Marlene smiled at the reply. "That's good, then. You wouldn't want to be worse than expected." She relaxed as well as she walked further into the room.
She took the book away from him and rested it on the coffee table before sitting on his lap. "I'm good. Margot is back, arrived the same day as Callum, and we couldn't bring them here. I suppose it wouldn't have been bad for Margot, but Callum has no idea. He really wasn't involved, and he's coming back from before things got bad. I don't think he even realises what a thread the Dark Lord was. So yes, they stayed at the estate."
Marlene took a breath, grinning at him. "That's really why I'm here. I had it clean professionally, because if it was up to us, it would have taken years. I did say that I was going to invite everyone. Emm and Kings already picked their cottages. I was wondering if you wanted to come with us as well. There's three empty rooms in the house and another three free cottages. So plenty of room. Of course, if you'd rather stay here, that's fine too."