Page 139 of Destined Lovers

“I want you to meet Sadie, Wills’s fiancée and one of my best friends.” He smiles brightly. Declan clearly has an affection for this girl.

“Sadie, please meet—” He pauses. “Fiona.”

Sadie’s face scrunches up like Charlie’s. Clear as the day. She’s Sadie’s daughter.

Declan leans down and whispers in her ear. They both look at me, and she nods her head at Declan. Then she steps closer to me, and I have to stop myself from taking a step back.

This feels very intimate all of a sudden.

She has the same green eyes as her brother, long brown hair, and a beautiful, kind smile.

I also realize she’s very heavily pregnant. I couldn’t tell from the other angle, but it’s almost impossible to miss.

Sadie reaches forward, takes my hand in hers, then leans in to kiss me on the cheek.

She whispers in my ear so no one else can hear. “It is so nice to finally meet you,Nora. I’m so happy you found your way back to each other.” Her voice, as kind as her smile, catches me off guard, and Ialmostfeel a tear in my eye.

She is not what I expected.

She pulls back, and her smile doesn’t waver. Is she truly this happy to see us together?

“Sadie loves, love,” a gorgeous tall blonde says in a toffee-like English accent as she pushes Sadie out of the way and pulls me into a hug.

“I’m Annabelle Hughes, or Belle for short. It’s nice to meet you, Fiona.”

Then the third one steps forward. This has to be Wills’s sister. They look very much related.

She’s younger by the looks of it and has a kind aura around her. I honestly wasn’t expecting such a warm welcome from everyone.

“Hi, I’m Evelyn, Wills and Sadie’s sister.” She leans in for a kiss.

“Sister-in-law,” Annabelle corrects. “They’re not even married yet.” She scoffs.

Huh?

I mustn’t have masked my face or reaction because Sadie has a knowing smile plastered to her face.

“Pay no attention to them. Annabelle has been my best friend since we were five, so she gets a little testy if anyone comes close to me. She’s having a hard time accepting that I’m going to have a sister-in-law that is not her.” She puts her arm around Evelyn and sticks her tongue out to get the point across.

Annabelle groans and waves her hands around.

“Oh, please, darling. No one could ever possibly replace me. Especially that caveman’s sister,” she says with a raised chin, pointing to Wills, and everyone starts laughing.Except for Wills.

“I sometimes wonder how they even have the same parents,” Jackson adds, then gets up and takes Annabelle in his arms.

“Let’s get married, B, right now, then you can be Sadie’s sister-in-law first,” he says jokingly as he spins her around, and she laughs in his arms.

Annabelle agrees while she looks up longingly at Jackson. There is unquestionably a certain sparkle in her eyes when she looks at him. Lust orlove?

Does Annabelle love Jackson?

“Me too, me too, Uncle Jack!” Charlie says excitedly, with her arms stretched for Jackson to spin her.

“Woohoo!” she yells and giggles the sweetest sound.

My head is on a swivel between everyone. We haven’t even sat at the table yet, and I can see clearly how Declan is close with each of these people. From my first interactions, I saw so much love between the whole lot.

Declan settles up next to me and puts his arm around my shoulders. “They’re a lot to take in and an acquired taste. You’ll learn to love them all. Even him.” He juts his chin toward Wills, whom I realized still hasn’t said a word.

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