Page 81 of Legacy of Roses

He smiled around vaguely. “Is everyone here? Excellent. Please follow me, everyone. And make sure you bring the food, boys.”

“Yes, sir!” Vernon said promptly.

“We should be paying them quadruple pay every day,” Rosalie said admiringly.

Dimitri smiled down at her. “If you’d like it, we can. It’s not costing us anything after all.”

“When you put it like that, you make us sound stingy!”

She turned the corner of the building and came to a stop, one of her invisible brothers colliding with her back. Dimitri steadied her, and she grinned up at him.

“A firepit? Outside? When the manor already has approximately thirty-seven thousand fireplaces?”

“You like it?” He grinned back. “Now we can stay out long enough to look at the stars. There were a lot of shooting stars last night, so I’m hoping for the same tonight.”

In the hours he’d been gone, he had built a secure firepit, placing logs in a circle around it, presumably for seats.

“Is this something you used to do in the mountains?” Daphne asked, and he nodded.

“The mountain community didn’t all gather often, but when we did, it was always around a bonfire.”

Rosalie’s expression softened. He hadn’t just made them a firepit and prepared a picnic; he was sharing something of himself with them.

“It’s a lovely present,” she said quietly. “We appreciate it.”

“Yes, I’m sure it’s a present for all of us,” Daphne murmured behind them before the rustle of her clothes moved away.

She and the boys quickly laid out the food the triplets had brought, along with plates and cutlery and even cups and flagons of drink.

“This really is a feast!” Rosalie was impressed.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so impatient all afternoon. Surprises could be enjoyable.

She shared a log with Dimitri, and darkness slowly fell, alleviated only by the light from the manor windows and the flames of the fire in front of them. The darker it became, the less noticeable the others’ invisibility was, and by the time she finished her plate, it wasn’t noticeable at all.

The six of them talked and laughed, keeping Dimitri entertained with stories of the triplets’ childhood, and even some early tales of Rosalie and Daphne’s.

“Why do I feel like you were reluctantly dragged into every single one of those disasters?” he asked Daphne.

“Because you’ve met Rosalie,” she replied.

They all laughed, and Vernon launched into another tale. In the darkness, their surroundings felt magical and secluded. Weariness crept over Rosalie, and she let her head rest on Dimitri’s shoulder.

He tensed slightly but made no protest, soon relaxing again. Eventually the talk dwindled into silence, and they all sat, staring into the mesmerizing flames. Rosalie was used to watching a fire, but there was something different about seeing one beneath the stars.

“This is lovely,” she breathed sleepily. “Maybe my true calling is to be a peddler and travel the kingdoms. I could sit under the stars with a fire like this every night.”

“Except when it was raining,” Ralph said. “Or snowing. Or blistering hot.”

“Thank you for that injection of practicality,” she said dryly. “I see you read my mood precisely.”

“Yes,” Dimitri said in a strangely formal tone. “I’ve noticed your mood lately. Is it that you’re missing your mother? It’s been a long time since you’ve seen her.” He put heavy emphasis on the final sentence.

Rosalie pulled away from him, the light, sleepy feeling gone.

“It has been a while,” Vernon said. “That illness excuse is wearing thin too. She’s starting to be concerned that it’s dragging on so long and has been talking about visiting you.”

“Hush!” Daphne said, in an unusually sharp tone.

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