“Audrey was hoping you’d end up in one room. I don’t believe this!”
Rosie didn’t believe it either. Will? It didn’t make sense to her. Will was gorgeous of course, but he and Becky had been friends forever. If something was going to happen, it would have happened long ago.
“The one thing you’ll learn about being part of a family,” Jamie muttered to Hayley, “is that there is no end to the drama.”
Will finally reacted. “You talked to my mother?”
“We were exchanging messages because we were worried about the two of you being snowbound. You told her you had separate rooms, Will. You were obviously being discreet, which was very thoughtful of you. It’s selfless of you both to keep your happy news to yourselves, but I’m sure Jamie and Hayley won’t mind sharing the attention, will you?”
Jamie shook his head and then stepped forward and gave Will a brotherly hug.
“Took you long enough.” He gave Will a slap on the back. “You’re a brave man, taking on my sister. But at least she’ll be able to solve all your tech issues.”
Rosie’s head was spinning. This didn’t feel right. Why was everyone just accepting this?
“Wait!” She blurted the word out and everyone looked at her. “Will? You haven’t said anything at all.” She saw Becky glance up at him.
She’s nervous, Rosie thought, her suspicions solidifying.She’s afraid he’s going to say the wrong thing.
The two of them shared a long look, loaded with unspoken communication.
And then Will curved his arm around Becky and pulled her close. There was something unmistakably protective about the gesture, and Rosie felt the first flickers of doubt.
She wouldn’t put it past Becky to lie if it meant disguising her emotions, but Will? Will wouldn’t do that. And there was something in his eyes when he looked at her sister that made her breath catch. Will had feelings for Becky. Strong feelings. You couldn’t fake that.
Maybe theyweretogether. She really wanted to believe it. Not that it changed the fact that Declan seemed to be regretting marrying her, but at least she wouldn’t have her sister’s broken heart on her conscience.
“As Becky said, we didn’t intend to go public with our newsyet. It didn’t feel like the right time.” Will’s voice was steady, his arm firm around Becky’s shoulders. “But maybe it is the right time.” He smiled down at her and something in that smile killed the last of Rosie’s doubts.
He loved her, she could see it. He really did love her. Warmth flooded through her, followed by relief and also hurt.
Why hadn’t her sister told her? True, Becky kept her feelings to herself, but there was no way she wouldn’t have shared something this big with Rosie when they’d been living together. Before Declan. Before marriage had changed everything.
For the whole of their lives she’d known what Becky was thinking before anyone else did, and now she was standing here feeling the same surprise and shock as everyone else.
Becky still looked a little unsettled but that wasn’t surprising. Rosie knew her sister would hate all this attention. That was probably another reason that she hadn’t announced it sooner.
“Oh this is wonderful!” Their mother couldn’t contain herself a moment longer. “We couldn’t be happier, isn’t that right, Martin? This is going to be the perfect Christmas.”
Rosie didn’t share her mother’s optimism.
She’d obviously been wrong about Becky’s feelings for Declan, but what about Declan’s feelings for Becky?
All it took was a quick glance at Declan to know that her own relationship issues were far from solved.
Her family may have decided to ignore her outburst, but not Declan.
She could feel him looking at her and knew they had a difficult conversation coming. She could see he had questions. And why wouldn’t he? She’d just thrown a hand grenade into her marriage, and it hadn’t been in great shape before that.
She wondered if it was too early to ask for a strong Christmas drink.
Chapter16
Becky
Her sister had guessed! How had she suddenly guessed?
And why had she blurted that out about Will? What had she beenthinking?
