Page 49 of Give Me a Reason

“Woot-woot.” The girls swiveled their hips and moved their bodies in an appropriately hedonistic dance.

“Oh, fine.” Coraline threw her hands up in surrender and joined in the dance. “Let’s live it up, ladies!”

Anne shook her head with indulgent affection while she scanned the driveway for the tenth time. It wasn’t as though she could miss an entire car in the small, flat driveway, but she looked again anyway.Nope, he’s still not here.She couldn’t decide whether she was relieved or disappointed. Probably a little of both.

Once the girls were done dancing, Anne punched in the security code and led them inside the hacienda. She sighed dreamily as she walked down the hallway into the living room. The cream, yellow, and brick-red interior was as luxurious as it was warm andwelcoming. From the exquisite area rugs to the tasteful paintings adorning the walls, someone had decorated this place with care and affection.

“It’s hard to believe this is a vacation rental.” Anne ran her hand over the soft leather of the couch. She didn’t even blush as she said, “I reallyhaveoutdone myself.”

Three pairs of astounded eyes landed on her. Bethany was the first to regain her ability to speak. “Did our perfect, angelic unni justboast?”

“She did.” Tessa frowned in confusion, then her lips slowly spread into a huge grin. “Shedid.”

“Girls.” Coraline sniffed, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. “She’s human after all.”

“Oh, get over yourselves.” Anne laughed past her embarrassment. There was nothing wrong with being human. It actually felt pretty good being a little boastful… being a little selfish. It feltgoodto take up space.

“Who are you? And what have you done with my sister?” Tessa deadpanned, and their cousins chortled.

“If you’re done teasing me, let’s go settle in before the guys get here.” Anne walked briskly out of the living room on a sudden burst of restless energy. Frederick would be here soon, and if she stayed still too long, she might crawl out of her skin. Or twist herself into a pretzel. Neither option sounded appealing, so she prattled, “There are two suites upstairs and two smaller guest rooms downstairs. And a sofa bed in the living room.”

“One of the suites is obviously for the soon-to-be bride and groom,” Tessa said as they made their way upstairs. “I say the other suite goes to the bridesmaids.”

“This one has a California king.” Bethany strode into the first suite off the staircase, and the rest of them followed. “We could definitely all sleep in that bed.”

“And we could all fit in that whirlpool tub.” Tessa whistled from inside the en suite bathroom. “That’s huge.”

“I think I’ll just shower,” Anne teased, peeking into the spacious bathroom with a stand-alone shower, also big enough for three. “Alone.”

Then they wandered down the hallway to the other suite. It had rustic white walls and a beautiful high ceiling like the other suite, but this one had more privacyplusa stone fireplace.

“This one’s ours,” Coraline said in a rush. “I call dibs on this one.”

“We weren’t going to fight you for it.” Bethany rolled her eyes, and Coraline playfully elbowed her in the side. “Ow. Cora hit me, Anne.”

“Now, girls.” Anne played along, wagging a finger at her cousins with a schoolmarm frown. “Be nice.”

“She’s talking to you, Beth,” Coraline teased, and her sister stuck her tongue out at her.

“Honey, I’m home,” Joe hollered from downstairs, making his fiancée squeal with excitement.

Anne smiled as she watched Coraline run down the stairs as though she hadn’t seen Joe in forever. But her smile faltered when she realized that the rest of the wedding party must be here as well. Then she came dangerously close to scowling because Bethany scampered downstairs with as much enthusiasm as her older sister.

“Don’t be weird,” Anne scolded herself under her breath.

“Too late,” Tessa quipped, linking her arm through Anne’s. How did she even hear that? “But youareacting weirder than usual.”

“Byweird, do you mean quiet?” Anne sighed as she walked down the stairs arm in arm with her sister. Her mom had understood that Anne didn’t speak up in every conversation, becauseshe sometimes preferred to think deeply on things rather than jumping from one subject to the next. But the rest of her family had always found her reserve strange.

“No, you were only quiet in the car—quieter than usual—but that’s you being normal,” Tessa said with a sideways glance. “But since we got here, you’ve been really engaged and playful.”

Anne blinked in surprise. Maybe it was because she was relieved the girls loved the hacienda as much as she did, and it made her hopeful that the weekend would go well. She’d worked hard on planning it, and she wanted everyone to enjoy themselves. Or maybeshewas enjoying herself, bubbling with nervous excitement at the prospect of spending a long weekend with Frederick. But the latter was for her to turn over and explore in solitude.

“I’ll try to restrain my weirdness,” Anne said with wry humor.

“No, don’t.” Her sister turned to her at the bottom of the stairs. “I like you like this.”

“You do?”

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