“Where the hell have you been, Clinton?” Drew demanded belligerently as soon as his brother entered the large study, which was the general gathering place for the men in the house.
Clinton glanced at Warren and Thomas lounging on a maroon sofa for an explanation of Drew’s unusual greeting, but since Drew hadn’t bothered to tell either of them why he’d been so impatient for Clinton’s return, they both merely shrugged.
He continued on to his desk before he replied. “I believe it’s my habit to attend to business when I’m home. I spent the morning at the Skylark offices. Had you bothered to ask Hannah, she would have told you that.”
Drew recognized a subtle reprimand when he heard it. He flushed slightly, but only because he hadn’t thought to question their housekeeper-cook.
“Hannah was too busy preparing for the party to be bothered.”
Clinton had to tamp down the urge to smile at that mumbled reply. Drew’s displays of temper were very rare and so surprising when they occurred. There was no point in aggravating the one he was demonstrating just now. Warren felt no such qualms.
“You could have asked me, blockhead.” Warren chuckled. “I could have told you—”
Drew was on his way to the sofa before Warren finished, so Warren didn’t bother to finish. He just stood up to meet his younger brother head on.
“Drew!”
The warning had to be repeated in an even louder tone before Drew turned back to glare at Clinton. The last time those two had a difference of opinion in his study, he had to have his desk repaired and two lamps and a table replaced.
“You might both remember that we’re entertaining this evening,” Clinton admonished sternly. “With the whole blasted town likely to show up, this room as well as every other in the house is certain to be used. I’d appreciate it if it didn’t have to be rearranged beforehand.”
Warren unclenched his fists and sat back down. Thomas shook his head at the lot of them.
“What’s troubling you, Drew, that you couldn’t discuss it with Warren or myself?” he asked, his tone meant to be soothing. “You didn’t have to wait for—”
“Neither of you was home last night, but Clinton was,” Drew snapped, but said no more, as if that had explained it all.
Thomas’s renowned patience was clearly in evidence as he said, “You went out yourself, didn’t you? So what’s this in reference to?”
“I want to know what the hell happened while I was gone, that’s what!” Drew then rounded on his oldest brother again. “So help me, Clinton, if you spanked Georgie after you said you wouldn’t—”
“I did no such thing!” Clinton returned indignantly.
“But he should have,” Warren put in his opinion. “A good walloping would have lifted the guilt from her shoulders.”
“What guilt?”
“For worrying us. It’s had her moping around the house—”
“If you’ve seen her moping, it’s because she hasn’t gotten over Cameron yet. She loved—”
“What nonsense,” Warren scoffed. “She never loved that little bastard. She just wanted him because he was the best-looking boy the town had to offer, though why she thought so I’ll never understand.”
“If that’s so, brother, then what had her crying every blasted day for a full week after we left Jamaica? It broke my heart to see her eyes all red and puffy. And it was all I could do to cheer her up before we got home. But I managed it. So I want to know what set her off again. Did you say something to her, Clinton?”
“I barely spoke two words to her. She spent most of the evening in her room.”
“Are you saying she was crying again, Drew?” Thomas asked carefully. “Is that what you’re so upset about?”
Drew shoved his hands in his pockets as he nodded curtly. “I can’t stand it, I really can’t.”
“Get used to it, blockhead,” Warren inserted. “They’ve all got their store of tears ready to discharge at a moment’s notice.”
“No one would expect an asinine cynic to know the difference between real tears and fake ones,” Drew retorted.
Clinton was about to jump in when he saw that Warren was ready to take serious exception to that last remark. But he didn’t have to bother. Thomas defused Warren’s temper merely by placing his hand on his arm and giving him a slight shake of his head.
Clinton’s lips turned down in chagrin, seeing that. The whole family admired Thomas’s ability to remain calm under any circumstances—ironically, Warren most of all. Warren also tended to take Thomas’s censure to heart, whereas he usually ignored Clinton’s, a fact that annoyed Clinton no end, especially since Thomas was four years Warren’s junior, and also a half foot shorter.
“You’re forgetting that you were of the same opinion as the rest of us, Drew, when we agreed to allow that ridiculous engagement,” Clinton pointed out. “None of us thought that Georgina’s affections were seriously involved. For God’s sake, she was just a child of sixteen—”
“The reasons we agreed don’t matter when she’s gone and proved us all wrong,” Drew insisted.
“All that has been proven is that Georgie is incredibly loyal…and unbelievably stubborn,” Clinton replied. “And I’m inclined to agree with Warren. I still don’t think she actually loved Cameron.”
“Then why would she wait six—?”
“Don’t be a total ass, Drew,” Warren cut in. “The situation around here hasn’t changed in all these years. There still aren’t a great number of unmarried men in this town for her to choose from. So why shouldn’t she wait for Cameron to come back? She didn’t find anyone else in the meantime that she would prefer to him. If she had, you can bet she would have forgotten that Cornishman in the blink of an eye.”
“Then why did she run off to find him?” Drew asked hotly. “Answer me that?”
“Obviously, she felt she’d waited long enough. Clinton and I had already come to the same conclusion. He was going to take her with him when he went to New Haven to visit his children this trip home. His mother-in-law is still active in the social whirl there.”
“What social whirl?” Drew snorted. “New Haven is not much bigger than Bridgeport.”
“If that didn’t work, then I was going to take her to New York.”
“You were?”
Warren’s scowl became positively threatening. “You think I don’t know how to escort a woman about?”
“A woman, aye, but not a sister. What man would approach her with you near at hand…the perpetual brooder.”
That brought Warren to his feet again with eyes flashing. “I don’t brood—”
“If you two would stop trying to provoke each other,” Thomas managed to interrupt without raising his voice. “You might realize that you’ve gotten away from the point. What was intended is irrelevant at the moment. The fact remains that Georgie is obviously more unhappy than the rest of us thought. If she’s been crying…Did you ask her why, Drew?”
“Why?” Drew exclaimed. “Why else? She’s heartbroken, I tell you!”
“But did she tell you that?”
“She didn’t have to. The day she found me in Jamaica she said that Malcolm had married another woman and then she immediately burst into tears.”
“She hasn’t seemed the least bit heartbroken,” Clinton remarked. “She’s been damned bossy, if you ask me, after getting away with what she did the other day when she arrived. This blasted party tonight was her idea, too, and she’s thrown herself into preparing for it.”
“Well, you don’t see her down here this morning, do you? She’s probably hiding in her room because her eyes are all puffy again.”
Thomas actually frowned. “It’s time someone had a talk with her. Clinton?”
“What the hell do I know about these things?”
“Warren?” But before Warren could answer, Thomas chuckled. “No, better not you.”
“I’ll do it,” Drew offered reluctantly.
“When all you can do is make assumptions, and you turn to mush at the first sign of a few tears?” Warren sneered.
Before they could begin another argument, Thomas rose and started for the door, saying, “With Boyd likely still asleep after being out half the night, I suppose that leaves me.”
“Lots of luck,” Drew called after him, “Or have you forgotten she’s still mad at you?”
Thomas paused to glance back at Drew. “Did it occur to you to wonder why?”
“There’s nothing to wonder about. She didn’t want to go to England. She wanted you to go.”
“Exactly,” Thomas replied. “Which means she didn’t really care if she saw Cameron again or not. She just wanted the matter settled.”
“Well, hell,” Drew said after he’d gone. “Was that supposed to be significant?”
Warren couldn’t let that one pass. “It’s a wonder you aren’t still a virgin, Drew, with as little as you know about women.”
“Me?” Drew choked out. “Well, at least I leave them smiling. It’s a wonder that your women don’t freeze to death in your bed!”
They were too near to each other for that kind of exchange. All Clinton could do was yell, “Watch the blasted furniture!”