Before Julian could respond, Quinn’s voice traveled from the top of the stairs.“Food’s ready!”Zoey called from the kitchen.Everyone immediately entered the kitchen and clambered over each other to carry out the ingredients Zoey had prepared for the meat fondue.Apart from Dave, who was not around, everyone sat around the table and dug into the piping-hot fondue.Will even grabbed a bottle of good liquor from his dad’s collection and four small cups, asking Zoey, “Mom, is it okay if we have a bit to drink tonight?”“If you don’t plan on going out after this, I’ll allow you to have a small glass each. Any more than that is a no-go.”If they had too much and got drunk, their work tomorrow would be affected.Will hummed in acknowledgment and said, “Okay, just a small glass then.”A little was better than nothing.“Quinn is a girl, so you should drink less.”Will only poured half a glass for his little sister.Quinn was very dissatisfied with this. “Yeah, I’m a girl, but my a
After dinner, Quinn and Julian went out for a walk.After the two left, Mark asked, “Will, do you feel like Quinn was a little weird tonight? Like she was unnatural and kept blushing at the drop of a hat. It seemed like she didn’t quite dare to look at Julian either. She was really different from usual.“This is the first time I’ve seen Quinn embarrassed ever since she was born. So it turns out that even she gets embarrassed. That’s the only time she looks like a girl. Normally, she’s just like a boy—carefree and shameless.”Will poured a cup of tea for himself, not responding to his brother immediately.Zoey was in the kitchen doing the dishes.When she heard her younger son’s remarks, she suddenly came out of the kitchen and said to them both, “Come here, you two. I want to talk to you guys about something while Julian isn’t here.”“What is it? You’re being so mysterious, Mom. And your expression is really serious. Is it something bad?” Mark asked as he walked over to her curio
After a moment of thought, Zoey said, “You guys do have a point, but when Julian comes back, I still think you’d better ask to be sure and to ease my worries. Also, Julian might like Quinn and the two are a good match, but Julian is the heir of a rich family and there is still a gap between our family and theirs.“Who knows if his parents can accept her? Once your dad’s back, I’ll talk to him. Will, you should make a trip to Wiltspoon with him and see if you can find anything about Julian’s parents and their characters.”Will nodded. “I can go by myself. I’ll book the flight tickets tonight and head to Wiltspoon first thing tomorrow morning.”“Go with your dad. You’re still young and still lack a keen eye for people. Your dad’s old enough and has decades of experience in the industry. His eye for people is still pretty good and it’s his daughter’s marriage at stake. He should help his daughter find out if her future in-laws are alright and if they’re dependable.”Zoey would have go
Julian said indulgently, “If you like them, I’ll give you flowers every day from now on.“Why don’t I go to the gym with you now to grab the flowers?”Quinn said, “Let’s go and get them. You don’t have to give me flowers every day. Just occasionally as a surprise will do. It’ll lose its novelty if I get flowers every day.”Julian chuckled. “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”He gave her flowers, but she thought of flower pancakes instead.Julian was afraid too that if he gave her a bouquet every day, she would only have flower pancakes on her mind and not think of how much he loved her.Women liked two things the most—having money and the freedom to spend it at will.He could give her money folded into flowers so that she had money to spend.“Let’s go shopping for clothes first. I want to buy an outfit for you.”Quinn felt that she had to give him something in return for the bouquet of flowers he had given her.Thus, she decided to give him a thick coat.“You want to buy an outfit f
Mark glanced at Quinn. Seeing that she seemed normal, he lamented to himself that no matter how he looked at it, the two of them did not seem like lovers. Quinn still saw Julian as a buddy, did she not?And what on earth was Julian afflicted with?Zoey had cut some fruit. When she saw the two come in, she called, “I’ve just finished cutting some fruits. Come have some since you guys are back.”“Quinn bought me some clothes.”Julian was all smiles as he walked over to his future brothers-in-law with the bags in hand and sat beside them before starting to show off the clothes Quinn bought for him.Quinn felt her face heat up as she watched him show off and knew without looking in a mirror that she was blushing. She did not even sit down and said to her family, “Mom, Will, Mark, I’m heading upstairs to rest first.”Then she went upstairs with the bouquet of flowers in her arms.She did not want her family to see her blushing shyly.Quinn’s brothers were very accommodating to Julia
Walter checked the time and said, “We are a little bit early. If this was summertime, most people would be up by now. Why don’t we wait in the car for a while before knocking on the door?”Stacy said, “I’ll call Julian to wake him up first.”Then she proceeded to do just that.Julian had just started kissing Quinn in his dream and had not gotten a deeper taste of it yet when he was woken by the piercing sound of his ringing phone. When he woke up, he touched his lips, reminiscing about the kiss in his dream, and then realized it had been a dream.It was not real.Although Quinn had not run away and graciously faced his confession head-on, she had said she needed to think about it.She had not given an immediate response to his feelings.It was just that the dream had been so sweet. Damn the phone call. Who was the insensible person who called him so early in the morning and interrupted his sweet dream?Julian instantly felt irritated.Grabbing his phone, he picked up the call
Julian chuckled. “You always look okay. Don’t worry, there’s no need to be nervous. My parents are very easygoing.”“I’m not nervous! I just think that I should look presentable for our first meeting even if I don’t dress up. I’ll get the door.”As Quinn said so, she rushed out and made her way through the yard to open the gate before Julian could.A black van was parked at the gate.When they saw her open the gate, someone in the van wound the window down and soon, someone got out of the car. It was a beautiful middle-aged woman who looked somewhat similar to Julian. She could tell without asking that this was Julian’s mother.Quinn internally gasped about how Stacy had taken such good care of herself that she looked like she was Julin’s elder sister. When the two stood next to each other, they did not look like they were mother and son at all.Stacy walked over with a small smile. “You must be Quinn. I’ve seen a photo of you before. Hello, I’m Julian’s mother.”“Hi, Mrs. Buc
In truth, Julian had hidden that matter from his parents, but his parents were not ordinary people. They knew everything he did but just did not say anything about it.When Zoey, who had been watching from the door, saw her daughter lead two strangers who resembled Julian in. She quickly guessed their identities.She hurriedly pushed open the doors of the main house.When Stacy spotted Zoey, she nearly called Zoey her future in-law.The words were almost out of her mouth, but she quickly stopped herself for fear of frightening her future in-laws with the suddenness of it all.Zoey had not expected Julian’s parents to come here.She mused to herself about how her husband and eldest son had just left for the airport to fly to Wiltspoon and find out more about their characters, though it was good that they had come. Then her husband would not be discovered trying to find out about the Buchams and it would not be too embarrassing.The Crawfords were quite satisfied with Julian.If