Darce! Darce! Laughter. Darcy could hear laughter singing and echoing all around him, calling out to him. The voice was soft and musical, and it sent a warm sensation through his body. In his state of haziness, he could see long, dark hair dancing in the wind, the strands brushing gently on his face. He could feel warm hands within his grasp, tightening as if the owner of that lovely hand was afraid he'd disappear.
He was in a dream, Darcy realized, and he was lying on the ground, his body across and his head resting on someone's lap. It was a very comfortable lap. Above him, he could see cherry blossom petals raining down on him from a tree of pink cloud. Some landed on his face. They were feathery soft and cool on his skin. He could smell the light, beautiful scent, and it reminded him of spring. Oddly enough, he felt at peace. He felt happy. And there was something else, too. He felt loved. So much love.
He turned to look at the girl who was now stroking his hair. He frowned, for he couldn't see her face. The harder he looked, the darker her face seemed to become. Who was she? Why did she make him feel like this? Why did she make him feel so much warmth and so much love?
"Snow? Why do cherry blossoms fall?" The words came out of his mouth before he knew it. He gazed long and hard at her, trying to make out her features, but it was to no avail. She was faceless to him.
She turned to look at him. Though he couldn't see her, he knew she was beautiful. He could also sense she was smiling at him. It was as though she were amused at his stupid question, and rather than annoyed, she was pleased.
"They are the tears of spring, Darce, the tears of spring," she replied as she gazed up at the swirling flowers surrounding them.
Darcy felt satisfied. He nodded and closed his eyes, intending to return to his slumber. Then he sensed it, her face slowly descending toward him. A second later, he felt her warm breath fanning over his skin, and he knew she was smiling. He waited longingly, his nerves jumping in anticipation. He felt her soft, warm lips pressing against his cheek, causing tingling sensations to rush through his being and his world to burst with bright neon colors.
* * *
Darcy flashed his eyes open. He came to see only darkness. There wasn't any cherry tree around nor was there a girl near him. For a moment he panicked. I've lost her, he thought with dread. Where did she go?
He sat up, frowning, confused, and then he realized it was merely a dream—an elusive dream he could not grasp. Gently, he touched his finger to his cheek, and his frown darkened.
Snow! The word kept echoing within his head.
Then something struck him, and he rushed out of bed. He went into the walk-in closet and raided his luggage. A moment later, he found what he was looking for. It was a poster he had made a couple of months ago. And why he had brought it along with him to St. Joseph Island was beyond him.
He unfolded the paper and laid it out on his bed. There it was, a digital artwork of a dark knight and a maiden. She was a beautiful creature all right—with the blackest hair, palest skin, and reddest lips. She was Snow White.
Darcy didn't understand the connection between the dream he'd just had and this artwork he'd created a few months ago. Perhaps it really meant nothing at all, and he decided to brush it aside. Perhaps it was just seeing the cherry trees here on St. Joseph Island that had triggered the dream. After all, there was that majestic cherry tree in full bloom of pink flowers in the background of the poster. Yes, that was probably it. And the girl in his dream? She must be Snow White from the poster. Of course, it had to be, and that made sense.
But why did he feel so lost when he'd woken up to find Snow gone? Why did he feel as though he were missing half of his soul?
He stood, picked up the poster, and hung it on the wall opposite his bed. He had just finished and was getting back into bed when he heard noises from outside along the corridor. It was Alaina and Tara, who had just returned, or rather arrived, after a night out in the town.
Only for two weeks, he thought, he had to endure Tara's presence. After the wedding, he'd be out of here and back to his loft in New York, spending his precious time working on his game design. He glanced up at the poster again before closing his eyes, the image of the dark knight and Snow bright in his mind.
* * *
The two people Sakura didn't want to see most, Tara and Alaina, finally arrived at half past four the next morning, waking Sakura from her very strange dream. In the dream, she was surrounded by seven faceless men. Of course, these people were always faceless in dreams, though her gut instinct seemed to know who they were.
Her stomach flipped and she sighed. She couldn't believe she had to dream about the brothers. What was wrong with her? Not to mention the fact that one of them had kissed her. She thought it must have been Sebastian. Or was it Darcy? Conrad?
That is stupid, she told herself firmly. It didn't matter, however, because it was only a dream, and she was determined not to think about it any further.
She closed her eyes and tried to get back to sleep when she heard Tara and Alaina giggling across the hallway and singing loudly before finally getting into their own rooms. Sakura was sure the two women must be drunk. Once the house was quiet again, she was able to slip back to sleep. This time there was no dream, and she was glad.
About two hours later, Sakura found herself lying there in her bed, staring up at the chandelier, her stomach flipping and her heart racing uncomfortably. Soon, she'd have to face the brothers, since James had made sure of that. He'd found her in the library at just before midnight last night, once everyone had retired. He scolded her that she should have been out there having dinner with her grandparents and brothers, not feigning sickness. Damn him! He had known all along.
Ah! Brothers? Brothers, her backside! Brothers who didn't remember her. Brothers who didn't recognize her when they were that close to her?
Her stomach flipped again at the thought of what happened yesterday afternoon. She couldn't believe she had to meet them that way. Then she remembered how Darcy had looked at her, remembered his eyes boring into hers. She shivered at the image and shook her head.
She sat up, and Toby jumped onto her lap. "What will happen today, Toby? What am I going to do?"
The dog barked at her excitedly. Then the door flung open, and Mary marched right in.
"Heard you weren't well," she said, almost in a sheer panic. "I didn't want to bother you last night, but it's morning now so I thought it should be fine. Oh shit! You're going to be all right for Laura's birthday party, right? Mark will be there, so you have to come. You have to look pretty."
"Mary," Sakura said, "just because he's your brother's friend and he had a crush on you years ago and now you're getting married to another man, you don't have to feel that you need to match him with me."
"No. No, he really likes you," Mary said adamantly. "He really does. Now get up and shower because I'm going to make you look pretty."
"I'll be fine. You should make yourself look pretty since you're going to be the center of attention soon."
"Jesus, woman, it's not my wedding yet. It's Laura's birthday party, Mr. Mayor's daughter, who's turning the ripe old age of eighteen. Besides, you don't want to embarrass the Princeton family. A lot of important people are coming."
"Oh crap! Important people, eh?" Sakura asked cheekily.
"Of course," Mary said. "Now shower!"
"All right. All right." Sakura chuckled. "I'm going to shower. Be back in a minute."
"Don't worry. Take your time," Mary said.
Ten minutes later, Sakura was back, and Mary began blow-drying her long hair and then curled it.
"You know it's only a lunch thing," Sakura said. "And besides, we don't want to look prettier than the birthday girl, do we?"
"Of course not," Mary replied. "Just want you to look good for Mark." Then she silently added with a smile on her face, Good enough to eat.
Sakura chuckled. "It's a good thing I'm going." Of course, she didn't hear the last bit.
"Right you are," Mary said, tossing back Sakura's long curls.
What Sakura really meant was that she didn't have to see the brothers again today after all, since the birthday party would probably last until late evening, and then after that, she'd make some excuses to go and stay in town for a few nights with Katherine. Her friend's husband Jim, after all, was away to New York on his business trip and wouldn't be back until Friday, so it wouldn't be that inconvenient. And little Michael would just love to have her around.
Hmm? What kind of excuse, though? The café is short-handed and they need her help? Yes, that sounded rather good. That meant she'd have to give Katherine, her co-owner of the café, a call and tell her to play along.
Fifteen minutes later, she was done. Sakura looked at herself in the mirror one last time before heading out.
"You look amazing," Mary said. "Mark is so going to like you in that."
Sakura admitted she did look rather nice with her hair in loose curls, and the pretty lilac cotton and lace dress fit her body to perfection though she thought it showed a bit too much of her skin.
"All right. Time to go down," Mary said, heading out the door, pulling Sakura along by the hand.
They both came into the kitchen, and Brenda greeted them with an, "Oh my! You girls look great."
"Morning," Sakura said, giving Brenda a peck on the cheek.
"Good morning, my sweet girls," Brenda said, hugging Sakura tightly. Then she moved over to hug Mary. "Don't you think she looks pretty?"
Mary nodded. "Mark," she whispered.
Brenda smiled and nodded. "Oh. Of course."
"What are you two on about?" Sakura couldn't help but ask after she'd noted they looked as though they were conspiring about something.
"Nothing," Brenda said.
"Ah, Sakura, Mr. Princeton is looking for you," Beth said. "Have you had your breakfast yet?"
"Nope. Thought I'd eat here first before heading out," she said and poured herself a cup of tea.
"I'm going to phone Peter," Mary announced.
Sakura waved to her friend to leave. She knew Mary was missing her fiancé already. It must be nice to be in love, she thought with a smile. She grabbed a scone and began to munch. But maybe not as nice as this delicious scone.
"I'm hoping to see at least one of my grandchildren getting married soon, you know," Molly said as she came into the kitchen. Sakura nearly choked on her pastry.
"Molly," Sakura said. "Good morning. When did you get here?"
"We stayed the night, naturally," Molly replied. "Since Dale really wanted that coffee." She was teasing of course. They had finished very late last night, James and Dale, talking about investments. Hence the elderly couple decided to stay the night rather than drive back into town. She came to hug Sakura and looked at her properly. "My, you do look fine this morning. Are you sure you were unwell last night?"
Sakura laughed awkwardly. "Dale wants coffee, does he?" she asked. "I'll make him one."
"Make that two," Molly replied. "One for me."
"Okay," Sakura said, heading toward the other side of the kitchen where her professional coffee machine was already warmed up for the day.
"Make that four," Brenda said. "One for me and one for James."
Sakura chuckled and began grinding the coffee beans. A few minutes later, four cups of delicious coffee were ready for enjoyment.
Molly couldn't help but quickly take a sip of hers, and she sighed in pleasure.
"So…," Sakura began. "Tell me which of your grandchildren should get married first."
"Someone standing right next to me," Molly said.
"Not likely," Sakura muttered under her breath.
"A little bird told me you and Mark are going somewhere."
"Mark and I are going nowhere. If we are going somewhere, I will of course inform both you and Brenda first. How about that?"
"Hurray for that," Molly said. "At least that means you're a step ahead of my other grandchildren."
Molly and Brenda took their cups and headed out of the kitchen. Sakura couldn't believe they couldn't get enough of her coffee. Then again, she had been trained as a barista professionally and had worked in cafés during her university years, gaining a lot of experience to qualify as almost an expert in the field.
Sakura continued to enjoy her light breakfast as she contemplated what Molly meant when she said Sakura was a step ahead. A step ahead in what?
It wasn't long before Beth stormed into the kitchen again, shooing her out and telling her to get Toby away from the pond before he had the chance to drown himself. Sakura quickly put down her cup of tea and rushed out the door.