Read Online HEARTBREAKER by Julie Garwood - Free Book Online Page A

he’s here . . . like the last time when you got so bad and you didn’t tell me until—”
    “No,” he interrupted. “I’m not sick again.” She didn’t look like she believed him, and so he tried once again to convince her. “I promised you I would tell you when and if I had to have chemo again. Remember?”
    “Yes,” she whispered, her fear ebbing.
    “I’m sorry I didn’t call you Friday,” he said. “It was inconsiderate. I should have let you know the tests got screwed up.”
    “If you don’t have to have chemo again, why is Nick here?” she asked with a glance toward the porch.
    “I sent for him, but the reason had nothing to do with my health.” He rushed on before she could interrupt him. “Come on, Laurant. It’s about time you met him.”
    With a smile she said, “The infamous Nick Buchanan. You didn’t tell me he was so . . .” She stopped herself in time. She had always felt she could tell her brother just about anything, but it didn’t seem appropriate now for her to admit that she thought his best friend was incredibly sexy. It was double jeopardy, she supposed, having an older brother who also happened to be a priest. There was no way he would understand or appreciate his sister having such ideas.
    Nick and Tommy were more like brothers than friends. They met during a fistfight on the playground of St. Matthew’s Elementary School when they were in second grade. They bloodied each other’s noses and from that day on became each other’s shadow. By an odd set of circumstances, Tommy ended up living with the Buchanan family of eight children most of his grade school and high school years, and then he and Nick went to Penn State University together.
    “He’s so what?” Tommy asked as he pulled her along.
    “I’m sorry?”
    “Nick’s so what?”
    “Tall,” she said, finally remembering what they were talking about.
    “I never sent you any photos?”
    “No, you didn’t,” she said, casting her brother a frown for the oversight. Suddenly nervous, she took a deep breath, smoothed her skirt, and went up the stairs to meet him.
    Lordy, lordy, he had blue eyes. Brilliant blue eyes that didn’t miss a trick, she thought as Tommy made the hasty introductions. She put her hand out to shake his, but he wouldn’t let her be formal. He pushed her hand away, pulled her into his arms, and hugged her. It was a brotherly embrace, and when she stepped back, he continued to hold on to her while he looked her over.
    “I’m so happy to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you over the years,” she said.
    “I can’t believe we haven’t met before now,” he replied. “I saw all the pictures of you when you were a kid. Tommy had them up on the wall of our dorm room, but that was years ago, and damn, Laurant, you sure have changed.”
    She laughed. “I hope I have. The sisters at the boarding school were thoughtful enough to send photos to my brother, but he, on the other hand, never sent me any.”
    “I didn’t own a camera,” Tommy said.
    “You could have borrowed one. You were too lazy.”
    “Men don’t think about things like that,” he argued. “At least I didn’t. Nick, we should get her inside, shouldn’t we?”
    “Yes, of course,” he agreed.
    Tommy held the screen door open and rudely shoved Laurant inside.
    “What, in heaven’s name, is the matter with you?” she demanded.
    “I’ll explain in a minute,” he promised.
    The foyer was dark and musty. Her brother rushed ahead and led the way into the kitchen at the back of the two-story house. There was a breakfast nook with a bay window overlooking Monsignor’s vegetable garden, which took up most of the fenced-in backyard. An old rectangular oak table, one leg propped up with a coaster so it wouldn’t wobble, and four spindle chairs sat in front of the three windows. The room had been recently painted a bright, cheerful yellow, but the blinds were torn and brown along the edges. They needed to be