Chapter 2 #2
“You don’t want to hang out with me?”
“I do, but that’s not the point. This is my house, and yes, I view it as ours, but you often remind me we aren’t Mr. and Mrs. yet. So I wanted you to feel that I’ve built spaces in my home and my life for you to exist as your own person.”
“Keep talking like that, and we’ll be Mr. and Mrs. by dinner.
” Bel wrapped her arms around his waist. She loved this man.
This monster. This beautiful beast. This library was the most magical gift she’d ever received, but the gift that had truly answered her heart’s desire was Eamon at her side as she celebrated another year on this earth.
“Yeah, well, until you’re Mrs. Stone—and even afterward—I want you to have a place to call yours that is solely for bringing you joy.
No work, no bills, no people, no stress.
Just books and your pup. If you want visitors, invite whomever you like.
I’ll be more than happy to join you before the fire, especially on a winter night, but this library is yours, every book on these shelves included. ”
“Okay, get lost then, so I can start reading. I don’t have time to waste.” She shoved his chest, but he used the sudden space between them to scoop her up bridal style and carry her back to the main floor.
“Maybe have one drink with our guests and try the food I spent a lot of money on before you banish us poor souls out into the cold.” He deposited her before her dad.
“I told you we should’ve saved the tour for after the party,” Reese teased as he wrapped an arm around his youngest daughter. “This food is fantastic, and I would like to eat before my daughter disappears. This library is massive. She’ll never come out.”
“I will.” She kissed her dad’s cheek before stooping to pat her dog’s head. “I’ll have to let Cerberus out to potty.”
“Priorities,” both Eamon and Reese grunted in unison.
“I’ve got to remind you two where you stand in the pecking order.” She flashed a mischievous smirk at her father and boyfriend before aiming her designer heels toward the bar.
“Outranked by an animal,” Reese shook his head.
“At least it’s a dog,” Eamon shrugged. “I can come second to her pet. But to another man? There would be blood.”
“Unfortunately, I am outranked by both a pet and a man.” Reese thumped the much taller man’s back. “But in my case, I’m glad you outrank dear ole dad. I couldn’t part with my baby girl for anything less.”
“This old man is headed to bed.” Reese caught Bel’s elbow and gently pulled her from the dwindling crowd.
“Thanks so much for coming, Dad.” Bel wrapped her arms around her father’s neck, and the pair lingered in silence for a moment. “And thanks for helping Eamon set up. Today was perfect.”
The party had been enjoyed by all in attendance save maybe Olivia, who’d hidden on the opposite end of the room from her ex-boyfriend for the duration of her hour stay, but Bel tried to ignore the fact that her friend had ducked out the minute she finished eating. She’d come, and that was progress.
“You know what’s perfect?” her dad asked as they separated. “That I can go upstairs and sleep in a real bed and not on your couch.”
“Tell Eamon to stop conspiring with my family members,” she spoke loudly for her boyfriend’s benefit. “Besides, just a few months ago, you never wanted to see him again. Now you’re team move-into-his-house?”
“What? I like sleeping in a guest room.” Her dad feigned ignorance. “On a serious note, I’ve actually been here for a few days.”
“You have? How?” Bel asked. “I was here during the week.”
“I was hiding in one of the far bedrooms,” he answered. “Eamon installed a TV, microwave, and mini fridge for me, and the floor has a private bathroom, so we never had to cross paths. I stayed in the room until you left for work.”
“Wait…” Bel glanced between her dad and her dog. “Is that why Cerberus was adventurous this past week?”
“Yeah, he kept trying to blow my cover. Eamon had to keep chasing him down.”
“I can’t believe you were here, and I had no idea. I should check these rooms more often. Who knows what else is hiding? Why were you here?”
“Eamon needed help to finish the library. He had a whole construction crew here when you were at the station, and on the nights you stayed at your cabin, Ewan and I took over. I guess that’s why I changed my tune about him. We spent a lot of hours together without you. It gave us a chance to talk.”
Over the winter, Bel had confessed half-truths about her boyfriend to her father.
Like Sheriff Griffin, Reese wanted to learn enough to understand his daughter’s relationship and not a fact more.
She’d been vague in her descriptions, leaving out the most brutal and terrifying moments from the past year, but by the time he’d left, Reese understood Eamon was not someone you messed with. And because of that, neither was Bel.
“And how was that?” she asked.
“Good… weird, though. We were alive during the same years, so he gets all my references, yet he looks the same age as my kids. We also talked a lot about you since I now know some of the truth. May the Lord strike me down for saying this about a man clearly so dangerous, but being here changed my opinion of him. I can confidently say he loves you as fiercely as the dog does... which is saying a lot.”
“So we have your blessing?”
“You have my blessing… and not only because I prefer sleeping in a proper guest room instead of on your couch.”
Bel rolled her eyes before kissing her dad’s cheek. “Well, before you move me into his house, you’re more than welcome to sleep here when you visit. It’s no bother to Eamon. Clearly, since I never noticed you were here.”
“I’ll be more visible now. He invited the entire family to stay the weekend,” Reese said.
“Thank god,” Briar chimed in as she hoisted an irate child onto her hip. “I would go insane if we had to drive home with these two tonight. They’re so cranky.”
“Too much fun.” Bel plucked her nephew out of her sister’s arms.
“And too much sugar,” Briar said. “Your boyfriend really knows the meaning of the word spoil.”
“Cerberus is an expert on that. The only reason he isn’t chunky is because Eamon exercises a lot, and he takes Cerberus with him.”
“It was a wonderful party, though.” Briar hugged her sister after her husband, Flynn, reclaimed the screaming toddler from Bel’s arms. “We’ll do a family breakfast in the morning. Happy Birthday, Isobel. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Bel spent the next half hour saying goodbye to her guests, and when the library was finally silent, Eamon handed her a glass of wine and led her and Cerberus out into the moonlit garden.
“That was such a surprise,” she said as they sank onto the bench hiding among the roses. It matched the new one Eamon had installed in her mini garden at the cabin after the television show producer bled to death on her original.
“Did you have fun?” Eamon wrapped an arm around her shoulders to shield her from the cool spring air.
“I did. A far better birthday than a night at a stranger’s wedding.
” She sank into his embrace to watch Cerberus toss one of the garden balls around.
“I can’t believe you built me a library without me figuring it out.
I can’t believe my dad was here all week, and I didn’t catch on.
Maybe this house is too big. You could have a whole host of people hiding here. ”
“I keep all my girlfriends in separate wings so that you guys never run into each other.” He brushed a finger over her book charm necklace.
He’d given it to her after a witch had cursed him to kill her.
Miraculously resisting the curse and saving her life, he’d paid a lesser witch to bless the necklace, but after Bel dove into a kidnapper’s car to save Hollywood’s sweetheart, he realized magic wasn’t enough to protect her.
One of his contacts had since installed a stolen government tracker inside the charm.
Complete with a panic button linked to Eamon’s devices, it had already saved her from a werewolf’s violence, but it tracked her every step.
There was no longer privacy in their relationship, but it was a small price to pay to ensure she wasn’t kidnapped for a fourth time.
She could take it off if she chose to—their running joke that she needed to remove it to see her other boyfriend—but she hadn’t so much as lifted the chain from her neck even to change.
She had no intention of removing it either, but the teasing had become an inside joke.
“Did the other girlfriends get a library too?” she played into the skit.
“No, just you.”
“Because I’m your favorite?”
“Oh, one hundred percent.”
Bel gave a triumphant grunt before taking a sip of the expensive wine. “My dad said you guys talked while you worked.”
“We did.”
“You’ll be happy to know you must’ve said something right because he was hinting that I move in with you.”
“Thank you, Papa Emerson.”
“He also said it was weird because you appear the same age as his daughters, yet lived through the same years in history as him.”
“I guess that would be weird for a parent. Does that bother you?”