Page 79 of The Night
“It wasSanta, Gideon.” She rolled her eyes. “And I thanked himvery, very sincerelyfor giving me almost everything I asked for because that’spolite. I got a big house, a cat, and a real Christmas tree. I figure the making-me-a-princess thing might be kinda over his head, so that’s fine.” She turned back toward the stage, but her eyes met mine over her shoulder. “Oh, and I told him next year would be cool for the whole brother-or-sister thing. I can be patient.”
I looked at Liam. Liam looked at me. Both of us turned back toward the stage. Neither of us said a word.
But after Parker had claimed his trophy—because you justknewit was gonna be that little nugget of good intentions and outrageous shenanigans who won the freakin’ contest, right?—they passed out the Secret Santa presents, and that was when shit really started getting weird.
Hazel got called up to get a brand-new book about the secret lives of cats, and she came back to us beaming. Liam took one of Hazel’s hands, and I took the other, and we turned, ready to walk back to town… when Jay Turner calledmyname.
“Gideon Prince Mason,” he said, looking down at a large, flat envelope and then into the crowd, at me, like he’d read it wrong. “Prince, Gideon?” He snorted. “Really?”
How? How?
How in all the seven layers ofhellhad someone found out my middle name? It wasn’t on my driver’s license, it wasn’t on my social security card, nor my passport, nor my marriage certificate, nor my mortgage, nor any other public record except mybirth certificate, and legit who in theworldwould go to that trouble?
I stalked toward the stage and took the envelope from Jay with a scowl. “Prince was my mother’s maiden name,” I said into his microphone. I felt myself blushing. But my embarrassment turned to shock when I actually looked at the address on the envelope.
Liam lookedwaytoo amused when I returned, until I handed the envelope to him without a word.
“The… The Little Chapel, Las Vegas, Nevada?” His green eyes were wide, and I shook my head because I couldn’t explain it either. “The place we were married? Who…?” He glanced up at me in shock.
“Nobody. I’ve literally toldnobody, baby.”
He ripped open the envelope… and a bunch of pictures fell out. Pictures of a slightly younger me and Liam, in Las Vegas t-shirts. With a short, Russian officiant who lookednothinglike Elvis.
Someone had given us back our wedding pictures.
“Gideon!” Hazel said excitedly. “If you’re aprince, does that make Daddy a princeby marriage?And if so… does that mean… I’m aprincess?”
“Yeah, Bug,” I agreed hoarsely, picking her up and setting her on my hip. And even though she was way too big for that, she didn’t protest. “You’remyprincess, for sure.”
Liam, who was sorting through the pictures slack-jawed, held up an unsigned note with one simple word written in bold, black ink:Believe.
I ran a hand over my mouth and stared at him.
“Gideon, is it possible—?”
“Nope. No.” I shook my head firmly. “It’s definitely not.”
“But what if—?”
“No.”
“But, Gideon—”
I wrapped my arm around him, threading my fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck. “Liam McKnight, you are the love of my life. I have loved you since the moment I met you. I will love youforever. And I promise that we will always,alwaystalk about the difficult things from now on, okay?”
He nodded.
“But we will never talk aboutthisagain.”
“Never?”
“Not ever.”
Liam’s lips twitched and his eyes crinkled at the corners. “Okay.”
“I mean it.”
“No, no, I know.” His laughter bubbled over.“Understood.”