Page 8 of Endless Love: Novella

“Sienna will do her best to pick things up,” I predicted, watching her slide into a chair next to Rose. It was obvious shewas trying to cheer her up, to at least take her mind off things for a minute. And it was apparent she wasn’t successful.

I couldn’t hear them, but body language spoke volumes. Rose tried to be polite but was too distracted to play along. It was enough to make me consider announcing our engagement, if only to pick up everybody’s spirits for a little while. I decided to leave the idea in my back pocket, just in case.

Mom joined us and touched a hand to my shoulder. “Somebody has to start smiling around here,” she murmured, standing on tiptoe to kiss my cheek. “It will be good for you to get out there on the water. You’ll have something else to think about.”

“We’ll be fine,” I promised. “And I know that building had to be insured to the hilt, right?”

“Of course,” Dad assured me, almost waving the idea off like it wasn’t worth thinking about. “All of that is taken care of. We can rebuild.”

As I watched, Miles entered the kitchen, leading Aria by the hand. Either she hadn’t bothered putting on makeup to cover the circles under her eyes, or she had tried, and this was the best she’d managed. Sienna shot a worried look my way, and I murmured, “I’ll head back in, see what I can do.”

The problem was, I couldn’t imagine what. Aria did everything she could to keep a brave face, but her chin trembled enough to tell me she was still wrecked after last night. As I walked back into the house, Sienna gathered her in a tight hug. “We’ve got you, girl,” she vowed, meeting my gaze over Aria’s shoulder. “Your wedding is still going to be amazing.”

Aria’s soft laugh was a little shaky. “I know. At least, I need to believe it.” She offered me a brief, weak grin, asking, “The dress is just one aspect of the day, right?”

“There you go. That’s the spirit.” Evelyn was behind them, telling me she had probably given Aria a pep talk before theycame down from the guest room. There was strain around her eyes, which looked a little puffy like it wasn’t only the girls who cried last night. Weddings tended to do that to people. Months of dreaming meant it hurt unfathomably worse when something like this happened.

“You get to spend the day trying on more pretty gowns,” Sienna pointed out. “It’ll be fun. Like a big game of dress-up. You know there’s going to be a zillion beautiful, gorgeous gowns to choose from.”

“I know. It’ll be fine.” Aria’s jaw tightened like she was trying to convince herself.

Miles surprised me by looking just as haunted as his bride. “You all right?” I asked and gripped his shoulder once Aria gave in and let Evelyn fix her a plate of food. Sienna followed them, leaving us with Colton on the other side of the spacious room.

When we were more or less out of earshot of the girls, he blew out a deep breath. “A bit zonked,” he confessed, running a hand over the back of his neck and sighing. There were still times after two years spent exclusively in the States when he’d come out with British slang. “We had a long night. But I have no right to complain compared to the way she must feel. I can’t tell you how many times she said she couldn’t wait for me to see her dress.”

“Everything will turn out fine,” I predicted, watching as Aria attempted to be cheerful. Then I looked around, counting heads. “Who are we missing?”

“Not us.” Evan sounded overly bright as he entered the room as if he was trying a little too hard. I gave him a sympathetic grimace before Valentina appeared behind him. She looked a lot like her sister this morning, though the circles under her eyes weren’t quite as dark.

“So it’s Spencer and Lucian we’re waiting for?” Colton checked the time, heading out to the foyer. A few seconds later,his voice rang out loud enough to make us all wince. “We’re going to be late for the yacht! What’s the holdup?”

Valentina went straight to Aria and gave her a bear hug, letting out a soft, determined grunt. “Okay, so our gowns went up in smoke,” she announced, sounding like the same bossy, type-A girl she had always been. “Big deal. Everything’s going to be perfect otherwise, right?”

“Right,” Aria agreed with a bright, strained smile. It was almost like they were trying to convince themselves, and I had to give them credit for trying their hardest.

Sienna clapped her hands briskly, then placed them on her hips. “No more feeling sorry for ourselves. Anybody.” I noticed the anxious way she eyed Rose when she added, “We have a lot to do this weekend, and now this is just one more thing to get out of the way. Let’s not drag our feet.”

“Listen to you.” Colton shook his head slowly as he rejoined us, grinning at his sister. “I didn’t know you decided to play drill sergeant this weekend.”

She tossed her hair back from her shoulders, shrugging. “Somebody’s got to keep everybody in line, right? It shouldn’t have to be the bride’s responsibility, so I took the job.”

A loud sniffle drew everybody’s attention, and we turned to find Rose running a hand under her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, shaking her head. “It’s just that I don’t know if I can forgive myself if this was somehow my fault. What if I left something plugged in that shouldn’t have been? Or I might have overloaded an outlet without realizing it.”

I was standing closest so I went to her and crouched by her side. “Hey. Don’t do this to yourself, sis. The fire chief will have a report, right? I’m sure it was a random accident, that’s all. You are the most conscientious person I know.”

All that got me was a bitter laugh. “Apparently not this time.” She was damn determined to heap all the blame onher shoulders, stubborn as always. I looked at Colton, silently wondering what I could say that might help.

It was Sienna who came up with something on the fly. “We’re engaged,” she announced in a loud, clear voice.

So much for keeping it to ourselves.

The room went deadly silent for a heartbeat before Rose let out a dramatic gasp and swiveled in her chair, her blue eyes wide when they landed on me. “Is that true? You got engaged?” she asked, taking me by the shoulders. “And you didn’t tell anybody?”

“When the hell did it happen?” Colton asked. “Holy shit!”

Miles barked out a laugh. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“When were you going to tell us?” Valentina demanded while Aria squealed, bounced on the balls of her feet, and threw her arms around Sienna.

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