Bloody hell. A father. Yes, Alex had always been the responsible one, and both of them had just turned thirty, so fatherhood was not unexpected, but…
“I’m so pleased for you, Alex. You deserve this.” He raised his glass in a toast. What else could he offer? Not advice, not on fatherhood or marriage or even a relationship. What had he accomplished in his three decades on the earth? Alex had earned his degrees, moved to a new continent, married the love of his life, and now was starting a family.
Henry only had a list of scandal sheets wrapping around the block.
“I’m sorry.” Alex raked his hand through his auburn curls and continued to beam. “I came in and shared my news without listening to anything you have to say. What is next for you?”
Another party. Another scandal.
Henry gulped. “A gallery exhibition. It’s a vanity project in truth, but something to keep me occupied.”
Alex blinked, as though surprised by this revelation. The gesture was so brief it should have escaped his notice, but Henry felt it like a shot to the gut. Henry sat back and waved his hand as though brushing the entire conversation away. “It’s set for mid-August, but we’ll see if I get around to putting it together.” No expectations, no disappointments.
“Let me know the details when you have them,” Alex said, and warmth passed through Henry. “Fern and I will postpone our return so we won't miss it.”
“There's no need.” Henry's cheeks warmed. He had no desire to add his best friend's name to the long list of people he would disappoint with his inevitable failure.
“There is. We care about you and your successes.”
Henry said nothing, staring at a point over Alex's shoulder.
“Until then,” Alex said, “what are your plans? Summer in the Cotswolds? Another house party? Or is your housekeeper still recovering from the last one?”
“No, I’m settling down, remember?”
“That’s right.” Alex winced. “I would still like to meet Miss Brightling if she’s ever in Boston.”
Henry pursed his lips. His fiancée would never travel from New York to Boston to see Alex; she didn't know enough about Henry to recognize his best friend's importance in his life. “She’s quite busy with her mother, at least according to her letters.”
Alex twisted his wedding ring and avoided Henry’s gaze. “Are you still certain it’s a good idea? You barely know Miss Brightling, and—”
“It’s done, Alex,” Henry interrupted, his voice uncharacteristically firm. “You weren’t even here when I met her, and it’s for the best. I need to settle down, do my duty for the title, and the marriage will help my father’s business interests and, therefore, mine.”
His chest ached, the burden of unmet expectations pressing the air from his lungs, panic creeping in from the edges. He only had a few precious weeks before he would marry, unless he could find a solution, an escape from the prison of respectability.
“But Henry, what if you meet someone else—”
“We can’t all find perfect love like you did,” Henry bit out, his throat tight as though a noose were slowly strangling him.
Henry hated the silence sitting like another person between them. It had never been there before, not before Alex met Fern and fell in love. When Henry had become obsolete in his life.
“I’ve been thinking of traveling, perhaps. Miss Brightling is set to return to England in the fall, so I have a few months of freedom remaining.”
Alex exhaled, as though grateful for the return to a less precarious topic. “Do you have a destination in mind?”
His mind jumped back to the lectures, his conversation with Ellie.She deserves her adventure.“I’d like to visit Italy, I think.”
Alex raised an eyebrow. “Wine?”
“Art history. I’ve been attending lectures recently, and it’s quite engaging.”
Alex nodded, although Henry could see his skepticism in the lift of his mouth. “Maybe you could help me.”
Henry tilted his head. “Help you?”
“A colleague of mine is traveling the continent with his wife, and they plan to be in Italy in early July. Could you show them around?”
Henry heard the doubt in his friend’s voice and bristled before plastering on a smile and getting to his feet. “Of course I can. In fact, I’ll show them a grand time, one they’ll never forget.”
