Sweet as Honey (The Seven Sisters) - By Caitlyn Robertson Page 0,59

didn’t want to talk about it, Daisy slotted a blue flower clip into the side of her hair and held up the mirror. “You look lovely. If a bit pale.”

“I’m hungry,” Honey realised.

Daisy smiled. “Come on then. Koru will be here soon.”

Honey wasn’t sure quite why they were taking her out to lunch. She presumed they wanted to talk to her about the wedding, maybe try to convince her to go ahead with it. After all, everything was planned and paid for—her father had given her a generous budget, which was no mean feat considering she had six siblings that he also had to put money aside for. Not that she could ever imagine Koru getting married, since it meant settling down with one girl and forsaking all others.

Her brother turned up within ten minutes. He looked smart, she thought. He’d exchanged his usual jeans for black pants and wore a dark dress shirt instead of a T-shirt.

“Where the hell are you taking me?” she joked. “The Ritz?”

“Ha ha.” He came in and gave her a big hug. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

He held her hands and looked into her eyes. “Are you sure? You look sad.”

“I am sad. But I’m okay.”

She thought he might press her for more details, but instead he just glanced at Daisy and then smiled. “Come on. I’ve booked a table for twelve thirty.”

“Where?”

“The Apple Tree.”

It was her favourite place to eat—a relaxed restaurant and bar right on the inlet, the outside chairs and tables overlooking the water right across from the Stone Store, the oldest stone building in New Zealand. “Nice.”

She relaxed back in the car and watched the scenery flash by, thinking of nothing in particular as Koru drove them there. He and Daisy chatted in the front, but she was happy to let her mind wander, thinking about Dex and what he’d said the night before.

She looked down at her hand, at her engagement ring twinkling in the sunlight, still not able to bring herself to take it off. He’d proposed at the Apple Tree, funnily enough, after a long lunch, getting down on one knee and smiling as the diners around them cheered. She’d thrown her arms around his neck and whispered, “Yes, yes, yes!” without a second thought. Had she been stupid? Should she have taken longer to decide? But her heart had screamed the answer, and she hadn’t had to think at all.

The car threaded through the town and down to the inlet, and Koru pulled up in the car park outside. She got out and Daisy linked arms with her as they walked inside.

Koru went up to the guy serving behind the bar and had a quick word, and the barman nodded and pointed through the restaurant to the lawn out the back. Koru turned and indicated with his head for them to follow him, and Daisy guided her through the tables and chairs with the half a dozen customers to the outside area, which appeared to be mostly empty, just a few people standing by the table near the old apple tree that gave the restaurant its name.

Daisy held her hand and led her out onto the grass. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the bright blue sky, and everywhere smelled fresh, of late summer with a hint of autumn. The tide was high and the inlet glittered in the sun.

Honey’s heart started to pound. Under the huge apple tree stood Dex in his police officer’s uniform, talking to Jude and a slim woman dressed in a pale yellow suit. Honey couldn’t place her at first, although she vaguely recognised her. The woman touched Jude’s arm—an intimate gesture—and Honey remembered; it was Jude’s mother, Wendy. What was she doing there?

Dex turned to look at her, and she stopped walking. He murmured something to Jude, then walked across the lawn to them, took her hand from Daisy and led her down the riverbank to the water’s edge.

“What’s going on?” Honey whispered.

Dex cleared his throat. “I have an idea,” he said softly.

Chapter Twenty-Four

At three thirty on Saturday afternoon, Dex still had a very small—almost insignificant, he told himself—hangover.

He’d tried extremely hard not to get drunk the night before. Had refused beer, which always got him plastered quickly, stuck to shorts and drunk a full glass of water in between each one. But it had been a long night, and Koru, Jude and Chase, along with half a dozen of their other mates, had not been prepared to let