“Well?”
She turned to find Ethan watching her, his eyes narrowed. “What?”
“Was it as bad as you expected?”
“You know it wasn’t. And I feel great. Why was Micah so worried?”
“He’s your brother. It’s what brothers do, I’m told.”
“I know.” She blew out a sigh, and then smiled. “It’s just because he loves me.”
“I worry about the same things he does, you know?”
“What things?”
“That in a year or two you might regret it, and hate me for turning you.”
“How could I hate you? I asked for this.”
“Sofie.” He drew her into his arms and kissed her, ever so gently. “People change. Even vampires. I know there are no guarantees in life, but . . .”
Cupping his face in her palms, she said, “Stop worrying. I think I’ve been around enough vampires to know what I was getting into. And yes, I know actually being one is different, but if I ever regret it, I’ll have no one but myself to blame. Okay?”
“Okay.” He tapped the tip of her nose with his finger. “So, what do you say we go do what people on their honeymoons usually do?”
“Sounds good to me. I’d race you back to Morgan Creek, if I knew how to unleash my brand-new vampire powers.”
* * *
Ethan caught Sofia’s arm when they reached the outskirts of Morgan Creek. She was a quick study, he thought, pleased. She had almost beaten him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Why are we stopping?”
“Micah’s waiting on the bridge.”
“Oh.”
Slowing, they walked the rest of the way.
Sofia experienced a sudden wave of uncertainty when she saw her brother’s face. What if he hated her now?
For a moment, brother and sister regarded each other. Then Micah said, “I’d like to talk to Sofia alone, if that’s all right with you, Parrish.”
“You’re welcome to go up to the house,” Ethan said. “I’ve got a few things to take care of in the office.”
Micah nodded curtly.
Ethan squeezed Sofia’s hand. “I’ll see you at home.”
“Come on,” Sofia said.
“Don’t you want to exert your new powers? Or don’t you know how?”
“I know how, but it’s a nice night for a walk. What are you doing here, Micah?” she asked, starting across the bridge.
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine.”
“You promised you’d wait until you were older.”
“I intended to, but . . .” She took a deep breath, then told him about Browning and why she had decided not to wait.
“I see your point.”
“How’s Dad?”
“He’s doing great. Mom and Dad are wondering where you are, why you haven’t come around. You can’t put it off forever.”
“Look who’s talking!” Sofia exclaimed. “You waited a good long time before you told any of us the truth.”
“Are you happy with him?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“All right, I know where you’re coming from. But the family already knows about vampires now, so the rest should be easy. And you didn’t answer my question.”
“Yes, I’m happy. Blissfully, totally, wonderfully happy. He didn’t force me, Micah. It was my choice and mine alone. Maybe someday I’ll regret it, but I don’t think so. And like I told Ethan, if I do, I’ve got only myself to blame.”
“Do you want me to tell Mom and Dad for you?”
Sofia chewed on her lower lip, thinking it over. Then shook her head. “No, I should tell them.” She took his arm, then stopped walking. “Please don’t hate Ethan. I love you both. I can’t have my two favorite guys always at each other’s throats.”
Micah snorted. “Bad choice of words, little sister.”
She made a face at him, then said, “You know, Ethan wouldn’t be a vampire in the first place if he hadn’t gone to your wedding.”
Micah threw up his hands in self-defense. “Hey, you can’t blame that on me. Saintcrow’s the one who turned him.”
“Maybe we should just turn the whole family.” Grinning, she tugged on his arm. “Come on; wait until you see our lair!”
* * *
Ethan looked up from the mail-order catalog he’d been perusing when Sofia entered the office. “Where’s your brother?”
“He went back home. We’ve decided to turn the whole family.”
“What?”
“I’m kidding. He just wanted to make sure I’m okay.”
“Are you?”
Sitting on his lap, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re perfect.”
“Thanks, I like you, too. I need to go home and talk to my folks. Do you want to go with me?”
“What do you think?”
She slipped her hands inside his shirt. “I think we should do what you suggested earlier, and go do what people on their honeymoons do.”
He waggled his eyebrows at her. “No need to ask me twice.”
A thought carried them into the bedroom, where they did what honeymooners do.
* * *
Later, after a quick shower, Sofia went through her closet, considering and discarding one outfit after another.
Reclining on the bed, Ethan shook his head as she threw off a light green sweater and pulled on a frilly pink blouse. “We’re just going to see your mom and dad,” he remarked. “Why all the fuss?”
“I want to look like me.”
“You look pretty much the same as always.” Which wasn’t exactly true. Being a vampire had added a certain thickness and luster to her hair, made her skin a little more translucent. And then there was that vampire allure that came in handy when hunting prey.
She pulled on a pair of black pants, stepped into her shoes. “I’m a nervous wreck!”
Rising, he took her in his arms. “Relax. I’m sure it will come as a surprise, but your folks won’t be totally freaked out, not the way they would be if you were the first kid in the family to become a vampire.”
“I know. I keep telling myself that.”
“So, are you ready?”
“I guess.”
“All right, then. Let’s get it over with.”
* * *
Sofia took a deep breath when they arrived on the front porch. She could hear the TV playing in the living room, smell the chicken her family had had for dinner. She knew her mom and dad were in the living room, and that Rosie was upstairs.
Another deep breath, and she opened the door.
“Sofia!” Lena Ravenwood flew across the room to embrace her daughter. “Come in! Come in! This is a wonderful surprise!”
Luciano’s smile spread from ear to ear. “Sofia!”
She hugged her dad and then Rosa, who had come downstairs to see who was at the door.
“Sit, sit.” Lena gestured at the love seat. “Ethan, welcome.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Ravenwood.”
“Please, you must call me Lena.”
“Lena.” He shook hands with Luciano, then nodded in Rosa’s direction, rolled his eyes when she winked at him.
“Have you had dinner?” Lena asked.
“We already . . . ate,” Sofia said. She perched on the edge of the love seat, laid her hand on Ethan’s arm for reassurance when he sat beside her.
“Dessert, then?” Lena asked. “I made cannoli.”
Sofia forced a smile. “Maybe later,” she said, glancing at Ethan.
With a sigh of resignation, Lena sat on the sofa with her husband and Rosa.
“So, how’ve you been?” Rosa asked.
“Good.” Sofia twisted her hands together. “Ethan and I have decided to get married.”
Rosa grinned.
Lena clapped her hands together. “That’s wonderful!”
“Aren’t you rushing things a bit?” L
uciano asked. “I mean, you haven’t known each other very long.”
“Long enough,” Sofia said.
Rosa leaned forward, her eyes shining with excitement. “Have you set a date?”
“Not yet, but the sooner the better.”
Lena frowned. “You’re not . . . ?”
“No, Mom, I’m not.”
Her mother sighed with relief. “A wedding! So much to do. Have you thought about colors and flowers? You’ll be married at St. John’s, of course. I’ll call Father Ralph to see about reserving the church. A Saturday morning would probably work best.”
“About that . . . I’m afraid it will have to be an evening wedding because . . .” Sofia grabbed Ethan’s hand.
“Because Ethan’s a vampire?” Lena cut in to fill the awkward silence.
Sofia took a deep breath. “And so am I.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
After a lengthy silence, Rosa asked, “Does Micah know?”
Sofia nodded.
Her mother stared at her through grief-stricken eyes.
Her father glared at Ethan, his hands tightly clenched.
Rosa winked at her.
Sofia bit down on her lower lip, waiting for her parents to say something. Anything. “Mom, Dad, it was my choice. I wanted this. I hope you can accept it.” Fighting back tears, she said, “I hope you’ll still love me.”
Tears welled in Lena’s eyes. Rising, she held out her arms. “Of course we still love you, mia figlia,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “You’re our baby girl.”
Feeling as if she had been reborn, Sofia went into her mother’s arms. “I love you, too, Mama. I didn’t do it to hurt you or Daddy.”
Luciano’s gaze speared Ethan. “I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for this, but I’ll try. But know this: If you ever hurt my little girl, I will hunt you down.”
“Yessir.”
Rising, Luciano pulled Sofia into his arms for a bear hug; then, after a long pause, he approached Ethan and stuck out his hand. “Welcome to our family.”
“Thank you, sir.”
When Lena and Luciano went into the kitchen, ostensibly for wine, Rosa took Sofia aside. “So, what’s it like, being a vampire? Did it hurt? Do you feel, like, radically different?”
“It’s hard to describe. It’s like I’m still me, but in a Supergirl kind of way. All my senses are enhanced and I’m never tired.”
“But what about . . . ?” Rosa grimaced. “The blood thing?”
Sofia shrugged. “That’s hard to explain, too,” she said, relieved when her mother returned from the kitchen carrying a silver tray with five glasses of wine.
Luciano passed the drinks around, then lifted his goblet. “To the bride and groom. May they find as much happiness in their marriage as Lena and I have found in ours.”
* * *
“I’m glad that’s over,” Sofia remarked. They had decided to take a walk when they left her parents’ house. Now, she paused at a corner to let a car pass by.
“I thought your mom and dad handled it pretty well, all things considered, but you’d better look out for Rosa.”
“What do you mean?”
“She asked me a lot of questions while you and your mom were talking about the wedding,” Ethan said with a shrug.
“She talked to me, too, but you can hardly blame her for being curious. She’s got two siblings, a sister-in-law, and a future brother-in-law who are vampires.”
“Yeah. Wouldn’t surprise me if she asked you to turn her one of these days.”
“Seriously?”
“If you’d heard some of the questions she asked me, you’d think so, too. Has she ever expressed any interest in vampires before?”
“Not to me.”
“I just wanted to give you a heads-up.”
Sofia nodded. “Thanks for telling me. I asked her to let the rest of the family know.”
“Chicken.”
“Yep. Are you sure you’re okay with the extravaganza my mom is planning?”
“Right now, I’m willing to do just about anything to keep your family happy.”
“I know,” she said, smiling. “You’re being really sweet about the whole thing.”
“Maybe because I’m feeling a little guilty.”
Punching him on the arm, she said, “Well, stop it! I asked for this, remember?”
“Yeah, I . . .” Ethan came to a dead stop, every instinct he possessed going on high alert.
Sofia glanced up at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you feel that?”
“What?” She glanced around, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Most of the houses were dark, the sidewalks deserted.
“Unless I’m mistaken, Browning was here.”
“Browning!” she exclaimed. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s he doing here?” She peered into the shadows. He could be anywhere—hiding behind the bushes at the Sanders’ house, lurking behind the Buckmans’ pine tree, or the van parked in the driveway. “How did he find us?”
“He knows your name. Easy enough to find out where you live. I’m pretty sure it’s me he’s after, and because he knows we’re together . . .” He shrugged. “Makes sense this is the first place he’d look.”
“Oh, Ethan!” Sofia’s heart sank. “You don’t think he’ll go after my family, the way Braga did?”
“I don’t know, but I doubt it. It wouldn’t gain him anything. Even if he got rid of me, he’d still have to destroy Saintcrow to get Morgan Creek, and I don’t see that happening.”
“So, why would he try again?”
“Beats me. Maybe he’s pursuing some kind of personal vendetta against me now.”
“He’s not still here, is he?”
“No, he’s long gone.”
“I think we should be long gone, too,” she said, tugging on his hand. “Let’s go home.”
* * *
For Sofia, the next few nights passed in a flurry of looking at pictures of wedding cakes, as well as flowers for the bride and the bridesmaids, corsages for the mothers of the bride and groom, and for the altar. They would be married in the church her family attended; the reception would be in the same venue Holly and Micah had used.
Ethan grimaced when Sofia told him the location.
She looked puzzled, until she remembered Leandro Braga had attacked him there. “We can find another place if you want.”
“No, your mother’s already arranged for it. Anyway, I don’t think Braga has any more relatives.”
“I had no idea planning a wedding was so involved,” Sofia lamented. “The guest list is long enough with just my brothers and sisters and their families. And speaking of family, when am I going to meet your parents? You are going to invite them to the wedding, aren’t you?”
“I guess so.”
“You guess?”
“You don’t understand.” He shook his head. “I love my parents and they love me. But they’re not a prime example of happily ever after. I mean, they can barely tolerate being in the same house.”
“Then why are they still together?”
“I don’t know. Both too stubborn to admit they made a mistake, I suppose.”
“Maybe they’re still in love?”
“If they are, they don’t want anybody to know it.”
“Well, we need to invite them. I think you should call them.”
“Now?”
Sofia nodded.
With a sigh of resignation, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and made the call.
* * *
After nights of rehearsals, dress fittings for the ladies, trips to a tuxedo shop for the men, and 101 other errands, the big night arrived.
Sofia had never been so nervous in her entire life. As with Micah’s wedding, most of the guests were friends of the family. She had felt a little sorry for Ethan when she learned the only attendees from his side of the family would be his parents. Neither his mom or dad had
siblings, he was an only child, and his grandparents had passed away years ago.
She had met his parents at the rehearsal dinner. Lynn and Roger Parrish were a handsome couple. His mother looked like a movie star, with her long auburn hair and remarkable deep green eyes. She wore a tea-length dress that matched her eyes and outlined a perfect hourglass figure. Ethan looked very much like his father: tall, blond, and handsome. His parents had been extremely quiet at dinner, but Sofia could hardly blame them. With all her brothers and sisters in attendance, as well as her mom and dad, she figured Ethan’s mom and dad had been overwhelmed by sheer numbers alone. He hadn’t seen fit to tell them that he was a vampire.
Sofia’s heart skipped a beat when one of her cousins popped his head in to tell her it was time. She took one last look in the mirror. The gown she had chosen was the first one she had tried on. It had a fitted bodice, a round neck, and a skirt that flared from the hips. Her veil fell to the floor in graceful folds. She had chosen to carry white roses. Her bridesmaids wore floor-length mauve gowns with pale pink sashes and carried pink and white bouquets.
Sofia let out a deep breath as she followed her sisters out of the dressing room and down a short hallway that opened into the foyer.
Her father winked at her as he came forward to meet her. “You look lovely, mia figlia,” he remarked as Rosa started down the aisle.
“Thanks, Daddy.”
His gaze searched hers. “Are you sure about this?”
“Very sure.”
“Then you have my love and my blessing,” he said, kissing her cheek. “Here’s our cue.”
Nodding, Sofia laid her hand on his arm, then whispered, “Don’t let me fall down.”
Ethan and her brothers stood with Father Ralph in front of the flower-bedecked altar, but as soon as Sofia saw Ethan, she forgot everything else. She had always thought him the handsomest man she had ever met, but tonight, clad in a tuxedo that fit as though it had been made for him, he looked absolutely mouthwatering.
He smiled when he saw her, but it was the love shining in his deep brown eyes that melted her heart.
Sofia scarcely heard the words the priest spoke, but she didn’t miss the slight change in Ethan’s vow when, instead of vowing to love her “until death do you part,” he promised to love her for all eternity.
Twilight Desires Page 25