Chapter 3

Autumn

I stumble back, almost losing my balance from the force of the collision. Before I go down, a hand reaches out to catch me, setting me back upright. I look up to see who I ran into and my eyes wide as I recognize Elijah, one of Raymond’s older brothers.

My heart stutters in my chest at the sight of him.

He’s so tall now that I have to crane my neck to look up at him, and there’s a scar that cuts across his eyebrow down to his cheek.

He’s still stupidly handsome with those piercing blue eyes and his neat brown hair, and he fills out the slacks and sweater he’s wearing nicely with his lean, muscled build.

One of his hands grips my arm tightly, and my eyes are drawn down to where the other one is shuddering just a bit.

I know he was injured during his time in the army, stationed overseas. He was honorably discharged several years ago, but I didn’t expect to see him back here.

His hand is warm where it grips at me, and I have to swallow hard at the flash of heat it sends through my body. My heart pounds, and I flick my tongue out to lick my lips, stepping back to put some distance between us.

Elijah lets me go and pushes his hands into his pockets. “Autumn,” he says, inclining his head.

“Hi,” I reply, trying to sound normal despite the awkwardness of the moment. “Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“You’re alright.”

“I, um, wasn’t expecting to see you tonight. I didn’t know you were in town. You and the others haven’t been back in ages.”

He shrugs a shoulder. “My father asked me to come for the holidays.”

“Oh.” That’s new. “Because Raymond’s getting married before Christmas?”

Elijah nods.

That just makes it worse, honestly. Everything about this situation is awkward, and the embarrassment of it all fills me. If it wasn’t bad enough that Raymond dumped me, now I’m stuck having to see him, having to think about being family with him because he went and chose my twin sister.

Rhiannon is older than me by a few minutes, which she already never let me forget when we were kids. Now she’s marrying the man I thought I would be marrying, and there’s no way everyone involved in this wedding won’t know that.

Elijah’s eyes are on me, and I wonder if he’s thinking about it. Wondering what’s wrong with me that his little brother dumped me and took up with my twin.

“Well, that’s nice,” I say, forcing cheer. “I’m sure he’s happy to have you here to support him.”

Those bright blue eyes narrow slightly. He opens his mouth to say something else, but before he can, my mother’s impatient voice cuts across the conversation.

“Autumn, what is taking you so long? It’s rude to keep people waiting.”

I jump, cringing internally before shooting Elijah an apologetic smile and hurrying into the living room.

My mother keeps her living room entertainment-ready at all times, and to my surprise, the couch and loveseat are both full of people. I blink, and then realize it’s because Benedict and Luke are there too. All three of Raymond’s brothers are in town.

That’s a first in a long while.

None of them have lived in Sweetwater Lake for at least five years. Elijah never moved back after his honorable discharge from the army, and Benedict left shortly after that.

Luke was the last to leave, moving away not long after Raymond and I started dating. But now they’re all here, looking like they’ve been living completely different lives.

Where Elijah is all straight backed and neat, Luke is much more rugged. Even now he looks a bit like a mountain man with his thick brown hair and beard. He’s more muscular than any of his brothers, which is apparent from the way he’s sitting with his arms folded, his biceps straining the limits of the nice flannel shirt he’s wearing. He’s sitting on the couch with Benedict, although there’s a good distance between them.

Benedict is the second oldest of the four of them, just a year and a half younger than Elijah. He’s the tallest, and his gaze is stormy and intense. There’s a faint scar along his jawline, but that just draws attention to how nice of a jaw it is.

He has the same dark hair as his brothers, and he rivals Luke for being muscular, although his muscles are more chiseled than Luke’s. They both look out of place sitting on my mother’s expensive leather couch.

Not that Mom seems to notice. She’s in her element, holding court over the room talking about the wedding. Raymond and Rhiannon had only been together a little over a year when he proposed ten months ago, and their upcoming nuptials have been my mother’s favorite topic of conversation ever since then.

“And of course we need to see about the flowers,” she’s saying, as if Luke and Benedict care at all. “It’s a winter wedding, so some things are traditional, but we can be a little different if we want to.” She laughs, like she’s just told some great joke.

Elijah comes into the room after me, and I see him glance at his brothers. The other two barely look at him, and that combined with the very deliberate space left on the couch between Luke and Benedict speaks to the cold vibe that’s going on with the three of them. It’s palpable, even without any words spoken.

I know there was some kind of falling out with Raymond’s older brothers after they started a security company together, but I don’t know what it was. The last time I saw the three of them was when they were back in Sweetwater Lake for their mother’s funeral three years ago. After that, something happened between them. Whatever it was, it was clearly bad enough that they don’t get along anymore.

I have to wonder if this is the first time they’ve been in the same room since then.

For all my mother was complaining about me not being in the living room with everyone else, she barely acknowledges me when I’m there.

She just keeps talking about the catering for the wedding and the way the arch Rhiannon and Raymond will be standing under should be decorated with fairy lights so that it looks more magical.

“It would be nice to be a fairy princess for my wedding,” Rhiannon says, smiling brightly. “I think I deserve it, right?” She laughs, and Raymond wraps an arm around her.

“Of course,” Mom says, smiling back. “I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more than my daughter. We’ll talk to the wedding planner and see what we can make happen. I know it’s getting close to the date, but a few last minute changes won’t hurt anything.” And then she’s off again, talking about all the other things they could add.

I just keep my head down and wait for her to finish.

When she does, it’s to beam at the room at large and clap her hands. “Alright, well, now that we’re all here, dinner will be ready soon. Shall we head into the dining room?” She’s only ever in this good a mood when she’s getting to play hostess to a captive audience.

Luke and Benedict push themselves up from the couch, giving each other and Elijah a wide berth. The rest of us follow into the dining room to be seated.

My mom insisted on one of those long wooden tables with the elegantly carved wooden chairs when she and my dad were redoing their house years ago.

The table is beautiful, all mahogany wood that always smells faintly of citrussy wood polish even under the crisp white tablecloth it sits under. The chairs match, with elegant velvet cushions, which Mom always switches out in different colors depending on the season.

A chandelier hangs over the table, the lights twinkling through the crystal drops that hang from it, refracting little rainbows across the room.

As beautiful as it is, all I can really think of when I see this room is the awkward dinners I’ve had to sit through, feeling like I shouldn’t eat too much and should make myself invisible.

I can already tell this is going to be one of those dinners.