for the comment, and we ate in companionable silence until the sandwiches were gone and Mallory and I had nearly finished the bag of chips, wincing with each successive bite.
Ethan tried one, but from the pursed expression, wasn’t a fan. “My response,” he said, “is ‘why?’”
“Because delicious,” Mallory said, reaching chip-greased fingers into the bag to dig for another one.
“Because delicious,” I agreed, and spun the bag around so the open maw faced me.
“Finish them off,” Mallory said, dusting salt and potato chip flakes from her hands and then wiping them on a napkin. “In the immortal words of Popeye, ‘I’ve had all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more.’”
While I grabbed another chip without argument, Mallory and Catcher looked at each other and shared a look that said we were about to return to the announcement they’d wanted to make.
“So, while we’re all here,” Mallory said, “we wanted to talk to you about something—again.”
“Is everything all right?” Ethan asked.
“It’s fine,” Mallory said. “We’re getting married.”
Ethan’s knife hit his plate with a jarring clank. “Sorry,” he said, putting it aside. “Sorry. You surprised me. Congratulations! That’s fantastic.”
His recovery was fast. Mine was not, primarily because she didn’t sound as though she thought it was fantastic. “You’re getting married,” I repeated.
“We are,” she said, and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “So, Catcher is thinking about seeking reinstatement in the Order.”
While I waited to hear the connection between her marriage and the Order, Ethan’s eyebrows lifted. He met Catcher’s gaze, something weighty passing between them. He and Catcher had a history I wasn’t entirely sure about—it would take many years, I suspected, before I had a complete overview of Ethan’s four centuries. Maybe it was Catcher having been kicked out of the Order that had brought them together in the first place.
“I didn’t know you were reconsidering the Order,” Ethan said.
Catcher nodded. “It’s been on my mind. There are battles you fight from the outside, and battles you fight from within. I used to believe the Order was the former. Now I think it’s the latter.” He looked down at his linked hands. “Too much has happened in Chicago for the Order to still be so complacent. Mallory and I should be a force. Instead we’re basically useless.”
“Not to us,” I said with a smile.
“No, not to you. But only because we work under the radar. I’m not saying we should go public, but we should at least be in the mix. And it would be nice to be official, for once.”
“And how does this tie into marriage?” Ethan asked, glancing between them.
“The Order can ignore us as individuals.” Mallory looked at Catcher. “We’re powerful individually, but we’re still just that—two separate units. The Order’s got a lot of respect for the institution of marriage, for the idea of two souls becoming one.”
“And if you’re married,” I said with a nod, seeing where this was going, “you become a unit.”
“Worth more than the sum of our parts,” Catcher agreed. “We figure they’ll think it’s better to deal with us than leave us on our own.”
That didn’t sound completely unreasonable. Maybe a little naive, but not unreasonable, especially considering what little I knew of the Order. But it was so unromantic. I had no objection to rational or logical, but I knew Mallory, and romance was important to her. Very important.
I glanced her way, caught her looking at me with cautious hope. She wanted me to approve. I could be happy for her, sure. I didn’t need to agree with the circumstances, but I sure as hell wanted to understand them.
“And when are you thinking about doing it?” Ethan asked.
“As soon as possible,” Mallory said, and Catcher nodded when she glanced at him. “Just at the courthouse, nothing big. But we’d really like you and Ethan to attend, to be our witnesses.”
“To stand up for us,” Catcher said.
Ethan blinked in surprise. “We’d be honored, of course. But I’m sure we could help with something a little more elaborate, if you’d like. You’d be welcome to use the House or the garden.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Mallory said, tucking hair behind her ears again. It was a nervous gesture, and reiterated that we were going to need to have a nice, long chat about whatever this was. “We’re hoping to keep it really low-key. Efficient.”
Ethan nodded, reached out, and touched her hands supportively. “We’ll help however we can.” He pushed back his chair and rose. “And I think this calls