Page 77 of Fall of a Kingdom
“What did you say to him?”
“He asked if I wanted to restore a Scottish castle.”
“That’s a massive undertaking…” I raised my eyebrows.
“Massive, indeed. I told him I wasn’t going to restore a castle, because I wanted to focus on our lives. I don’t have the bandwidth to handle months of construction and the delays that inevitably come with it. We just changed everything by moving to Scotland. I want to settle down, watch Helena grow, expand our family. He said he’d take care of finding us our home and I would take care of the wedding.”
“Wedding? What wedding? Have you guys finally set a date?” I asked in excitement.
“Not an official date,” she said. “We want to have a private ceremony, but then celebrate with our friends by having a party. I didn’t want a big fanfare.”
“Sounds fun.”
“No push back?”
“Not from me. It’s your day. Do what you want.” I gestured to the phone. “So the house?”
“He already made them an offer and they accepted. He didn’t even show me!”
“Well, you did sort of give him free reign to take care of it as he saw fit,” I pointed out.
“I just didn’t expect it this soon,” she said. “He told me he was going for a drive to clear his head, but now I know he was going to look at this house. Do you think he bought the first one he saw?”
“It looks that way, doesn’t it? Did he send you photos at least?” I asked.
“A few,” she admitted. “Here, look at them.”
Quinn handed me her phone and I scrolled through the photos. “Huh.”
“What?” she demanded.
“It looks nice. Better than nice. Sprawling and more than enough space to keep horses if that’s what you want.”
“It has a lake,” Quinn stated with a shake of her head.
“What’s wrong with a lake?” I asked in confusion.
“Nothing. There’s nothing wrong with a lake. There’s nothing wrong with the house.”
“Then…”
“It’s one thing to sayI’ll take care of it.It’s another not to involve me at all.”
I let out a laugh. “Well, that’s what happens when you give men like ours no parameters. You told him to take care of it and that’s exactly what he did. You have no one to blame but yourself.”
“You’re right,” she agreed with a grumble. “I know you’re right.”
“Besides, he moved here because of you, because you wanted this.”
She was silent for a moment and then she said, “I think he moved here for you, too.”
I stilled. “What do you mean by that?”
“He missed you. He’s happier when he gets to see you.”
“You’re not worried, are you?” I boldly met her eyes. “About my relationship with Sasha—”
“Oh God, no,” she hastened to assure me. “I’ve long put that to rest.”
