Chapter 5
Coffee & Cherry Blossoms
Sebastian was forced to eat his own words when they stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the sight before them. The Princeton Estate was in full bloom with cherry blossoms. Clouds of pink flowers stretched endlessly beyond them, and the road leading to the house was carpeted with pink petals.
“We don’t have to go to Japan to see cherry blossoms in full season,” Conrad said, smiling.
“It’s nice,” Nicolas remarked.
Sebastian couldn’t say a thing. Then a gust of wind swirled past, releasing a myriad of flowers from the trees, petals raining down on the car, some landing on the windscreen. He was too stunned to turn on the wiper and continued driving until they reached the front courtyard of the two-hundred-year-old stately mansion, which most foreigners liked to call the Grand Castle of St. Joseph Island, made of massive gray stone that had stood up against many winters.
The estate was immaculately maintained with lush, green lawn and neat, pretty flowerbeds their father loved. The grand water feature of cupids and fairies, their father’s pride and joy, stood proudly in the middle of the courtyard for them to admire, though the brothers didn’t notice it as they drove past.
“Phew!” Tristan voiced the moment he was out of the car. “We’re finally here. Really need a drink.”
“Non-alcoholic,” Darcy said, remembering the hangover he had yesterday.
Just then the housekeeper, Beth Faber, a plump woman with a stern look on her face, came out and screamed, “Oh Mother of God!”
The brothers turned to look at her, surprised by her voice.
“Beth!” Logan greeted. “Surprise!”
“My goodness! This is a very big surprise,” Beth said. “Now I really have to get all your rooms ready.”
Tristan chuckled. “As if that’s hard for you.”
“All seven of you, mind you,” Beth replied. “And where’s Miss Alaina and Tara?”
The brothers started filing into the house, causing the two maids, who were busy carrying trays of savories into the drawing room, to come to a standstill. They were shocked and at the same time pleased to see them. They simply couldn’t believe the handsome seven brothers were back. It was going to be an interesting and entertaining spring, all right.
Hayden nodded at them, Logan winked, and Tristan blew them a kiss. Nicolas just shook his head at his brothers’ flirtatious nature and followed them into the drawing room, followed by Conrad, who gave the maids a friendly wave and smile. Darcy—darkly handsome and totally hot with his I don’t give a shit about the world look—nearly sent the girls to Nirvana. He glanced at them, which caused the maids’ hearts to flutter with joy and their knees to turn into jelly.
“He’s so handsome,” Anna, with red hair and massive freckles on her face, said dreamily, her voice quivering with delight. The other maid, Helen, nodded in agreement, her eyes large with love as they followed Darcy strolling into the drawing room.
Sebastian was the last to enter through the immense double door. When the girls saw him, they nearly dropped their trays because he was so gorgeous, just like an archangel with blond hair and blue eyes.
Sebastian didn’t pay them any mind and in fact didn’t even see them. He headed straight into the drawing room to see his mother, Brenda Princeton, hugging and kissing her sons.
“You boys have changed so much since I last saw you,” she said, tears in her eyes.
“Oh, come now, Aunt,” Mary Collins, the bride-to-be, said from the other side of the room. “It couldn’t have been that long.” She turned to Sebastian. “What happened? I heard you caused an accident.”
That was fast. Sebastian eyed Tristan, who winked at him. “Just a minor accident,” he said mildly.
“Minor?” Conrad stated loudly from the other side of the room. “You nearly killed her!”
“You’ll have a lot to answer for if you did hurt her, you know,” Tristan said.
“Don’t scare your brother, Tristan,” Brenda said, coming over to Sebastian. “Now give me a kiss,” she demanded, tiptoeing so her cheek could reach his massive height.
“No sooner than you’re all here, there’s trouble,” James Princeton said at the door. At nearly sixty years of age, he still looked amazingly handsome, with a tall, lean body and charming, aristocratic demeanor. His eyes were still as sharp as ever and his wit even sharper.
He sat on the sofa near the window and grinned. Nicolas came to sit next to him. Side by side, they looked almost identical, except Nicolas was a younger version, and James had more lines on his face and a head full of gray hair instead of blond.
Finally, trays of savories arrived. The two maids nervously put them down on the coffee table. A moment later, Beth came in with coffee.
“Thank God,” Conrad said, pouring himself a cup.
James looked none too pleased at the coffee. Brenda chuckled, and Beth noticed James’s dark frown.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Princeton,” Beth said, “but it’s standard coffee this afternoon.”
James sighed. “Well, there’s always tonight.”
The brothers didn’t have a clue as to why their father was upset about the coffee. It didn’t taste half-bad.
“We’re expecting your grandparents for dinner tonight,” Brenda announced to her sons.
“Yeah!” Conrad remarked. “I haven’t seen them for ages.”
“I suppose I better inform Sakura to prepare for seven more,” Beth muttered to herself before she left the room. No one was paying any attention to her mentioning the name “Sakura” as they continued to enjoy their afternoon tea.
“So, Mary, where’s Peter?” Hayden asked.
Mary put down her cup of tea and turned to look at her cousin. They were almost a mirror image of one another, with brown hair and cobalt-blue eyes. Except their facial features were different. While Hayden was very handsome with a tall, straight nose, deep-set eyes, firm lips, and high bone structure, Mary’s face was rather soft and round. One could say Mary was pretty, but not at all memorable, even with the blue eyes and dark hair.
“Coming on Friday,” she said. “With Richard.”
“Richard?” Tristan asked. “Haven’t seen that old flirt for ages.”
“He’s not a flirt.” Mary defended her older brother.
Tristan chuckled. “Come to think of it, you’re right. He’s not. He’s so lousy at flirting that it’s not flirting. Has he got a girl yet?”
“Ask him yourself when he’s here,” Mary said.
“Will do,” Tristan replied, smiling.
“Mom, Dad, and Peter’s parents will be here next Wednesday,” Mary said. “Hope the weather is going to be nice on my wedding day.”
Logan waved her worry aside with a flick of his hand. “It’ll be fine. By the way, why spring? Why here on St. Joseph Island?”
“What do you mean?” Mary raised her brows.
“What he means is,” Darcy said from where he stood near the window, his eyes fixed on the countless cherry trees outside, “why get married here in spring?”
“Yeah, why here and why spring?” Hayden asked, curious. “Don’t all you girls want to get married in summer when the weather is perfect?”
Mary chuckled. “I asked myself those questions many times, too. Why here on St. Joseph Island. Why in spring?” She turned to look at her cousins who were waiting for her answers. “I suppose I have to blame it on my dear friend. She’s the one who started it off when we were in high school. Always going on about how beautiful it is here in spring. Then when I saw it a couple of years ago, I knew I just had to get married here in spring.”
“I see what you mean,” Darcy said. Because at that moment he had his back to everyone, they didn’t see his face soften with understanding, nor did they see the slight smile on his lips and the peaceful look in his eyes as he gazed at the clouds of cherry trees outside. Yes, he loved them, for they brought forward a sense of joy that he desperately needed. The beauti
ful sight and exotic scent reminded him of something lovely, wonderful, and warm. Yet there was pain as well. For the life of him, however, he couldn’t think of why.
“Mom?” Conrad suddenly called to his mother. “Do you know who lives in that cottage down the road?”
The moment he said that, his brothers turned their undivided attention to their mother.
Brenda cocked her head to one side at the sudden interest from her sons. “Down the road? You mean the cottage?”
“Hmm.” Conrad nodded.
“Ned Faber,” James said.
“You mean Beth’s younger brother?” Sebastian asked after taking a sip of his bland coffee.
“Yes,” Brenda said. “He lives there. Why do you want to know?”
Conrad laughed uneasily. “No reason.” He returned to his coffee. So did his brothers when they realized their parents were looking at them oddly.