Reggie gazed up at the woman, his emotion written clearly on his face. "It's taken some doing, but I've finally convinced her to marry me."
Adam was shocked all over again. He'd never imagined Reggie would come to him with news like this. He moved close to clasp his brother's hand and pump it. "Congratulations!"
The couple was all smiles as Adam stepped back.
Reggie, getting married. What did Mother think of it? Not that it mattered, not with Reggie shining with joy the way he was.
And then Reggie went serious, met Adam's gaze again. "I want to be the one to run theExplorer."
It seemed it would be a morning for shock. This time, Adam felt the earth moving beneath him. "What?"
Reggie frowned. "You know I used to go with Father to the paper every day that Mother let me get away with it. I'd sit in the corner of his office and watch him work and dream of being there, behind the desk."
Reggie sighed. "For a long time, I thought it was beyond me. With my... limitations. But I've recently become convinced that I can do much more than I thought."
Adam glanced at Miss P., who was watching his brother with undisguised love. He recognized it because it mirrored what he felt for Breanna.
He was exceedingly proud of his brother. Reggie quite simply appeared to be a changed man. Just the journey to Chicago proved that. But—
"Father wants me to run the paper," Adam said quietly, not wanting to ruin his brother's newfound happiness but needing to speak the truth. Their father had been lying in his sickbed when he’d made the request.
Reggie leveled a look on him. "You can't tell me you want to sit in the old man's office day after day. Year after year."
Just the thought of it made Adam's stomach curdle.
"I promised Father I'd continue the family legacy," he said. He'd meant it. It owed it to Reggie. To Father. To Mother.
Reggie shook his head. "I told you," he muttered to Miss P.
The woman appeared just as serene as she had all morning. She met Adam's gaze squarely. "The newspaper is just a business, you know. The real legacy of the Cartwright family is you. And Reggie."
What a statement from someone he'd only met in passing, someone he’d barely acknowledged before today.
Where had she come from, this bold nurse?
"I've read every paper Father has put out in the last thirteen years," Reggie said. "And almost every copy of our competitors’. If you would be willing to help smooth things over in the office for a few months, I'm sure I could learn the management aspects—the machinery, handling the reporters. Just because I am in a chair doesn't mean I'm helpless."
For years, Adam would've argued with him. But there was a spark of life in Reggie that he recognized from the child his brother had been.
And a matching spark, deep in his breast. What if hedidn'thave to work in the stuffy office every day?
Just the thought of it was freeing.
"Father will never agree." It was a last, weak argument, and Reggie knew it.
His eyes were shining. "Father doesn't have to know, not at first. He's still bed-bound. I can prove myself for a few weeks, and then we can present the idea to him together. As a united front."
Adam crossed his arms over his chest. "And what am I to do instead of running the paper? Retire to the country?"
Reggie's eyes were dancing. "You could write. Articles or a novel or whatever. And you'd have time for proper courting."
Breanna. Where was she? He'd expected her before now, but he’d been distracted by everything his brother had said.
Adam spun in a circle, pressing both hands to his temples. It was too much to take in. His exhausted brain couldn't fathom it.
"He's overwhelmed," said Miss P. with a little laugh, a sign of joy that he could easily see his brother being attracted to. "Maybe we should go to breakfast and talk some more."
"I need to find Breanna." Had she been waylaid by her family?
