Chapter Fifteen
The pub
In The Village
Four P.M.
When they arrived, they had just missed the late lunch crowd, and there was plenty of room in the place for them to have whatever seats they wanted. So, they picked a booth toward the back where they’d have privacy.
To talk.
While they were having lunch, they needed to discuss the game plan, so they could hurry up and wrap up the mess at Ravensmire.
Elizabeth had heard a lot in the last day, and there was no doubt that before long, she’d pop in to see what the hell was going on.
All it would take was a few days off, and she’d get on a jet, and head here.
That would be disastrous for Callen and Chris.
So, they had to help her out.
As they sat down, Gryphen dropped his arm over Ian’s shoulders, and tucked him into his body.
He didn’t care who stared.
He was going to cuddle up to his man. Coming back to Scotland reminded him of their time here, and he was hoping later to reenact those moments.
Of Lord Carter and his sexy acquired man, Mr. Patterson.
“Are you feeling okay?” Ian asked Gabby. “You look tired.”
That immediately had Finn’s attention.
He focused on his fiancée.
“What’s wrong?”
She patted his arm.
“I’m okay, Finn. I’m just tired and I have cramps,” she admitted, terrified and trying to stay calm.
He looked panicked.
“Pregnancy and cramps aren’t good,” he said. “I know that from sisters who are always popping out babies.”
She was aware, and she was trying to keep calm and not lose it. Halfway through the makeshift wedding, she began feeling them, and she’d felt them before.
“I’ll be okay,” she said, trying to convince him and herself.
It wasn’t working.
Hearing her words, he didn’t believe it. Now, he was stressed, and he wanted to freak out. They were early in their pregnancy, not even at the twelve-week mark.
They didn’t even know the sex of the baby yet.
Now, he was getting twitchy.
“Maybe you should go to the doctor,” Ian said. “That way, you can get checked out.”
Gryphen agreed.
“You should.”
Gabby didn’t want to see the doctor. If she did, and he told her that she was having a miscarriage, she’d lose it. Already, she was barely holding on.
“I’m just having some cramps. There’s no bleeding, so I think…”
Finn was staring at her, and he looked downright freaked out.
In that moment, she had to choose.
Face the reality.
Or watch Finn slowly lose his mind.
Now, she’d face the reality of what she already knew was happening.
Again.
“Okay, let’s go to the doctor,” she said. “But he’s going to tell you there’s nothing wrong. Cramps without bleeding is not anything to worry about,” she said, holding onto that last little piece of hope that this child would make it full term.
Oh, he was hearing her words, but he needed to make sure.
His woman was carrying their first child, and he didn’t want her to be in danger of anything. It might be overprotective, but he needed to do it.
“Ian and Gryphen can handle the psychic without us. If we go to the doctor now, we can catch up later,” he offered.
IF everything was fine.
She relented for him, and in hope that he wouldn’t hate her in the end.
“Okay, Fineas. We can do that, but I’m not missing the whole séance thing. I’ve never seen one, and I’m curious.”
Oh, Jaysus.
He crossed himself.
“My mother will turn in her grave if she hears that come from your mouth.”
She stared at him.
“Your mother is alive.”
He was to the point.
“She won’t be when you kill her with that statement and THEN she turns in her grave.”
Gabby tried to hold onto hope.
“Can you handle this without us?” she asked Ian. “Because I can stay…”
He nodded and put his hand over hers on the table.
“We can, Gabs. Go make sure the baby is good, and we’ll regroup later. I’ll save you a seat at the séance where Finn’s mother dies.”
She laughed, and so did Finn.
“Some of the people at this table aren’t right in the head,” he admitted.
Both he and Gryphen pointed at the two people beside them.
That amused them.
Getting out of their seats, they held hands and walked away. When they were gone, a waitress headed over, and they ordered food.
They were both in the mood for fish and chips.
When she went to put in their order, Ian rested his head on Gryphen’s shoulder.
“Are you good?” Gryphen asked the man.
Ian nodded.
“I can’t wait to marry you here,” he offered. “That was a beautiful ceremony.”
Gryphen kissed him on the temple.
“It was. Ours is going to be breathtaking. I saw some of the things Elizabeth was planning. She’s going to blow everyone’s minds.”
Ian hoped so.
He sucked at planning a party. Oh, he could do the basics, but Elizabeth had a knack at making things memorable.
“She’s going to deck the halls, and blow your mind.”
Ian didn’t doubt it.
“I love you, Gryphen.”
It came out of nowhere.
“Are you okay?” he asked. It didn’t sound like he was, and Gryphen was getting twitchy. “You’re not planning on bailing on our wedding, are you?”
He laughed.
“Over my dead, worm-ridden corpse am I doing that. I wanted to have the wedding today.”
Well, if it wasn’t that, what was it?
“Then tell me what’s on your mind because something is. I can tell.”
He went there, not pulling any punches.
“I want to cancel the Christmas wedding,” he admitted, surprising Gryphen.
The second it was out of his mouth, there was a look of fear in Gryphen’s eyes, and he immediately understood how he took that.
“No, listen,” he said. “I don’t want to wait until Christmas. I want to move it up. I know Elizabeth planned for a Christmas wedding, but…I want one that’s sooner. I can’t wait.”
He immediately calmed down.
“Oh, well, that isn’t a bad plan,” he said. “I will marry you today if you want.”
He nuzzled his big man.
“Do you think she’ll hate me if we ask to move it up?” he asked.
Gryphen laughed.
“Nah, she wants to get her ass here to snoop around. It’s only a matter of time before she shows up and raises hell. She’s counting the days until she can bust husband balls.”
Oh, he knew it.
Without.
A.
Doubt.
“Do you think if I called her, she’d be okay with it?” Ian asked.
He didn’t doubt it.
Elizabeth was really good at pivoting, and she wanted them to be happy.
“Call her.”
Pulling out his phone, he called her private phone, and stared at the screen. It was only seconds before she answered.
“Hey,” she said. “I didn’t expect to hear from you. I just saw you. What’s up?”
He sighed.
The second he did, she started worrying.
“What happened? And why is it that everyone calls me when the shit is going down?” she asked.
Gryphen just laughed.
“Normally, you’re the reason the shit is going down,” he said.
Elizabeth pointed at him.
“You have to come home sometimes, Gryphen. Don’t think I won’t whip your ass around the gym and get my giggle on while I do it.”
He snorted.
“You’d abuse a one-legged man?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“You’re going to use that as your excuse?” she asked. “Really?”
He winked at her.
“What do you want?” she asked. “Just pull the bandage off.”
Gryphen elbowed his man.
“Tell her.”
Uh-oh.
“Tell me what?”
He went there.
“I know how hard you’re working on planning this wedding, and I appreciate it.”
She kept a neutral face.
Honestly, she hoped she’d not misinterpreted what they wanted. She’d planned it all out, and it was going to be gorgeous.
A white wedding in a castle.
That was a dream come true, and she knew it.
“And?”
“I don’t want to wait until Christmas. I need to move it up. How much are you going to kill me?”
She blinked.
“So you’re not upset with what I’ve planned?” she asked.
He gasped.
“Are you kidding? You’ve planned a beautiful wedding. I love everything about it. I just want to marry him so goddamn bad that I can’t wait. It’s only June. That’s six months. Can we split the difference and go to the middle?”
She considered it.
Honestly, she didn’t do the catering part or the flowers, so that wouldn’t have to be redone.
She only did the wedding inside the castle in the ballroom that was under construction. Moving from winter to Fall was just about changing the colors of the flowers and decorations.
“I can do that. MATE, what is the halfway point between now and Christmas?” she asked, and her personal assistant appeared beside her.
“Do you want a specific day?”
She shook her head.
“No, just give me a date that correlates with my schedule and the construction schedule for the ballroom at Ravensmire.”
MATE paused, and then had the date.
“You’re looking at the week of Halloween. That is the only dates you have booked off and the ballroom will be done.”
She focused on Ian.
“Would a Halloween wedding be better?” she asked.
He smiled.
God.
He loved this woman.
She was always so willing to help people, and go that extra mile.
“I mean, a Halloween wedding in a haunted…”
And he came to a dead stop.
Okay, someone had to tell her. It was making her life miserable not knowing. Her next step was jumping on a jet and sneaking there.
“Guys, just tell me. I don’t work well on not knowing. This is stressing me the fuck out. I worry less when I’m in the loop. Vet me in.”
They could see that.
“If we tell you, then you say nothing, and you don’t get bitchy at Callen and Chris. What they gave you is an amazing castle, and you shouldn’t be shrewish.”
She stared at him.
“Shrewish? Really? Am I that bad?”
They both nodded.
Well, shit.
She had been bitchy about this for as long as she’d known, and that could be construed as shrewish.
Damn.
That made her feel ungrateful, and she wasn’t. She was just overwhelmed with being given things like this.
Charlie had trained her not to accept gifts well.
“I promise not to say a word, and I’ll stop threatening them for buying me this castle.”
If she promised, they’d believe her.
“Do you want the abridged story, or all of it?”
Oh, she wanted all of it.
“Beginning. Middle. End. I want all the details, and none of the lollygagging.”
Well, they could do that.