She’d gained a sister. A twin. A miracle. But she’d lost a man she’d thought she could fall in love with. A man she’d started to spin dreams around.
She breathed in the lingering scent of him, mingling with the rich sweetness of those magnificent roses. How did he know they were her favourites?
The same way he knew how to please her in bed, how to make her laugh, how to make her think she was with the most wonderful man on earth. And she’d believed in him. Only to have that belief thrown back at her by the discovery of his deceit.
She’d had a lucky escape. More time spent with him and she would have been back in that sticky, sweet trap of infatuation. She’d made the same old mistakes, thrown away all her hard-won caution. All for a few exciting kisses, a thrilling time in bed.
Deep down, she knew it had been more than that. There had been an undeniable connection between her and Josh, something so compelling it had overridden caution and common sense. That was what had made it so agonising to find out the truth about him. That he was there in the park that day had been no accident. He’d been there specifically to watch out for her. Mara, the waitress, had recognised him because he’d been sitting at her café hoping to catch sight of her to report back to Tori. What else didn’t she know about him? She’d thought she knew enough to trust him.
Eloise knew she couldn’t stay here by herself. She’d go crazy with regrets and self-recriminations and a chorus of what ifs hammering into her brain. Home. She’d go home to her mother, who’d said for her the discovery of her twin was almost like finding another daughter. She would want to talk about Tori. She’d pick up Daisy, the little dog whose instincts she’d trusted over her own. Which was a kind of crazy all by itself.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Three weeks later
THE LAST TIME Eloise had flown into Boston’s Logan Airport she’d been fifteen years old and accompanied by her mother and father, arriving from Sydney for their annual trip to her father’s hometown. Her grandparents—her father’s parents—had been waiting for them when they’d come out of Security. Family. That was what it had been all about then. Her memories were bittersweet: her father had died not long after and she hadn’t seen her grandparents since. She was tempted to contact them while she was here—maybe they’d mellowed—but wasn’t sure she could handle their rejection.
Today she’d flown in from New York and she was also being greeted by family. Her twin sister, Tori. Her blood family. Since the first day they’d connected online they’d chatted most days, even if only for minutes at a time. The need to see each other face to face had become overwhelming. And the opportunity to meet came sooner rather than later. She could hardly wait to hug the sister she hadn’t seen since she was two years old.
She’d be meeting Tori’s parents and brothers too, which was exciting. As for Josh... Tori knew to keep his name right off the reception committee. During their online chats, Eloise had specifically asked her new-found sister not to talk about Josh. How could she forget him any other way?
Eloise had spent the last week in New York City. Roxee’s actress friend’s wedding had turned into a mega celebration with twelve bridesmaids and three changes of gown for the bride. It was a job that had required Eloise’s hands-on presence. The American side of the business was burgeoning and getting more and more time-consuming. Not just for the actual design and production of the garments but also the tariffs and taxes on importing Australian-made products into the United States and the consequent paperwork. Then there were the celebrities impatient at being put on an ever-growing waiting list.
It was getting to the stage that the balance was starting to tip between her Australian clients and her clients in the USA. She had to be careful not to overstretch herself—that could be the death of creativity, and she’d seen it too many times when designer friends had started their own labels and ended up bankrupt.
She might have to establish an atelier in New York, perhaps put Vinh in charge. But the fact was it was her name on the label. And it was Eloise Evans those demanding new clients wanted to see, certainly in the first instance.
She should be deliriously happy about her business’s rapid expansion. Trouble was, she couldn’t take much joy in it.
‘You’ve had too many emotional ups and downs,’ her mother had said soothingly. Her mum knew about Josh, as Eloise had sobbed out her distress on her shoulder.
‘There are plenty of other fish in the sea,’ her mother’s advice had been. That was always her relationship advice. She didn’t think any of Eloise’s boyfriends had been worthy of her daughter. This time, Eloise suspected she was secretly glad things hadn’t worked out with Josh. She didn’t want to lose her only child to Boston.
Her mother had joined in some of the video chats with Tori. ‘We’ve found each other, but we’ve also each found a new family,’ Tori had said several times in delight.
So the deeply hidden gap in Eloise’s life caused by her long-lost sister had been filled. Sadly there was now another painful gap: Josh. True to their agreement, they hadn’t contacted each other. For her own well-being, she needed to forget he’d ever been in her life. So why did she miss him so much? She couldn’t go to her favourite café in the park, the restaurant where they’d had their first date, even Mara’s café near her work. So many memories for such a short time together. And that was apart from the dreams that haunted her sleep and had her waking to tears when she realised he wasn’t there. Poor Daisy had had her fur wetted with tears, but the little dog had only given her comfort. Eloise didn’t know how she would bear to give this dog away. She might have to admit to being a foster fail and keep her.
She cleared Security and watched out for...well, someone who looked like herself. And there she was: black hair like hers but chopped short and spiky, wearing urban chic black jeans and boots. And a huge smile.
Her sister. The sister Josh had found for her. She hadn’t appreciated just what he’d done and the conflicting loyalties he’d had to struggle with, the integrity with which he had treated both her and Tori. Only now, meeting her twin and realising the incredible odds against having found her, did she realise just how grateful she should have been to Josh. Instead she had pushed him away. And wounded herself in the process. But she couldn’t think about that now. She was in Boston. She would have to swallow her pride and seek him out. Grovel a little—okay, grovel a lot. And hope he would give her the second chance she’d refused to give him. Even if only to be friends as they had Tori in common.
She and Tori hugged, then drew back to look at each other and exclaim at their resemblance and then hugged again. Tears flowed too, happy and emotional.
‘I didn’t think we’d look quite so alike,’ Tori said. ‘It’s uncanny. Even the video chat didn’t give the complete story. Our height, the way we move, our expressions.’
‘The full dimension. If we’d grown up together, can you imagine the fun we would have had swapping places and tricking people?’ Eloise said.
‘Oh, yes!’ said Tori, laughing. Her laugh was like an echo of Eloise’s own. ‘We would have been menaces.’
‘We were cheated of that childhood,’ Eloise said slowly. ‘I wonder why?’
‘I couldn’t find out why the adoption agency split us up.’
‘I guess they had their reasons. But it turned out well for both of us, didn’t it?’ Eloise said. She couldn’t stop smiling.
‘We were both so blessed with our adoptive families,’ said Tori.
‘We were indeed. And now we’ve found each other.’
‘With no intention of ever losing one another again.’
Arms around each other, they walked towards the area where Tori must have parked her car. A few people did a double take when they saw them together and Eloise and her sister laughed. ‘There might be possibilities for us to be menaces still,’ Eloise said. They both giggled. In harmony.
Wh
en they’d stopped laughing, Tori spoke. ‘There’s someone I want you to meet. A friend of mine.’
‘A bride in need of a dress?’
‘No, a guy friend.’
Eloise stopped her with a hand on her arm. ‘Please, Tori, that’s sweet of you, but I really don’t want to be set up with anyone. Seriously. I’m happy on my own. I don’t have time to date or the inclination.’ Or the heart. No one could compare to Josh.
‘This guy’s a really good friend and...’
And then Eloise saw him. Her heart jolted. Josh.
He saw her at the same time and he stared, momentarily transfixed. Then he strode towards them. ‘Tori, what the hell—?’
All Eloise’s denials of her feelings for him, all the anger she’d tried to build up for him deceiving her, were lost in a rush of sheer joy. Josh. Josh, even more handsome than she remembered him in a dark, charcoal business suit.
Frowning, he looked to her then to Tori and back to her. He’d been set up. He obviously had no idea why he was here. A well-meaning yet clumsy attempt by her sister to force them together? She wanted to cringe with the humiliation of it. Then she looked at Josh, really looked at him. And saw the same emotions she was trying to control herself reflected in his hazel eyes. And, strangely, he didn’t look as if he wanted to be anywhere but here.
‘This is my friend Josh Taylor,’ said Tori, as if Eloise had never met the man before. Or made love with him, or laughed with him, or teased him as she’d pinned him into a tuxedo.
Tori continued. ‘Josh is an excellent friend. The absolute best. He actually found you for me, my long-lost twin. He saw you in a magazine and realised we must be related. Although I think there’s actually more to it than that. Josh saw something in that Australian fashion designer that absolutely fascinated him. What he didn’t expect was that when he actually met her—at my request—he’d be so madly attracted to her he’d go right off plan in his pursuit of her. Until it wasn’t as much about Josh finding my twin for me but about Josh finding the ideal woman for him.’
Eloise swallowed hard against a sudden lump in her throat. She looked up at Josh. ‘Is that what happened?’ she asked him.
The busy airport around her faded away. Even Tori disappeared. It was just him and her and that connection that had been there from the get go, which she’d done her best to sever with her own insecurities and fears.
‘Sounds accurate,’ he said, his gaze on her face as if he’d been starved of the sight of her for too long. Something that had been shrivelled and frozen deep inside her since she’d watched him walk out of her apartment started to warm and thaw. Her heart.
‘Then Josh somehow lost his ideal woman and I don’t really know why.’ Tori turned to Josh. ‘But I think he could tell you that better than I could.’ She looked at her watch in an exaggerated manner. ‘Heck, I’ve got to go and see a lady about a cake. Josh, could you get Eloise to the trattoria for me? No rush. In your own time. You okay with that, Eloise? We can catch up later.’
Eloise nodded. Bemused, she watched her sister stride away. ‘Is she always like that?’
‘She’s her own woman. Like you. And she’s got it into her head it’s her fault that I lost you. Whereas I did a perfectly good job of doing that on my own.’
‘You didn’t lose me, Josh. I misjudged you. Behaved stupidly. And didn’t trust in what we had together.’
‘I didn’t fully recognise what we’d found. Because I’d never felt it before. Too used to being fuelled by bitterness and revenge I guess.’
She smiled at that. ‘I’ve done pretty well on the bitterness front myself,’ she said. ‘There I was, lecturing you about the kind side of life, and I was so mean to you.’
Over and over again she’d gone over that final confrontation in her living room, scented with his beautiful roses. ‘I cannot believe I told you that you were “beside the point”.’ She shuddered. ‘I’m surprised you’re even talking to me.’
‘It wounded me, I won’t deny it. But you were in shock. I’ve thought about it a lot. That day. A call from a sister you didn’t know existed. Your world knocked off its axis. I wouldn’t—I don’t—blame you for anything you said. I should have handled it better. Stuck around in Sydney, for one thing. So I’d be there if you needed me. To talk you through things. Helped you understand what had happened.’
‘But I pushed you away.’
‘I shouldn’t have gone. I’ve been miserable without you.’
She looked up at him. ‘I’ve been miserable without you too. Utterly miserable. Every minute of every day. I think the word might be heartbroken. And I’m so grateful to Tori for engineering this meeting.’
‘She didn’t need to trick me into seeing you. I’ve got a ticket to fly out to Sydney tomorrow.’
‘But you said you’d never visit Sydney again.’
‘I said a lot of things I didn’t mean. And left unsaid too many others.’
‘Like what, Josh?’ She had a few words left unsaid of her own. She held her breath for his answer.
He cupped her face in his hands and looked deeply into her eyes. ‘That I love you, Ellie.’
She let out her breath on a sigh of happiness. ‘Funnily enough, those are the exact same words I left unsaid. I love you too, Josh. So much. I feared I was falling in love with you at Silver Trees, but I realise I was already head over heels.’
‘You’ve got nothing to fear now, darling Ellie.’
At last he took her in his arms and his kiss was long and tender, at the same time hinting at the passion she knew could ignite so quickly. But, while they were in a busy arrivals hall, where no one would look askance at a couple kissing, she’d rather take the kiss further, which meant going somewhere more appropriate. Like his apartment. She would suggest they detour there on the way to Tori’s family trattoria, where a welcome lunch was planned for her.
‘Another thing, Josh.’
‘Yes?’
‘Did you enjoy being my fake fiancé?’
‘Very much so. I’ve never enjoyed myself as much as at the wedding at Silver Trees.’
She took a deep breath. ‘Would you consider being my fiancé for real?’
He didn’t look the slightest bit perturbed by her proposal. ‘On one condition,’ he said. ‘Two, in fact.’
‘What would they be?’
‘One that we get our own engagement ring. A ring that’s significant just to us that we choose together. You can wear your grandma’s ruby on your other hand if you like.’
‘Yes. I’d like that. And the other condition?’
‘That you be my real-life wife as soon as we can possibly get married. I don’t want to wait.’
Joy bubbled through her. ‘Yes to that too. I can’t think of anything I’d like better. If anyone can organise a wedding in a hurry, it’s me. I’ve got all the contacts.’
‘We’ve wasted enough time apart. Let’s get on with our lives together, starting from now.’ And he kissed her again.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Another three weeks later
ELOISE’S WEDDING DAY. Her twin sister, Tori, and her best friend, Vinh, as her bridesmaids. Josh waiting for her at the altar of the beautiful old sandstone church near Bowral with Tori’s two brothers, Ty and Tate, beside him. Eloise thought it couldn’t be more perfect. Except her father wasn’t there. But her mother was here in the vestibule of the church with her, ready to walk her down the aisle, and she was so grateful for that.
Vinh fussed around her, smoothing and tucking her gown into place. Vinh had helped her design it. Made in heavy white silk, with a full skirt, a stand-up neckline and long, heavy lace sleeves, it gave a nod to her beloved nineteen-fifties vintage style, but was very much a contemporary masterpiece from Eloise Evans Atelier. There was, of course, a detachable train, glistening with crystals, harking back to her mermaid days.
‘I’ve never seen a more beautiful wedding dress,’ Tori said wistfully. ‘If I ever meet a guy I want to marry, can you make me one just like it, please?’
‘I’ll make you whatever dress you’d like,’ Eloise said.
She and Tori had further bonded through tales of their lacklustre love lives. Pre-Josh, of course, for her. Tori had a huge crush on one of the customers of her bakery, a wealthy architect, but had never done anything about it.
‘As alike this one as you can make it, please,’ Tori said. ‘It’s my dream dress.’
‘Mine too,’ said Eloise, giving her sister a quick at-arm’s-length hug so as not to disturb her dress and veil.
The organ started to play the wedding march. Her mother took her arm. ‘Time to walk up that aisle, sweetie,’ she said. ‘There’s a good man waiting for you at the altar.’ Josh had won her mother over completely and reassured her she would always be welcome to visit, and that they would be in Sydney often.
‘I know,’ Eloise said simply.
Tori walked first, then Vinh, and finally Eloise started her journey up the aisle of the church full of family and friends towards the man she adored. She realised it was happening just as she’d hoped it would all those years ago before she’d let herself get cynical. Love at first sight. Moonbeams and roses. And a walk up the aisle to where Mr Perfect was waiting for her. All set for the happy-ever-after that awaited them.
So many times at so many weddings, she’d watched for the groom to catch his first sight of his bride. Now she was waiting to see when Josh first saw her. He did not disappoint. Love and wonder and awe shone from his eyes. Her heart turned over and she hoped he saw love and trust and joy in hers as she held his gaze. Her husband-to-be.
* * *
Josh placed the platinum wedding band on the third finger of Eloise’s left hand above her exquisite diamond ring as he promised to love, honour and cherish her for as long as they both did live. His wife. Then he smiled at her as she placed the matching wide band on his ring finger. In fact, he couldn’t stop smiling. ‘I love you,’ she whispered. When the priest pronounced them man and wife, he thought his heart would burst with pride and love.
Harlequin Romance April 2021 Box Set Page 29
