The Love Trilogy. Sophie Pembroke

rest of his life with her should realize that, as a jewellery designer, she’d want to design and make her own ring.

      Except Edward was traditional; it was one of the things that had drawn her to him in the first place. He’d wanted to choose the ring himself and surprise her, which was sweet. Thoughtful. It made the ring even more meaningful, even if it wasn’t quite what she’d have chosen for herself.

      Of course, some would say she should just be grateful he’d proposed at all. After seven years, people had started to talk. And Lily really didn’t want to give people a reason to talk about her, ever again.

      ‘I’m just saying that now you’ve finally persuaded Edward to pop the question – ’

      ‘That’s not exactly how it went,’ Lily interrupted, but Evelyn ignored her.

      ‘You’ve been engaged for almost three months. I don’t understand why you don’t want to celebrate that.’ Evelyn’s eyes narrowed as she focused in on Lily’s face. ‘You’re not planning some crazy elopement stunt, are you? Dragging that poor man off to Las Vegas or Gretna Green or somewhere? Because you know I will never forgive you. The way people would talk…’

      Maybe she should. Maybe that was what she needed to make the whole thing feel real, feel more her. The ultimate extreme in small and intimate weddings – just her and Edward on a beach somewhere with a couple of witnesses dragged in off the street. Perfect. She wasn’t the big white wedding sort, really. But Edward wouldn’t like it, she supposed. He’d want the wedding in the local church, and the reception nearby, she imagined. They should probably talk about it, really.

      Besides, her mum was right. Depriving the village of Felinfach of the chance to see its most wayward daughter conforming at last would never be forgiven. People would never stop talking.

      ‘What on earth would make you think I’d elope?’ Lily said, as if the idea held no temptation at all. Still, it was a little insulting, the assumption that she’d run off at the first opportunity. Wasn’t seven years with the same man, living in the same place, pursuing the same dream, enough to convince people she’d become a more stable person?

      Evelyn shrugged, turning her attention to the far more interesting people around them. ‘Well, there was that time you ran off to Glastonbury without telling me.’

      ‘I was sixteen!’

      ‘Keep your voice down, Lily.’ The snap in Evelyn’s voice served as more of a reminder of that horrible summer than her words. Six months after her father died, after her mother emerged from the funeral as a different person, a widow, and still another month to wait for her sure-to-be-dismal GCSE results. Filled with a restlessness she couldn’t shake, Lily had hopped in a car with some friends and headed for the festival. Apparently the fact that Cora also absconded had slipped Evelyn’s mind.

      Somehow it always did. To everyone who knew them, Cora was the good, well-behaved one of the pair, while Lily was the tearaway. Never mind that they’d done everything together, from the age of ten onward, whether it was getting into trouble or studying for exams. Including getting engaged within a couple of months of each other.

      Only problem was, while Cora looked serene and sparkling at this new turn of events, Lily could feel that old restlessness rising up inside her again, bubbling under her skin, waiting to break out. She closed her eyes for a moment to try and stamp it down. She wasn’t that girl any more, hadn’t been for a long time.

      ‘Who’s that talking to Cora?’ Evelyn asked, and Lily glanced up, amazed Evelyn had found someone at the party whose life story she didn’t already know and enjoy telling to strangers, dropping her voice to a whisper for the most scandalous parts. Felinfach wasn’t a big place, and Evelyn had lived there all her life. As, obviously, had Lily. She might not be quite so well informed about her neighbours as her mother, but still. She knew things.

      But not this. Beside Cora stood a man Lily couldn’t remember seeing before. Surely she’d have remembered those wide shoulders, that curling black hair? He faced away from her, so she couldn’t make out his face, but she’d been through the guest list with Cora just a few days before, and there hadn’t been any unfamiliar names, or mention of unfeasibly attractive men arriving just when the both of them were off the market.

      The man looked around, and Lily felt a blush rising as he caught her staring. And it only grew hotter when a name from the guest list flashed up from her memory and she realized who he was. Alex Harper. Cora’s older, gorgeous cousin. Just enough older than them that he’d only ever seen them as kids. God, he’d grown up well… He’d always been good looking, but in a boyish way. Now… absolutely all man. Definitely man enough to make a girl a little sorry she was taken…

      With a quick, sharp smile, she turned away, focusing her attention on her mother instead, until Alex lost interest and moved on. Chances were he wouldn’t remember her anyway. He’d have plenty bigger things on his mind than a girl he half recognized.

      Cora had told her Alex had been commuting between Felinfach and London since his dad got sick, last autumn, but Lily hadn’t seen him, or expected to. Now his father was gone, and apparently Alex was back in town sorting out the cottage the Harpers had lived in on the edge of Felinfach, ever since they moved back home when Lily was seven. He’d probably be back in London in a matter of days. No need to remind him of her existence at all.

      But Evelyn foiled her plan by announcing, ‘I’ll go and find out,’ and marching away across the room.

      Lily watched her go, and saw Cora paste on her best social smile. Poor Cora. But really, she owed Lily some Evelyn time, given how often Lily had taken the blame for her. Still, probably best to be out of sight in case Cora decided to pull her in to the conversation, too. Especially since Cora only had one topic of conversation lately – wedding planning.

      It was natural. In just a few months, Cora would marry the love of her life, move into one of the little cottages on the edge of town, start a family, bake cookies, and live happily ever after. Of course she wanted to discuss her plans and dreams with her best friend.

      And Lily was thrilled for her, honest she was. Only… she was supposed to be looking forward to the same future. So why wasn’t she sparkling and serene? Why did she keep asking herself if things really had to change, when she and Edward were happy as they were?

      What was wrong with her that she got more excited about her friend’s happily ever after than her own?

      Suddenly depressed, Lily grabbed a fresh glass of wine from the table by the door and slipped through the opening to the hallway. She knew Cora’s parents’ house as well as her own. Surely she could find somewhere private for just a few moments’ peace and quiet? And drinking. She definitely needed wine if she planned to seriously contemplate her future.

      * * * *

      Cora was still rabbiting on beside him, but since her topic hadn’t changed once in the last twenty minutes, Alex felt justified in tuning her out while he turned his attention to more interesting things. Like the blonde across the room, clearly being bored to death by a conversation with an elegant older woman whose hair didn’t move.

      ‘And I think it’s wonderful that you’ve come home to Felinfach, Alex, I really do,’ Cora said, unnecessarily, as she’d already expressed the same sentiment three times. Alex loved his cousin dearly, but God did she love to talk.

      ‘I’m glad,’ he said, also for the third time. It wasn’t a lie; his cousin’s opinion mattered to him. She tended to be an excellent judge of character, something borne out by her choice of fiancé, he felt, after a long, wine-soaked evening in the man’s company a few days before. He should ask her the blonde’s name.

      ‘It’s just…’ Cora said, and stopped. That was new. Alex paused in his consideration of the way the blonde’s hair swept across her shoulders when she shook her head, revealing a very elegant neck.

      ‘Just?’ he prompted, looking at his cousin.

      Cora bit her lip. ‘Just… Are you sure you really want to stay?