The Accidental Countess (The Aristocrat Diaries 3)

I’d also not woken up to my period like I’d hoped.

Of course, that’d been quite the strange disappointment to have this morning. It wasn’t often that one woke up, didn’t find their period, and was gutted about it.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this new development. I was usually annoyed to see her arrive, and usually, I’d be happy about a delay.

But this was delay day two.

All I could do right now was put it down to stress. Moving, Ffion’s comments, the emotional upheaval I was currently going through as I tried to create a home three hundred miles away from my own…

Really, it was no wonder I was late.

Let’s face it: there were a thousand reasons for my period being late.

Ugh.

The lady doth protest too much, indeed.

Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Adelaide were pregnant and that fact alone stopped mine for nine months. Twins were weird, especially twins as close as we were, and it wouldn’t be the first time one of us had experienced pseudo-symptoms.

As long as I didn’t have any faux labour pains, I suppose I could cope.

Either way, I’d made it through the morning without any comments from Ffion or seeing Matthew, and Olympia had been appropriately excited about going to Beaumaris to see the castle.

Lunch had been a simple affair—just the three of us girls in a café that was so busy Olympia spent the entire meal with her headphones on. She’d handled the noise well, and after a treat of ice-cream, we’d walked along the pier and watched a guy and his dad crabbing off the side.

“Matthew wants to know if you can meet him in Stoneheadnton.”

I glanced over at Adelaide as I pulled up at a red light. “Now?”

“That’s what he says.”

“Can you call him?”

She nodded, then put the call on speakerphone and held it out. The ring of the call rang through the car, broken by Matthew’s deep but crackly, “Hello?”

“Why do you want me to come to Stoneheadnton?” I wasn’t going to beat about the bush. “I have Addy and Oly with me.”

“So bring them. I have to show you something.”

“Ohhh,” I moaned. “I’ve already passed the junction. I’m going to have to turn around.”

“Oh, come on. It’s not that far even if you were almost home.”

“Fine, all right. Give me five minutes. Where shall I park?”

“Go to the carpark I went to last time.”

I hit the indicator and sighed. “All right. Will you meet us there?”

“Yes, I’ll wait by the ticket meter. I’ll see you in a few.” The line went dead immediately after, and I huffed out a breath as I used the layby to turn in the road and head back the way we’d just come.

Olympia glanced up from her book. “Where are we going?”

“Uncle Matt wants us to meet him in the village,” Adelaide said, looking back. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we can wait in the car if you’ve had enough people for today.”

“Okay.” She dropped her head again, going back to her book.

For a child who despised change, she was surprisingly adaptable.

I followed the signs to Stoneheadnton. Somehow, I managed to get us to the village centre without getting lost, and I was more than a little proud of that fact.

Look at me, killing it up here in the middle of nowhere.

Matthew was standing next to the payment meter like he’d said, and he was talking to someone who had their back to us.

“Does that guy look familiar to you?” I asked, turning on my indicator to claim the nearest empty spot.

Adelaide craned her neck. “Who? The person Matt is spea—is that Alexander?”

“Papa! Is Papa here?” Olympia’s head shot up and she pressed her face against the window. “That’s Papa!”

I parked, and Adelaide jumped out of the car in just enough time to catch Olympia’s door before she smashed it into the Volvo next to us.

What on Earth was Alexander doing here?

“Papa!” Olympia shouted, tugging Addy along after her. “Papa, Papa, Papa!”

Alex turned around, grinning. “Hey, princess!”

Oly launched herself at him.

“Oof,” he said, hugging. “Did you miss me?”

“Millions and millions!” She pressed herself flat against him.

Alex smiled at Adelaide, leaning over to kiss her. “Hi.”

“What are you doing here?” Addy laughed, touching his arm. “Are you crashing our break?”

“Guilty as charged.” He grinned. “Hi, Eva.”

“Hey. What are you doing here?”

Alex shrugged. “I was only in London for a couple of days, so I thought I’d drive up after my last meeting and get away for a few days myself. Thankfully, I knew a guy and didn’t have to worry about a hotel room.”

I turned to Matthew.

He held up a small white ticket. “You’ll be needing this.”

I plucked the pay and display ticket from his fingers and returned to the car where I left it sitting on the dashboard.

“There’s a great park nearby,” Matthew was saying when I returned. “And there’s a bookstore right next to this café that does great milkshakes.”