The Heartbreaker by Rexanne Becnel

Author:Rexanne Becnel
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: 0
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“We’re not going back,” Izzy stated. Beside her Helen nodded.

Phoebe stared at their twin expressions of determination. How had she not seen the similarities in them? Blond hair, blue eyes. But she’d been looking for Louisa’s image in Helen, and Lord Farley’s in Izzy. The truth was, however, that they both had their father’s eyes. Even Leya, with her olive-toned skin, had inherited his brilliant blue eyes.

“We want to stay here,” Izzy continued.

Coming back to the present, Phoebe nodded. She wanted them to stay with her too. But she knew Lord Farley would never agree.

During a long, restless night she’d come to the conclusion that she must not fight him anymore, at least when it came to the girls. As a child, she’d hated living in a family fraught with anger and animosity. She had no intention of letting that happen to these girls. So she’d decided to cooperate with the man—up to a point. That meant her first goal must be to improve him in his daughters’ mistrustful eyes.

“More than anything I want you to stay here. Both of you. But your father loves you and he wants you with him. And he wants me to help all of you become a family.”

“But we can be a family here at Plummy Head,” Helen said. “Just like we were before.”

“That’s right,” Izzy said. “Me and Helen never had a father before, neither of us. We don’t need one now. Especially not him.”

Phoebe saw Helen glance hesitantly at her new older sister. All her life Helen had felt keenly the lack of a father. Bad enough her mother had never been around, but at least she’d existed. Her father had never even had a name. Now, though, the situation was reversed. Louise might have washed her hands of her little girl, but James Lindford was here, very real and more than willing to be an active part of her life.

Phoebe cupped Izzy’s cheek and stroked Helen’s hair. “When your family is as small as ours, the loss of even one person is a very sad event. Your mothers have relinquished both of you to your father because they knew he can do a better job taking care of you—”

“They sold us,” Izzy interrupted. “Like cows. Like goats.”

“Like we sell a round of fat, white cheese to Mrs. Leake,” Helen added, her little face somber.

Phoebe hugged them both, one urgent shared embrace, and reveled in the returned embrace of their skinny, little-girl arms. “Your mothers are both fools. But I’m glad they’re fools, otherwise I wouldn’t have the two of you here in my house with me. And I’ll be even more glad when Leya’s old enough for lessons too.”

As she hoped, mention of their baby sister weakened the girls’ resolve. “Why can’t she come here now?” Helen asked.

“I hope she’s not still sick,” Izzy said.

“She’s too young for lessons, Helen. As for how she’s doing, we can ask your father when he comes. Do you remember how worried he was when she first fell ill?”

They both nodded, Izzy sullenly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.