by Alexia Praks
Chapter 19
Hearts Full of Envy
James eyed Beth’s standard coffee warily and wondered where Sakura had gone off to. He needed her delightful, full-flavored, aromatic coffee—not this tasteless, muddy-black water that didn’t deserve to be called coffee.
Beth saw the sour look on his face and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Princeton, but Sakura isn’t here. My standard coffee it is this afternoon.”
“Where is she?” James demanded, scowling darkly. “I thought she would have been back by now.”
Brenda, who was sitting beside him, knew her husband was having his craving once again. She chuckled and said, “James, do control yourself. Your sons are here after all. I’m sure Sakura will make you a cup after dinner.”
James didn’t like the sound of that. Dinner was still four hours away, too long for him. He turned to Mary, who was busy going through the many suitcases that Richard and Peter had brought along from New York. Katherine was beside her, also searching through the mountain of interesting contents that were for the wedding.
Mary glanced up in time to see her uncle addressing her. “Don’t look at me,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “Ask your sons. She was with them the last time I saw her.”
James glanced over at his sons. Darcy didn’t pay them any attention. He seemed to be lost in his own world as he stood there by the window, gazing out as though he were expecting someone. Conrad was sitting on the sofa, also facing the window. He is rather quiet today, James thought with concern. He wondered what was on his youngest son’s mind.
Nicolas was on the other side of the room, chatting with Richard and Peter. Little Michael, who had taken a real liking to Nicolas, was with them.
Tristan, Logan, and Hayden were on the sofa to the left side near James. Logan was eyeing the coffee with distaste. Hayden was biting his fingernails. And Tristan looked as though he were pissed about something but tried very hard to hide it.
James was very concerned indeed, because his sons were behaving very oddly. First, Hayden only bit his fingernails when he was upset or worried, and this was the first time in years James had seen his son bite his fingernails. Second, Logan had always been the happy-go-lucky type, but this afternoon he didn’t look happy-go-lucky at all. In fact, he looked worried. And thirdly, Tristan was the devil-may-care type, and now he too looked worried.
Only Alaina and Tara, who were sitting on the other side of the room sipping their coffees, seemed their usual selves.
“Well, Tristan?” James voiced, causing Tristan to jolt back to reality.
“What?” he asked.
“Sakura. Where is she?”
Tristan scowled then—darkly—as if her very name bothered the hell out of him. “The last time I knew, Sakura was with Sebastian.” Then he added coldly, “He stole her away.”
Logan scowled. “Sebastian stole her away? Sebastian again, eh?”
Tara choked on the hot coffee she was drinking the moment she heard Sebastian’s name. She coughed loudly, and after she’d managed to compose herself, she muttered under her breath. Alaina glanced over at her adopted sister with concern.
“Speak of the devil,” Conrad said, stood up, and rushed out the door.
Darcy watched from the window as the motorcycle and its riders came to a stop at the front of the house. He fisted his hands as he watched Sakura taking off her helmet. She was about to walk to the house when Sebastian caught her wrist and pulled her back to him. He was still holding on to her hand as he spoke to her, which really bothered Darcy. What was even worse was the fact that Sebastian was smiling as he was talking. From Sebastian’s stance, the way his brother turned his torso toward Sakura, Darcy knew Sebastian was interested in Sakura personally. What really bothered Darcy was the fact that Sakura was responding, even if she didn’t know it herself. From the looks of things, the two had come—to what? To an understanding? Something more?
Dear God, Darcy thought. His heart was going to be ripped into two pieces if it kept beating like that—so hard, so fast, and so damn painful. Calm down, you old beast. Please calm down.
From where she sat, Tara had a good view of the two people outside and really wanted to scream until the house tumbled down. Sebastian and Sakura? No. No. No. How? Oh, God help her. She was going to go crazy in a second.
Finally Sakura walked away, and a moment later she was in the house along with Conrad.
“Sakura!” Michael shouted the moment she stepped into the drawing room. He got off his seat and raced to her, hugging her around the waist. Conrad couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous of little Michael.
“Hey, Michael,” Sakura said warmly.
“You could’ve come up to the house with us.” Michael pouted, gazing up at her. “There was lots of room in our car.”
Sakura laughed. “I know, but… erm—”
Hayden, who’d suddenly stopped biting his nails, turned around and said, “I stole her away, and then Seb stole her away from me.”
“You know what?” Mary put in, looking up at the brothers. “You guys are weird today. It’s like you’re either trying to take Sakura away for yourself or else protecting her from someone else. It confuses the hell out of me.”
The brothers, in their own thoughts, came to the realization that Mary could be right. Yes, they were trying to take Sakura for themselves, and yes, they were also trying to protect her from each other.
“Now then,” Mary announced, turning her attention to Sakura. “My dear bridesmaid, we’ve been waiting, you know. Shall we go and try on our dresses?”
“Yes,” Katherine said, getting up, noticing the sudden tense atmosphere within the room. She was quite surprised that Mary seemed to be oblivious to it. But then again, Mary was oblivious to most things.
“Can I come, too?” Michael begged Sakura.
Peter chuckled. “Why don’t you stay here with us, Michael? I’m going to teach you how to be a proper ring bearer.”
Michael’s eyes lit up then, and he rushed back to Peter. “I’m staying here.”
Sakura laughed. “As you please,” she said, and as she turned, her eyes met Darcy’s. Her stomach fluttered the longer they gazed at each other. There was something in his eyes that she couldn’t begin to describe, and it really affected her in an odd way. Oh, God! She was getting dizzy again. Maybe she was dehydrated. Yes, she was dehydrated from the ride, she decided, and that was why she felt dizzy. Not because of the way Darcy was looking at her. Definitely not.
She quickly glanced away, feeling a bit confused.
“Come on,” Mary said, dragging her by the arm out the door, leaving Conrad to stand there all by himself. Katherine was following behind them, chuckling at Mary’s impatience.
Some half an hour later in Mary’s bedroom, Sakura watched in awe as Mary posed herself in front of her and Katherine.
It is perfect! The wedding dress was perfect for Mary: the off-the-shoulder sleeves, the delicately decorated beads, and the long train. It was beautiful, and Sakura couldn’t think of any other dress that fit Mary that perfectly.
She, however, couldn’t say the same of her own bridesmaid’s gown. Yes, the color was a beautiful pastel pink, and the silk material was so soft and smooth it was literally caressing her skin. The problem, however, was that the A-line silhouette gown didn’t fit her. Period! It was far too big on her person.
“Sakura, did you lose weight?” Katherine asked, watching Sakura holding on to the material of the dress that was threatening to fall off her any moment now.
“I don’t think so,” she replied, gathering the material of the skirt and turning herself around to look at the full-length mirror. When she saw herself, she wanted to shriek in dismay. She looked like a little girl wearing her mother’s dress.
“Are you sure you gave the designer the right measurement?” Mary asked, suspicious.
“I’m pretty sure,” Sakura said. “Or maybe I didn’t. Or maybe I did lose weight,” she admitted. “Oh hel
l! What are we going to do? The wedding is only a week away.”
“What else? Fix it!” Mary said. “Beth knows how to sew, doesn’t she?” She came over to Sakura and pinched out the material in her hand so the dress sculpted perfectly about Sakura’s slender body, showing off her hourglass shape. “Yes. Just a bit on the sides and you’ll be fine.”
Sakura nodded, understanding what her friend meant.
“You’ll look great. No worries,” Mary said. “Now then, shall we find our lovely Beth and see what magic she can do?”
Katherine chuckled. “You better take off your wedding dress before we go down.”
“Yes, of course,” Mary said.