Chapter 34
Helena watched Kuol blush at Sister Bernie’s words. He hadn’t let go of Lamya’s hand since he’d declared his love for her. The feeling was apparently very mutual from the loving gaze Lamya was giving him. Abu looked shocked. Fiza and her sister did not.
Helena looked over to see Nolan holding her hand the same way. She and Lamya locked eyes and smiled at each other. They both knew how lucky they were—both to be alive and to be loved the way they were by their men.
That moment was fleeting as Greer and her team rushed off, gathering all the evidence so they could get to work.
Sister Bernie, Father Ben, the Rose sisters, and Marcy Davies had produced wedding binders from what Helena assumed was thin air.
The minivan fire was out and people were slowly returning to their homes while Helena and Lamya were off for a CT scan each.
Bella had insisted on coming along and it wasn’t until after two in the morning that they all made it back to the bed and breakfast. Helena was told to rest for two days and avoid the television or her phone.
She didn’t know how, but when they rolled up to the bed and breakfast, the door opened, and out ran her mother, father, and even her grandmother from Greece.
“Mom? Dad? Yiayiá? What are you doing here?” Helena turned to Nolan. “Am I hallucinating?”
“No, I texted your father on the way to the hospital.”
“You have my father’s number?” Helena asked, bewildered, then was overtaken by her family.
Her mother hugged her and cried while her father shook Nolan’s hand and pulled him into a hug. “I heard you pulled her from the car. Thank you for saving her.”
Yiayiá clucked and frowned as she held Helena’s hand. “Where’s the ring? I thought you said the boy was proposing? Don’t you think for one second that you’re going up to her bedroom without a ring on that finger.”
“Yiayiá!” Helena gasped. “Wait, who’s proposing?”
Helena was so confused. She wondered if she was more concussed than she’d thought but then she watched Nolan reach into his pocket and pull out a velvet box.
“I had planned to do this tomorrow, but I don’t want to disappoint Yiayiá.
” Helena’s mom gasped next to her, clearly not expecting this either at this moment.
Her father didn’t look surprised at all.
Yiayiá looked thrilled and a little smug.
“I saw you speed into town in that little red sports car months ago and you sped away with my heart. You’ve taken me out of my life, and shown me how the same life with the person you love is a brand-new experience.
I want that every day for us. I’m so proud of you, Helena.
You’re smart, brave, and so passionate. It would be my honor to love and support you in everything you do. Helena Diakos, will you marry me?”
All those questions that had gone through Helena’s mind about how it was possible to fall in love so quickly and so completely were forever silenced.
Instead, she was filled with what she could only describe as the warmest hug and the feeling of completeness.
In those moments she thought she was going to die, and it was her future life with Nolan that flashed before her.
It was that life she wanted and feared she’d never have.
There was no more fear. She knew what her answer was.
“Yes! It would be my greatest honor to marry you, Nolan, and to be your wife.”
Nolan’s fingers trembled as he took out the ring.
It was perfect for her. Dainty and elegant, not one of those obnoxious look-at-me rings.
She had plenty of those for when she needed to make a statement.
This wasn’t a statement though. This was a meaningful promise of their future and it was so perfectly them.
“I love it, Nolan,” Helena said, wiping away a tear as she looked at the ring before Nolan got up and wrapped her up in a hug.
Then a hand smacked him on the side of his head.
“Yiayiá!” Helena gasped at her grandmother. “What was that for?”
“For taking so long to propose. Now, come give your Yiayiá a hug.” Helena tried to stop it, but it was too late. Her little five-foot-nothing grandmother had Nolan’s neck in her hand and was yanking him down to her bosom for a hug.
“Mamá! Don’t kill the boy before he can marry Helena,” Helena’s mother chided. Then she paused and looked at Helena, impressed. “Well, the boy can hold his breath. Lucky you.”
“Mom!”
“Thea!” her father groaned.
“What?” her mother asked innocently with a look that was very far from innocent. “A satisfied wife means grandbabies. Mamá, let him up so we can ask about grandbabies.”
“Daaad,” Helena groaned. “Do something.”
Her father shrugged. “I warned the boy how often this topic would come up when he asked for my blessing to marry you.”
Helena was so shocked that she missed Nolan smoothly answering the baby questions. “You asked for my father’s blessing? When did you talk to him?”
“I went to New York to ask him,” Nolan told her after apparently saying something about babies that made her mom and Yiayiá so excited they switched to speaking in rapid-fire Greek.
“Now, is there any way I can take my fiancée to bed and we can start planning the wedding tomorrow? Father Ben, Sister Bernadette, the Rose sisters, and Marcy Davies are already working on it.”
Yiayiá threw her hands up, spoke quickly in Greek, and then rushed inside.
“She’s going to bake. You can’t plan a wedding on an empty stomach.
I'd better go help. I’ll make your favorite, trigona panormatos,” her mother told her before turning and giving Nolan a kiss on the cheek.
“And I’ll make you everything so that you can tell me what your favorites are. ”
Her father grinned and Helena couldn’t get over how relaxed he was around Nolan.
Her father had always intimidated her previous boyfriends and acted as if they weren’t worth the trouble to even learn their names.
Now he was slapping Nolan on the back and talking about which Greek foods he thought Nolan would love the most.
“I look forward to tomorrow then. My parents will be excited to meet you too. They retired and spend the winter farther south. As soon as I can get them here, I will.”
“Tell me where they are. I’ll send the plane. Thea will insist on it. You’ll soon learn, men like us will do anything that makes your wife happy.”
Helena rolled her eyes but had to admit seeing Nolan with her father made her so happy and she couldn’t wait to meet his parents too.
Nolan told her father the closest airport and then woke his parents up with the news of his engagement and that a plane would be waiting for them in the morning to bring them back to Keeneston for wedding planning.
Helena could hear the celebratory cheers from where she stood next to Nolan.
She also heard the rapid-fire questions, but Nolan promised to fill them in on everything tomorrow.
Her father wrapped her in a hug as Nolan finished talking to his parents. “You found a good one, Helena. He’ll make you very happy.”
“I know he will. I hope to make him just as happy.”
“You will. I knew it the moment I heard you talk about him, but then he walked into my office and I saw the same love I have for your mother when he talked about you. Oh, and Yiayiá won’t be the only family here tomorrow.
I told my brother, and well, the whole family jumped on the jet.
I would expect them here by lunch. Goodnight!
” Then her father rushed away, leaving her standing there in shock.
Well, she shouldn’t be in shock. They were Greek after all and Greek families did everything together.
Even if you lived halfway around the world from each other.
Nolan hung up the phone, scooped her up into his arms, and carried her up the stairs. “What has the surprised look on your face? You know I like to carry you.”
“I know you’re an only child, and well, promise you won’t leave me after what happens tomorrow.”
Nolan chuckled as he used his foot to close the door behind him. Helena could hear her family in the kitchen along with Lucas’s and Poppy’s voices. “Why would you say that?”
“Because you’re about to get a crash course in becoming Greek. The entire family is already on a jet on their way here from Greece.”
Nolan smiled down at her with true happiness. “I can’t wait.”
Nolan loved every moment of the next day. He and his parents were welcomed into the Diakos family with open arms and more food than they’d ever be able to eat. Especially considering Marcy Davies and the Rose sisters joined them to help plan the wedding and all brought their signature dishes.
Lamya, Kuol, Abu, Fiza, and Nafisa joined them by dinner and the party was moved to the café. However, Helena held Lamya back for a moment as the large group began their walk to the café.
The plans were made. Tomorrow Lamya and Kuol were to marry after Lamya had confessed to being in love with Kuol for just as long as he had been with her.
The board of directors, minus Ayman and Zarifa, would also be present.
Sebastian had helped Lamya and Abu find two new directors who would be completely impartial and fill the expertise gaps left after Ayman and Zarifa were removed.
They were arriving later tonight along with some special guests as Sebastian called them.
Greer didn’t say anything further about her investigation. Nolan and Helena had done their part and now they were back to friends who didn’t need specifics. Bluegrass Ops continued to operate, but Nolan doubted he’d hear any more of the investigation unless he was needed in some way.
“Are you sure you want the fireman’s wedding?” Nolan asked for the third time.
“More than anything,” Helena promised as the final preparations were being made.
They were getting married next week. Apparently, there were even more relatives from Greece still making their way over for the wedding.
Jack won the betting app and was celebrating by buying a new smoker for the firehouse.
So, it was a win for Nolan and the other firefighters too.
They entered the café and took a deep breath. “What is that amazing smell?” Helena asked.
“It’s home,” Lamya said before bursting into tears. “You’re making traditional South Sudanese food?”
“Of course we are,” Zinnia said, her forehead still bruised after being pistol-whipped. “You’re not getting married at home, but we wanted your traditions to be part of it.”
Miss Violet popped her head out of the kitchen. “Except for the wedding cake. You’re getting a big cake fit for the heiress you are.”
Lamya wiped away the tears and hugged everyone before they all filled the kitchen to help.
“I love this town,” Helena said to Nolan as she snuggled up to him. He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “And I love you.”
“Aww, aren’t they sweet, Mr. and Mrs. Diakos?”
“Quinny!” Thea called out, wrapping Helena’s best friend in a hug. “And this must be your man.” Quinn had been with them for the wedding planning, but this was the first time her husband was present.
“Knox Everett. Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Oh, I get it now,” Thea giggled, giving Quinn a squeeze.
“Maria!” Miss Violet called out. “Give Knox a proper hug!”
The two had bonded over their boobtastic hugs and cooking. Knox’s eyes widened in a brief moment of fear and he sucked in a breath a moment before he disappeared into Helena’s grandmother’s cleavage.
“Another one who can hold his breath. You two are very blessed,” her grandmother said with a smirk.
The night continued as a celebration of new friends, new residents, and new families were brought into the Keeneston fold.