The Accidental Countess (The Aristocrat Diaries 3)

I finished my drink and leaned forwards, dropping my head and linking my fingers behind my neck.

Alex laughed. “Eva isn’t the only one who can change her mind, you know.”

“I’m not changing my mind.” I chuckled, sitting upright again. “I’m driving down for wedding planning tomorrow. We’ll discuss this all then.”

“Yeah. Right. That’s what you two will be doing,” Alex said dryly, gesturing for the bill. “Talking.”

• • •

“I spoke to Dad before he left,” Eva said, putting a dress on a hanger. “He said to tell you that he’s spoken to both his attorney and the accountant and thinks it’s a good idea for you to buy into the hotel, but only after we’ve gotten married.”

“That makes sense.” I kicked off my shoes and swung my legs up onto the bed. “I’m glad he wasn’t offended by my offer.”

She shook her head, hanging up another dress. “No. If I’m honest, I think he was relieved. He was either going to have to go to the bank or Mum was going to call Uncle Philip, but she really didn’t want to do that.”

No, I couldn’t imagine her calling her brother for help. Not after she went against everyone’s advice to marry outside of the aristocracy.

“Well, I’m glad, all the same.”

Eva smiled, turning around. “So am I. What do we need to do this weekend?”

“Didn’t you write out the itinerary?”

“Yes, but my phone is charging in the other room.” She pointed out of her bedroom door and towards the living room she had shared with Adelaide.

The hotel was practically a manor house on all on its own, and after Adelaide had moved in permanently with Alexander and his daughter at Bentley Manor, Eva had inherited what was essentially a rather large flat that she’d previously shared with her twin sister.

Now, it was all hers, and since we were getting married here, it was home for the weekend as we wrapped up the planning stages.

I picked my laptop up from the bed and booted it up, then brought up the itinerary for the next two days. “Starts at three with a meeting with the florist.”

“Ugh. We have to pick all the flowers, and I’m pretty sure Gabi is coming.”

“Is Miles?” I asked. Miles was the gardener at Arrowwood Hall, Lady Gabriella Hastings’ family home, and her boyfriend.

Eva shook her head. “He said he’d rather be pecked to death by a murder of crows than step foot in a florist.”

“He’s a gardener.”

“I know, but he prefers his plants in the ground.” She shrugged. “As do I, to be honest.”

“Right.” I fought back a laugh. “That’s an hour, then apparently the bakery is down the street, so we have to choose the cake flavour.”

Eva groaned and flopped back onto the bed. Her arms were spread out to her sides, her legs hung over the edge of the bed, and she stared up at the ceiling. “Oh, no. Isabel will keep us talking all evening.”

“No. We have dinner reservations with… Oh, Gabi and Miles at six.”

“Like that’ll help. What hell are we putting ourselves through tomorrow?”

“In the morning, we both have appointments at the dress shop and the suit place.”

“Oh, bloody hell. I suppose I have to make a decision, don’t I?”

“It would be appropriate for you to wear a wedding dress at your wedding, yes.”

She craned her neck back to look at me. “Is it too late to elope?”

I nudged her with my foot. “Yes. You had the option, and you chose a proper wedding.”

She sighed. “Well, I suppose if I’m going to get married, I should at least do the whole shebang. It’s about the only time I can pretend I’m a princess. What’s happening after that?”

“We need to go over the seating plan with your mum. She’s happy to handle everything to do with the reception, but we need to check everything and make sure it’s all correct.”

She groaned again. “Is that everything?”

“That I can think of right now? Yes. It’s also written down that you need to book a hair trial for you, Gabi, Adelaide, and Olympia.”

“Do I have to?”

“Yes, you need to make sure the tiara fits, and you’re already cutting it fine. That’s why there’s a copy of it.”

“Oh, fine, I’ll sit there for an entire day while Hannah messes about trying to make my hair work with the bloody thing,” she huffed out. “Honestly, she can probably trial Olympia’s hair on her daughter. They’re about the same age, and Gabi and Addy’s hair is the same length, so she can do theirs on Gabi.”

“Then that’s everything taken care of for this weekend.”

She sighed. “Thank God. That’s already an insane amount. Why didn’t we hire a wedding planner for this?”

“We tried. The only person who came completely recommended as any kind of flawless, trusted planner was Camilla Hopkins, and she was busy, remember? We were lucky that she sent us a plan in lieu of that.”