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He and the young girl who sat on his knee looked out of keeping with the others. Another pretty girl dressed in high street fashion sat next to them, and the resemblance to Strings led me to believe it was his sister, Monica. None of these three people appeared to shine like the others.
Two gorgeous dark-haired women sat elegantly side by side on a chaise lounge by some French doors. One was close to my age, with long dark hair and clad in a black silk dress. A pretty little girl with the same color hair sat on her knee.
The other woman, who appeared to be in her mid-thirties, was also similar in appearance. She was dressed in a beige-colored satin and lace dress and had a young boy of about five years old at her feet.
The women's resemblance to Harriett was more than a passing one and I guessed these were the elder two of Sawyer's sisters. I drew a deep breath and wanted to look away, but when I considered their smiling faces I felt relieved. At least they aren't scowling.
Sawyer squeezed my hand, leaned close to my ear and whispered. "You're the most beautiful girl in the room, remember that. It's you and me, Billie, no one else matters." I turned, a smile curving my lips, because not once had I cared how old I was or how young he was or what people thought of that, it was only that I was a stranger. Sawyer knew how sensitive I'd been about this previously, and he was reminding me not to have negative thoughts.
"This is true," I offered, sarcastically, still feeling all their curious eyes on me. It made my thoughts progress from show pony to circus pony. Sawyer chuckled, and I felt my shoulders relax. He was right: What did they know about us, other than we were together?
"Come on. My sisters, Tammy and Caitlin, are desperate to meet you," he said tugging my hand in their direction. I felt nervous and shy. I wanted them to like me.
"Tammy, Caitlin, this is my girl, Billie."
"I'm hardly a girl, but I'm his girl." I gloated and forced myself to sound confident. A little chuckle escaped my throat and both women immediately beamed perfect smiles toward me. "Sawyer told me what happened, Tammy. You must have been so frightened. I know Sawyer was. How are you feeling?"
"Much better, thank you, I'm still having physical therapy every other day, but doing great considering. Thank you for asking."
"So you're the woman that's taken up all of our baby brother's time this past few months?" Caitlin said, cutting in on the conversation and changing the subject. I was thankful for this because I had no clue what I'd have said next. I smiled warmly at Sawyer again, and he slid his hand down my back and rested it on my lower spine.
"Sorry, I don't know what the attraction is," I muttered and shook my head. "But I'll take it." I grew an inch at how confident I sounded. Sawyer gave my hand a squeeze of approval.
"You've been good for him," Tammy said, rubbing her little daughter's back. "I never thought I'd see him smile that goofily again, the way he does when he talks about you." My heart warmed when she shared this about him.
Caitlin's suspicious eyes darted across the room and mine naturally followed. Sitting on the arm of James's chair, staring pointedly at us, was a stunning looking girl with long ash-blonde hair, perfect features, and huge blue eyes. Her glowing, golden-tanned skin shone appealingly in a red figure-hugging dress with a plunging neckline at the front.
No introductions to this girl were needed. I knew instinctively she was Sawyer's ex-girlfriend.
My heart sank because she was everything I wasn't—young, tall and elegant—like everyone else in the room. When my eyes met hers, she glared.
"All right, that's enough," Sawyer warned, drawing my eyes back to him as he rubbed the back of his neck in a rare show of embarrassment at being called out by his sister. A look of concern replaced his amusement when he read the self-doubt that had crept into my eyes after looking at Charlotte. "You've had your fun, but it's true," he told his sisters. He hugged me close to his chest. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to marry this one."
My body immediately stiffened in shock, and I glanced at his sisters in time to see Caitlin's jaw drop; she looked just as stunned as I felt. Both her and Tammy's heads whipped around to look at one another, their eyes big and round.
"Pretty sure, as in a possible timeline?" Caitlin asked tentatively, once she'd recovered her composure. She blinked in disbelief at her brother's disclosure. Meanwhile, I too stared up at him, stunned into silence and wondered how he could feel so sure about us when we'd only been dating for a couple of months.
My heart thundered in my chest as my legs began to shake with his admission, and I had no idea how he could be this confident when put on the spot.
From my point of view, I wasn't that certain I could commit to anyone in that way again. We were in love and lust for sure, but it still felt new.
Keeping perspective, I reminded myself of how I had felt when I thought I'd messed us up by allowing Logan to stay, and it settled my nerves. I knew I'd been heartbroken when I thought there was a chance I might never have seen him again.
"It's not something we're rushing into," I interjected to clarify, choosing my words carefully so as not to offend anyone or hurt Sawyer's feelings. "I only got divorced this year. We're still finding our feet as a couple, and for now, we're happy to spend as much time as we can together."
"That's my girl, always erring on the side of caution," Sawyer joked, as a thrill of excitement gripped my body. The thought of spending the rest of my life with him made my heart stutter. "It'll happen, but Billie's right, it hasn't been that long since her divorce was finalized. If you knew her ex-husband, you'd know why she needs a little space before taking a risk and marrying me instead."
"I'm with you, Sawyer. When you know, you know," Tammy agreed with a chuckle, then winced in pain when she moved too suddenly. I noticed a walking stick hooked onto the French door handle behind her. "It was only eleven weeks from our first date until Jonathan and I got married, and it only took that long because the caterers I wanted didn't have space in their schedules before," she added with a giggle.
"Wow, only eleven weeks," I repeated. I worked out we'd been dating for around seven or eight, if I included the time he'd been away. How could I begin to consider marrying him so soon? How long would I need to fully give my heart to him, to know for certain I wanted that? How could I make a lasting commitment again, when I thought I had sworn to do that to someone already?
I decided not to think ahead and to stay in the moment. I felt grateful for how his family had received me. They'd been very welcoming and weren't judgmental of me or our age difference the way I had expected them to be.
There had been a few people in my life who I had warmed to immediately and I knew from the minute Sawyer's sisters began to talk to me, and from the looks they had cast toward Charlotte, I had at least two allies by my side.
"Shall we get some food and wine?" Sawyer asked me. "We haven't eaten yet. The trip from the airport took a while due to the snow," he added for his sisters' benefit.
"Sounds good," I agreed, sensing he wanted me alone for a few minutes to catch our breaths. Placing his hand protectively on the base of my spine, Sawyer led me out of the other end of the great room and into the lavishly decorated dining area filled with delicious-looking food.
