Page 108 of Begin Again, Part 2

"I found Claire's source," Sienna announced.

"Don't keep me in suspense. Who is it?" Eden asked, her heart pounding erratically, her blood turning to ice at her friend's words.

"Well, it's Mrs Eliza Stone. I did a bit of snooping, and you won't believe who she's related to!"

"Let me guess," Eden said, her voice barely audible. "Laura Stone?"

"Yep! How did you know?" Sienna asked. Without waiting for her response, she carried on and filled her in. "Anyway, it turns out Eliza Stone reached out to Claire about a month ago and said a lot of stuff. But she doesn't have any solid proof to substantiate any of it, and that's why Claire's been tailing Liam for weeks now. No money has exchanged hands yet, but I took a photo of their signed agreement. I'll text it to you."

"Thanks, Si," Eden said. "I owe you one."

"You owe me big. And I'm thinking your fairy tale romance with the Three-Month Prince and exclusive rights to your wedding," her friend said.

"It's hardly been a fairy tale." Eden made a face and sighed. "But thanks again for doing this, Si."

"You're welcome," Sienna said and clicked off.

"Was that Sienna?" Erica frowned and pointed at the phone. "Is she helping you deal with all the rubbish they've written about you online?"

"Yes," Eden lied and slipped her phone back inside her bag. "Where were we? I need to head home if there's nothing else. It's been a long day, and I'm exhausted."

"Well, there is. Lois is planning a summer wedding," Erica said. Her eyes glowed a rich russet hue in the bright sunlight streaming through the French windows behind her. "And she asked for my help."

"Summer wedding? For who?" Eden asked, ignoring the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Yes, last night, Liam brought up the idea again, but she thought he was joking.

"For you and Liam, of course!" Erica replied, breaking through her panic.

"Whoa!" Eden jumped to her feet, splashing water on her pants. "I love Liam, but I'm not doing this wedding thing again. Why would you even entertain it?"

She scratched her neck, surprised at the itchy bumps that seemed to have come out of the blue.

"Edie, are you okay? You're breaking out in..." Steve paused and stepped closer to examine the bumps on her neck and hands. "What appears to be hives."

Eden waved off his worry as she sat down again and brought up her collar to hide the rash. "I'm fine, Dad. I'm sure it's just a reaction to the orange juice."

But they all knew she wasn't allergic to anything, and had drunk this particular brand of juice plenty of times before.

"I'll get you an antihistamine."

Her father was on his feet before she could stop him.

Erica carried on with her big dreams, ignoring everything Eden had said. "Liam's happy with a summer wedding, but he'll follow your lead."

The itching grew worse, and the red splotches on Eden's skin spread the longer she sat there and listened to her mother's crazy plans about a wedding that wasn't going to happen.

"There'll be no wedding," she said as she scratched at her hands and neck until she thought they'd bleed. "We are not living in the 50s, Mom. I'm not getting married just because I have a child with Liam. I love him, but there's no reason for us to get married."

"But Edie..."

"No, you marry him if you want to. But I won't." Eden cut her off, her mouth set in a stubborn line. She'd gone down this road before. When Simon left her weeks before their wedding, she swore she'd never step inside a church again. Not in a white dress, at least.

"Now, let me be clear," she picked up her water and addressed her mom over the rim of her glass. "Don't trouble the Andersons or make ridiculous demands on them. Don't even think about riding on their coattails. Things are still sensitive with Liam. We've just reached an agreement about Aiden. I don't want any problems."

When he heard his name, her son looked up, smiled and held up his hands, and she scooped him up and kissed his forehead.

She would have carried on laying down the law, but her father chose that moment to appear with a sealed antihistamine box. Eden ripped through the packaging quickly, took two pills, and washed them down with her water.

"Erica," Steve said sternly. "If Edie doesn't want to get married, you can't force her. She's an adult. I think we've meddled enough in her life. Look at the stuff with Simon."

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