British Black Sheep - Lauren Smith Page 0,61

the book. Everything else would be handled over phone and email. She’d come to love Merryvale and the Halston family, and it felt like a knife to her heart when she thought about leaving them.

“Are you and Morgan going back tomorrow?” she asked.

“I’m afraid so.” Alec’s gaze caught on his brother. “I don’t know how he does it. I know his job is complex and demanding, yet he acts like he has all the time in the world.”

Brie sighed and ruffled Ainsley’s fur. The puppy was tucked between her legs. “He knows what matters. He cares about his family enough to make it his priority.” Shock flashed in Alec’s eyes. She didn’t mean for it to sound accusing, but before she could apologize, Ainsley ran away from her on chubby legs toward the other three dogs and Brie had to chase after her. Ainsley bumped into Yogi and barked at his behemoth body as though it were a bulldog shaped mountain. Brie couldn’t help but think Ainsley would be happier here with this family instead of a lonely, tiny apartment.

“Brie, are you okay?” Bridget asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She just had to hold herself together one more night and then she would be going home.

“When you get to the airport tomorrow be sure to call me, okay?”

“I will.” Brie promised and hugged her.

Brie stepped back into the shadow of the room to better watch the guests at the party. Someone began a rousing chorus of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Byron and Morgan sang it proudly, their voices carrying across the room. Alec stood not too far away, watching them, a hint of sorrow in his eyes. Why didn’t he want this? Couldn’t he see how amazing his family was?

But Brie knew she couldn’t judge Alec. She was the same. Afraid of getting hurt, afraid of making a mistake again. She slipped out of the drawing room and into the hall. A number of guests were milling about or headed up to bed. She smiled and wished them a good night as she climbed the stairs. When she reached the top, she glanced down once more at the shaft of light coming out of the partially open drawing room door.

“Bit much, eh?” someone said.

She turned to see an older man she didn’t recognize leaving a room a few feet from the top of the stairs where she stood.

“Yeah, I don’t have family anymore and I forgot how intense it can be in a crowded room for a long time. But I love it too.”

The man chuckled. “Yes, having the family around is good, even when they are intense at times, as you put it. I’m sorry you lost yours.”

“Thanks.”

The man removed a cigar from his pocket and lit it. He puffed once and the smell was rather pleasant. He was older, in his mid-seventies, with silver hair and kind brown eyes.

“Ah. You must be Julia’s writer.” The man looked at the notebook she’d been carrying around all day.

“I am.”

“What do you think of the place? Be honest now.”

“It’s lovely. It’s not just a fancy country house, and it’s not a museum. It’s a home. That’s the part I want readers to know. Julia, Byron, and their family breathe life into the history of this place. They continue its graceful traditions not out of duty but out of a desire to carry on what is worth loving about this place.”

The man puffed on his cigar again. “You sound very wise for one so young.”

“Sometimes I don’t feel young,” she admitted. She was only twenty-nine, but in many ways, she felt ancient. She’d been married, divorced, and lost her parents. It had aged her in a way.

“Only the young feel young and they’re too young to realize the value in it.”

“That’s true,” Brie agreed. “Are you staying tomorrow with the family?”

“A few more days should do it,” the man said. “I never want to miss Christmas at Merryvale. There’s no place like it in the world.”

“It is magical,” she agreed. “Well, it was nice to meet you.” She shook his hand.

“Same to you, my dear.” The man puffed on his cigar as he headed toward the stairs.

When Brie reached her room, she remembered Ainsley was still downstairs. She dropped her notebook on her bed and glanced at her unpacked suitcase. It was one more thing to do before she left this place.

“You forgot your little companion.” Morgan announced from her doorway, holding Ainsley.

“Thank you. I was just coming to get her.” She accepted