I knew the moment we approached Arrow Woods, just from the canopy the trees formed over the road. It was the most idyllic, quintessentially British country road in the world, and it took everything in me not to press my face against the window like a child.
It’d only been two weeks since I’d left for Bentley Manor, yet it felt like forever.
I’d never, ever gone longer than two weeks without seeing my sister in person. It felt as though a part of me had been ripped away, and it sounded weird, but the closer I got to the village that was my home, the more I felt as though I was being put back together.
It was such a strange thing to put into words, but the twin bond was unlike any other. I knew when Evangeline was hurting or when something was wrong, just as she did with me. She even had sympathy pains when I had appendicitis and needed to get my appendix removed—they were so bad she was even tested for it herself.
And that was without considering that my parents and my best friend in the world were also here.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved Bentley Manor, and while it was starting to feel a bit like home, it would never be… home-home.
Alexander peered over at me. “You look happy.”
I dipped my chin and smiled. “There’s something about home, isn’t there?”
“I suppose there is. Do you want me to take you to the hotel first?”
“Please. Eva and Gabi are meeting me there. They’re going to help me find a dress, then we’re getting our hair done.”
“No problem at all. Will you change here or in Bath?”
“In Bath. No use risking creasing a dress for no reason.”
“Words to live by.” He chuckled and turned onto the road there the little ‘Arrow Woods’ sign was.
I couldn’t help but sigh happily as we crossed into the village. I knew that within minutes I would be at The Fox and Hound, my parents’ hotel, and my usual home.
I took a deep breath as we hit the village and Alex turned down the main road. Of course he knew this like the back of his hand—he’d spent so much of his childhood here and a great deal of his adulthood, too. His mum was his Uncle Henry’s sister, and she liked to return and visit often since the death of his father.
They were a close-knit family, and I hoped I’d have the same relationship with my own when the time came for me to find someone and move out and get married.
“Here we are.” Alex pulled up in front of The Fox and Hound and smiled at me. “We need to leave at five o’clock sharp, and I’ll pick you up from there, then make a pit stop at Arrowwood so Gabi can get her things, then she and Eva will drive up together.”
“I may drive with them, if you don’t mind. It’ll be nice to spend some extra time with them.”
“Of course not.” He smiled. “Then I’ll head straight to Bath and meet you there before we check in.”
“Perfect.” I grabbed my bag and looked over at him. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. Have fun with them.” He reached over and squeezed my knee, sending a little shiver up my thigh. “I’ll see you later.”
“Yes. Later.” I climbed out of the car and held my bag against my stomach. “Let us know when you’re planning on leaving. I’ll make sure we’re at Arrowwood to leave at the same time.”
“With Gabriella in tow? Good luck with that!”
“I heard that!”
I turned at the sound of my best friend’s voice and grinned when I saw her striding out of the hotel, beelining for the car. “Gabi!”
“Addy!” She wrapped me in the biggest hug known to man before she quickly released me and rushed to the side of the car. “You, Alexander, should watch your mouth.”
He grinned at his cousin. “When do you ever come on time?”
“Why don’t you ask Miles? He’ll confirm that I always come on time.”
I clapped my hand over my mouth.
“And that’s enough of you for this morning,” Alex said, starting the engine back up.
“Imagine how I feel. She’s so needy, even Miles is dropping her off here so she’ll leave his vegetable garden alone,” said a new voice.
I turned, and my gaze fell upon the mirror image of myself.
“Eva!” I ran up the stairs and threw myself at my twin sister.
She wrapped her arms around my waist and held me tightly. “Addy! I missed you!”
“I missed you, too,” I said, my voice growing thick.
Gabi scoffed. “Two weeks. It’s been two bloody weeks, and you’d think it’d been two years.”
“Shut up!” we shouted in unison.
Gabi laughed and leaned into the open car window, grinning at us. “What time do you want us ready to leave, cousin dearest?”
Alex stared flatly at her. “Five sharp. It’ll take us thirty to forty minutes to get to the hotel in rush hour, and then we have to get ready and get to The Coventry Manor.”
Right. The hotel Charlotte had insisted the gala be held at.
Apparently, Fredrick’s father had refused to allow their family seat near Coventry to be the host of it, so she’d picked the next best thing.
Not to be pedantic, but picking a hotel called The Coventry Manor wasn’t exactly endearing herself to the Earl of Coventry.
It wasn’t the path to the future in-laws’ hearts I’d choose, anyway.
“Don’t worry,” Eva reassured him, hanging onto my arm. “I promise we won’t be late. Ellen booked the afternoon for us in the salon, so we’ll be ready when you need us to be. Five at Arrowwood, yes?”
He sighed. “If I have to say that one more time, I might as well erect a sign in the front of the hotel.”
“That might be helpful,” she teased. “For now, off you go. We have to find Adelaide a dress that will intimidate every single unattached woman that Charlotte is determined to set you up with.”
I gripped her arm. “Wait—”
“Ta-ta, cousin!” Gabi said, skipping up the steps. She grabbed my other arm and between her and my sister, I was swept into the hotel before I could protest anything more than a minor stutter of shock.
“Let’s go,” Eva said. “We’ve already raided all the wardrobes and set out a bunch of dresses for you.”
“There’s an emerald green one that’s amazing,” Gabi continued as we went up the stairs and turned down the hall to the huge wing that made up our living quarters. “I didn’t even know it was in my wardrobe.”
“I—”
“Honestly, it’s the best one,” Eva said, cutting me off. She unlocked the door to our private residence. “I think you’ll choose that one. It’ll suit your complexion so well.”
“Does anyone—”
“And we raided all your shoes and found your favourite black heels so you know your feet won’t hurt.” Gabi steered me inside and shut the door behind us.
“Hello!” I shrugged them off and waved my hands. “Why am I dressing to intimidate other women? I’m only going end up falling over these long skirts and making a fool of myself.”
Eva grinned. “Not this skirt. Will you just trust us, please?”
It was two against one. I was already resigning myself to the fact I was going to have to wear this dress, no matter what it looked like, because they’d already decided it for me.
They both turned and went up the stairs to the third floor, and I trudged along behind them.
How had this happened?
“So what’s it like living with Alex?” Gabi asked. “It’s a busy house.”
“No busier than the hotel, really.” I gripped the straps of my bag tightly. “Although I have somehow ended up joining a cross-stitching club at the local pub, and I’m not entirely sure how it happened.”
Eva laughed. “You? Cross-stitching? Now there’s something I’d like to see.”
“It’s surprisingly cathartic,” I replied. “I’ve only practiced stitching and then ended up in a very uncomfortable game of Snog, Marry, Kill, but it’s nice to get out of the house once in a while.”
Gabi stopped at the top and looked down at me. “You’re settling in up there, aren’t you? You’re finding new friends and all sorts!”
Eva gasped. “You’re going to leave me!”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake. Stop being so dramatic. I’m not leaving Arrow Woods. I have another four weeks tutoring Olympia—do you expect me to stay inside Bentley Manor and never leave?” I rolled my eyes.
“Well, no,” my sister said. “But you and Alex look awfully comfortable together.”
“I should hope so. I’m living in his house. It’d be quite awkward if we weren’t comfortable around one another.” I pushed past them both and headed down the hall to my bedroom.
“That’s not what she meant, and you know it,” Gabi said, following me. “Don’t tell me you’re getting feelings for my cousin!”
Oh, I was getting feelings all right.
Usually at two a.m. while I should be asleep.
I wasn’t about to share that little nugget, though.
“I have absolutely no romantic inclinations towards Alexander,” I said firmly, opening my bedroom door. “So you can discard any thoughts you may have that I do.”
“So if someone approaches you tonight, you’d be open to talking to them?” Eva asked with her eyebrows raised.
“I suppose I would.” I paused. “Why? What do you know that I don’t?”
“Timothy Hargreaves will be there,” Gabi said quickly, earning herself a shove from my sister. “Dad was meeting with him and Gregory when I met him after college this week, and he was asking after you. He wanted to know if you’d be there this weekend.”
I swallowed. Timothy Hargreaves was the next Earl of Devonshire, devastatingly handsome, and incredibly sweet. We’d only met a few times, and the last time we’d seen each other, we’d agreed to go out for a drink.
We never had, for various reasons.
He was also what my mother would refer to as “a real bloody catch.”
“What did you tell him?” I asked.
“I told him I wasn’t sure, but if you were going to go, I would be sure to pass on the message.” She pulled her phone out of the pocket of her dress—of course Gabriella’s dress had pockets—and held it out to me. “He gave me his number to pass on to you.”
“Oh.” I frowned at the phone.
Eva tilted her head. “What’s wrong? Are you not interested?”
“Oh, um, yes, I suppose. We did say the last time we saw each other that we would go for a drink, but it never happened.” I took Gabi’s phone and typed in the passcode, then reached for my own from my bag. “Caught me by surprise, that’s all.”
Gabi eyed me curiously. “Sorry,” she said slowly. “I should have mentioned it before now.”
“No. It’s—fine.” I tapped his number into my phone and added him as a contact. “Should I text him?”
Eva nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! Let him know you’ll be there, and you’d like to take him up on the offer for that drink!”
“I will be there with Alex, technically. Isn’t that a little rude and inappropriate?”
Gabi shrugged. “Perhaps, but you’re not there as anything more than friends. You said yourself that you’d agreed to spend most of the evening apart anyway.”
Yes.
We had, hadn’t we?
All right, then.
I opened a new text message and selected him as the recipient, then tapped out a quick message telling him Gabi had given me his number and that I would be at the gala tonight.
“There. Done. Now show me these dresses before I change my mind about going all together.” I tossed my phone on my bed and walked over to my wardrobe.
They opened the doors and pulled out a selection of dresses that just so happened to all be together, and carefully laid each one out on the bed in front of me. There were loads of colours—one black gown I recognised from Gabi’s birthday two years ago, a red wraparound midi dress that could be dressed up or down, a navy-blue satin number that was going to hug my hips far too tightly today, and a pale-yellow chiffon gown that still had the labels on.
And the green one that was partially hidden by the black one.
“First things first. What are you two wearing?”
“Red,” Gabi said.
I picked up the red dress and handed it to her. “Then no. Eva?”
“Torn between a cream strapless jumpsuit and a dark pink halter neck gown.”
“If you go cream, that rules this out.” I handed her the pale-yellow one. “Far too similar in shade. What’s the green one you both want me to wear?”
Gabi hung the red one back in the wardrobe and pulled out another dress. “It’s not entirely your usual style,” she said hesitantly. “I bought it and I’ve never worn it, and honestly, I don’t think I have the boobs to pull it off.”
I turned to look at it. She was right. The emerald-green silk number was not my style, and I was about to say as much when Eva interrupted me.
“Think about it like this. This will definitely get Timothy’s attention if he’s really interested in you.”
I swallowed. “I’ll try it on. That’s all I’m promising.”
Gabi handed me the dress with a grin, and I walked into my bathroom to try it. There wasn’t a chance in hell this dress was going to suit me, but I would give them the benefit of the doubt. Trying it on would at least make it look like I’d tried, so that was what I’d do.
I quickly changed out of my clothes and eyed the dress. It had thin spaghetti straps and the kind of neckline that would potentially spill over a proper bra, so I would need both a strapless bra and some tape to stop the silk sliding over the bra cups.
With a deep breath, I removed it from the hanger and slipped it over my head.
It fit me like a glove, and I immediately understood Gabi’s point about the boobs. Mine were bigger, and they filled the chest out so I knew I wouldn’t need tape. The tie at the waist gave the illusion that my waist was smaller than it was, and the draped skirt was flattering all the way down. The back dragged slightly on the floor, but with heels, it would be no problem, and the way the skirt was draped meant it wouldn’t trip at the front.
Damn it.
I wasn’t one to toot my own horn, but this dress really was amazing on me.
Ugh.
I hated it when they were right.
“Are you done?” Eva yelled. “We don’t have all day! We have a hair appointment in thirty minutes and I’m hungry!”
She was always hungry.
She’d be fine.
I opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom, holding out my hands. “Well? What do you think?”
They both grinned.
This was the one, then…