Page 8 of Liberating Water

Lailah

Thankfully,the rest of the flight was uneventful, and we all relaxed as we watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days for the last few hours of the trip. When we landed, it was early evening, the sun still bright enough to see my surroundings. The airport was literally right on the water… like, if the plane didn’t stop in time, we would end up in the sea. It was a stunning teal-blue color though, with soft ripples as far as the eye could see. For someone who never planned on traveling much in her life, this was an experience.

Since we flew in on a private plane, we had a separate office that we had to exit through, and I got yet another stamp in my passport. Out front was a black limousine with a driver standing, holding a sign that said “Lacy Pharmaceuticals, Inc.” Hudson led the way over to the limo as the driver opened the back door for us all to slide in.

“Okay, is this going to be a thing with all of your families? Do you all have limos and drivers to take you everywhere?” I teased once we were all in.

“Nah, limos aren’t my dad’s style. We are a stretch Hummer kind of family,” Parker said with a wink, making it hard to tell if he was serious or not.

Hudson nudged me with his shoulder. “This is not normal for us, either. I think it’s the only vehicle they had that would fit all of us.”

“My father would expect us to find our own way,” Jay stated, looking out the window at the sights. Truthfully, that didn’t surprise me one bit with the little that I knew of his father.

The driver took us up into the hills, maneuvering the narrow streets with an ease that I would never understand. I was beyond thankful that I had the guys with me for these adventures, because I would have been lost beyond hope. Finally, we pulled onto a long gravel drive that ended with a circle, providing a way back out. The front of the villa was a breathtaking piece of history sitting right before me on the edge of a cliff overlooking the town and the water below.

The villa was made out of white stone with terraces on each of the two upper levels, the railings made out of wrought iron. Once out of the limo and standing at the bottom of the stone steps leading up to the front door, I just gaped in awe at the wooden French doors inlaid with beautiful stained glass. Looking to my right, I saw a large swimming pool with a garden just beyond it. As I gawked, Hudson knocked on the door, and moments later it was opened by a small older woman with wispy gray hair piled up on the top of her head.

“Hudson, mon coeur! I am so happy to have you home,” she cried, reaching up to grab his face and kiss both his cheeks. “Tu es parti depuis trop longtemps. Come in, come in.”

“Juliette, it is good to see you too. Are Grace and Ben home?” Hudson asked as he let the woman tug him into the house.

“Oui, oui, they are home for Christmas break,” Juliette said, waving off his question as she turned to take the rest of us in. “So, these are your friends your mère told me to expect, mon coeur?”

“Yes, this is Lailah, Brayden, Micah, Parker, and Jay. We all go to school together at Ryevick University. Guys, this is Juliette. She has been looking after me since Father and I moved to France,” Hudson shared, giving the older woman a soft, sweet smile.

“Oh, so you must have many embarrassing stories to tell us?” I grinned, excited to learn more about Hudson.

As much as I loved how stable and even Hudson is, it caused me to feel like I didn’t really know who he truly was. No one could be as perfect as he seemed to be; there had to be something in his past to make him seem more human like the rest of us.

“Les enfants, viennet ici!” Juliette called up the staircase.

By the sound of feet coming down the stairs, I guess she had called for Hudson’s siblings. Sure enough, a young man with olive skin, dark, thick hair, and chocolate-colored eyes appeared. He was striking to look at, and there was almost nothing of Hudson’s father in him. Following on his heels was a tall, willowy girl with a bouncing chin-length bob of honey brown hair. Her blue eyes looked at us curiously as they came to stand at the bottom of the stairs.

“Ben, Grace, these are my friends from school,” Hudson said as they bobbed their heads in greeting to us.

“Coucou,”Grace said, waving at us with a smile.

“Bonjour.”Ben’s voice was so soft I almost missed what he was saying.

“Did Mother tell you guys that we will be around for a few days?” Hudson asked.

“No, but Mère has not been home much the past few days,” Grace said, shrugging her shoulders. “It will be nice to have some people in the house for a change.”

“Oh! What am I, you ungrateful child?” Juliette scoffed. “Now show them where they will be staying so this old woman doesn’t need to climb the stairs while I’m trying to make dinner.”

Grace blushed as she gestured for us to follow her with her head. “All the guest rooms are on the third floor, but some of you are going to have to share. We only have three.”

I don’t think my eyes could have gotten any wider as we made our way through the house. The ground floor was all white marble that flowed onto the stairs with a wrought iron bannister that curved up to the second floor. The whole house was painted in creams and white, making it seem so regal. It wasn’t a place you would call “homey,” like Brayden’s home. This was filled with antique furniture and brocade fabrics, crystal chandeliers hanging in the halls. I felt like I was on some period movie set. Taking us up another flight, we ended up in a small sitting area with two large glass doors that opened onto a cobblestone terrace.

Grace gestured down the hall to the left. “Feel free to pick what works for you. There is a bathroom at the end of the hall.”

Not needing more encouragement, I wandered down the hall, opening the first door to find a room with two twin beds on either side. It was light and cheerful with lots of windows, making the small space seem bigger. Moving to the next room, I found what I was guessing was a full-size bed with a tufted couch against one wall and a set of doors to a small balcony. Going across the hall, I found the room I was going to be staying in. Framed in a set of arched French doors was a view of the water. The room was the most inviting, even if it was the gaudiest with gold accents and warm-toned hardwood floors.

“So, how are we going to decide who gets to bunk with Lailah for the next few days?” Parker asked from right behind me, making me jump.

“It only makes sense that I do because we are bonded,” Brayden said, sitting on the bed.

Parker crossed his arms, looking down at him. “Nope, not gonna happen this time. The only reason we didn’t argue before was that none of us had even kissed her yet. Now that that’s changed, we need to come up with a new plan. I want my time with her.”