Lucas actually winced. “I thought she seemed pleased.”
“She was,” Lady Beaumont confirmed. “Stop it.”
He nodded like a schoolboy caught stealing biscuits.
Then she turned to Sophie. “And you, my love… you may announce it properly when you are ready. I will not have the woman you become shaped by fear of the woman I was.”
Sophie burst into tears, the sort that arrive without warning and make absolutely no effort to be ladylike.
Lucas immediately pulled her into his side and kissed the top of her hair. No theatre now.
Lady Beaumont watched them for a bit, nodded once, like the queen approving a treaty, and turned back towards the crowd.
“As for the two of you,” she said, sweeping past Noah and me with a knowing look that made my neck flush, “I expect honesty. And… I detest being the last to know.”
My stomach dropped to my shoes.
And then she was gone.
Leaving Sophie crying into Lucas’s lapel while he whispered promises into her hair…
…and me staring at Noah, wondering just how much Lady Beaumonthadseen.
The music floated across the lawn.
“Well,” I said awkwardly. “That was… a lot.”
He let out a short breath that sounded like it came from somewhere deep. “That’s one word for it.”
“How do you feel?” I asked.
He stood for a second, thinking.
“Lighter,” he said at last. “And… heavier. At the same time.”
“That’s confusing,” I said.
“Welcome to my world,” he replied.
We stood there in silence for a few seconds. The reception carried on without a care in the world. Music, laughter, the occasional enthusiastic dance move visible through the marquee opening. Someone inside whooped at what I suspected was the start of a Grease medley.
“You’re the person he chose,” I said. “Edward. He made that clear.”
Noah nodded slowly. “Yeah.”
His eyes flicked to mine, sharp and searching.
“Holly…” he said quietly. He took a half step closer, and there it was again, that spark of something that made my heart beat faster.
But then a shout floated across the lawn. James was waving wildly from over in the marquee.
“Noah— mate! Cake! Photos!”
Noah groaned. “Crap. Duty calls.”
He turned back to me. For a moment, it felt like he might step closer. Might say something else. Might reach for me again in that way that made the world drop away.
“Thank you,” he said, nudging my arm. “For… everything. The brooch. The letters. For being here. All of it.”
