Chapter 24 #3
“Angelle,” Lore said, making his way over to her with two glasses of deep red wine. “I thought perhaps I’d contribute some wine to your… get together.” He smiled at her knowingly as he handed her and Boon both a glass.
Angelle was unsure what to do for a moment, then simply started laughing when she realized he knew about her conversation with Simone. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
“I didn’t. I simply know things no one else does. I’ve brought plenty for everyone. Don’t be shy, drink up.”
“Thank you, Lore.”
He gave her a short little bow then returned to his place beside Murder.
Boon and Angelle only had a few moments to enjoy their meal before Enthrall and Felicity arrived.
“Are we too late for a hearty meal?” Enthrall called out.
“Not at all, come fill your plate,” Boon answered, getting up to slice off more meat for them.
Not two minutes later Destroy, Rowan, and Marauder walked into their midst.
Marauder simply walked right into the middle of all the people, picked up a plate and waited for Enthrall and Felicity to be served so he could have some pork, too.
“There are some other dishes upstairs,” Boon said to Enthrall and Felicity.
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Enthrall said, though he dragged his feet going up the stairs to be able to oversee Destroy and Rowan’s arrival.
Boon and Marauder bumped shoulders as Boon loaded up his plate.
Boon was steadily watching Destroy, and rather than put the large, sharp knife back into the pork, he kept it in his hand and went right back to Angelle’s side.
“It’s chill. Everything is chill,” Marauder said, looking meaningfully into Boon’s eyes before he went up the steps, and around Enthrall who’d stalled on the steps to make sure everything was okay, before disappearing into the house.
Talking had died off and everyone quieted as they all waited to see what Destroy and Rowan would say.
Destroy looked around at everyone there. All were his friends, and all knew the situation. There was no reason to try to paint it as anything other than it truly was. “We’ve come to offer our apology to you, Angelle.”
“And to Boon,” Rowan quickly added.
“There is no excuse for the way our daughter treated you and tried to manipulate you. Nor is there an excuse for her breaking into your home. We’ve made it abundantly clear to her that she is very lucky she wasn’t killed.
Thank you, Angelle, for not using the proper hunting bolts with that cross bow.
The results could have been devastating,” Destroy said.
Angelle didn’t answer, she just stood next to Boon, her hands gripping his arm.
“I am not going to pretend that I am not struggling. I am. My daughter has caused a situation that put our community at odds, and put us at odds with a family that we have been close to, and actually a part of, for a very long time. But at the same time I’m watching my daughter try to heal.
It hurts me as a father to see her in pain, but it does my heart good to see that maybe, finally, there may be a sliver of hope that she might be able to learn from this.
I hate that this happened. I hate that she caused this.
If I could undo it I would, but then I’m thinking that may be part of the reason that she’s like she is.
It’s time for her to stand on her own and face the consequences she’s reaped rather than myself and Rowan always making excuses for her.
She will have to deal with the fall out of her actions on her own.
She is our daughter and we don’t want to lose her, but at the same time, we can no longer turn a blind eye to her entitlement.
We hope for the day she will see herself as others do, and makes a change.
But for us, we stand here before you and ask for your forgiveness.
And for your understanding, that Saige’s actions are not a reflection of us. ”
Marauder walked back out onto the porch, having filled his plate with some of everything he could find.
He stood there shoveling food into his mouth as he waited to see what everyone would say.
He’d made it perfectly clear to everyone in his household that there was no way he’d allow Saige to affect his relationships with anyone in Whispers, and separated himself completely from her. Now it was his parents’ turn.
People shuffled their feet, looking back and forth as they waited to see what Boon and Angelle would do, Enthrall among them, hesitant to go inside the house until he saw how this would turn out.
Boon looked at Angelle.
Angelle slipped her hand into his as she stood a little taller. “There’s plenty of pork, and an array of other dishes upstairs. The plates are right there, and more upstairs if we run out down here. Won’t you help yourselves to whatever you’d enjoy and join us for a meal?”
Destroy clenched his jaw as he fought the emotion that threatened to overcome him. He’d expected Boon to voice rejection of the apology he’d made. But it had been Angelle to voice their forgiveness. She was truly a remarkable young lady.
“We’d like that,” Destroy said. “Thank you, Angelle and Boon.”
“You owe us nothing,” Boon said. “No thanks are needed.”
“We don’t see it that way.”
“We do,” Boon said, walking over and starting to carve another couple of pieces of roasted pork.
“Well, get to it. There might not be any left if you keep standing there,” Marauder said as he looked down on his parents from above. “I’m already on my second plate.”
It didn’t take long for the conversations to start back up, the laugher, the eating, the drinking, and Destroy and Rowan were right there in the middle of it right along with everyone else, just as they should have been.
Boon kept Angelle close until he got the chance to head upstairs to where Marauder sat at the table, stuffing his face full of seared eggplant slices.
Marauder looked up when they entered the room. “Hey, why do you think they call this eggplant? I mean, it doesn’t have a yolk. There’s no hard shell on the outside. It doesn’t grow from an egg…”
“Where is Saige?” Boon asked, not wasting any time.
“She left. Went back to the city. Enthrall blocked her from entering Whispers without his knowledge. If she tries, he’ll be notified and can determine at that point what is to be done.
He and my parents discussed everything before they came here.
He’s going to talk to Lily about it later so she can monitor it as well, and be aware of the change, though she probably already felt it anyway. But you don’t have to worry.”
“I’m sorry,” Angelle said.
“You didn’t do a single thing that wasn’t earned,” Marauder said. “None of this is your fault. So, as I was saying… eggplant?”
“I don’t know why they call it eggplant,” Angelle answered.
“Hmpf. Delicious stuff,” he muttered as he got up and headed back downstairs to sit with his parents and make sure they were still okay. Didn’t matter that everyone knew Saige was responsible. She was still their daughter and had caused this. It wasn’t an easy load to bear.
“Angelle?” Simone called out from her seat on the sofa with Odin.
Angelle turned toward her. “There you are. I wondered where you’d gone.”
“Just enjoying the meal,” Simone said.
“It is very good,” Odin agreed, the shy smile he gave her looking like the first real one she’d seen.
“Thank you, Odin.”
He smiled again and gave a little nod.
“What I want to know, is where the wine came from. It wasn’t here a little while ago,” Simone said.
Angelle laughed. “Lore. He knows everything. Or so I’m told.”
“Buckle in, my friend. It looks like everybody’s partaking. It’s going to be a late night,” Simone said.
Angelle looked up at Boon.
“You want me to tell everyone to go home? I’ll do it,” he said.
Angelle looked around her house at all the people enjoying themselves, listened to the sounds of laughter and friendship floating up the stairs and through the open windows.
She shook her head. “No, it’s okay. This is exactly what we hoped for when we decided to trust one another — a life together in Whispers.
This, all of this and all these people are Whispers.
And we belong among them. I’m glad we can offer them this evening. ”
“Then let’s get down there and join them. I may not allow anyone to visit for the next year after this,” Boon said.
Angelle laughed as she followed him out on the porch and back down the steps. “I’m okay with that, too.”