Falling For Sakura (Falling For Sakura Trilogy, #1) (5 page)

“Okay
, boys, time to get going,” Nicolas said, opening the door.

The brothers too
k their leave without ever seeing Sakura enter the house. In fact, she had disappeared around the corner while they’d been busy negotiating who got to ask her out on a date.

C
offee & 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 blos
soms in full season,” Conrad said, smiling.

“It’s nice
,” Nicolas remarked.

Sebastian couldn’t say a th
ing. 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 wa
s 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 voice
d 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 turn
ed 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 chuckle
d. “As if that’s hard for you.”

“All se
ven of you, mind you,” Beth replied. “And where’s Miss Alaina and Tara?”

The brothers start
ed 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.

Se
bastian 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.”

T
hat was fast. Sebastian eyed Tristan, who winked at him. “Just a minor accident,” he said mildly.

“Minor?” Conrad state
d 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.

F
inally, 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 spr
ing?” 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?” Sh
e 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 beautiful sight and exotic scent reminded him of something lovely, something wonderful, something warm, yet something painful as well. For the life of him, however, he could not think of what, when, why, or how. Though he knew it was right here on St. Joseph Island.

“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.

H
ide & Seek

S
akura decided it was all the brothers’ fault that she had to take the long way home. If it weren’t for them, she would have been home by now.

Tired, thirsty, and h
er body aching something sorely, she still had to walk through this tiny pathway via the woods to get home. Normally she didn’t mind, but this time she really did mind. After all, she’d been hit by a car. And yes, that was entirely their fault too.

She grumbled
to herself and cursed them again. Oh yes, she was sure they’d be very comfortable indeed right now, sitting in the lounge and drinking that horrible coffee Beth would have prepared for them. Not to mention her very own mini-sandwiches, scones, muffins, and slices she had made this morning.

She groaned. She couldn’t believe they’d be eating the food she prepared.

Once she reached Princeton Mansion, she sneaked into the kitchen—hoping like hell she wouldn’t bump into any of the brothers—when she was greeted with a, “Where have you been? Mr. Princeton was looking all over for you.”

Sakura jumped, her heart nearly dropping to her shoes. “Beth! Why do
you have to shout?”

The housekeeper cocked her head to one side. “Oh! I wasn’t aware I was shouting,” the woman said, giving her a smile. “Those two maids became useless the moment they arrived,” she muttered to herself.

Sakura knew very well what she meant. Any female, aside from her, would become useless the moment she set her eyes on the brothers.

“I was out for a bit, taking photos. I thought I told everyone,” Sakura said, giving the housekeeper
a sunny smile. Toby rushed past her feet and raced to his water bowl on the other side of the kitchen. He thirstily licked the water to his heart’s content.

S
akura, too, was deadly thirsty. She opened the fridge door and poured herself a good cup of apple juice. Once she’d finished, she sighed and said, “Ah, that was good.”

Beth opened the oven door and pulled out the tray of chocolate biscuits that had just been baked.

“Woo. Nice,” Sakura said, bending over to snaffle one. She popped the hot piece into her mouth and sighed with pleasure. “You’re the best. I’m starved.”

“Who told you to go out for so long? You didn’t have lunch either,” Beth grumbled. “Go and eat properly in the drawing room like everyone else. Jesus! No wonder you’re so thin.”

Sakura chuckled. “That’s okay. I’ll eat here.”

“
Sakura, do go and eat with your brothers,” Beth said with a no-nonsense tone.

Sakura’s heart skipped a beat. The images of the seven men back on the road flashed before her eyes.

“Come along now,” Beth said, grabbing for another tray of sandwiches. “Mr. Princeton wants you to meet them. Not that you haven’t met them before. But you haven’t seen them for a while now, haven’t you. To be frank, I haven’t either. But oh, you should see them now. Handsome men they are.”

“I’ll come
right along in a wee bit, Beth. I just need to clean up,” Sakura said. “After all, I can hardly present myself in this state.” She took a step forward for Beth to see her, since after all she was in quite a mess, with sweat and dirt from walking through the woods and all.

Beth shook her head. “You’re still as wild as ever.
What will they say when they see you in such a state? All right then, but don’t be too long,” the housekeeper said, walking out the door with a tray in her hand. “Oh, by the way, we’ll be serving seven more now.”

Sakura sighed.
Of course.

Once the housekeeper was gone, Sakura made quick work of her escape. She took out the extra pounds of pork, marinated it with her special marinade and then scribbled on a piece of yellow Post-it note the cooking instructions for Beth. Then she grabbed a large tray and tossed
on some chocolate biscuits, mini-sandwiches, muffins, and an apple and a bunch of red grapes. After that, she grabbed a bottle of apple juice and a glass and then rushed off to the back stairs where she was sure no one would see her. Toby followed closely behind.

She hid in her room that night, work
ing on her photos and putting them up for sale on her website. Now and again, she munched up her snacks to her heart’s content, tossing a wee bit for Toby to enjoy. It was just a little after six o’clock when she heard them all raiding up the stairs onto the second floor.

Holy
smokes!
She’d just remembered that all the brothers’ bedrooms were on the same floor as hers.

Her hands froze before the keyboard as her heart continued to pound outrageously fast. She turned to
stare at the door, hoping they wouldn’t open hers by accident. Surely, dear God, they remembered their own bedrooms and wouldn’t randomly walk into hers, which of course was at the very far end of the house.

“That was the best afternoon tea I’ve had in a long time,”
she heard Logan say.

“You have afternoon tea?” Sebastian asked.

“Can’t wait for dinner,” Conrad said. “I heard there’s roast pork.”

“Need a shower,
” Darcy stated.

She sensed t
hey were getting closer and closer to her room. Something wasn’t right. Her body tensed up. She glanced at Toby, who was looking at her in confusion, wondering what was wrong with her.

Wo
of!

She
wanted to die.

“What was that?” Nicolas uttered
.

“What
?” Tristan asked.

“I thought I heard something,” Nicolas replied.

“You’re going senile, old man,” Tristan said. “Hearing things.”

Sakura put a finger to her lips, telling Toby to be quiet. Toby cocked his head to one side, still confused.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming toward her door. Sakura swallowed. And before all hell broke loose, she raced to the door and quickly locked it. An instant later, the doorknob wriggled as if someone were trying to open it.

“It’s locked,” Sebastian muttered
.

“Of course it’s locked,” Nicolas said. “No one stays there.”

“You got the wrong room, handsome boy,” Tristan shouted. “Your room is next door.”

A few moments later, the hallway was quiet again, and Sakura sighed with relief.

“Oh God,” she muttered under her breath. “Way too many surprises in one day.”

About half an hour later
, she heard them leaving their rooms one by one to go down for dinner, and it was only then she was able to fully relax.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when Brenda knocked on her door.

“Sakura, sweetheart, you’re not coming down for dinner?” Brenda queried from the other side.

Sakura rushed to open the door and said, “Hi, Mom
. Sorry, I have a really bad headache. Mind if I stay in bed?” she asked, feigning sickness.

“Then take some aspirin an
d rest. I’ll tell Beth to bring something up for you. You know you should look after yourself more. You should just relax. You’re on holiday, after all.”

“I know,” Sakura said. But then again, she needed to make as much money as soon as possible if she wanted to travel to Japan
and find her birth mother. After all, she had no idea when her travelling would end or how much it would cost.

“I know how independent you are about money, and I know how much you want to go to Japan
, but you still have to look after yourself,” Brenda said as if she were reading her mind.

“Yes, I know,” Sakura said.

“All right. Your brothers are here, by the way.”

Sakura bit her lip
.
I know. I’ve met them
.

“You’ll have to w
ait until tomorrow to greet them,” Brenda commented. “And Dale and Molly were hoping to see you tonight.”

“I can come down and se
e them in town tomorrow,” Sakura suggested happily.

“Yes, t
hey’d love that. You get better,” Brenda said and then gave her a peck on the cheek.

“Ok
ay,” Sakura murmured. Once Brenda left, she closed the door and went to take a long, hot bath.

Some ten minutes later, lying in the big tub with warm water and bubbles up to her neck, Sakura stared up at the ceiling, thinking.

“They’re eating my roast pork,” she murmured to herself. Then she glanced at Toby, who obediently sat there waiting for her to finish. She sat up and reached out to pat him on the head. “I hope they choke.”