Page 33 of Trouble Walked In

Renic took a small sip of the wine and rolled it around in his mouth before making an appreciative noise of approval. “Apple.”

“Exactly right. And one more…” Mark glanced around the table. “Anybody?”

They all sniffed again, but nobody said anything until Della piped up. “It’s lemony underneath the apple.”

Mark raised his eyebrows at her, clearly impressed. “Very good.”

Carrie nodded her approval. “Well done, Della. You know something about wine, don’t you.”

Della shrugged. “I go to a lot of parties.”

Mark’s expression darkened a little.

Lizzie stepped in before the two started arguing again. They’d been doing it practically nonstop since Della arrived. Della really seemed to touch all of his buttons. “Dig in, everybody, before it gets cold.”

“Yes, and be prepared to judge the pairing after,” Carrie said. “I was so sure I’d stump him with this one.”

Everyone busied themselves, heaping servings of pot pie and salad on their plates. Conversations broke out in low mumbles as they started eating. Carrie asked Della about wines she liked, while Carter grilled Renic about the latest musicians in his stable.

Lizzie took a bite and contemplated her next move. Renic was here so he could pressure Della. She really didn’t want to give him that chance. Whatever was going on with Della, this time she’d make damn sure the career choice she made was entirely her own.

To keep Renic away from Della, she’d have to get him out of the house. How?

She sipped the wine, savoring the way it set off the thick cream sauce of the pot pie, while she studied her sister and Renic.

He watched Della with a thoughtful expression. Della avoided his gaze, focused instead on Mark and Carter and a lively discussion of where they should hang more twinkle lights for the wedding.

Twinkle lights. That gave her an excellent idea. If theywere going to decorate more they definitely needed more twinkle lights.

Lizzie smiled to herself.

Renic looked at her questioningly. She covered the smile with another bite of pot pie and plotted out her attack. Renic had five days at Belhurst Castle. There was nothing she could do about that. He could try his best to infiltrate her new family every bit as much as he had before, with all his formidable charm and charisma as weapons.

But she had her own weapons. She would make sure he didn’t have any room to manipulate or maneuver and nip his little scheme in the bud before he broke up her new family too.

At 6:30the next morning, Lizzie stood outside the Rose Room door ready to do battle with the enemy. She’d promised her sister she’d keep Renic off her back, so that was precisely what she was going to do.

She pounded on the door and shouted, “Renic! Rise and shine!” Her voice was that of someone who’d been up for two hours and had three cups of coffee.

When Renic didn’t respond, she pounded again, longer and louder. “Come on, Renic. The sun is shining. It’s a beautiful day. Time to get up and get the day going.”

She thought she heard a muffled swear word. She smiled and pounded a third time. “Rise and shine, shine, shine,” she said in the singsong voice her sisters hated.

“…minute,” Renic said.

A few seconds later, Renic yanked the door open and squinted at her. He’d wrapped one of the thicker dark green blankets around him like a kid on Saturday morning, and hestill wore his socks. They were a cheerful bright blue with giant red dots.

A cold draft rushed past her into the hallway, making her shiver.

She frowned. “Did you sleep with the windows open?”

She’d told him to yesterday, but she hadn’t expected him to actually do it. It was fifty-two degrees outside but felt colder.

Renic leaned against the door. He looked exhausted. “What do you want, Lizzie. What time is it?”

He squinted down at his bare wrist as if a watch might materialize.

“It’s 6:35. You need to get dressed. We have places to go, and the contractor will be here in twenty minutes. Unless you want to lay there while they put up drywall?”

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