Free The Langley Sisters Trilogy Boxed Set by Wendy Vella Page A

love again. If you won’t be honest, then I will. You don’t want to risk loving again because Lord Ryder hurt you.”
    Ferocious Phoebe was back and she was right. The pain Livvy felt when Will left had been unbearable, and she had no wish to ever experience that again.
    “I do not want to discuss him, Phoebe. Furthermore, how do you know what it’s like to love someone that way?”
    “I don’t,” Phoebe said, flashing a wide smile. “But I have spoken to many people about this, Livvy, and all say that love is something you do not plan for and cannot halt once two people meet who are fated for each other.”  
    Livvy swung her sister’s hand for several steps, mulling over the words as they walked down the narrow, windy lane.  
    “Perhaps you are right, but the pain is something I have no wish to ever experience again, Phoebe. Therefore, I have a feeling no man will meet my exacting standards and fall at my feet declaring his undying adoration and love. No, I shall pin all my hopes on you and Bella receiving just such a declaration.”
    Thankfully, Phoebe didn’t say anything further as they had reached the village. She just harrumphed as the sisters walked over the bridge and down the main street.
    Twoaks was a lively village, not too big yet not too small either, with neat stone cottages and shops that were usually bustling with activity even on a brisk winter’s morning.  
    “Step to the side, sisters,” Livvy directed as two carts being pushed by men involved in a heated debate rumbled by.  
    “Don’t step in that!”
    “I see it, Livvy,” Bella said, limping around a large pile of horse manure.
    “Good day, Mrs. Casey!” Phoebe called to the elderly lady who was sitting on her porch, as she had every day for as long as Livvy could remember.
    Being born and raised close to a village was both a gift and a curse as far as Livvy was concerned. She loved being part of the community and sharing the highs and lows of those she knew. However, it had been hard, since their father’s death, to hide their situation from people who knew them so well. Livvy hated lying, yet she had become skilled at it and that saddened her.
    “I think we could make that with a bit more ribbon. Red, I think,” Phoebe said, dragging Livvy to look in a shop window. Pressing her face to the glass, she studied the bonnet on display. “You have that bonnet with the hideous gray ribbon that makes you look insipid, Livvy. It will do perfectly for what I have in mind.”
    Livvy thought of the coins they had stolen and the few she had in her reticule. “I think we can manage a piece of ribbon,” she said, ushering her sisters through the door. “However, I protest to looking insipid in that bonnet. In fact, I will go so far as saying I look fetching.
    Phoebe snorted. “Fetching? You look bilious, and that is on a good day.”
    As they were now inside the shop, Livvy could not answer so she hissed instead.
    “It seems something is hissing inside your shop, Mr. Todd,” Phoebe said loudly to the proprietor as he came forward to greet them.
    “Hissing, Miss Langley?” he said, looking alarmed and quickly glancing around his shop for anything that could make such a noise. “I cannot think what it would be.”
    “Good morning, Mr. Todd. Don’t worry, I believe the noise was outside,” Livvy reassured the proprietor while sending her sister a dark look.  
    “I’m sure you’re right, Miss Olivia.” He gave the door a final look. “Are you looking for anything in particular?”
    “Red ribbon,” Phoebe said promptly.
    The shop was a riot of color. Braids, buttons and ribbons covered every inch. There were trimmings in every shade and size.  
    “I will show you all we have,” Mr. Todd said, beginning to lay ribbons before them on the counter.
    “I think this is too thin.” Bella pushed one aside.
    “Too red,” Phoebe said, pushing another aside.
    “How can something be too red?” Livvy looked at the offending