget smiled. She was no more awed than I was, but the difference was she was permitted to show it. I got the impression I was supposed to find the tale implausible and crazy.

“Mahir’s father decided to separate the young lovers by sending his son underground to mine for him, but it didn’t go so well,” continued Charli.

“It never does,” murmured Ryan, fidgeting with the edge of his napkin.

“Before he left, Mahir gifted Nayana the one thing that was in abundance, a big diamond. It wasn’t pretty and sparkly like the diamonds we know. It was rough and uncut. Mahir told her that no matter what happened, the diamond would keep them together.”

“Cute story, Charli,” mocked Ryan. “Nothing to do with the shape of Bente’s ring, but ten points for effort.”

“You didn’t let her finish,” scolded Fiona. She looked at Charli, softening her expression. “Continue your tale, darling.”

Charli flashed her mother-in-law a tiny smile. “Mahir told Nayana that nothing could separate them. Not the earth, or his awful father, or even death. They were destined to be together and he was convinced that the diamond would play a part.”

“So what happened?” asked Ryan. “Get to the point.”

“Hear, hear,” grumbled Jean-Luc.

“Mahir got caught in an underground rock fall,” she said. “He died, leaving Nayana on the surface mourning him.”

“Awesome,” said Ryan. “Another heart warming Tinker Bell tale.”

Adam swept his hand under the fall of Charli’s hair and rested his hand on the back of her neck. “Special, aren’t they?” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

Ryan laughed. “Your wife is special, and not always in a good way.”

“Ryan!” admonished Fiona. “Apologise.”

“One day, Ma,” he replied, smirking at Charli. “But not today.”

Charli didn’t seem to be taking offense. She was probably used to it. “I could leave it at that and say no more,” she threatened.

“Please do,” replied Jean-Luc.

Her shoulders straightened up. “Fine, but when you’re awake at four in the morning because you’re still wondering about it, don’t call me.”

Jean-Luc didn’t seem bothered, but Ryan seemed to think it through, almost as if he’d been in that predicament before. “Continue,” he ordered. “Just get to the point.”

Her smile was understandable. She was winning, and she knew it. “Well, the heart-hurting love she’d felt for Mahir turned into the angry kind of love that comes with the frustration of separation. Mahir’s father told her she deserved to be alone. He’d never thought she was good enough for his son. Nayana was so angry that she grabbed her diamond and took off to the edge of the river.”

“Was she sad?” asked Bridget. “Did she go swimming to get happy?”

“No, she was mad, Bridge.” Charli shook her head. “She grabbed the biggest stick she could find and began whacking the big diamond as hard as she could.”

The little girl piped up again. “Why was she mad?”

“Because she thought Mahir had lied to her. He’d told her that the diamond would always keep them together, no matter what. But he was gone and she was alone.”