Breaking Up with Barrett: The English Brothers #1 (The Blueberry Lane Series - The English Brothers) (15 page)

“Emily?” he asked, crossing the room to put his hands on her hips and pull her up against his chest. “Did you ever think about getting your MBA instead?”

She grinned at him. “I’ll stick to the
history
of industry and leave the
present-day
deal making to you, okay?”

He dropped his lips to her neck, and she tilted her head to give him better access. “You know, Emily Edwards, I think we might just be a match made in heaven.”

“No Barrett,” she murmured, her voice low with want as he kissed and licked her, and Barrett knew it would be another hour, at least, before they left their room. “We were made on earth, you and me. In your parent’s living room. Twenty-four years ago.”

***

While Barrett went in search of J.J. Harrison, Emily waited for him in the sitting room, sipping coffee and flipping through a magazine. She’d already said her goodbyes to Hélène, who had left for church services, and the house was so quiet Emily assumed everyone else had already departed too. She was surprised to hear footsteps and looked up to see Felicity Atwell standing before her.

“Mind if I sit?” asked Felicity.

“That depends.”

Felicity gave Emily a very tight smile, but unless she was misreading it, it wasn’t mean. Uncomfortable, yes. Calculating, no.

“Barrett looks happy,” said Felicity softly, her blue eyes direct as they held Emily’s.

“Barrett
is
happy.”

“I think… I think I hoped he might be
the one
. I’d always been ga-ga for Barrett, since he asked me to dance the foxtrot at Mr. West’s Dancing School. And then we ended up at Penn together. When I ran into him at the Union Club a couple of years ago, I thought: Now’s the time! This is finally going to happen! And it did, I guess, for a while.”

Emily didn’t know what to say. She knew that Felicity was part of Barrett’s past, and she was rational about him having previous lovers, but picturing them together was painful. She kept her face carefully neutral, hoping Felicity would get to the point.

“The thing is… Barrett was never really available. Not really. I guess the closest I ever saw to him falling in love was with Bree Ambler, but he was even reserved with her. With you? He’s riveted, transfixed… in love, I think, for the first time in his life.”

Emily knew what Felicity was saying was true, because she’d never seen Barrett look at anyone the way he looked at her, either. She knew that what she had with Barrett was a forever love, and the ring in her pocket scorched a hole to her heart.
Not yet
, she whispered to it.
Not yet
.

“I had no right to say those things to you yesterday. To make fun of you for being the gardener’s daughter. It’s unconventional, I guess, but if anyone can pull it off, it’s Barrett.” Felicity sighed, then offered Emily the first genuine smile Emily had seen all weekend. “We’ll move in the same circles now. I’d like for us to be friends.”

Felicity held out her hand and Emily took it, smiling back at the older woman who had just admitted defeat with grace and dignity.

“Thank you, Felicity. I’d like that, too.” Emily let go of Felicity’s hand and straightened in her chair. “He didn’t mean it. What he said yesterday.”

“Oh, yes he did. And you know? He was right. If I’m not careful, I’ll miss the boat on the rings because I was having so much fun in the beds. Maybe it’s time for me to grow up a little bit, too.”

Felicity stood up, smoothing her simple cotton eyelet sundress and dropping her sunglasses from her head to her eyes. “There was a patent lawyer here, and if I’m not mistaken, he’s still lingering around somewhere. Off to the hunt.”

Emily chuckled lightly and gave Felicity the thumbs up sign as her erstwhile rival sashayed out to the patio to find her next victim.

***

An hour later, in the car on the way to the small Hamptons airport, Barrett told Emily all about his conversation with J.J. Harrison: how the old man’s eyes had brightened at the thought of keeping the fishing boat business. In fact, he declared, it was the perfect retirement project and with all of his attention focused on building quality handmade boats, maybe they’d consider segueing into sailboats too. Barrett had chuckled and asked if J.J. was taking on investors.

“No more deals with you, Shark. I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Fair enough, sir.”

“If you don’t mind my saying, that girl you’re with? She’s very good for you. She softens your edges, just like Hélène does for me. Every man needs a good woman at his side, English. We’re lost without them.”

At his side
, thought Barrett.
A partner.

“So it all worked out,” said Emily, her broad smile reaching her shining eyes as stunning mansions and pristine beaches raced by on either side of the car.

Barrett glanced at Emily and thought of how close he came to losing her, of how much he loved her, of how his children would have her blue eyes and blonde hair, and the Edwards and English families would see another generation grow up running around the grounds of Haverford Park, racing from the gatehouse to the main house because it would all belong to them.

He took her hand and raised it to his lips, then smiled into the eyes of the woman he’d always loved, whom he would love forever.

“It all worked out, baby.”

THE END

The English Brothers continues with…

The English Brothers, Book #2

Breaking Up with Barrett

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BREAKING UP WITH BARRETT
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Falling for Fitz

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Anyone but Alex

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ANYONE BUT ALEX
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Seduced by Stratton

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SEDUCED BY STRATTON
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Wild about Weston

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WILD ABOUT WESTON
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Kiss Me Kate

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(Excerpt from
Falling for Fitz
The English Brothers #2 by Katy Regnery. All rights reserved.)

CHAPTER 1

Fitzpatrick English walked into the ballroom at the Hotel Dupont in Wilmington, Delaware, stood in the doorway and sighed. Unlike Barrett, Alex and Weston, three of his four brothers, who all enjoyed a night out with the best of Main Line society, Fitz wasn’t much of a fan of these sorts of gatherings. All things equal, he’d just as soon be at home watching college football in sweats and drinking a cold beer.

He envied his younger brother, Stratton, who had declined invitations to these sorts of events for so long, no one even asked anymore. Stratton was probably at home in his den-like penthouse, feet up on the coffee table, glass of merlot half-finished and some terrific book on his Kindle. Stratton probably didn’t even own a tux anymore. Fitz put a finger into the starched white collar of his shirt and wiggled it slightly.
Best just get it over with.

“Hello, second-born.”

An arm was suddenly laced through his and he looked down to find his mother, Eleanora Watters English, beaming up at him.

“Evening, Mom.”

“It’s lovely you showed up. I know these things aren’t your favorite.”

Fitz sighed. “Barrett has a way…”

“Barrett has
always
had a way. However, I will say that the last two months have been void of his usual intensity over business, swapped for his intensity over Emily Edwards. It’s been a refreshing change, though if she keeps him waiting for an answer for much longer, he will get trying.”

As Eleanora led them through the crowd toward the table Barrett had purchased for the 23
rd
Annual Kindred Hospital Harvest Call Fundraiser, Fitz caught sight of his older brother. Barrett always looked like James Bond in a tux, while Fitz always felt like a penguin. Barrett had his arm wrapped around Emily’s waist, as they talked to another couple who had their backs to Fitz. Occasionally Barrett would look down and smile at Emily, and Fitz almost blushed at the intensity in his brother’s gaze. Fitz could barely remember feeling that way about someone. It had only been for such a short time, so long ago, sometimes he thought it had all been a dream.

“Usual cast of characters tonight?”

“Not exactly. The English have been invaded…by the Edwards,” she said, forced humor thick in her manicured voice. Although she never voiced concerns about her oldest son seriously dating the daughter of the gardener with an eye to engagement, Fitz suspected his mother had had some initial misgivings. However, from the way she looked at Barrett and Emily now, it seemed those misgivings had been exchanged for acceptance. Emily made Barrett happy, and in the end, that would trump anything else where his mother's sensibilities were concerned. Though mixing it up socially with one’s help wasn’t exactly commonplace, if anyone could pull it off with panache, it was Eleanora English.

Fitz looked over the heads of a few guests to see Susannah and Felix Edwards sitting at the table, Felix in animated conversation with his father, Tom, and Susannah talking tete-a-tete with Weston, who was probably untangling some crisis of the heart with their beloved housekeeper.

“I assume nine and ten are Alex and whomever he brought with him tonight?”

“No, dearest.” Eleanora stopped them a few feet from the table, and turned to look at Fitz, her eyes careful, but searching. “I did say an
invasion
by the Edwards. Felix and Susannah wouldn’t exactly constitute an invasion.”

Fitz stared at his mother’s face, not understanding her meaning. “But there are no other Edwards…Felix, Susannah and Emily, that’s all--”

Suddenly he jerked his head around to look at the couple Barrett and Emily were talking to. From behind, the woman had long, straight blond hair, just like Emily’s, that ended in the center of her bare back. He narrowed his eyes, squinting, and he made out the light brown birthmark that looked like a heart, right in the center of her lower back, right over the midnight blue silk that covered her perfect ass. He had a sudden, blinding flashback to staring at that birthmark over tiny, bright yellow bikini bottoms, and his heart kicked into a gallop.

“Daisy Edwards,” he murmured, exhaling the contents of his lungs.

And as though she heard him or sensed him, Daisy turned her neck, catching sight of him as her chin rested on her shoulder. His heart slammed behind his ribs as she blinked in surprise and her eyes widened. Their eyes stayed locked on each other, spellbound and greedy, until Emily said something to Daisy, and she jerked back quickly to face her cousin. The ten or twelve feet apart from her was suddenly unbearable and as though Fitz was made of iron and she was a magnet, he felt pulled to her in an uncompromising way, compelled to move closer to the force of nature that was Daisy Edwards.

His mother’s arm, still linked with his, stopped him.

“It was a million years ago, Fitz.”

It didn’t feel like a million years ago. Suddenly it felt like yesterday.

“It was for the best,” insisted Eleanora.

It didn’t feel like it had been for the best. Not at the time and not now and not every time he thought of her between then and now.

“I thought she was in Oregon,” he said tightly.

“She was. She’s moved back east. Her mother’s gone and her father’s all she has.”

“So she’s back in Philly. Did you know?”

“No, “ replied his mother. “I didn’t even know she was coming tonight. Emily invited her at the last minute when Stratton refused to come.”

His breath caught as Daisy gathered her hair in her hands and twirled it once, then settled it over one shoulder, baring her neck to him. The graceful line made his mouth water, made his fingers twitch, made a hundred buried memories fight for his attention.

“Listen to me, Fitz,” said his mother, leaning closer to his ear. “There’s something else you need to know.”

Fitz tore his eyes away from Daisy and looked at his mother, commanded by the seriousness of her tone. “You may not have noticed, but she isn’t alone.”

He whipped his head around and for the first time he noticed that the man standing beside her was holding her hand, with his fingers laced possessively through Daisy’s. His mother’s voice was close to his ear and delivered the words he somehow knew were coming, though it didn’t lessen the impact of the blow.

“She’s come home for another reason, dearest. Daisy’s getting married.”

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