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I hear much grumbling and cursing as Iris drags herself out of bed and shuffles over to the window. “This better be good.”
I hold back the curtain and step away from the window to give her a better view, but otherwise don’t say a thing. She shifts closer to the window, her eyebrows drawing together. Her mouth hanging open.
“What the hell?”
“It’s Brooks.”
“I can see that,” she says sarcastically, bracing one hand on the window as she continues to watch them. “What is he doing here?”
“Looks like the guys invited him.” I’m not about to tell her that I knew he was coming. She’d probably be furious that I didn’t give her a heads up.
Besides, with all my drama and weepiness, I sort of forgot.
“God, he’s probably here for the entire weekend. How am I going to avoid him?” She turns to face me.
“Why would you want to avoid him?”
“This is my home. My sanctuary. I’m sure your brother is behind this.” Iris marches across her bedroom and goes to her massive armoire, ripping open the doors and scanning the mess of clothing on the shelves. It looks like a bomb went off in there. I see a pile of designer bags stacked on top of each other on the top shelf and wince. My mother would die if she saw that. “I need to wear something spectacular.”
I glance down at my sweaty clothes from last night with a frown. “I need to take a shower.”
“Hurry and take one then. We need to go down there together as a united front.” The determination in Iris’s voice is just the fuel I need to get motivated.
She’s right. We need to be a united front. And I need to look my best when I apologize to Rhett.
I can only hope he’ll accept what I have to say and forgive me.
***
Forty minutes later, Iris and I are downstairs, headed for the dining room. The scent of cooked bacon lingers in the air and my stomach growls, despite feeling nauseous.
Iris is wearing a cream knit tank dress that fits her like a glove. She’s wearing nothing underneath it because she didn’t want lines showing—direct quote. Her hair is in a messy bun and she’s got giant gold hoops hanging from her ears. Not a lick of makeup is on her face save for a shiny lip gloss coating her mouth, and she’s never looked better.
Brooks is going to swallow his tongue when he sees her.
I’m also wearing a dress. Black and flowy that nips in at the waist and has tiny buttons on the bodice. I left a few undone and somehow, Iris convinced me not to wear a bra, which I regret. My boobs are huge and when they’re uncontained, it feels like they’re constantly in the way.
But she told me I didn’t have a choice. Why I listen to her, I don’t know.
“Rhett will realize you’re not wearing a bra and he’ll get stuck on your tits. You could tell him you’re sorry you made him mad, but you’re going to have to kill him, and he’d agree because he’d be too caught up in trying to figure out the exact color of your nipples,” she said right before we left her bedroom.
That sounded like a far-fetched explanation, but there’s not a lot of fight in me, so I decided to go along with it.
We enter the dining room to find all of them already at the table: Rowan, Callahan, Brooks and Rhett. Along with Vaughn and Beau, our little brothers, who are sitting with the older boys, stars in their eyes as they listen to them speak.
My heart aches a little when I see Rhett sitting there, his head carefully averted so he doesn’t notice me. Is he doing that on purpose? Is he that disgusted with me that he can’t even look at me?
I follow Iris to the sideboard where breakfast awaits, grabbing a warmed plate and serving myself scrambled eggs, two pieces of bacon and a bunch of strawberries. Marta bustles in just as we’re about to sit, smiling warmly at both of us.
“Iced vanilla lattes for the two of you, hmm?” She’s already got them in her hands, setting them on the table once we sit.
“You’re a vanilla latte drinker now?” I ask Iris, my voice low.
She shrugs one shoulder. “I put in my order with her when you were taking a shower. I’m trying to lower my sugar intake.”
I send an amused glance in the housekeeper’s direction.
“Thank you, Marta,” I say, grateful for her attentiveness.
