Annalise Stark, orphaned after losing her parents in the military, is desperate to find a way to pay off her sister's medical debts. She finds work at the palace, home to the infamous Prince William. Despite her efforts to ignore him, Annalise soon...
"Her eyes gave her away. There was a drowning girl behind that smile." ~Atticus ********************
Everly
"Come in, come in!" I said, moving aside to let Lorraine in. She waddled inside, cradling her belly. "I'm so glad you decided to come."
"I am too. I don't think I realized how much girl time I needed until I remembered the last time I hung out with my friends, which was right around the time I got with Will," Lorraine admitted, plopping down at my table. I moved over to the kitchen, grabbing something to drink for the two of us. "Not going to lie, I'm surprised you asked me to hang out."
"I know we haven't been close since you got with Will, but I think that needs to change since we're going to be sisters-in-law." I sat down next to her. "So, where do we start? I mean, we haven't really talked to each other in what? Five or six years?"
"Something like that," Lorraine said. "How are you doing with the baby?"
I cradled my own protruding belly. "I love him with all my heart, but I cannot wait for him to be in the world and out of my stomach. I'd like to sleep on my stomach again and eat some damn sweet and sour chicken. I miss eating what I want most of all. Any food you miss?"
"Oh, I ate pretty healthy before I became pregnant, so there's not much I'm missing out on."
"You're so lucky. Do you know how hard it was to cut out wine? I swear, I'm not alcoholic, but I liked a nice glass of wine with dinner, you know? At least Mark is still into me and isn't turned off by my massive stomach."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah. Dates every week, and he's helping me decorate the nursery. It's going to be so cute when it's done! What about you and Will? What do you two do to keep the romance alive?" I prodded, knowing fully-well what the truth was. I just wanted to see what she would say.
"Not many dates. Will's been incredibly busy with running the kingdom now that his dad has stepped back from the spotlight. Plus, my skin is super sensitive."
Okay, so she's saying mostly the same thing as Will...
"How have your ultrasound appointments gone? You had one yesterday, right?"
"Yeah. Baby Hannah is doing well."
"What time was it?"
"Two. Why?"
"Funny, I swear saw you out shopping in town yesterday at that time. I even took a picture because the resemblance was so striking. Here!" I pulled up the photo on my phone and showed it to her: a full frontal of her face. There was no way Lorraine could talk her way out of this, and if she tried, I had a mound of evidence against her.
Lorraine blanched. "Wow. That girl really does look like me."
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