I didn’t know what Calliope was up to yet. Or how she had managed to get Ethan to allow her to do what she did today. And until I found out, I was going to play it safe and protect my people: Wyatt, my brother, and my parents.
I had a bad feeling…and until it went away, I didn’t trust her. But at least Ethan wouldn’t be alone. He had a daughter now.
9
“We are so old, we have become young again.”
~ Hanya Yanagihara
CORALINE
“I’m old,” he whispered softly as he laid his head down on my lap, closing his eyes.
I glanced over to the maid who stepped into the greenhouse with my tea. Shaking my head at her, I turned around and looked back to the beautiful man now in my lap. Yes, his face had a few more wrinkles. Yes, his hair was graying completely on the sides and along his five o’clock shadow. And yes, his knees sometimes cracked now when he got out of bed quickly.
However…“You look just as handsome to me now as you did when I first
met you.”
“Liar.” He chuckled.
“Never,” I said back, putting down my book on the small stool beside the bench we were both on. “Shouldn’t I be the one complaining about my age?”
“Try aging first!” He sulked, and I laughed. “Not funny. You look like Helen’s older sister and not by much. And don’t you dare say black doesn’t crack; I’ve seen your relatives.”
“What are you trying to say about my aunt?” There was no point in saying relatives; I didn’t have many of them left. Not ones that lived close to us, anyway.
“She’s one of the ugliest people I’ve ever seen,” he admitted blatantly, and I smacked his chest lightly because he was right, and I didn’t care so much for her anyway; nevertheless, it was rude. He smiled at my pathetic smack before opening his beautiful eyes and looking up at me. “And mean, while you are still the most beautiful.”
“Exactly, why would such a beautiful woman like me be with an old man?” I teased, running my hand through his hair. “The fact that I’m still with you is proof that you aren’t an old man yet.”
“Why, thank you, but I don’t know if you are complimenting me or you more.” He laughed before sitting up, sighing deeply as he brought his feet back to the cobblestone underneath us. He sat forward on the edge of his seat, rubbing his hands on his face.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered, putting my hand on his shoulder and leaning into him.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” he muttered, reaching up and taking my hand. He looked at the rows upon rows of red roses beginning to bloom, even though it was November. “You are blooming them so early. I thought you wanted them for spring?”
“I did. I still do. But I couldn’t help myself. But you didn’t come to talk about my roses. Since you don’t know where to begin, I’ll help. Why did you start this conversation with ‘I’m old?’”
“Because that is how I felt watching Ethan and Calliope just now.” He chuckled, gently shaking his head. “Did you know she shot Nari today?”
“She what?” I gasped, much more alert now. “Is Nari all right?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t that bad. Apparently, she went to the hospital, and I almost joined her, doing my best to keep Neal and Mina at bay. My ears are still ringing from their cursing and yelling.” He rubbed his ear just from the memory.
“I don’t blame them, though. If it were Helen—”
“I hope Neal and Mina would hold us back, too,” he said to my surprise.
I was expecting him to say something like, “Nothing would have been able to stop him from beating the shit out of her.”
“You would want to be held back?”
“No, and yes.” He sighed again, his shoulders slumping. “No, I’d never want anything to happen to our children, and I would always defend them no matter what. However, today, just now, when I was holding Neal back, he and Mina were saying things like Ethan had lost his mind, and this was crazy, and that everything over the last few weeks was madness. There was too much chaos; it could be dangerous…I agreed with them.”
“You are not wrong, everything they said was valid,” I replied.
He grinned and lifted my hand from his shoulder and brought it to his lips, kissing my fingers. “You are old, too, after all.”