Dress shopping (4)

"I seem to have made a mistake. I'm sorry for interrupting your appointment. I needed to collect my clothing for the harvest moon festival but it appears I had my time mixed up," Seth apologized for his mistake. It would've been even worse had he walked in when they were changing clothes.

"Apology accepted but next time knock before walking in. If you are a customer you should know the worker will let you in. I have to protect the dignity of my girls and cannot have a man walking into a place where they are changing clothes," Minnie stated uninterested in the intruder compared to her daughter-in-law.

"I've only returned to town recently and I am not familiar with how things are done here."

"Apology accepted. Mother, this is Seth Roberts I had told you about. The one who everyone is speaking about in the papers and on the streets," Rachel said, hoping Minnie would change her attitude and realize this man was someone they should keep close to.

Seth chuckled awkwardly after being put on the spot about his little fame amongst many of the people in the town. "Please don't flatter me. I'm not worthy of all the talk being said about me. I just came home to enjoy the festival."

Minnie stared at the man from top to bottom taking in his appearance. From his clothes alone, he screamed wealth which she didn't catch unto before. No wonder Rachel was being so nice but Minnie still did not like the way he barged into their appointment.

"No no. Pardon me for asking but who were your parents before you moved away and came back?" Rachel asked as she had never heard about him before the papers announced his return. The Roberts she knew did not have a son but three daughters.

"Not many people will know my parents. They lived here more than twenty years ago but moved to another town when they got married. I came back to see where they had grown up and experienced the harvest moon festival this year. I am considering moving to this town permanently to settle down and get married," said Seth.

'He didn't answer who his parents were,' Aurora thought to herself. It felt like he had tip-toed around who his parents were. Minnie lived here the longest out of everyone in the room because she was the oldest. Had he mentioned a name Minnie might've been able to figure out about his parents.

Aurora did not like the feeling she was getting from this man. It felt familiar but she could not place it from where she knew it. His voice did not sound like the werewolf when it spoke to her in her mind so she knew it was not him.

Rachel's eyes practically lit up at the mention of marriage. He fit the type of person she wanted Regina to get married to. "This is my daughter Regina Hamilton and I have my son who might be around your age. They will both be at the harvest moon festival. If you ever need anyone to show you around feel free to reach out to my family."

Regina found the man Seth Roberts to be handsome but she still did not appreciate the way her mother's eyes lit up when he mentioned marriage. Clearly, she will be seeing a lot more of Seth in the future. How many people loved talking about marrying this man to their daughters but did not have a clue about his personality was stupid.

"Nice to meet you, Regina Hamilton. You have inherited all of your mother's beauty," he approached Regina to kiss the back of her hand. "And this is?" He asked, looking beside Regina. The woman had only introduced one of the young women but the other one was not dressed like a servant.

"That is…" Rachel trailed off not wanting or knowing how to introduce Aurora. This was why they should just leave her at home but Minnie did not listen to her.

"Her other daughter Aurora Hamilton," Minnie spoke as Rachel had gone mute.

"Nice to meet you, Aurora Hamilton," he said, also kissing the back of her hand. He had been waiting a long time to finally meet her again. "I have been enchanted by your beauty. I hope to also see you around at the festival. I have overstayed my welcome and will take my leave now. Good day."

"About time," Minnie loudly muttered now that the man had finally left. He knew this was not his appointment but continued to stay longer than he should have. Then again, it was also Rachel's fault for conversing with him for so long. Her daughter-in-law was considering marrying Regina to him but Minnie first needed to look into his wealth. A Hamilton could not marry just anyone.

"What do you think of him, Regina?" Rachel asked her daughter. She hoped her daughter had liked the man for her to start setting them up.

"I think he likes Aurora," Regina bluntly answered. He lingered on Aurora's hand longer than he needed to and complimented her beauty. 'Thank you for taking this one off me sister,' she deviously thought as her mother won't be successful with this man.

"Regina!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Nonsense!" Minnie disagreed with her granddaughter. "Don't spout things you aren't sure about."

Aurora frowned finding their reactions to be over the top. It was just something simple Regina observed but they both responded like it was hard to fathom the man could take interest in her. Aurora and Regina shared a glance and knew they were both thinking the same.

On the other hand, Rachel had also thought for a moment Aurora had captured Seth's eyes but she pushed away from the thought until Regina also said it. Rachel had grown tired of playing pretend and acting like everything was fine in this household. She saw the way her daughter looked at her whenever she spoke of Aurora. As though she was the villain but the villain was their grandmother who did nothing but lie. This was a lot more than what she signed up for when she agreed to marry Nathaniel.

Minnie had threatened her not to speak a word of their family secrets or she would be killed. Rachel at first did not feel threatened until one day Minnie poisoned her tea and kept the antidote until Rachel pledged to secrecy.

"Welcome to my shop! Sorry for making you wait so long," Madame Eloise announced, bringing everyone's focus to her.