Homecoming: The Billionaire Brothers (31 page)

Coughing to clear his tight, scratchy throat, Miles said, “Mission accomplished.”

“Uh, guys? I hate to interrupt.” Jessica, who’d never met an event she didn’t want to organize, appeared to have taken over managing the dedication ceremony. She stepped up with an apologetic smile and tilted her head in the direction of the podium. “I think it’s about time to start. If we wait much longer, we’re going to lose Logan.”

Miles glanced past her to where his younger brother stood, arms crossed and scowling gaze directed up at the sky, while a local dairy farmer talked his ear off. Huffing out a laugh, Miles gave Jessica a nod before squeezing Greta close for one last kiss. For some reason, he was having a hard time letting go of her.

“Go do your thing,” she whispered in his ear, a smile audible in her tone. “We’ll be right here waiting for you. Daddy.”

The promise in that word, and the glint in Greta’s brown eyes as she pulled away, gave Miles the shove he needed to get him over to the podium. Holding up his arms to get everyone’s attention, he waited for the crowd to turn and gather close.

With a sigh of relief, Logan abandoned his one-sided conversation and moved to Miles’s right just as Dylan came forward to flank him on the left. Jessica and Greta joined Penny at the stone bench where she’d settled to one side of the podium, and suddenly Miles knew exactly what he wanted to say.

“If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be standing shoulder to shoulder with my two brothers, and that all three of us would have found the loves of our lives, I would’ve laughed in your face. Actually, no. I didn’t do a lot of laughing back then—I probably would have sneered, and maybe had you fired. What can I say? I was a bit of a jerk.”

“A bit?” Dylan snarked under his breath, with an affectionate shove of his shoulder.

“Back then?” Logan didn’t drop his smirk when Miles shot him a mock-angry glare.

“As I was saying,” Miles continued with emphasis. “That was the old me. That was before I’d ever visited Sanctuary Island.”

There were proud smiles and nods as an approving murmur hummed through the crowd. These people loved their town, and Miles could understand why.

“This island is special,” he said simply. “Warm, welcoming, friendly, and so beautiful it feels like stepping into a dream. But it’s real. And it’s the place where all three of the Harrington brothers found love.”

A raucous cheer from the back made Miles grin. He’d recognize Greta’s loud-mouthed, boisterous brothers anywhere. “As far as we’re concerned, Sanctuary Island is the most romantic place on earth. So to honor that, and also to honor our family’s longstanding connection to the island, we decided to donate this beautiful public park to the people of Sanctuary Island. We planted the garden using cuttings from my grandmother’s roses—all of these gorgeous blooms came from heirloom bushes lovingly raised by Bette Harrington for the summer home she adored.”

Dylan shot him a sidelong glance, the corner of his mouth kicked up into a half smile. Miles clapped him on the shoulder, reaching out to drag Logan into the brother huddle with them. “This island has been good to our family,” Miles said hoarsely. “And we wanted to show our gratitude to all of you, and to everyone who comes after. May this garden see many more couples falling in love and planning their futures on Sanctuary Island.”

As the crowd broke into cheers and applause and his brothers started shaking hands and laughing with their new neighbors, Miles’s gaze found Greta. She dropped the hands covering her trembling lips to mouth the words, “I love you,” and Miles felt their impact in his chest.

Sanctuary Island had given them everything: their family, their friends, their future … and a love so deep, it was destined to be the true legacy they passed down to their children.

A
LSO BY
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VERETT

Sanctuary Island

Shoreline Drive

A
VAILABLE FROM
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. M
ARTIN’S
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APERBACKS

About the Author

Lily Everett
grew up in a small town in Virginia reading
Misty of Chincoteague
and
Black Beauty
, taking riding lessons, and longing for a horse of her own. Sadly, her parents gave her a college education instead—but she never forgot what the world looked like from the back of a horse. She currently lives in Austin, Texas, where she writes full-time.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

HOMECOMING: THE BILLIONAIRE BROTHERS

Copyright © 2014 Lily Everett.

“Firefly Café” copyright © 2013 by Lily Everett.

“The Summer Cottage” copyright © 2013 by Lily Everett.

“Island Road” copyright © 2013 by Lily Everett.

“One Year Later…” copyright © 2014 by Lily Everett.

Cover design by Elsie Lyons

Cover photographs: couple © Phase4Studios/Shutterstock.com;

lake © Ross Chandler/Getty Images

All rights reserved.

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eISBN: 978-1-4668-5756-8

St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / August 2014

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