Flynn sighed, shaking his head as he poured them both a glass of the fine alcohol. “I’ve been thinking about that quite a lot. I suppose I always thought that I’d remain in the military forever. Now that I no longer have that option, I find myself adrift.”
Heath accepted his glass and twirled it around for a moment before sipping it. “You are the brother of an earl. You don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to. Your allowance is large enough to allow you to live whatever life you choose. If you’d like to go to London and gamble and chase skirts, you can certainly do so without a care in the world.”
Flynn shook his head, rejecting that out of hand. “I need some sort of purpose. Something to fill my time besides house parties and hunting.”
Heath laughed. “I thought so.” He handed Flynn a cigar. “So you must find what it is that will make you happy and do it.”
“You make it sound so easy,” Flynn groused, lighting his cigar and taking a deep puff. As he exhaled, his mind immediately went to Daisy, but he shook the thought away. He wanted Daisy to be his future, but before he could build a life with her, he had to know what that future held.
“It is easy,” Heath said, unperturbed. “Don’t expect me to feel sorry for you because you have a plethora of choices out in front of you. From the day I was born, I only had one choice.”
“I suppose I never looked at it that way.” Though Flynn had never had any aspirations to be the heir himself, he’d never realized that Heath had not felt incredibly lucky to have been born first.
Heath shrugged, laughing it off. “You don’t have to make any decisions tonight.”
“I know,” Flynn said. “I’m just anxious to begin the rest of my life.”
“Well, you’re home. That’s all that matters.”
A long pause fell between them as they enjoyed their libations, and Flynn thought of the garden and how much it had deteriorated since their mother’s death. He’d planned to work on it anyway but perhaps he could do more than that. Perhaps he could go back to school, learn landscape design from the very best instructors, the way he’s always longed to do. His father was no longer here to tell him he couldn’t, and his brother would always support him, no matter what he did.
And Daisy would help him pursue his dream as well. He had no doubt of it...
“I’m in love with Daisy Weatherby,” Flynn said, the words escaping almost of their own volition. But once they were out, he realized how much he’d needed to say them.
Heath smiled a bit, lifting his glass in a casual salute. “I know. Violet told me about the letters. I’ve been hoping you’d get your head out of your ass and do something about it.”
“That’s just it,” Flynn admitted, surprised that Violet had told Heath what had happened. He’d thought she’d fight to keep that secret. Perhaps there was more to his brother’s marriage that he’d thought. “I don’t know how to make up for the cruel things I said when I found out that she’d lied to me.”
“It sounds like you both have some things you regret.” Heath sighed and shook his head. “Daisy is nothing if not reasonable, Flynn. She’ll forgive you if you say you’re sorry. Knowing her, she’s still worried that you’ll never forgive her.”
Flynn stared pensively into the flames. “Maybe you’re right.”
“I know I’m right,” Heath said with a laugh. “The May Day celebration is in two days. I hear she’ll be crowned queen. I think you should go, tell her you’re sorry, and see what happens.”
“The Queen of May,” Flynn mused, a smile spreading across his own face at the strange rightness of it. The last May Day he’d spent here, he’d made the wrong choice, kissed the wrong sister. Now he finally had a chance to choose correctly.
Their conversation turned to other matters, and they consumed several more glasses of port. But through it all, Flynn’s thoughts remained on the future and what it would hold for him.
