Dreams of Eden (Ace of Queens # 4)

Ch.6 Sunflowers

Chapter 6

The next morning sunlight broke through the clouds like a raging warrior as Alec packed the last of his clothes into his bag. His tired, sleepless green eyes looked around the room to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything.

When he reached for his phone, his eyes fell on the sunflower in the glass jar. A bubble of guilt rose in Alec's chest but he quickly crushed it. His phone chimed in his hand, signaling his ride was here. Grabbing his bag, he gave the room one last look before he rushed down the stairs.

"Thank you for the lovely visit," Lady Charlotte said as she pulled Alec into a hug at the foot of the stairs.

"Thank you for having me, ma'am." Alec smiled. "It was a pleasure."

"I hope you have a safe flight back home," Jackson said as he held out his hand. "We will see you back in Romania for the wedding soon."

"Yes, sir." Alec shook his hand.

"Thank you so much for coming along, Alec." Rose kissed his cheeks.

"Of course." Alec smiled. "Enjoy the rest of your stay."

"Have a safe flight." Rose waved him goodbye.

As Alec gave them all a nod, his eyes begged to flicker up to the top of the stairs. He tried his hardest to keep looking ahead, but eventually lost the fight when, at the last moment, he moved his gaze up.

A wave of disappointment hit him when he realized there was no one there.

"Alright," Alec said with a deep breath. "Thank you for everything. Bye."

The Heywoods and Rose waved goodbye to him once more as Alec stepped out of the doors. The driver of the black car waiting outside opened the door as he took the bag from Alec.

Once settled into the back of the car, Alec pulled out his phone to check his flight details one last time. He scrolled through the emails and messages as his heart began to run restlessly. He felt irritable and cranky, like he was about to miss his flight even though he was forty five minutes early.

As they began to pull away down the long driveway of the house, Alec gave into his eye's request and looked over at the old house. He scanned the porch and felt himself frown when the swing and the rocking chairs were empty.

He searched the first floor windows....still nothing.

As the house grew smaller and smaller in the distance, a flicker in the upstairs window caught Alec's eyes. But it was too late.

Whoever had been up there let the curtains drop as they walked away from the glass.

Alec turned away and watched the house disappear in the rearview mirror.

__________________

1 month later.

"Seriously, that's your plan?" Exton raised a brow as he sipped his coffee. "No flowers, no candles, no hearts?"

"She's not the type," Alec scratched his brow as he sat on his desk.

"But you're about to ask her to marry you," Exton laughed. "Women remember that sort of thing forever."

"Well everybody is different," Alec pulled out the little blue box from his pocket and threw it at Exton. "What do you think?"

Exton set his coffee aside and popped open the box. He stared at it for a while before he shut the box with a bang and threw it back.

"I don't know much about jewelry," he confessed honestly. "I guess it's nice."

"How did you pick out Gemma's ring?"