Chapter 10: The Dock

The lake house was white clapboard with a long porch, and Rosalind Ridley walked into it without asking which door.

Bryony watched from the car.

Her mother stepped out in her good wool coat with her overnight bag in one hand.

She went straight up the porch steps without asking which door, and kissed Cordelia Draper on the cheek.

"Cordelia," she said. "It's been too long."

"Rosalind, dear. You look well."

"You're kind."

"You're in the blue room. The one with the window."

"Wonderful," Rosalind said. "I'll just leave this."

She carried her bag past the stairs, and turned left down the hall without a pause.

Bryony stood by the car with her hand on the door.

"They know each other," she said.

"Everyone my grandmother has ever met knows each other," Holbrook said, behind her.

He had barely spoken since the drive.

They had gone eighty miles in the same seat with the radio off.

"You left," she said.

"I know."

"You didn't leave a note."

"I went to see my grandmother."

"At four in the morning."

"Yes."

"That's fine," Bryony said. "You don't owe me anything. It's in the terms."

His jaw moved.

"That isn't what I meant."

"What did you mean?"

Before he could answer, a voice called from the porch.

"Cousin! Bride! Come and have a drink on the dock before dinner."

Lyle Draper stood at the top of the steps in a camel sweater, holding a glass.

His smile was exactly as it had been.

Holbrook went rigid.

"He's not meant to be here."

"Grandmother invited the whole family," Bryony said.

"She did not invite him to anything."

"She said the whole family."

They looked at the porch.

Keep reading free with an account. Start One Kiss, the Billionaire's Bride from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.