Sades groans as she enters the room. “Can you be any more British?Soz not soz,” she mocks.
Belle pulls her shoulders back as she sits up. “I cannot, as a matter of fact. My lineage has been traced back to Great Britain, generation after generation,” she states in her posh English accent, then bursts out laughing.
Annabelle was raised to be a polite, rule-abiding English daughter, who went to the best private schools, studied at Cambridge, and didn’t raise her voice above a certain octave.
Then her dad did what he did, and all hell broke loose. The Hughes kids rebelled against his archaic rules.Their mom, understandably, went into a bit of a depression, and at that time, there wasn’t much structure in the house.
Thank god for her brother Matthew. He’s the only reason they all still have their shit together, and all happen to be very successful independently.
“All right, you two, dinner’s ready. Lola just woke up, so it’s perfect timing, because Wills wants to talk to you all together.”
“Me, Jackson, and Lola? What ever for?”
Sadie wrings her hands, a clear indication that she’s nervous.
“What’s going on?” I question.
“Um, all I’m going to say is that it wasn’t my idea,” she mutters, then runs into the dining room.
“What the hell was that?” Annabelle questions, turning toward me, concern written all over her face.
“I guess we’re about to find out.”
4
Annabelle
“Why wouldyou need us to go to Paris a week early?” Jack questions Wills.
Wills takes Sadie’s hand and kisses the back of it. It’s clear she’s uncomfortable asking us to do this.
“I’m taking Sadie and the girls away, and then we’ll go straight to Paris for the wedding. It’s been stressful, and I want to give Sadie her wedding present early. It would really help if you could both help with preparations.”
“Wills, you know I don’t need a present, baby. Marrying you is the best gift I could get.”
He cups her cheeks and beams the rare smile he only uses for her. “I know, but this is special for both of us and our growing family. I promise.”
She will be shocked when he shows her the holiday home he’s bought her and the girls, especially since the house we’re sitting in now was only finished this past year.
She’ll think it’s excessive, but he can easily afford it, and I think it’s sweet he’s buying a house in the place they first fell for each other all those years ago.
Wills may be an overbearing, jealous jerk a lot of the time, causing us to bump heads constantly, but he loves Sadie to no end. He always has her best interest at heart, and he’s surprisingly romantic.
Wills is not the kind of guy to ask for help, and they’re family, so it’s almost impossible to say no.
Besides, Jack and I would both do anything for Sadie. Though deep down, I won’t deny I’m a bit gutted knowing that because of this time off, there’s no chance I could go to Italy with the DeLucas if I had wanted to try to make that work.
Even if it would have only been for a week or two.
I glance at Jack to try and gauge his reaction, and his look of apprehension quickly changes to something I can’t decipher.
He almost looks… excited.
Which is surprising, considering both of us are extremely busy with work. Just the other day, we were saying that even taking off for the wedding would be a struggle.
Jack, on top of the businesses he invests in, works for Wills at The Taylored Group as an Independent Advisor, helping Wills’s athlete clients invest smartly, and business has been booming, keeping them all busy.
He’s still staring at me when I look back again.
