Broken Heart

by Laura Browning

  “I’ve got you cleared to go with them. We’ll follow in our car to the hospital.”

  Stacey slipped from his grasp, back toward Mason who was now strapped to the gurney and being pushed toward the back of an open ambulance. As she stepped away to follow, she looked back at her brother.

  “What about Jason?”

  “They’re stabilizing him,” Brandon responded. “Beyond that, I don’t know.”

  Stacey sucked in a deep breath, not sure what she felt at the moment, just knowing she didn’t have time to examine it. The man she loved was being loaded inside an ambulance, and she was going with him. She’d go with him wherever he went because he’d already followed her to hell and back–and they’d both more than paid the price. As the doors of the ambulance began to close, shutting her in with Mason, she saw Justin being allowed to climb in another ambulance.

  For a moment, their gazes locked. She saw pain, regret, and the same worry she was feeling being reflected back at her. If he felt a fraction for Jace of what she felt for Mason, maybe they would be all right.

  Epilogue

  Three months later…

  “That’s it, Stacey! Around this buoy and you’ve got him.”

  Wind tore at the hair she had tucked into a worn cap. Mason was working swiftly at her command, her crew as she made the turn around the buoy and left Brandon in her wake. She laughed with the sheer joy of it. As they crossed the predetermined finish line, Mason ran toward her from the bow and grabbed her into his arms.

  “Christ! That’s some of the best sailing I’ve seen. You nailed Brandon. Hah! And look at your father. You can see his grin even from here.”

  Leaning back in Mason’s arms, she turned her head toward her father’s yacht, feeling absurdly close to tears when she saw him wave. Morgan wasn’t quite so subdued. Even from this distance, they watched her jumping up and down and laughing.

  From their starboard side, Brandon shouted, “I concede. Dinner’s on me tonight.”

  “We’ll meet you back at the marina,” Mason shouted back.

  He turned Stacey into his arms, lifting her hand and kissing the thick gold band resting there, a slightly smaller version of the one on his own lean finger.

  “I will never let him live this down.” He grinned at her.

  Stacey twined her arms around his neck. “Oh, Mason. I love you so much.”

  “Back at you.” He tucked a strand of hair under her cap. “Every day I open my eyes next to you, I see the woman I love and wonder what I’ve done to deserve you.”

  She rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m the one who should be wondering.”

  He put his hand over her heart, his expression somber. “The day I saw you at Brandon’s wedding, I never dreamed we’d be back together. You were so brittle…so broken…and I felt such helpless rage…”

  “It’s over. Father told me Jace’s attorney managed to cut a deal. He’s being allowed to go to Montana with Justin. I’m almost at the point where I feel sorry for them,” she whispered.

  “I’m not sure I can be that forgiving, honey.”

  She smiled. “I can because it gave me you. It made me stronger, and you healed what was broken.”

  “We healed it. In both of us.”

  Laura Browning

  I live in the rolling country of central North Carolina in the middle of a small farm along with my husband and son. My background with horses and journalism was the initial impetus for this series (Bittersweet and Balancing Act), but as each of the Barlow-Barrett siblings has found his or her voice, I’ve discovered winning the love of their lives was only half their battle. Each of them must also find how they fit into a powerful and wealthy family where private lives are seldom private.

  Also by Laura Browning

  Winning Heart

  Barlow-Barrett Series

  Bittersweet

  Balancing Act

  Remember Me

  Lyrical Press books are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2013, Laura Browning

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  Lyrical Press and the L logo are trademarks of Kensington Publishing Corp.

  First Electronic Edition: October, 2013

  ISBN-13: 9781616504885