Dane is silent and stiff beside me. This is too much to deal with for anyone, and I've stupidly let him get sucked into my drama.
"Eleanor?" Aunt Melanie's voice carries through the house, finding us.
"In here, Mel," Eleanor says, her eyes still on Tria.
"Did you at least wound the bastard?" Aunt Margaret asks as she rounds the corner with Aunt Melanie.
I wasn't expecting her to be here. Aunt Margaret married Paul Colton, the man of her dreams, and she got the most loyal, respectful, and dedicated man a person could hope for. They were the only reason I never gave up on love.
"She got him good, Aunt Margaret," I say fondly, smiling over at Eleanor who sniffles and laughs at once.
At least her Mad Hatter side has crept back into a slumber.
Tria grins as she looks over to our two aunts. "She got him damn good," she adds, making everyone's laughter bubble out.
Tria is just like me. Her mother was the other woman, and Eleanor, being the incredible woman she is, took us both in as her own. How in the hell did an angel end up with a twisted devil?
"You girls head on out. We've got a celebration planned. We've been waiting on this day for years," Aunt Melanie says, offering us a wink and a smile.
I start to hug Eleanor, but Dane tugs me away, wearing an amused smile on his face. I almost forgot about her crabs, and Dane just saved me from the contact transfer possibility. It’s a taxing job not to grin. Eleanor chuckles knowingly, and Dane leads me out, never saying a word.
Tria follows, but she pauses once we reach the outside. She glances at her phone, but she doesn't do anything.
"What's wrong?" Dane asks her while lacing his fingers with mine.
She frowns before looking back up. "Nothing. I just need to call a cab. You two can head on."
Dane looks to me, and I almost want to scream. We finally get to be together, but we don't get to be together because my life is going freaking crazy. Shit.
"Or you could come back to my place, and we could... talk?" I suggest, fighting back the groan of frustration.
Tears glimmer on her lids as she stares at me for a few silent moments. Finally, one of those tears falls, and I have to fight back my own.
"I'd like that."
***
DANE
"So you and Rain are official now, right?" Corbin asks as I grab the bouquet of roses from my table.
I'm sweating. I'm fucking sweating. I haven't been this nervous since I was a kid. This is just a date.
"I don't know. With all of her family stuff, we haven't really had a chance to talk since the other day. She and Tria have been staying at her house... talking about things."
"For two days?" Maverick asks as he joins us.
"I imagine it takes a while to squash over a decade of resentment. They had a lot to discuss, and I didn't want to interfere."
"I don't suppose we have to give you the whole 'break her heart and we'll break you' speech, do we?" Corbin drawls, trying hard to hide the amusement in his eyes.
"Funny," I mutter dryly.
Britt walks in wearing the new dress I bought her, and I can't help but smile. She's so different from the scruffy girl who had dirt caked in her hair when I met her.
Maverick whistles low and long as Britt humors us with a twirl. I hand her the bouquet of roses, and her grin only grows.
"I've never gotten roses before," she muses, staring at the soft tips of the petals.