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“I’m afraid your arrival makes things slightly awkward, Miss…? “
“Ellie. Please call me Ellie.”
“Well, Ellie, there seems to have been a bit of a miscommunication somewhere along the line.” He paused in a boot room to remove his coat and footwear, and Elliedid the same.
“I don’t understand,” she said as she followed him into a large country dining kitchen. Except, unless they had a sister she didn’t know about, the problem stared her in the face as soon as she walked through the door and the quiet chatter which had preceded her came to a halt as five additional pairs of eyes stared back at her.
The silence seemed to stretch around them all for far too long.
“Umm… Hi, I’m Ellie.” She finally took it upon herself to break it. The trio of other girls looked nonplussed. They were like three peas in a pod, each one of them blonde, blue-eyed, petite and perfect. They also did not bear even the remotest resemblance to the three brothers who each sported brown hair ranging between a streaky caramel and a rich mahogany. She couldn’t tell for sure, with two of them sat at the table, but she got the impression they were just as tall as their brother, who stood a good head above her own five foot ten.
As she spoke, each of the women seemed to sway proprietorially towards one of the men. One even popped out of her chair and wound herself around Cody, fluttering her eyelashes at him. She made Ellie feel plain and gangly, and she was grateful when Cody unwound himself and gestured for the girl to sit back down again, which she did with a noticeable pout which still somehow looked cute.
“So, Ezra, did you forget to tell us something?” Cody queried and Ellie’s heart sank. She had already guessed what was coming.
Ezra, the brother with the sun-bleached brown hair and the darkest eyes of the three, had the grace to look a little sheepish.
“Well, not exactly. I did message back and forth with Ellie, here, but that was before Syrus told me that all three sisters were coming along.”
He looked at Ellie apologetically. “I did email and suggest you cancelled your trip up here…” He trailed off, clearly uncertain what else to say.
Heat swept across Ellie’s cheekbones. Oh jeez, he’d told her not to come & now she looked like a gatecrasher at a private party, never mind a fifth wheel.
Tiredness and disappointment hit her. “I’m sorry, I’ve just driven across three states and I couldn’t check my emails.” She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth in an attempt to quell the desperation which threatened to wash over her.
“Well, you’re here now, so we’ll just make the best of the situation.” It was the other brother who spoke. He had medium brown hair,a shadesomewhere in between his two brothers, and expressive whisky colored eyes that held a smile. The process of elimination said he mustbeSyrus. She smiled back at him gratefully.
“Here, sit down, it’s obviously been a rough couple of days. We’re about to eat and there’s plenty to go around.” This from Ezra who seemed to be trying to make up for his mistake.
“Oh, but then there won’t be the makings for the lunch bags I planned for tomorrow,” one of the blonde’s sulked. She backtracked quickly when two of the brothers frowned at her clear lack of empathy, but realizing that she was upsetting things that were already set in place just made Ellie feel worse.
“Honestly, it’s not a problem. A sandwich or something will be fine. You obviously weren’t expecting me.”
“Nonsense,” Syrus said decisively. “You need to eat properly.” She wasn’t sure if that was genuine hospitality or a dig at her gaunt frame. Probably the former, she decided. She was just feeling a little defensive and self-conscious right now, but they seemed friendly enough. Well, except for Cody, who still looked like a smile might crack his face.
“I’ll make up another guest bed,” he said gruffly, and straight away she was back to feeling like she was putting him out again. “But I’m afraid it’ll have to be in the attic, since the others are all taken.”
The woman who had clung to him earlier fluttered her eyelashes again. “If you’re stuck for room, I can always bunk with you,” she purred suggestively.
Cody just ignored her and went to do whatever it was he had planned, and it made Ellie at least feel a little better that he was just as surly with her too.
When he came back down, a meal of tough steak, underdone jacket potato and a poor excuse for a salad was served. At least, Ellie thought to herself, she’d be able to make an improved contribution to the cooking. That made her feel a little better, if nothing else.
When the clean-up had been done, Cody declared the need for a ‘chat’, and they all sat back down and looked at him expectantly. Ellie guessed he must be the oldest, the way the others deferred to him.
He looked at her and the other three, whose names were Carly, Sheri and Cora.
“Well, since all four of you are here, we’ll be fair about this and give it a week or two for everyone to settle in before we decide.”
Ezra and Syrus nodded in agreement, but Carly and Sheri looked like they’d sucked lemons. Cora was sweet as pie, and Ellie found that look set her on edge even more than the others.
“Of course, Cody. Whatever you say,” she said agreeably. “Why don’t you all go into thedenand relax while I give Ellie the tour and show her up to her room. I’m sure she’s tired after all that travelling.”
Ellie took her cue and followed the other woman.
“When you get to needing it, the laundry room is just off the kitchen.” Her raised voice was undoubtedly pitched for the others to hear how helpful she was being, but that was fine.
“The main bathroom is here.” Cora pointed out a door as they hit the second level. “Unfortunately, you don’t get the benefit of an en-suite like the rest of us, what with you being up in the attic and all.” Ellie wondered if that was supposed to put her off, but after sleeping in her car for the past month, any kind of bed and washing facilities were welcome, so if it was a barb it missed the target and didn’t have the desired effect.
