My Heart Belongs in Niagara Falls, New York by Amanda Barratt

Author:Amanda Barratt [Barratt, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 5185534
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2018-01-15T05:00:00+00:00

Stand your ground. Demand the truth. I know you can succeed, Adele Linley.

Drew had obviously overestimated her abilities. It was one thing to discuss confronting her brother on the carriage ride home, Drew’s smile feeding her confidence. Quite another to actually stand face-to-face with Tony and demand answers he didn’t intend to give.

“I know you’ve been at that gaming house.” The dimly lit library provided a backdrop for their test of wills. Adele stood, back to the hearth. Tony lounged in a leather chair, tossing a thin volume back and forth between his hands.

“Just how do you know that, Del? Taken up gambling yourself, have you?”

“I…someone saw you. An acquaintance of mine who passed the information on to me. That’s how.”

“How do you know they were telling the truth? How do they know it was me?” From one hand to the other went the volume in his hands. A bored expression encompassed his face. As if her concerns mattered less than a pesky insect, meant to be swatted away.

Or if that didn’t avail—squashed.

“They recognized you at once.” She smoothed a hand down the front of her emerald evening dress, trying to fade the wrinkles she’d twisted into the fabric while waiting for Tony to come down.

“And who do you mean by ‘they’?” The noise of hoofbeats and carriage wheels clattered outside the window, their rhythm as precise as his words were nonchalant.

“You’re stalling, Tony. Why won’t you admit where you were and why you went there? I thought you’d put all that behind you.” She crossed to his side and knelt in front of his chair, looking up into his face, trying to put a motherly expression on her own. What she wouldn’t give to believe Tony’s lies, that he hadn’t really visited the Castle that day. It would make things so much easier, simpler, just to accept the paltry explanation her brother offered and let that be the end of it.

But life wasn’t like that. To live hiding one’s face behind one’s hands, hearing only what one wanted was nothing less than sheer denial. Though Tony might prefer it, she certainly didn’t. Reality was reality, and the sooner her brother realized it, the closer he came to rehabilitation.

“All right. I admit it.” He dropped the book on the side table. It made a slapping sound as it landed. Tony stood, nearly plowing into her, and paced to the mantel. She turned to look at him. “I was at the Castle. There. I’ve said it. Satisfied?” He ran a hand through his freshly combed hair and faced the mirror above the mantel, angling to the side to better view his profile. “Now, perhaps we can forget all about this conversation and join the rest of the family in the drawing room.”

She stood and crossed to him. Placed a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t turn around, gaze on the mirror as if intent upon ferreting out every defect in his appearance.

“We can’t just forget, Tony. Much as you, or I, or everyone else might want to.

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