Heavenstone 02 - Secret Whispers

tonight?”
    “Absolutely, Mr. Hunter.” I took his arm.
    “I’ll tell you why I really proposed,” he said as we started for the stairway.
    “Why?”
    “I want my portrait up on that wall below someday.”
    He laughed. I laughed, too, but sometimes, as Cassie would say, there is more truth in a jest than you’d expect. Anyway, so what? Why shouldn’t he want his portrait on our wall? It wasn’t a bad ambition to have. Besides, it was the house. Heaven-stonehad an undeniably powerful effect on anyone who lived within it.
    Cassie was the one who had told me how much influence the house had on us, so she shouldn’t be critical of Ethan’s half joke.
    Daddy and Lucille were already at the table when we arrived. Mia was pouring Daddy some red wine from a bottle she had wrapped in white cloth, taking great care not to permit a drop to escape.
    “Ah, you two are in for a treat tonight,” Daddy said. He smelled the wine, looked at it in the light, and then sipped it. Mia stood by with the bottle, just like a waitress in a restaurant, waiting to see if Daddy approved. He nodded, and she poured Lucille a glass. “Our new chef suggested this French wine for tonight,” Daddy explained, more to Ethan than to me.
    “A real chef knows what’s appropriate to drink with certain food,” Lucille added.
    Mia hurried around to pour us each a glass. Ethan gazed at me with a half-smile on his face. Neither Daddy nor Lucille had made a comment on how formally we were dressed, and neither had yet seen my ring. I deliberately lifted my wineglass with my left hand so the ring would be quite visible, glittering in the light of the chandelier, but just at that moment, our new chef, Gerad Bolud, appeared. Lucille introduced him to us. He nodded and began to describe our four-course dinner. He had managed to prepare a French onion soup, which he said was a bit rushed but should be fine.
    “Gerad didn’t even unpack his things,” Lucille explained. “He went right to work on tonight’sdinner.” She beamed as proudly as an artist next to her painting. He bowed again and returned to the kitchen. Lucille had successfully turned our meal into a show.
    Catherine appeared with a tray carrying our salads. Mia helped her serve them. Unlike our usual salad, this one contained fruit. I had to admit to myself that it was delicious. Daddy was so involved with his bread, wine, and salad that he still had not noticed my ring. Ethan kept throwing me impish little grins, while Lucille continued to describe Gerad Bolud’s background, emphasizing how lucky we were to have captured him before someone else could do so. She wanted us to understand and be impressed with how in demand he was and how she had found out about him and outmaneuvered everyone else, using some of her best connections. Daddy couldn’t have given her more compliments.
    Finally, when the soup was brought out and we all had begun to eat it, Daddy paused, lowered his spoon, and leaned forward.
    “What is that ring I see, Semantha?” he asked.
    Lucille looked up. I held my breath.
    “It’s an engagement ring,” Lucille said. “Isn’t that an engagement ring?”
    “Yes,” I said.
    “I gave it to her tonight,” Ethan said. “We wanted to surprise you both.”
    “Surprise? I’ll say,” Daddy said.
    For a long moment, no one spoke. Here it comes, I thought , the fatherly advice or Lucille’s wisdom. At the very least, I expected to hear her ask, “Isn’t this a bit quick?” or, “Shouldn’t you first have discussed this with Mr. Heaven-stone?”
    “Well,” she began instead, “we seem to have quite a bit to celebrate tonight.”
    She looked at Daddy. He digested all that was happening in front of him and then slowly nodded and smiled and lifted his wineglass.
    “Congratulations to you both,” he said.
    Ethan reached for my hand. I looked at Lucille. She lifted her glass as well.
    “Just think,” she declared, “so soon after our wedding, we’ll be planning another. Have you two decided on a date?”
    “No,” Ethan said. “I thought it best to look at our calendars together. I know there is so much going on for the Heaven-stone Corporation, that new construction you were discussing, new personnel . . .”
    “Well, you don’t plan a wedding like this in a few weeks, anyway. Semantha already has a good idea what goes into the planning of a well-run wedding, don’t you, Semantha?”
    Since Ethan and I hadn’t discussed it, I was reluctant to