I stand corrected. Nothing like a third marriage!
“I will make sure that everyone is aware,” Ivy assured her.
“You’d better,” she scolded her. “I don’t want anything to spoil my perfect wedding.”
“He told me I didn’t even have to get a job after I graduated college. I could just be a homemaker. And he is going to hire servants to take care of me.”
“Don’t you want a fallback plan?” I asked delicately.
“A fallback plan?” Tatiana scoffed. “Didn’t you hear me say we’re in love? Gawd, you sound just like my mom. ‘Don’t rely on a man. He cheated on his wife with you, and he’ll probably cheat on you. He abandoned two other kids, and he’ll probably abandon yours.’ Except that he won’t!” she raged. “He loves me. Me! You need to be on my team.”
“We absolutely are,” Ivy assured her.
“And,” Tatiana said, pointing at me, “I want you to make sure my bouquet is bigger than Princess Diana’s. Speaking of, I want famous people at my wedding.”
“Usually, you have to pay them, unless you’re friends,” Ivy said cautiously.
“So pay them,” she said. “And make them sign a contract stating that they have to pretend we’re old friends.”
“We’ll look into that.” Ivy nodded.
“Good.” The bridezilla stood up. “I expect to see progress by our next meeting.”
After she had swept out, Elsie silently poured another round of cocktails.
“At least Meg and Hunter’s wedding should be fun to plan,” I said after a moment. “Sure won’t be drinking as much after.”
4
Sebastian
“But I’m not ready to go home!”
“You’ve been here all weekend,” I reminded my little brother. “You can’t just move into the Svenssons’ home.”
Hunter shrugged. “We probably wouldn’t even notice, to be honest. But you can stay for dinner, Alfie. We’re making chili,” Hunter said to him. “Besides, Sebastian and I need to have a chat.”
“No, you have school in the morning,” I began.
“Lighten up,” Hunter said, grabbing my arm. “You two can stay for dinner.”
Hunter turned to one of his younger brothers. “Nate, tell Remy I want French onions included in the toppings selection, and tell him that gummy bears are not and have never been an acceptable chili topping, and I’d better not see them there.”
His little brother saluted, and he and Alfie raced to the kitchen.
Hunter grabbed my arm and dragged me upstairs.
The Svenssons lived at the old Harrogate estate. Built in the Victorian period by the industrial scions of old, the mansion and the hundreds of acres of grounds held Hunter and his multitude of brothers. On the second floor, they had their large home office and a wood-paneled clubroom, which was where Hunter took me. His brothers were all assembled inside.
“Is this some sort of an intervention?” I asked after a moment, taken aback a bit by all his tall, blond, gray-eyed look-alike brothers.
“We have a problem, Sebastian,” Mace said seriously.
Another brother, Weston, handed me a drink and shoved me into a seat. Hunter sat in a wingback leather chair and steepled his fingers.
“A problem about what?” I asked warily.
Were they tired of babysitting Alfie? Was Hunter about to kill me for joking with Meg at a community meeting last week?
