Lured into Love (Blossom in Winter #2) - Melanie Martins Page 0,32

Ms. Hasenfratz dresses up in a fancy lace dress with high heels.

She gives me a big smile in return, brushing my arm in gratitude. “Thanks. You look great too,” she praises. “Alright, we should go out to welcome them. Where’s your fiancé?”

But a text pops up before I can reply. “Oh, Yara is here. Let’s go.” I take a clutch, shove my iPhone into it, and drag Emma with me as we go back to the entrance to welcome Alex’s youngest sister.

Standing on the porch, we notice Yara’s car coming around the roundabout and stopping right in front of us. The valet opens the rear door and extends a hand to help her.

As she gets out of the car, neither Emma nor I can help but gape. In our defense, Yara has this very enigmatic expression, with her dark brown eyes always so stern yet mysterious. Her posture is just as straight as the last time I saw her. Not surprisingly, she’s wearing her usual equestrian attire, with black boots, beige breeches, and a white shirt buttoned up to the neck with a dark blazer. Her hair is brushed back in a high ponytail, giving her a sense of finesse that fits her so well.

“Who’s this woman?” Emma whispers nearly out of breath. “Fuck…” she blurts out. “She looks like a model coming out of a Ralph Lauren ad.”

“Let me introduce you.” I grab Emma’s arm, and we walk in Yara’s direction. “Yara!” I greet with a big grin.

But Yara first glances to my right, where Emma is standing.

“Petra,” she finally greets back. “So good to see you again.” Her voice is more formal than usual though. Not sure if it’s because there’s a stranger standing beside me.

After giving her three cheek kisses, I introduce her to Emma. “Yara, this is Emma, my best friend.”

“Emma Hasenfratz,” Emma adds with an ounce of snobbish formality as she extends a hand. The fact that she wanted to add her surname leaves me a bit troubled, but I guess she must have her reasons for doing so.

Yara observes Emma’s hand for a second, considering it. Then her stern brown eyes meet Emma’s. “Yara Van Lawick,” she replies, shaking her hand. “Pleasure meeting you, Ms. Hasenfratz.”

Wow. Such a formal introduction—not what I expected, to say the least. Yara used to be so casual in the Netherlands. And what happened to her sense of humor? This seems to be a totally different Yara from the one I met last year.

“Mrs. Van Lawick, please just call me Emma.”

What? I’ve never heard Emma being so refined and polite to anyone in my entire life. What happened to her casual manners? Emma seems like a totally transformed woman as she stands in front of Yara. Is that because she is from nobility? No freaking idea. But it’s weird to see Emma talking like a posh lady.

Yara smiles back at Emma and says, “And you may just call me Yara.”

They keep their voices so contained that I can’t help but roll my eyes. What’s going on?

“Ah! Elliott!” I say in relief as I glance at Yara’s husband.

“Petra!” He offers me a warm, friendly hug. “Congratulations on the engagement. I’m so happy for you and Van Dieren. You guys deserve it.”

“Thank you so much,” I tell him, still perplexed that Yara didn’t say the same. “Where are the kids? They didn’t come?”

“Nah,” he answers, patting me on the back. “We love you guys too much to bring them. They are with the nanny.” As Elliott looks around, he then asks, “Where is your fiancé?”

“Oh, I think he’s still inside with my dad. Let me check.” I grab my iPhone out of my clutch and call him, but as I hear the door opening behind us and Elliott shouting, “Alex!” I hang up.

“Elliott! So good to see you!” My fiancé welcomes him with a hug and a pat on the back. “Where’s everyone else?”

“They should be here in a minute,” Elliott replies. “We were just a bit ahead.” In fact, as soon as Elliott finishes his sentence, we see three more executive black cars entering the roundabout.

As the first car parks in front of us, a big grin lands on my lips upon recognizing Alex’s oldest sister, Julia. This time, though, I go to greet her on my own. “Julia!”

Julia reciprocates with a warm grin and opens her arms wide to welcome me into a hug. “I’m so happy to see you alive,” she whispers in my ear. “You have always