Page 57 of Valentine Nook
I’m a grown man, and this issupper.
A supper my mother planned, nothing more, nothing less. The same family supper we’ve had every Friday night since I can remember. The one where all manner of friends are invited, because as long as the six of us plus Max are in attendance, it doesn’t matter who joins.
Once, there were twenty-seven of us.
Tonight, there will be only one extra person. It just so happens to be the one sending me into a spiral.
“Your Grace?—”
I turn to find James walking across the floor of the great hall to where I’m staring out the window and trying not to have a panic attack.
“The barbecue’s fired up, and the chefs are outside. I’ve let the duchess know the table is set for when you’re ready.”James’s volume drops. “And the fireworks are being prepared on the upper lawn.”
“Fireworks? Who’s having fireworks?”
Bollocks. Why did I think fireworks would be a good idea?
I’m putting it down to a momentary and highly irregular bout of self-pity. It’s all Holiday’s fault for asking me what I do for fun.
And what’s more fun than fireworks?
The one—rather pressing—issue I didn’t foresee was that they would open me up to a slew of questions I’m not prepared to answer. And while family supper night is normally a loud affair, it’s not loud enough that no one will notice a bunch of fireworks going off.
I glance at James, silently pleading with him not to say anything to Alex. Because we both know why I requested tonight to include after-dinner entertainment in the form of colorful explosives.
We never have after-dinner entertainment unless Miles drinks too much.
“We are.”
Alex’s confusion deepens. “Why?”
A perfect example of a question I don’t want to answer.
“Why not?”
“Um . . . okay . . . because—” Alex’s pause gives me the exact argument I need.
“See, you can’t come up with a reason not to either.”
He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind, and perhaps I have, but it’s too late now. On the plus side, the conversation’s distracting me enough that my palms have stopped sweating.
Alex is still trying to come up with a response when a fire-engine siren blares out from the corridor to the left. It’s a sound that usually grates to my core and has me threatening to remove the batteries, but right now, I’m wondering how I can use it as a distraction tonight.
“What’s going on?” Hendricks asks, followed by Fireman Max driving along on a toy fire engine.
Alex takes one look at James’s and my blank faces and shakes his head. “I have absolutely no idea, but it involves fireworks.”
“Fireworks?”
“Fireworks?” Max screeches, jumping off the fire engine with enough force that he slips on the floor, banging his head on the stone slabs. Luckily, his fire helmet saves him, and he barely seems to notice as he scrambles to his feet. “Fireworks? I want fireworks. I love fireworks.”
Truthfully, I thought Max would already be in bed before the fireworks began, which is why we have silent ones, but I’ll take any support I can get.
“See. Max thinks they’re a good idea.”
“He’s four. This morning, I discovered him painting himself green so Birgitta wouldn’t find him during hide-and-seek in the garden.”
Definitely can’t blame him for that. I try to hide from Birgitta too, something I’d say Alex agrees with, given he’s smirking.
