Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Not that I was alone. Not really. At least not this year. I had my grandparents, my parents, my sister, and I was about to gain the brother I’d always wanted. I’d always assumed having a brother meant I’d have a sibling who wouldn’t steal my makeup, and that was much more preferable than having one who did.
In a way, it almost made it worse. I was happy for Hazel, of course. As much as we sniped at each other something, she was still my baby sister, and I wanted nothing more than complete happiness for her, but it was the reminder that I was two-and-a-half years older than her and… not all that happy.
I hadn’t been prepared for the realisation of just how much I’d missed Castleton. I’d never considered that coming back for this long would ignite such melancholy within me. It wasn’t just that I was spending more time with my family than I had in years, but that I was spending time here.
In a place I hadn’t realised I’d loved so much.
The small, winding country lanes. The trees that reached one hundred feet into the sky but somehow never blocked out the sunlight. The warm, community spirit of the locals who were always happy to see you no matter how long it had been. The clearness of the sky at night that revealed endless twinkling stars.
The Christmas.
The wedding.
The reminder that I was so, so very alone, and didn’t even have any dating options. Not one.
Maybe it was time to open Tinder.
Jesus, no. I wasn’t that desperate.
I wanted a date, not existential trauma.
I blew out a long breath and reached for my laptop from the drawers, then pulled it onto my lap. I adjusted my pillows at the head of the bed and moved accordingly, getting comfortable before I opened the laptop lid and checked my emails.
Three. Hundred. Emails.
Where the bloody hell had they come from?
Ah, yes. It was Christmas. Time for thrice-daily emails screaming about twenty percent off on items that were forty percent more expensive than they were six months ago.
I went through the emails and deleted all the spammy messages that counted as sales tactics these days, then settled down with my much more reasonable twenty-eight legitimate emails.
I spent the next two hours working in a less than ergonomic position, slowly slinking down the bed until I was basically lying down with my knees bent, laptop resting on them, and my wrists screaming at me to please sit up like the adult the birth date on my passport said I was.
“Sylvie!” My bedroom door slammed open as my sister screamed my name, and I jumped so hard I almost threw my laptop onto the floor.
“Oh, my God!” I shouted, gripping onto the computer to stop it going flying across the room. “Don’t you knock?”
“There’s an emergency!”
My heart thundered against my ribs right before it launched itself into my throat.
I tossed my laptop onto the quilt beside me and scrambled to sit upright. “What? What’s happened? Is it Nana? Gramps? Heck, the pig?”
“There’s been a huge crash on the motorway!”
She may as well have thrown me out of the window into the snow, because my blood was running ice-cold.
“Mum and Dad?” I asked, scrambling to my feet.
“No! My veil!”
Her… veil?
I blinked at her, taking a second as the deafening boom of rushing adrenaline in my ears petered out. “Your veil?”
“My veil!” Hazel fisted her hair and paced the length of my room. “My veil was on the delivery truck that got crashed into by some bastard using his phone in a lorry!”
Well, this was a new one. Even for me.
I couldn’t say this was a problem I’d ever encountered before.
“Right, okay,” I said slowly. “Hazel, take a deep breath, and I’ll sort this out, okay?”
“How? How can you sort this out? That was a handmade veil, Sylvie! There’s nothing else like it in the world! You can’t get another one made between now and the wedding!”
An excellent point.
“Okay, I know, but all you’re doing is getting yourself into a tizz, and that’s not helpful for anyone.” I grabbed her shoulders and guided her to bed. “Lie down. Put your feet up on the wall. Close your eyes. Let me see what I can find out, all right?”
Hazel did as I said, and I could see her hands shaking as she pressed them against her stomach. “My veil,” she whimpered.
I picked up my laptop and left her lying there, closing the door behind me.
Nana was going to have to calm her down.
There was no chance I’d be able to do it.
Besides, right now, she needed wedding planner Sylvie, not big sister Sylvie.
***
“All right, yes, thank you… Thanks, bye.” I hung up and stared at my phone screen, pressing my lips together.
Gramps handed me a cup of tea. “Well?”