Christian and I finally reached his family's estate, and was greeted by a few servants. As I start to walk up the stairs, Christian grabs my hand.
"Can we start over?" He asks, with his eyes pleading.
"Sure." I say, taking my hand back. Something washes over me at the feeling of his hand on mine. Something like a distant memory. An old feeling that was pushed so far down inside me, that I thought only an earthquake would release it. I look at my hand, and force myself to move up the stairs and into the house. I try to shake off the feeling, and smile at my mother who greets us from inside.
She takes my hand and leads me out to the patio. We sit down on a swing, and she turns to me. "So, how was your time in Whales?" She asks.
"Hard. It's always hard doing that kind of stuff. I watched as people searched for survivors. Then I..." I sigh.
"What? What happened?" She squeezes my hand and looks intensely at me.
"There was a group of men that were swallowed up by a sink hole." She gasps. "Another part of the mine collapsed, taking about five or so men down with it." A few tears make their way to the surface and roll down my cheek. "They were first responders mom. They were there to find survivors! Not to-"
"Oh honey. I'm so sorry you had to see that." She pulls me into a hug.
I bury my head into her shoulder. I look up and see Christian standing on the other side of the glass door. He gives me a small smile, a short wave, then turns toward the stairs to his room.
Over the next few days, we spent all of our time getting ready for the wedding. We start to set up the chairs in the big open field behind the mansion. When all of the decorations start arriving, me, Rachel, Hailey, Amanda and Christian work to set everything up. On the night before the wedding, we have a meal on the patio.
"This is beautiful. Thank you everyone for working tirelessly this week to set all of this up." Jacob raises his glass to all of us. We raise ours back to his. "To marriage and to my beautiful bride." We all take a drink of the contents in our glasses.
I stand to give a small speech for Jacob and my mother. After I'm done, Christian stands to give his speech. I was shockingly impressed by how meaningful his speech was. I just look at him in pure wonder. Maybe I was wrong about him.
"You need to come with me." Hailey whispers in my ear and then grabs my hand. "Excuse us, I need to steal April for a minute. Emergency!" She says to everyone. She leads me inside and turns and looks at me weird. "Okay, spill it. What happened in Whales?"
"What are you talking about?" I ask.
"Girl... I see the way you've been looking at Christian. So, what happened?"
"What? No! Nothing happened! We just agreed to have a fresh start. Start over. That's it! He's about to be my step-brother. I need to try and get to know him, unbiased."
"Mhm. Okay. And if he wasn't about to be your step-brother?" I just furrow my brows at her. "Please girl. The way you have been looking at each other ever since your romantic weekend in Whales-"
"It was NOT romantic. Not even in the slightest." I correct her.
"I can tell you two have feelings for each other." She puts her hands on her hips.
I groan. I hadn't really thought about it before. I am so used to hating Christian that I never considered the possibility of liking him. "He's attractive, I'll admit to that. But as for feelings? The only feelings I have for the guy is pure hatred."
"Yeah, pure hatred for the love you have for him." She says under her breath. "Fine. Okay. Maybe I misread the situation." I nod profusely. "Alright then. Let's go get your mama married to an old, British, rich, white dude!" We both laugh hysterically.
The next morning, all of us ladies get ready together. I bring in my mother's dress and show everyone. It is baby blue on the top and fades into white on the bottom with tasteful glitter on it. The sleeves are quarter length and sheer. My mom gasps at the way it lays on her body. We all run over to her and hug her as she tears up. I do her hair in soft curls and put a gold and diamond hair piece on the side of her head where the braid is. She looks up at me in confusion.
"I couldn't possibly-"
"I insist."
The others look at my mom trying to figure out what we were talking about. They all gasp when they realize that I gave my mom the same hair piece I wore on my wedding day. She stands and gives me a tight hug.
"Are you sure?" She pulls back to look at me.
I tear up a bit, but swallow back the tears. "Yeah, mom, I'm sure. It's your something old and something borrowed." I smile at her. "And your dress is your something blue and something new!"
She hugs me again and the rest of them join in. We all tried not to cry. We get interrupted by a knock at the door. I walk over and swing the door open.
"Wow." Christian takes in the sight of me. He clears his throat, "Um, right. The ceremony will begin in half an hour." He looks at me again, then he turns and walks away.
I shut the door.
"See what I mean?" Hailey said to me in a hushed tone.
I just roll my eyes. "Almost show time ladies. Mom, you better not forget your lines." Everyone laughs as she glares at me.
The wedding was like a storybook fairy tale. Their vows were matured and thoughtful. Christian and I walked back down the isle together and it felt like my heart was beating into my throat. What is this feeling? I get to the edge of the grass and almost trip, but Christian catches me before anything happens. He steadies me and looks deeply into my eyes.
"Thanks." I let out a small chuckle.
He smiles at me. "Anytime."
We make our way to the patio where a beautiful assortment of food is on display for the wedding party. The rest of the guests sit under canopies with prepared food on their plates. We all take our seats and join in on all the festivities. Everyone joins in on the dancing. There are traditional English dance songs, as well as American line dance songs being played by the DJ. I find myself needing a drink of water, so I walk into the big kitchen of the house.
I move items in the fridge, trying to find a bottle of water.
"Got the munchies already?" Christian asks, sneaking up behind me.
I yelp and accidentally throw a container of grape salad in his direction. The container bursts open, and grape salad explodes all over his shoes and the bottom of his pants.
I gasp, loudly. "I am so sorry! Oh, my god. I'm so sorry!"
Christian just stands there with his eyes squeezed shut and his mouth hanging open. "No. My fault, entirely. I shouldn't have sneaked up on you." He lets out a groan and then opens his eyes. "Oh great. I need to go change."
"Let me help, please! I can be such a klutz sometimes. Ugh!" I groan again.
He just laughs as he walks away. I follow after him. "Oh, you're seriously going to help me change?" I stop and realize what that would mean. My face goes beet red, and Christian laughs even louder. "Come on, you can help me pick something out."
I follow him into his bedroom. He opens it up and I am greeted by a king sized bed with mahogany wooden poles on all corners. There's a tasteful wardrobe that stands against a wall. He has a piano, an electric drum set, and a few guitars on the other side of the room. He opens his wardrobe and starts to unbutton his shirt, revealing a chiseled chest and abs with more tattoos. My face turns red again and I turn my whole body away.
"Can you please help me pick something out to wear?" He says.
"Uh... yeah. No problem." I turn back at him to see him smiling at me. He is completely shirtless and I try not to stare. I look through his wardrobe and pull out a new suit that resembles the one he is currently wearing. I toss it on the bed. I turn my back as he undresses and puts on the new suit.
"Can you help me with my tie? I swear, I am hopeless at this." I turn and see a knotted tie sitting around his neck.
I snort. "What knot is that called?" He throws his hands in the air and laughs. "Here." I walk over to him and tie his tie properly. When I'm done, I smooth it out over his shirt. I can feel his chest under his shirt and it makes all the blood rush to my head. I look up at him and he is smiling down at me.
I go to take a step back, but he grabs my waist and pulls me in. He kisses me. I start to kiss him back, but then I push him away.
"Stop. Please. I can't do this." I ran out of his bedroom. I go back out to the backyard and act like nothing ever happened. I dance and keep my eyes away from Christian the rest of the night. I can't fall in love with my step brother. No matter how attractive he may be. I can't fall in love with anyone, period.
I catch the next flight out of Manchester and go back home. I can't face Christian again. Even if he is family now.