Secret (Peters Junction Series Book 1)

  Chapter Seven

  By the time April met up with Abigale on Thursday morning, she was a complete wreck. The evening had gone much the same way as the previous night and waking up with him again this morning made her feel like she’d literally stepped out of her own dreams, and that only made April more miserable. She’d never met another man she was this comfortable with and every minute she spent with him made her dread the moment when she would have to say good-bye.

  “So what colour’s your dress,” Abigale asked when April met her in the hotel lobby.

  “Sapphire Blue. Here I took a quick picture to show you.” She grabbed her phone out of her bag and brought up the picture David had snapped of her wearing the dress.

  “Oh my god, that’s gorgeous. You’re so lucky! I’ve wanted to wear a David Anderson dress for so long, but I’ve never found one that suits me.” April bit back a smug smile. Despite being stunning, with a long, slim figure, her noticeable lack of curves meant nothing David created would ever suit Abigale. The thought swelled her ego slightly and for the first time, she didn’t feel like a wallflower in Abigale’s presence.

  “So where to first?” April asked and then spent the next six hours being dragged around the city trying on shoes, jewellery, makeup and hair accessories until her feet were so weary she could barely lift them. By the time they stopped for lunch, it was three o’clock and April was ravenous.

  “This is torture,” April complained over a bowl of chicken and avocado salad. “I’ve wasted two days putting this outfit together for the ball. In fact, I’m spending more time shopping for the ball than I’ll actually spend at the ball. Don’t you find that a bit ridiculous?”

  “Absolutely not.” Abigale shook her head vigorously. “I told you, everyone who’s anyone will be at this ball. And you’re going with Lachlan Kennedy. You have to look perfect. People will be falling all over themselves to find out who you are. Lachlan hasn’t taken a date to one of these things in two years. Just being there with him will make you the centre of attention. By Saturday, you’ll be practically as famous as he is.”

  “What? No! I don’t want to be famous.” April’s heart sank. What had she gotten herself into?

  “You won’t have a choice. And it’s too late now to pull out, not when David Anderson’s gone to so much effort for you.”

  “You don’t understand,” April cried hysterically, then quickly lowered her voice when she noticed a few heads turning her direction, “I don’t want A.D. Pope identified.”

  “But it’s like Lachlan said, you’ll be going as ‘Just April’ not A.D. Pope.” That Abigale could brush off her concern so readily only irritated April, but she couldn’t blame the woman. She didn’t know April’s reasons for wanting anonymity. The knot of dread she’d been harbouring for days clenched tightly again and it took an enormous effort for April to keep her lunch down.

  Somehow, she suffered another hour in Abigale’s presence before she finally made her way back to the hotel alone, laden with her purchases. Apart from shoes, she’d also been talked into buying a set of beautifully crafted white gold earrings that dangled down to her shoulders and a matching necklace with a solid v-shaped pendant that hung provocatively between her breasts.

  As soon as she entered her room, however, April threw her bags on the floor and collapsed on the bed. There was no way she could go to this ball. It was too dangerous. How could she possibly put Marie at risk like that?

  A haunting image of her mother flashed before her eyes. “Look after your sister,” the image said urgently. “Look after Marie.”

  How could she have been so stupid? She’d known from the moment Lachlan had asked her that she shouldn’t go to this ball and yet she’d completely ignored her instincts. Being with Lachlan would guarantee that her photograph would be published in every tabloid in Australia. And all it would take was one photograph of her for someone to recognise her. Then everything she’d done in the past ten years would come crashing down around her, and Marie would be the one to suffer.

  Why did she have to go and get involved with Lachlan? Of all the men in Australia she had to go and fall in love with, he was the one man who could ruin her life. And she did love him. April couldn’t deny her feelings. Sometime in the past four days, she’d fallen in love with Lachlan Kennedy and now her whole future was at risk. Marie was at risk.

  She couldn’t go through with it. She had to tell him she couldn’t go to the ball with him and when she did, he would probably decide she wasn’t worth all this trouble and he would leave. But isn’t that what she wanted? This thing between them could only ever be a fling and on Saturday it would have ended anyway, so what difference did it make if he walked away from her two days earlier?

  Her heart clenched in her chest and her breath came short. The ache inside her was all consuming. She knew with every fibre in her being that for Marie’s sake she had to end things with Lachlan, but that didn’t stop it from hurting. Goddamit, it hurt!