It was Katie. “I wondered if you wanted a hand with getting ready.”

“You’re a lifesaver, Katie. I was just trying to work out how to pour myself into this dress,” Amelia joked.

Katie laughed and walked over to her. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll have no problem. You have a fabulous figure.”

Once they had gotten Amelia in her dress and her hair dried and styled, Katie helped her with her make-up. The whole time she was getting ready, Amelia’s eyes were drawn to the wound at the side of Katie’s neck. She’d detected Katie had been nervous when she asked about it before.

As Katie powdered her face, Amelia asked tentatively, “Are you sure your neck is okay, Katie?”

Katie’s fingers immediately touched her wound, and Amelia could see nervousness in her eyes. “It’s nothing. Just nips a bit. It’ll be much better tomorrow.”

Before Amelia got a chance to say any more, Katie took a step back and said, “There, finished. What do you think?”

Amelia suspected Katie was trying to distract her again, and it worked. Amelia was extremely happy with Katie’s work. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

“Why don’t you take a look in the full-length mirror?”

Amelia stood in front of mirror, and a smile erupted on her face. “This dress is just exquisite.”

“Told you—you have the figure to carry it off,” Katie said. Katie took a lint brush over her dress, making sure everything was perfect. “Byron always has good taste.”

That comment brought her nagging doubts back to the forefront of her mind. “Can I ask you something, Katie?”

“Of course,” Katie said.

“Has Byron done this often? Does she do this often?” Amelia asked.

Katie didn’t look as if she entirely understood the question. “What do you mean?”

“Bring women here. Shower them with gifts?”

“Oh no. I’ve never known her to ever do that. Maybe my parents have seen her bring people here, but I haven’t. This is one of her most private spaces.”

“Thank you. That’s good to know.”

Someone knocked at the door and Katie excused herself to answer it. She returned with a slight look of annoyance on her face.

“Something wrong?”

“Nothing. Alexis is here to escort you down to the beach—she said immediately, but I told her she’d have to wait.”

“So, you really don’t get along with Alexis?” Amelia asked.

Katie exhaled slowly. “Alexis gets on with few people, unless they follow her orders. She’s ex-military, and tends to talk to you as if you are a soldier under her command, and that—well, let’s just say it doesn’t work for me.”

Amelia laughed. She got the whole picture in that one sentence. “I get it.” She took one last look in the mirror and said, “Will I do?”

Katie nodded enthusiastically. “You’ll dazzle Byron.”

* * *

A golf cart driven by one of Byron’s staff dropped her off at the edge of the beach. It was a part of the beach she hadn’t seen when she arrived. A wooden walkway crossed the sand, and led to a stunningly beautiful platform out in the shallows, giving the impression you were dining on the water.