Six
With Emma’s heartfelt speech still ringing in her ears, Bel arrived at Glentoberon and parked, carefully wiggling out of the driver’s seat in her tight dress and taking one last glance in the side mirror to make sure everything was still in place.
On a normal visit, she rarely entered through the front door, but tonight, everything was lit up and the front of the house glowed with a welcoming light.
The old house was grand—there was no other word for it. It boasted a wide, tiled verandah that circled the lower floor of the house, and a covered balcony on top that led out from the bedrooms on the second storey.
She walked into the huge open foyer, admiring the sweeping staircase leading to the second floor.
There was an audible gasp to her left and Bel turned to find her aunt blinking at her. ‘Bel, you look … so different,’ she said, forcibly regaining her composure.
‘Hello, Aunt Lois. Yes, it was time for a bit of a change.’
‘Well after time,’ Lois corrected, lifting her eyebrows pointedly. ‘It’s abigimprovement.’
Gee, thanks, Bel thought, inwardly rolling her eyes as she followed her aunt into the enormous sitting room to the left of the foyer and took a moment to appreciate how beautiful it looked. The whole house had been repainted, and the sitting room had undergone a massive facelift—much like herself. There was a feature wall with delicate pale blue flowers on one side and the furniture had all been reupholstered in varying shades of blues, creams, whites and yellows. A small table was loaded up with nibblies and a bar stretched along the back of the enormous room.
‘You made it! I knew that dress would be perfect on you!’ Larkin squealed, coming across to greet her.
‘Thank you for the lend. You were a lifesaver.’
‘Keep it. I never really liked it on me. Come and meet everyone,’ she said, pulling Bel along behind her. ‘Everyone, this is my cousin, Bel. Bel, this is Gigi and Niki. And Tristan’s groomsmen, Henry, Oliver, Elijah, Leo and Tate. And you know Kelly and Lisa, of course.’
Bel registered how disconcertingly similar they all dressed and spoke, even if they were set apart by different hair coloursand heights. They all had the same perfectly white straight teeth and well-manicured hands. Bel swallowed nervously as her eyes fell on Tate. Was it possible he’d somehow gotten even more handsome in the past few days?
‘Bel?’ Larkin said, making her jump guiltily.
‘Sorry?’ she stammered slightly.
‘What would you like to drink?’
‘Oh. Um … whatever. Wine? Anything is fine.’
‘Look at that, an easily pleased woman. Who knew they existed?’ said Leo, a tall blond-haired variant, as he left to get Bel her drink.
‘How have you managed to keep this little gem a secret for so long, Larkin?’ Elijah asked as his gaze shifted from Bel’s face to her chest.
‘Bel rarely comes to the city, despite my best attempts to drag her there,’ Larkin said.
‘You really should come and visit. I’d be more than happy to show you around,’ Elijah continued. Bel suppressed a frown. He wasn’t even trying to hide the fact he was ogling her.
‘Here you go,’ Leo said, cutting in smoothly. He stepped closer to hand her the drink, brushing his arm against the side of her breast.
Surely that hadn’t been on purpose? It was hard to tell. She held her glass awkwardly and took a sip, looking around for a seat somewhere quieter, but the men were still trying to make small talk.
‘So, you’re a Buckley too?’ Henry said. Bel tried not to shift uncomfortably under the weight of their sudden interest. This was the exact reason she preferred to be at the back of the room, ignored.
‘Yep.’
‘Did you grow up here at Glentoberon?’
‘Ah, no. I lived in town.’
‘So not a farm girl like Larkin, then?’ Oliver said.
Bel was grateful she hadn’t taken another sip of her wine or she would have spat it all over the front of Oliver’s shirt. Larkin was about as far removed from being a farm girl as you could get. ‘No.’
‘What a shame. I have a thing for country girls.’
