Page 315 of Sky’s Edge

It was time to meet my mother-in-law.

I walked to his side, slid an arm around his waist, he returned the gesture, but only I dropped my head to his shoulder.

We both looked down at the snow with Hurley sitting in it at Tanyn’s side.

Long moments ticked by before I realized what I wanted to say.

Thank you for him. He’s absolutely perfect. And he makes me really happy.

Then…

Was it me?

Or, right after I thought those words, did a soft breeze skid over the snow, blowing a gentle rush of powder over our feet, the marble, her resting place?

That snow did rush.

But it had to be a coincidence.

“I’m moving Dad here,” Tanyn murmured.

That was the first time he’d referred to his father as “Dad.”

I tightened my arm and pressed closer to his side.

“I think that’s a lovely idea,” I whispered.

We stood there moments more, in silence, before he kissed the top of my head and led me back to the Sprint.

We loaded up.

We left Darynda to her rest, which rightly, would soon no longer be lonely (I knew it would be soon because when Tanyn made a decision, he didn’t mess around).

And we went home.

“All right, is it me, or were all the females acting weird all night?” I remarked as Tanyn and I walked up the steps to our new bedchamber.

“Something did seem up,” Tanyn replied.

“Do you know what it is?” I asked.

“No clue,” he answered.

I believed him.

I did because he hadn’t been acting weird during dinner, or during the hot, spiked cocoa we sipped as we chatted, sitting around the fire after it.

But Laura, Gayle, Aleece and Zyra were sharing looks, and Gayle even emitted intermittent giggles at, apparently, nothing.

We’d been through a lot.

Sure, the last three weeks had been relatively normal, notwithstanding all of us suddenly living together in Berg Castle.

But now we were removed from all that.

Even with the attack here, the consistent buzz of the Red Wing Stealth-Arrows patrolling the skies, the increased defense bots stationed everywhere, this felt somehow removed from all that drama.

Maybe, being away from it, our crew was unwinding and their behavior was suppressed hysteria being released.