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“I do.”

“I want you to have a big wedding.”

“That’s my plan. If he ever asks me.”

“You could ask him.”

I flushed; I could feel the heat on my face. “That might be a bit out of my comfort zone.”

“You want to be married.”

“Of course I do, but I would never take away the opportunity for him to ask me. He’s my mate, he marked me, that’s more than enough.”

“We’ll see.”

“It has to be his idea.”

“I know. I promise.”

I breathed out my relief.

“Now, I want to talk to you about something else. I have a great idea for a house for you and Deacon.”

I nodded, happy for the distraction.

Gigi went into her large tote and extracted her laptop for me. She opened it, then passed it to me. The first thing I saw was a garden, and I couldn’t stifle my gasp. There was a greenhouse with climbing roses, Eden roses, which I knew immediately, as my grandmother had them in her garden. There were limelight hydrangeas, which I loved, Yoshino cherry trees with the pink flowers that eventually turn white—so beautiful, like a dream—and Japanese maple trees that looked otherworldly. There was a dogwood, an ancient magnolia, and two large sugar maples. In the yard there were Sarah Bernhardt peonies, stunning Duchess de Nemours, which my mother loved and had in every garden, and then some New Dawn roses on a pergola with a small table and two chairs underneath.

“Of course, at the moment, as it’s nearly Thanksgiving, it’s all very brown back there except for the maple trees. But it’s still a lovely space.”

“I have no doubt.”

“Look at the rest of the pictures.”

“Is this gate for a courtyard?”

“Yes, it is.”

It looked as though you walked down a long cobblestone path to a tall, wide barn door that was built into what appeared to be a twenty-foot wall. After that was rolled open, it could be locked from the other side, and you were in a small front yard with boxwoods and wisteria, and faced with what looked like a cozy English cottage.

“What is this? Where is this?”

“It’s on the other side of Graeme’s property. His father originally built it as a place for his parents when they visited, but it made no sense. The main house is enormous, so there’s no need. We all have our own wings. Also, it must be said that Graeme and Avery, and Stone and I, would love it if you and Deacon moved in with––”

“Stop.” I chuckled. “Deacon would never agree to that. But this is… beautiful. I didn’t realize that the wrought iron fence was only at the front of your property. There’s a wall around the back.”

She nodded. “Also, there’s another gate in the back, as you can see, so if people were coming from the main house to yours, they could walk the path from our patio right to you. Otherwise, you can reach the cottage from the other side of the long driveway. You turn a corner, then another, and there you are, at a gate that you can carry groceries through right up to your back door.”

I smiled at her. “Deacon and I should have our own place.”

“The security is the same for the cottage as it is for the main house,” she went on, ignoring me, “so it’s necessary for you to buzz people in. What’s good is that the access to the property is completely separate, so you could let people in to see you, but not us.”

“That’s clever.”

“And see, technically, the land and the cottage are separate from ours, so you would need to pay Graeme for it, but if you ever wanted to move, Graeme would buy it back from you. That would be written into the deed.”

“Because he wouldn’t want strangers that close.”

“I mean, let’s be honest, you’d be farther from us in the cottage than you are from your neighbors in your current place.”