“Yes, please.”
He poured her a cup. “Come and sit and eat. Cream or sugar?”
Hope sat in the chair across from him, shook her head, and reached for some fruit. “How long before she gets here?”
He chuckled. “You’re not very patient, are you?”
She wrinkled her nose, which he thought was incredibly cute.
“I would have to say no,” she said.
He snorted.
They ate and talked while they waited.
“I’m going to wash my hands.”
He nodded. “It shouldn’t be long.”
****
Hope heard her sister’s voice a minute later as she walked out of the bathroom into the bedroom.
“Faith?”
Faith twirled around and gasped. “Hope?”
They ran to each other and embraced. Even though they both cried and talked at the same time, it didn’t matter because they were both just thrilled to be together.
“Baby, Hope didn’t believe me when I told her last night about us. I thought you’d want to reassure her that I was telling her the truth.”
“What did you do?” Hope asked suspiciously.
“Graham and I got married.”
Even though Hope was told the night before, she was still shocked her sister had gotten married to a man after knowing him for a few days.
“Come on, girls, you can catch up later. We have to meet with Alastair,” Graham said, breaking up their conversation.
“Let’s go.” Blake pulled her out of the room. They walked for what seemed like a mile before Blake ushered her into an office.
Hope looked around the office at the men. All of them looked dangerous, even the one in the wheelchair. She glanced at her sister to see how comfortable she was with them and relaxed.
Faith grabbed her hand. “I want you to meet someone.” She took her over to the sofa where a beautiful woman sat.
“Beth, I want you to meet my sister, Hope.”
After talking to her for a moment, she saw how sweet she was, and it seemed Beth and Faith had already built a bond between them, which told her the woman had to be pretty special. The three sat together and talked and listened to what was being said.
“Why can’t they just go and take them?” Hope asked.
“Because it could start a war between them and several families. Angus is talking to them, so they know what’s going on. A few have already agreed to stand down and keep out of it,” Beth said.
“Who’s Angus?” Hope asked. After Beth told her about how he’d come to be in the chair, she felt sick. The world was a crazy place.
The meeting seemed to take forever before a few of the men walked out, and Blake came over and pulled her to her feet. “Baby, we set up a lunch for the three of you out in the garden. It won’t be served for a bit, but it’s beautiful out there. It will give you all a chance to get to know each other better.”
She thought it was incredibly sweet.
Beth took them out the back patio door, where a small white iron table was set out in the shade with cushioned chairs. They sat and talked for hours. A maid served them chicken salad in a lettuce bowl with fruit and tarts for dessert and sweet lemonade to drink, and she couldn’t remember a more pleasant day.
Hope couldn’t recall laughing so much or feeling so at peace. The only thing she would have asked for to make it perfect was her other sister and her mom. Then it would have been the best day of her life.