Sweet as Honey (The Seven Sisters) - By Caitlyn Robertson Page 0,39

a hoarse apology, pushed herself away from the table and walked stiffly to her bedroom, hearing the hushed whispers of her family behind her and knowing she’d shocked them with her unusual temper.

It was her youngest sister who came in to find her.

“Are you okay?” Lily perched on the edge of the dresser. Small, slender and dark, Lily had seemed the most affected by their mother’s death, and she was the only one of her sisters that Honey still worried about on a regular basis.

Honey adopted a bright smile. “I’m fine. Just nervous about today.” It was partly true. She pushed the ever-present fear about Dex away and came over to give Lily a hug. “How are you?”

Lily shrugged. “Okay.”

“What are you working on today?” Lily had a day off, and usually she spent her spare time indulging in her favourite hobby—painting.

Lily’s eyes lit up. “I’m starting a new piece. I was looking at pictures of Jupiter last night, with its huge spot and swirling clouds, and it gave me an idea for a series of abstract paintings based on the planets.”

“What a great idea.” Honey hugged her again. “I don’t know where you get all your inspiration. I couldn’t dream these things up in a million years.”

Lily hugged her back. “Are you sure you’re okay? Don’t brush me off. You’re worried about Dex, aren’t you? What has he done? Is he misbehaving?” Her manner was only a little teasing. The whole family knew about his troubled youth.

Honey pulled back, her eyebrows rising, although she wasn’t sure why she was so surprised. Her sister had always had a special knack for reading people’s emotions. “He hasn’t done anything.” She turned away and pulled on her jacket, not wanting to worry her baby sister. “Everything’s fine.”

“Honey…” Lily folded her arms. “If you can’t talk to me, who can you talk to? I know you don’t want to worry Dad.”

“I don’t want to worry you either,” Honey pointed out wryly.

“I’m not made of paper,” Lily said. She looked down at the floor. “I know I’ve not been the most…resilient of people. I know I haven’t coped with everything as well as I could have. But that doesn’t mean I’m fragile. Everyone acts like I’m going to slit my wrists if they tell me something negative, but I’ve never been like that.”

“I know,” Honey said.

“I miss Mum,” Lily said. “But I think that’s allowed, you know? The others all do too but they try and hide it, as if it will somehow go away if they ignore it. But I’ve never been like that. I’d rather face up to something. I’m not afraid to feel, you know?” She spoke fiercely, passionately. She’d always been like that, Honey thought. Somehow experiencing things on a deeper level than everyone else.

Perhaps she’d been too protective of her little sister. The very fact that she was the baby of the family meant they’d spoiled her, indulged her, and when Marama had died, they’d tried to protect her and wrap her in cotton wool as if they could somehow muffle the pain. But it hadn’t worked and all it had done was made Lily feel patronised. Although only twenty-one, she was an adult. She didn’t deserve to be mollycoddled.

Honey sat on the edge of the bed with a sigh. “Okay, I give in. I don’t have anything concrete to tell you. It’s more instinct, you know? A gut feeling. Something doesn’t feel right, but I don’t know what it is. Dex seems…distracted. And I worry that he’s having second thoughts.”

“About marrying you?” Lily studied her thoughtfully. “I very much doubt that’s the case. He’s waited an awfully long time to get you down the aisle, and he doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who takes to celibacy easily.”

Honey’s lips twisted as Lily’s eyes sparkled. “No.”

“I don’t get the impression he’s suddenly changed his mind,” Lily continued.

“But something’s bothering him.”

Lily shrugged. “What happened last time is bound to play on his thoughts. At the moment he associates weddings with negative emotions, with anger and possessiveness and fear. It sounds like last time he agreed to marry Cathryn the Crackpot even though he knew deep down she wasn’t the love of his life. He did it out of duty, and he regrets that. It’s probably making him uncomfortable, remembering that day.”

“Hmm.” Honey wasn’t convinced. Dex hadn’t looked uncomfortable. He’d looked like he was trying to find a way to tell her he didn’t want to marry her, but