Read Online Dove's Way by Linda Francis Lee - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Linda Francis Lee
Ads: Link
happening to him. No one could know. There had already been too much heartache and scandal. He wouldn’t let there be any more. “Can’t a man enjoy a bit of peace and quiet without being interrogated like a common criminal?”
For the first time, anger marred Grayson’s face. “Don’t snap at me. What was I supposed to do? Mother is worried sick that you didn’t show up last night for Sunday dinner, and here it is well into Monday morning without a word from you. She said you stormed out of the house yesterday and she hadn’t heard a word from you since.” His anger turned to something more elusive, dark, and troubled. “And when she sent a note to inquire after you, Quincy here, guard dog of your privacy, only responded with a curt, ‘He is unavailable.’ “
Matthew’s sigh was weary, and a needle of biting pain began to resurface. “Tell her there’s no need to worry. Really. I had other plans that I had forgotten about.”
He hated the look that came over Grayson’s face, the same look he saw in his friends’ and family’s eyes.
Horror.
The golden boy was no longer golden. And they had no idea how to deal with a man who was so changed.
“You had no other plans. You were hiding away.” Grayson gestured to the mess in the room. “In here, from the looks of it. God, Matthew, if only you would try, get out more, see people. Give them a chance to get used to you.”
“I will not go out and socialize,” Matthew replied with a deadly calm, remembering the dinner party at his parents’ house. “I already tried that and I only made people uncomfortable.”
“Damn it, I’m not asking you to socialize. I’m asking you to start living again.”
“Living?” he suddenly raged, the violence that had become his constant companion erupting. He slammed his fist against the wall, and welcomed the pain that shot up his arm. “Look at me!” he demanded. “I scare young children and innocent women. I am a freak!”
“A scar doesn’t change a person, Matthew.”
“Tell that to Father,” he spat unexpectedly.
Grayson went still, then sighed. “Give him time.”
“Time isn’t going to erase this scar. He only cares about the Hawthorne name.”
It was no secret that Bradford Hawthorne was a man obsessed with appearances. He had been born with a fine old name and the respect that name provided, but when he grew into adulthood there had not been a penny left of the Hawthorne family fortune. So he had chosen a bride for a good deal more than her looks and her ability to bear him sons. He chose Emmaline Abbot for her wealth. Her renowned beauty was nothing more than an added bonus. He would have married her regardless of what she looked like.
In the years since, Bradford had restored the family coffers and built an empire based on the family’s good name, Emmaline’s wealth, and three strong sons. Grayson, Matthew, and Lucas.
Years ago, despite Emmaline’s protests, Bradford had forced his oldest son to make his own way from an early age. However, when first Matthew, then Lucas had come to that turning point in their own lives, Bradford had suddenly been willing to help. But each of them had turned their father down.
Solidarity among brothers. And all three had succeeded, though not all of them had done it in ways Bradford had approved of.
Grayson had become a lawyer—the most respected in Boston, but a lawyer all the same. Lucas had opened a gentlemen’s club, fast becoming known for the finest liquors in town, not to mention the finest women. Matthew had been the one who made Bradford proud.
Matthew had made a fortune in railroads and shipping. And because of that success, he had been invited to lunch with his father every Friday at Locke Ober ‘s. Until the accident.
Matthew thought of the message he had given his mother for his father.
Before he could stop himself, he strode to the door and bellowed for Quincy.
“Have I received any messages?”
“None, sir, other than from
For the first time, anger marred Grayson’s face. “Don’t snap at me. What was I supposed to do? Mother is worried sick that you didn’t show up last night for Sunday dinner, and here it is well into Monday morning without a word from you. She said you stormed out of the house yesterday and she hadn’t heard a word from you since.” His anger turned to something more elusive, dark, and troubled. “And when she sent a note to inquire after you, Quincy here, guard dog of your privacy, only responded with a curt, ‘He is unavailable.’ “
Matthew’s sigh was weary, and a needle of biting pain began to resurface. “Tell her there’s no need to worry. Really. I had other plans that I had forgotten about.”
He hated the look that came over Grayson’s face, the same look he saw in his friends’ and family’s eyes.
Horror.
The golden boy was no longer golden. And they had no idea how to deal with a man who was so changed.
“You had no other plans. You were hiding away.” Grayson gestured to the mess in the room. “In here, from the looks of it. God, Matthew, if only you would try, get out more, see people. Give them a chance to get used to you.”
“I will not go out and socialize,” Matthew replied with a deadly calm, remembering the dinner party at his parents’ house. “I already tried that and I only made people uncomfortable.”
“Damn it, I’m not asking you to socialize. I’m asking you to start living again.”
“Living?” he suddenly raged, the violence that had become his constant companion erupting. He slammed his fist against the wall, and welcomed the pain that shot up his arm. “Look at me!” he demanded. “I scare young children and innocent women. I am a freak!”
“A scar doesn’t change a person, Matthew.”
“Tell that to Father,” he spat unexpectedly.
Grayson went still, then sighed. “Give him time.”
“Time isn’t going to erase this scar. He only cares about the Hawthorne name.”
It was no secret that Bradford Hawthorne was a man obsessed with appearances. He had been born with a fine old name and the respect that name provided, but when he grew into adulthood there had not been a penny left of the Hawthorne family fortune. So he had chosen a bride for a good deal more than her looks and her ability to bear him sons. He chose Emmaline Abbot for her wealth. Her renowned beauty was nothing more than an added bonus. He would have married her regardless of what she looked like.
In the years since, Bradford had restored the family coffers and built an empire based on the family’s good name, Emmaline’s wealth, and three strong sons. Grayson, Matthew, and Lucas.
Years ago, despite Emmaline’s protests, Bradford had forced his oldest son to make his own way from an early age. However, when first Matthew, then Lucas had come to that turning point in their own lives, Bradford had suddenly been willing to help. But each of them had turned their father down.
Solidarity among brothers. And all three had succeeded, though not all of them had done it in ways Bradford had approved of.
Grayson had become a lawyer—the most respected in Boston, but a lawyer all the same. Lucas had opened a gentlemen’s club, fast becoming known for the finest liquors in town, not to mention the finest women. Matthew had been the one who made Bradford proud.
Matthew had made a fortune in railroads and shipping. And because of that success, he had been invited to lunch with his father every Friday at Locke Ober ‘s. Until the accident.
Matthew thought of the message he had given his mother for his father.
Before he could stop himself, he strode to the door and bellowed for Quincy.
“Have I received any messages?”
“None, sir, other than from
Similar Books
