by Lauren Smith
Alec headed downstairs after finishing the last details of his acquisition. He’d worked twice as hard early this morning, but the time had still gotten away from him. He found everyone having a light lunch in the dining room.
“Alec, you came down finally.” Morgan observed that his usual smile looked forced.
“What’s the matter?” He saw more than one gloomy face amongst the crowd.
“What’s the matter?” Morgan asked. “Where the bloody hell were you three hours ago?”
“What happened three hours ago?” The pit of dread filled his stomach like lead.
“Brie’s gone.” Simon said.
Alec checked his watch, his heart lurching into his throat. “But I thought she didn’t leave until two.”
“That was her London flight,” Bridget said. “She left for Manchester this morning.”
“Why didn’t you come to get me?” Alec demanded.
Morgan stood, scowling as he crossed his arms. “Why? I can’t do everything for you Alec. If you cared enough about her you would’ve figured that out and been down here.”
Alec stared in open disbelief. He’d never seen his brother like this.
“Morgan…”
“No.” His brother waved a hand to silence him. “You’ve made a right mess of things. We’ve all worked so hard to help you and Brie end up together. You just let her slip away. I’m done helping.”
“Wait.” Alec stared at all the red flush faces around the room. “What’s that supposed to mean? You all arranged this?”
Morgan glared at him but said nothing. His mother cleared her throat. “Well…we knew you wouldn’t come here unless Simon invited you.”
Simon waved his hand in acknowledgement.
“Bridget had a feeling that you might like Brie, so she helped arrange for Brie to come…”
Alec’s temper was starting to build. He didn’t like being played with like some fool. “But you all kept talking about trying to set up Brie with Morgan.”
“A bit of sibling rivalry goes a long way with you two,” his father pointed out.
“But you couldn’t have known I’d met her before I arrived.” He realized too late he given away what seemed to be his last secret.
“Of course, we did.” His mother scoffed. “I called your executive assistant at Barclays a few months ago and got your flight and seat information. It was only too easy to book Brie next to you.” His mother’s voice trembled now. “I never dreamed the second flight would crash, though.”
“We didn’t crash. It was an emergency landing!” Alec nearly snapped. Why he was nitpicking he had no idea.
“Well, you sure crashed this.” Morgan started to leave the room, but he stopped next to Alec. “Brie’s a good woman. The two of you clicked. Everyone could see it. And you just let her slip away. I mean, is work really that important to you? Why don’t you settle down for Christ’s sake?”
“Why don’t you?” Alec shot back.
Morgan’s gave a rueful smile. A hint of bitterness lingered in his gaze.
“I almost did, once. But I missed my chance. At least you still have time left to go after her.”
“You’re all mad. Brie is a wonderful woman, yes, but we barely know each other. A handful of days isn’t enough time.”
“But you’ll never find someone if you don’t take the time,” Simon countered. “And maybe, if you’re brave enough, you’ll see what’s been right before your eyes all along.”
Alec felt betrayed. His family had conspired to set him up with Brie. But by not telling either of them, Alec and Brie had treated their time together in the only logical way: a passing rendezvous. She’d said she didn’t want any relationships, and neither had he.
And the arrogance of them assuming they’d be a good fit. What if he’d hated her? What if she’d hated him? What kind of meddling had they planned to help them like each other? Did they have any idea how disastrous this could have turned out? Only a few times in his life had he been set up to fail, and it was not something he liked to experience again.
“I need to leave,” he muttered and exited the room. His family stayed behind, silently watching him. At the bottom of the stairs, he felt something tug at his boots. He glanced down and saw Ainsley pulling at his jeans. She stopped, released his pantleg and looked up, wagging her tail.
She hadn’t taken the puppy. She’d left his gift behind. He sank to his knees and lifted the puppy into his arms, clutching her to his chest as he fought off the rolling wave of grief he felt at losing her.
“How could she leave you?” he asked Ainsley. The dog licked his ear and snuggled into his arms. “Well, I won’t leave you. You’re coming with me.”
He stood and carried the puppy to his bedroom so he could pack. He was leaving for London immediately. It would give him time away from his family. Time to think.
Alec carried Ainsley inside an expensive black animal shoulder strap case as he walked into his office. The puppy had both a large breakfast and a good walk and he was pretty confident she would not make too much of a fuss while he worked at the office for a few hours. He’d brought a pee pad folded up in his attaché case for emergencies though. In the last few days he’d gotten rather good at living with the adorable little scamp in his London flat.
The teetering stacks of letters he found in his office inbox tray made him groan. He set the dog carrier down and closed the door. He checked on Ainsley, who was still sleeping. He opened the side of the carrier to let her come out and explore when she was ready. He was nearly done going through the letters when someone knocked on his door.
“Enter,” he called out. When he realized it was Mr. Eppley, he hastily got to his feet. Ainsley stirred from her carrier and peeked her head out.
Howard, ever with a sharp eye, noticed the visitor immediately. “Brought someone to work, eh?” He bent down to better examine the cocker spaniel puppy as she toddled out of the carrier to sniff his shoes. Her little ball of a tail wiggled the entire time.
“She was an unexpected Christmas gift from my brother.”
Howard chuckled. “You know someone pities you when they buy you a dog. But dogs are good for a man’s soul. I had a borzoi when I was younger man. Beautiful dog. I always think of what that writer John Galsworthy said about them.”
“Oh?” Alec watched as Ainsley took an experimental nibble of one of the laces on Howard’s patent leather shoes.
“‘Not the least hard thing to bear when they go from us, these quiet friends, is that they carry away with them so many years of our own lives.’”
Alec didn’t want to think about what Ainsley might someday carry away with her when she passed on. Already the dog had claimed at least one amazing night where Alec had held Brie in his arms. He wouldn’t trade that memory for anything, and Ainsley had been a part of it.
“Well, the reason I came here was to congratulate you. The clients were very pleased. As you can imagine there’s talk of promotions.” Howard grinned. “You’ve also got Montgomery on the run. He’s been fuming all week about how you pulled it off while taking it easy in the country.”
Alec wasn’t sure where Howard was headed. This didn’t sound like your average attaboy moment.
“Point is, Halston, now is the time for big decisions.”
Alec released a weary breath. “I feared you might say that.”
“Don’t sound so downbeat. The company is ready to offer you my job. I’ve been promoted to president of investments for the entire UK.”
“Congratulations, Mr. Eppley.”
Howard waved a hand. “So, it seems you have a choice, Halston. You can take my job, it’s a surefire track to the top or…”
“Or I reconsider my employment options.” They both knew that staying in his current position wasn’t going to be possible, he’d suffer burnout in a few years.
Alec retrieved a letter from his desk. He hesitated, not because he wasn’t sure of his decision. He was. But he needed a moment to reflect on
the job he had here and what it cost him over the years.
“Here.” He placed the letter in Howard’s hand. “According to my employment contract, this is one week’s notice. But I don’t currently have any projects that can’t be handled by someone else. I can leave in an hour if you wish.”
Howard turned the letter in his hand slowly. He looked at Alec, a hint of amusement in his eyes. “Am I to assume you’ve had a change of heart about your path after going home for Christmas?”
Alec bent to lift Ainsley up before she could damage Howard’s shoes with her sharp puppy teeth. “I have. I was reminded just how important home was, and how much I’d missed staying away from it.”
Howard held out his hand. “You’re a better man than me. I wish you the best.”
Alec shook it. “Thank you, sir.” Howard ruffled Ainsley’s ear before he turned and walked out the door.
“Time to pack again, little one.” Alec set puppy down and began to collect a decade of his life into a cardboard box.
But rather than feeling regret, hope stirred inside him. If there was still time, he had one last thing to collect before going home to Merryvale.
15
Brie closed her laptop and glanced around the café where she’d spent the last week writing chapters for Julia. The words seemed to fly from her fingertips onto the keyboard faster than usual. Her time at Merryvale had been an inspiration. She’d just emailed the chapters with notes where she wanted Julia to insert any family and historical details she may have missed while she was in England. Now all she had to do was wait and see what Julia thought. She’d adjust course if necessary before moving forward.
She took a moment to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the people in the coffee shop while she sipped her peppermint hot chocolate. Soon, thoughts of Alec tiptoed back into her mind. It had been hard trying not to think about him in the last week, but she had. A lot.
After her call to Preston and finding the courage to try again, she’d mentally let the universe know she was open to a second chance at love. She needed to at least be open to whatever possibilities may come her way.
Brie tucked her laptop in her leather messenger bag and slung it over her shoulder before she downed the last bit of hot cocoa. The peppermint still lingered upon her lips as she stepped out into the night. Snow fell in frothy flakes like frozen seafoam on the winter wind. The white light from the park streetlamps across from her apartment had halos of frosted air about them and reminded her of the Snow Queen’s kingdom.
With a deep breath, Brie crossed the snowy park back toward her home. She could just make out the shapes of other people walking in the snow through the park. They were like shadows, their voices muffled. Suddenly something small and dark bounded toward her through the snow. She jolted as it barreled into her legs and when she knelt, she gasped. A chocolate colored cocker spaniel puppy stared at her with her little bob of a tail wiggling furiously.
“You are so adorable! You look just like a puppy I used to know. Where’s your owner?” She clutched the dog to her chest and stood, frantically searching the snowy ground for whoever had brought her here.
That was when she saw him.
Alec stood ten feet away, a leash in his hand, snow catching in his hair. He and Ainsley were here. Suddenly, all she could think about were those times he’d looked at her with his seductive hazel eyes and how she’d wanted to melt in his arms.
Her heart pounded wildly as they both started to walk toward each other at the same instant. “Alec? What are you doing here?” She nuzzled her face in Ainsley’s fur, needing a reminder that this was really happening. That sweet puppy scent was still there, and it brought back memories of the night they’d shared Alec’s bed, and how she’d woken up next to Alec with Ainsley wedged between them.
“You left before I could say goodbye,” Alec said.
“You came all this way just say goodbye?” She tried to smile, to tease him, but she knew he heard the deeper question in her words.
“I came because letting you walk away was like losing my grandfather all over again. It was like I was losing my home.” He reached out to touch her cheek and Brie held her breath.
“What about work? Don’t you have to go back soon?” She knew this had to be a short trip for work. Just to finish things between them. He couldn’t stay. His life was in England.
“I quit. Gave my notice, bought a plane ticket, and came straight here.”
“You did what? Alec, that wasn’t a good idea. You love that job.”
He shook his head. “No, I was good at it. I never loved it. It was just a way to escape the pain of being at home and missing my grandfather. But spending Christmas with you changed everything. I realized I wasn’t living my life. I was avoiding it.” His sensual mouth curved into a devastating smile. “This is me making the grandest gesture I know. Ainsley and I will stay here with you, if you’ll have us.”
Brie was silent a long moment, her heart soaring though she was so afraid. “Alec…I know what I said before, about love. But I don’t feel that way anymore. I want love. I want to do all those silly things that lovers do. I want to get married to someone who I love wildly, who loves me back the same way. I want to have kids and go on adventures with my family. I want to live my life with those I love. I want all of it.” There, she’d said it. She’d poured her heart out and now she had to see what happened next.
Alec drew closer, curling his arm around her as he pressed his forehead to hers.
“I want that too. All of it. With you.” His warm breath teased her skin and she shivered in his arms.
“You’re sure?”
“I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.” He moved his mouth closer to hers. “Say yes,”
“To what?”
“To everything, to me.”
“Yes,” Brie said without hesitation.
The kiss that followed belonged to them alone. It was something that Brie would forever try to describe but never quite find the right words.
It was a kiss of endless promises. A kiss of infinite softness. A kiss of fiery heat. It tasted of bittersweet longing and passionate hope. No, that wasn’t right. It was all that, yes, but it was something more. Then it came to her.
It was like walking across the lawn toward one’s own door. That quiet sense of relief and joy of knowing you were home. It tasted of love, real, pure love that stood defiant against all odds. Every pain she’d endured in the last two weeks had proven at this moment that her feelings for Alec hadn’t been lust alone.
What she felt for Alec was real and it always had been.
“I’m home,” Alec said.
Brie smiled. “So am I.” She cradled Ainsley in her arms and Alec held them both. The snow continued to drift lazily down around them.
Maybe Merryvale’s magic was real after all. For an instant, she thought she smelled a hint of cigar smoke on the wind before wintry pine and cedar trees mixed with the snow. Brie’s lips curved as she pulled Alec down for another kiss.
Epilogue
Six months later…
Brie lay on a large blanket beneath the towering cedar trees, laughing as Ainsley sprinted after Yogi on the bright green lawns of Merryvale Court.
“Stop! You little thief!” Morgan was chasing after Yogi as well. The bulldog had a large turkey leg in his mouth. Ainsley caught up to Yogi and tried to pull the turkey from his mouth, but almost certainly had no intention of giving it back to Morgan.
“This is why we rarely do picnics on the lawn.” Alec chuckled, his rumbling laugh rolling through her where she lay with her head on his chest. They were enjoying the summer weather together and everything was perfect. Brie couldn’t have imagined the word “perfect” ever being applied to her life. Yet here it was, all around her. Perfect.
“Are you glad we moved here?” Alec asked softly as he ran his fingertips through her hair. It felt amazing. She never wanted him to stop.
“Yes. You?”
He laugh
ed again. “Of course. It’s my home.”
Alec had lived with her in Rhode Island for four months before she’d agreed to move to Merryvale with him. It had been surprisingly easy to walk away from her life in the states. Her publishing house kept her on and she worked remotely on all of her writing projects now.
Alec had taken a position at a local bank half an hour away from Merryvale. He’d gotten the idea after Brie told him about her conversation with Preston. He planned to retire from the bank when his father was older and needed more help around the estate.
It had been rather easy settling here, far easier than she could have dreamed. Brie ran her fingertips along Alec’s chest before sliding up his body to kiss him. He opened his mouth for her. For a long while, she was lost in just kissing him and how she felt whole with him.
“Wait!” Morgan bellowed a second before Yogi and Ainsley barreled into them on their private blanket paradise.
They broke apart, laughing as Yogi abandoned his turkey leg and took off running with surprising speed toward the house. Morgan bent over, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath while Ainsley claimed her prize.
“You two coming inside, or do you plan to keep snogging like a couple of teenagers?”
“Snogging, definitely,” Alec replied before he rolled a laughing Brie beneath him. Morgan rolled his eyes and left.
Brie surrendered to his kisses for a long moment, that may have actually been hours, before they finally broke apart. Alec sighed.
“I suppose we do need to go inside.”
“Yes, we do,” Brie agreed. “We’re getting married tomorrow. I don’t want your mother to worry about any last-minute details.”
Alec helped her up and they walked hand-in-hand into the house. “Oh, there’s no stopping that, I assure you.”
“There you are!” Julia exclaimed as she rushed toward them.
“See?” Alec said. “Something the matter, mum?”