AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, my God, you are so whipped. You can’t even go a few hours without talking to him?” Lilly laughs.
“Lillian, stop teasing your sister. Millicent, you’re going to make us late. We don’t want Simon’s brother to have a bad impression of us.”
My mother looks nervous and I feel bad for delaying us. She has been on tenterhooks since we arrived. When I talked to her about it in the taxi she said she was just excited about Simon proposing. And nervous that Addie, who in general hates surprises, wouldn’t react well.
“Sorry, Mom. Let’s go.” I smile at her. I grab her hand to give it a quick squeeze before I grab my purse.
* * *
* * *
Dinner was great. My mother though, was clearly distressed and seemed to grow more and more so as the night wore on. She excused herself back to our room less than an hour after we got there. She told us she wasn’t feeling well. She declined my offer to walk her back down to our room. Anthony is smitten with Henry. He insisted on feeding him during dinner and entertained Henry all night long.
Simon’s brother, Kyle, is practically his twin. His hair, longer on top than Simon’s, is a gorgeous mop of silky chocolate corkscrew curls. He’s got a very easygoing personality. He laughs a lot and has been the life of the party all evening. He’s rakishly charming and irreverently funny. And he loves Addie. It’s obvious from the way he talks about her that they are very close.
I’m so glad she has her own little family here. Tomorrow is going to be such a special day, and I'm grateful Simon wanted to share it with us.
Cara and Louis are the happiest wedding planning couple ever. Their wedding is in six months and they are so relaxed about the whole thing that I wonder if maybe they are on drugs. It’s not a small affair they are having, either.
Louis’ family is an aristocratic one. His father is an Earl. And even in this day and age that still means something. Louis’ older brother, Harry, will inherit the Earldom one day. But Louis, even as the spare heir, is still expected to get married on the family estate. Yes, they have an estate. With its own chapel and vicar, which is why they are getting married there instead of Houston where Cara is from.
Louis is also the first of his brothers to get married. Addie’s told me it’s going to be a grand affair—the Queen herself has been invited. But you would never know it. Cara seems to know none of the details, and Louis can’t seem to keep his eyes off Cara long enough to pay attention to anything anyone is saying.
Lilly, Anthony, and I get back to our suite with Lilly carrying a sleeping Anthony to my room for me.
I walk over to my mother’s room to check on her. When I open the door, I find it empty. I step back out into the suite’s sitting room and look around.
Lilly and Anthony are already in my room when I call out, “Mom?” It’s odd she would leave the room without saying anything. But, maybe she wanted some fresh air.
Lilly walks out of the room, looking around. “Is Mom not here?” She sounds as surprised as I feel.
“Nope,” I say and plop down on the couch, kicking my shoes off.
“That’s so weird. Should we be worried?” Lilly asks as she takes a seat next to me.
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly.
Our mother speaks no French, but I can’t imagine that would stop her from roaming. She’s always liked to do that.
“Maybe she just went on a walk to clear her head, “I posit, not entirely convinced of this myself. I decided to shake off my bad thoughts and focus on getting some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day. And then we are going back to London for a few days before we head back to the States.
“I’m going to go down to the bar and get a drink,” Lilly says suddenly. She's growing out her hair again, and she has dyed it back to its natural dark brown.
“Okay, I’m going to wait here and try to get some reading in. I’m sure Mom will be back soon. I’ll go to bed when she gets back.” We smile at each other.
“Glad you’re reading again. I know it was one of your favorite things to do when we were kids. Glad you’re getting back to it.”
With a, “I’ll see you later” she's off. That is so Lilly, she needs alone time. After group gatherings, she always disappears on her own for a while. She just needs to regroup and clear her mind.
I grab my Kindle and settle down to read.
When my mother comes back in hours later, I'm asleep. So, I don’t see her come back in with a suitcase in her hand. I don’t see that her hair is a mess and her clothes are askew. I won’t know anything about what she really spent her night doing until all hell breaks loose.
35
* * *
I’m reeling as I board my flight back to DC I don’t remember anything that happened since last night clearly. I haven’t slept; I haven’t eaten. All I think about is that I’m about to lose everything.
