Heirly Ever After - Vernon, Magan (pdf ebook reader .txt) 📗

um, I just came from there.” I pushed my sopping hair out of my face, trying to compose myself, but it was a little hard when the soaked fabric of my dress flapped against my skin and droplets of water ran down my arms and legs.

She tilted her head, blinking her eyes so those too-long-to-be-real eyelashes fluttered. “Are you looking for my brother, Lord Gavin? Is everything all right with the dinner or is there something we need to alert the property manager of?”

“What?” I asked, my already scrambled brain trying to process what she was saying.

Then it all hit me like a deep wave, and I finally let out the laugh that felt like I’d been holding it in forever. “Oh, ha. You think I work in the kitchen. No. I was just, um, down there helping a friend and had a little accident with the sugar.”

“Oh?”

Now I could see the resemblance with her and her brother. Neither smiled much and their face never seemed to move, as if it had been carved in stone to stay like that.

“I’m Natalie’s sister, Madison.” I held my hand out then dropped it quickly when I found flakes of sugar and butter still stuck to my knuckles.

Finally, a small smile crossed her lips as she let out a sigh, putting her hand to her chest. “Oh, well, hi. I’m Cecily, Gavin’s sister.” She cleared her throat, standing straighter as if she had to always be composed when she spoke. “Pardon my rudeness. I just didn’t expect you to be in a state with the apron and wet hair.”

“Yeah…I guess I should get changed before dinner…again…” I looked over my outfit, wishing the apron would have blocked some of the mess. I only had so many nice outfits, and at this rate, I’d have to go back through some of them more than once.

Would it be a faux pax to wear the same dress that I had worn to tea to dinner? Even though it was short and Natalie requested a long dress?

Dammit, I should have really done some Googling before coming here. Or sucked it up and actually had a conversation with my sister.

But then that conversation would have led to other things that I still had no idea how to talk about. Sooner or later, I’d have to tell Mom and Natalie about dropping out of school.

Maybe after the wedding, or never.

“Need help finding your room?” Cecily asked in a light tone that almost knocked me back, coming out of that statuesque face.

I nodded. “Actually, yeah. That would be great. I seem to have gotten myself pretty turned around.”

“Follow me.”

Gladly.

I waited until she moved before I reluctantly followed in step with her, making sure my wet dress didn’t get anywhere near her velvet booties.

“So, you’re Gavin’s sister, the one Natalie and I are going horseback riding with tomorrow?” I asked, trying to break the awkward silence as we glided down the hallway.

“Yes, I believe my brother set that up.”

Again, no facial expression change.

Way to start off on the right foot with her.

As if the ghosts of the English manor heard my silent cries of desperation, once we rounded a corner, a loud clanking echoed as she ran into a suit of armor.

“Piss off,” Cecily exclaimed. That posh accent was still there, but instead of a stone-faced woman, now she stood, holding her foot, her face red as she let out large breaths through her teeth.

“Are you okay?” I asked, stepping closer and praying there wasn’t blood spatter around the life-size giant metal knight.

She didn’t answer right away, just sucked in large puffs of air through gritted teeth.

“Um…”

“Fucking knight. Who put this here?”

I tried to keep the surprise off my face that this uppity English lady was talking like this. Her foot had to be hurting really bad. “Did you break something? Do I need to find a medic? Does this place have one of those?” I asked, glancing around the empty hallway with nothing but a few more knight statues and some fancy oil paintings looking at me.

“Bloody thing,” she sputtered, leaning against the wall with one hand and taking off her booty with the other.

I let out a silent sigh of relief that there wasn’t a pool of blood dripping from it.

“That hurt like hell,” she barked, wiggling her toes.

“Um…” I racked my brain for the right response to that. I was used to being around some foul-mouthed guys when Chris gamed but never expected the words to come from this blonde goddess.

Cecily put her foot down, hand on her hip as she raised her eyebrows. “You should tell your sister to stop moving so much crap around the castle without telling me.”

A nervous laugh bubbled in my chest. “You obviously don’t know my sister if you think I can tell her anything.”

She nodded, her lips tight as if she was assessing the situation with a faraway look. Then she smiled, finally looking at me as she giggled like a little kid. “You’re right. Her and my brother can be downright pain in the arses, can’t they?”

I blinked hard, my ears, face, and neck burning to an impossible level.

She pursed her lips together before taking a step forward. “Take it you’re like your sister and not accustomed to a foul-mouthed English girl.”

“Err…yeah…not exactly.”

“Is it because of the shoes? I swear these booties make me look like a prissy little thing, but my lady at Galliano assured me these were perfect. Whatever.” She took off the other shoe, dangling the suede pieces from her fingertips as if they were a pair of dollar flip flops from Old Navy.

“Hey, at least they look good. Better than being in a soaked dress and heels.” I let out a nervous laugh, trying to make a joke and stop the heat from gathering in my face.

“How about you wear these shoes instead? What are you, a five? Six?” she asked, raising one of her eyebrows that were perfectly threaded and penciled into a light brown