Summer's Distant Heart - Laura Landon Page 0,1
had some…relative she could stay with until…until she knew if she was with child, but I don’t know…who that…relative is…or where they…live. We arranged to meet. At Christmastime. Once I recovered. But now—” Evan’s voice dissolved into a painful bout of coughing.
“Don’t worry, Evan. I’ll find her.”
“And promise you will not…let Father…know of her.”
“I promise.”
Hunter watched his brother and saw the tears that filled his eyes, then trickled down his cheeks. Before his illness, he’d been a handsome man, so hale and hearty. His hair was golden blond in color and his eyes a vibrant midnight blue, very much like their father’s. It was quite the opposite of the coloring that Hunter was blessed with, thanks to their mother.
Hunter’s hair was as dark as roasted chestnuts and his eyes were a brown so rich they were almost black. His coloring did not help disguise the anger he wore like a shield to protect him from appearing overly friendly. Tonight the frown that deepened across his forehead make him appear even less approachable. His father had taught him to wear the scowl as a badge of honor. Hunter was not allowed to appear weak, and a smile gave him too gentle an appearance. It had been his father’s mission to erase it from his son’s face. In short, Hunter had been reared to be the brutal dragon who protected the favored son and stayed out of his father’s way.
Altogether, it gave him an aloofness that females found intriguing. Something that drew them to him the same as a moth is drawn to the flame.
“Would you…sit with me…for a while, Hunt? Talk to me…like you did…when we were younger. Tell me the latest…scrape you’ve managed to get yourself into.”
Hunter couldn’t stop a smile from lifting the corners of his mouth. “I’m afraid I’ve outgrown the scrapes of our youth, Evan, and have turned to other indulgences.”
“Do you…still have…your mistress?”
Hunt chuckled. “I still have a mistress, Evan. It’s just not the same one.”
“Is she a…redhead like you…prefer?”
“I’m afraid my tastes have gone from ginger to raven.”
“How…revealing,” Evan whispered.
His voice was losing strength and his words slurred more than they had earlier.
“My wife Janice…has hair the color of…ripened wheat…and eyes…as blue and mesmerizing as the…sky after a summer…rain.”
“She sounds lovely.”
“She is.”
Evan turned his head and locked his gaze with Hunter’s. “There’s a…letter for her in the top drawer…of my desk. Will you give it to her…when you find her? I want her to know…how much I…loved her and how…deeply I’ll regret not living my life…at her side.”
“Don’t talk like that, Evan. I won’t allow it. I can’t let you leave me alone with Father. You’ve always been the buffer that saved us from doing each other harm.”
“Now that…duty will…fall to you…Hunt. You’ll have to…devote less time…to your estate…and help Father manage…Trentridge Park.”
“Do you honestly believe Father will allow me to have anything to do with Trentridge Park? Don’t you know that’s why I spent all my inheritance from Mother in purchasing Rainwood? I was not assured of a place here even with you as his heir. If you abandon me like you’re threatening to do, there’s not a chance I will be allowed to darken Trentridge Park’s door ever again.”
“You must…take an interest…in the running of…the estate, Hunt. For your sake…as well as…my child’s…should it be a…boy.”
“Don’t worry, Evan. I will see to your child and raise him as if he were my own.”
“Yes,” Evan sighed. “Now…get the letter from my desk,” Evan demanded as his eyes threatened to close.
Hunter rose to retrieve the letter from Evan’s desk and put it carefully in the pocket of his waistcoat.
“Will you take…Janice and the babe to your estate…then?”
Hunter sat down again and reached for his brother’s hand. “Yes. They’ll be safe at Rainwood. Father doesn’t know it exists. Or that I even own it, for that matter.”
“Thank you…Hunt. I knew I could…count on you.”
“You can, Evan. Always.”
“Don’t let…Father ever…have my child, Hunt. Promise…me.”
“I promise, Evan. Father will never lay hands on him.”
Hunter sat at Evan’s bedside and watched his brother’s breathing become more shallow with each breath.
The candles at the bedside burned down until there was nothing left of them but small stubs. But Hunter couldn’t bear to leave his brother’s side.
His father looked in on Evan once, but didn’t stay for any length of time. Nor did he speak. After a few moments, he left the room and didn’t return.
Hunter wasn’t sure when Evan took his last breath. It was sometime before the sun rose