Protect Me Not ((Un)Professionally Yours 2)

“Stay after the assignment ends?” Ty repeated. “Not leave with Hugh and Vicki, you mean?”

“Yes,” Brand didn’t wait for a response before continuing. “No need for you to return with them. Hugh’s detail will meet them at the airport. And Chance will ensure a smooth transition to Victoria’s new team.”

“I see.” Ty wondered if he looked as grim as he sounded. He could feel a muscle ticking in his jaw and willed it to stop. Brand didn’t notice, his eyes were on the road.

Ty didn’t know how the fuck he felt about this new development. He had pictured flying back with them, walking her to the penthouse door as he had done so many times before. Saying goodbye to her then, in the safety of her own home. Duty done. It would feel like—fuck he couldn’t believe he was thinking this—but it would feel like closure.

“Miles knows nothing about dresses, I don’t know why he has to be here,” Vicki complained bitterly to no one in particular. She was slouched in her chair while they waited for their mother to return from the dressing room.

Contrary to Vicki’s fond imaginings, where hers would be the only opinion that mattered when it came to choosing a wedding dress, her mother had wanted Miles, Hugh, Nina, and Charity there as well. Nina had left baby Ryan with his granddad, and Charity had closed her chiropractic practice for the afternoon to be here.

“Stop sulking and have more bubbly,” Hugh said, emptying the last of the sparkling wine into Vicki’s glass.

“This isn’t too bad,” Miles said, arms folded across his chest, as he critically scanned the high-end boutique filled with all manner of frothy white dresses. “I didn’t think there were any nice wedding dress places so close to home. Did you?”

The last was nonchalantly tacked on and directed at Charity, who stared back at him with a raised brow.

“I can’t say I’ve given the matter much thought before now,” she said, and Miles’s face fell.

Oh, well now, this was interesting. Vicki immediately forgot her sulk and watched her older brother closely.

“I mean, I knew Knysna would have a few small shops, but nothing as high end as this,” Miles continued doggedly. Hugh and Nina were starting to pay attention to the conversation as well. “Of course, some brides prefer to have bespoke dresses, would you prefer a bespoke dress…uh, Nina?”

Nina choked on her wine and then complained, “Aah, fuck, some of the fizz went up my nose.”

Hugh guffawed and handed her a handkerchief. Nina took it gratefully and wiped her mouth and chin, before refocusing her attention on the red-faced Miles. “I don’t know if I’d prefer a bespoke dress, Miles. I mean, maybe. If I can’t find the one I’m looking for in a boutique. What about you…Vicki?”

Vicki sniggered and took the baton from her soon-to-be stepsister with a wicked grin, before replying in the same stilted—overly bright—way. “Oh, I like the idea of a bespoke dress. But I can’t say I’d rule out a boutique dress. Some of these places have beautiful gowns. What do you think…Charity?”

Charity was staring at them both with a quizzical smile, while Hugh was smothering his laughter. Miles groaned softly and dropped his face into his palm, the tips of his ears bright red.

Charity, the only one who didn’t seem quite up to speed with what was going on—it was hard to see the forest when you were the one walking through the trees—opened her mouth to reply, but their mother took that moment to make her entrance. And all conversation simply stopped as they stared at the beaming woman in awe.

“Mum, you look divine,” Hugh said, his voice wobbly as he got up to plant a kiss on their mother’s blushing cheek.

“Full disclosure, I came here before today,” their mother confessed. “I shortlisted five dresses. I couldn’t leave it to the very last minute, now could I?”

“That’s very wise, Enid,” Charity appeased her, and everybody else nodded enthusiastically.

“This dress is gorgeous, Mum,” Vicki said. “Give us a twirl.”

The sparkling wine flowed freely after that, and there was a lot of laughter and differing opinions and—sadly—no further ridiculously awkward, probing questions from Miles. It was a fun afternoon, made all the better because it gave everybody the opportunity to get to know each other and break the ice.

Vicki had expected to feel some kind of rivalry with Charity and Nina, because very soon she would no longer be her mother’s only daughter. Nina—and Charity too, if Miles’s unsubtle questions were anything to go by—would soon be a part of the family. Another daughter—or two—for her mum to go shopping with and gossip with. One of whom had even given her a much-wanted grandchild already. Vicki found that she was happy for her mother to have these two wonderful women as companions when she wasn’t around. And she knew that her mum would always be there for her. No matter what.