01 - The Heartbreaker Read online

  Yorkshire Falls began as just another small, upper New York town in my imagination, but it developed into far more. For the Chandler brothers trilogy, it became a theme that threads the brothers together beyond just family ties. For youngest brother and globetrotting journalist, Roman, in The Bachelor, Yorkshire Falls represents the small-mindedness and boring existence he wants to escape in his early years, only to discover later that having roots makes him stronger. That, which he ran from at a young age, represents hearth and home later on.

  Middle brother and town cop, Rick, in The Playboy, sees the town as a place he loves and protects, but can’t truly be a part of until an outsider shows him how to overcome his past.

  Chase, the eldest and editor/owner of the town newspaper, in The Heartbreaker, has dedicated his life to the newspaper his father owned, making him the heartbeat of the town, but discovers that he can’t continue to live for everyone else. Yet no matter what, the brothers live and love in their small hometown.

  Then of course there are the unusual characters we come to know and love as part of the fabric of Yorkshire Falls. They are the unique pattern woven into the tapestry of a small town that make home, unlike any place on earth. There are Pearl and Eldin, an elderly couple who’ve lived together for so long, that no one can remember them apart, and yet they’ve never married. There is also Samson, the town eccentric, whose heart of gold makes him richer in friends than anyone else—as much to his surprise as everyone else’s. You’ll also find Raina Chandler, the meddling mother whose busybody antics are the root of the Chandler brother’s adventures and whose style is the epitome of every small town mother who has made a career out of arranging the lives of the people around her.

  In different ways these characters all represent the dynamics that push away and yet draw us back time and again to small towns. Readers will continue to gravitate to small town settings because of the wealth of feeling and dimension that they offer. For good or bad, the American psyche is wrapped around the idea of small towns. I hope you’ll come and visit my small town of Yorkshire Falls in the Chandler brother’s books and discover the appeal for yourself.

  Copyright © 2002 Carly Phillips

  A Step in the Right Direction

  by Carly Phillips

  Like the arrow keys on a computer which move my manuscript up or down, forward or back, taking a new step in my writing career was filled with possibilities. I started writing category because I love Romance and the shorter genre. I still do and so, my category career continues. But as is human nature, I wanted to try something different. Enter Warner Books and the opportunity to write single title romance and take my career in a new and challenging direction. How did I handle the experience and what have I learned as a result? Because I am a writer, I think those computer arrow keys provide a perfect analogy.

  A Step Forward:

  More characters and more space to develop them! More plot, if I choose. In The Bachelor, I opted for a panty thief to spice things up. More, more more! I was in writer’s heaven.

  A Step Backward:

  Entering a new genre was like starting over again with that first sale. New editors, new expectations, and all new rules culminating in that dreaded word, revisions! But with the right editor, the experience was challenging and I came through learning much about my writing, myself and the things I can accomplish. By the time I worked on my second single title, The Playboy, I’d learned many lessons and was able to apply them with confidence. Less revisions and much praise! That step backward was a worthwhile trip!

  A Step Sideways:

  Move those computer keys left or right, the direction doesn’t matter. While I was writing, sometimes I felt like I was treading water without making headway—especially since I went from writing a 230-page manuscript to a 400-page manuscript. With the help of a supportive critique partner and family, the books did get written and from treading water, I’d reached the finish line!

  I’m now *this* close to seeing my book in print and on the bookstore shelves. I’ve learned about promoting single titles and how different and more time consuming that job is than promoting category. I’ve learned to think more about budgeting my money for promoting (note, I didn’t say I DID budget). And I’ve learned to treat my publisher as a partner in having the book do well. But the most important thing I’ve discovered on the road to publishing a single title is that every step taken is ultimately, a step forward.

  Copyright 2002 AOL Time Warner Book Group.

  THE BACHELOR

  CARLY PHILLIPS

  An AOL Time Warner Company

  PROLOGUE

  You’re fit, Mrs. Chandler. The cardiogram is normal and so is your blood pressure. Nothing more than a bad case of indigestion. An antacid, some rest, and you should be fine.” The doctor slipped her stethoscope around her neck and made another notation in the chart.

  Relief flowed through Raina Chandler as strong as the pain had ripped through her earlier. The fiery sensation in her chest and arm had caught her off guard. Ever since losing her husband to a heart attack at age thirty-seven, Raina had never taken unexpected pain lightly. She’d become health-conscious, watched her weight, and started an exercise routine of brisk walking she’d kept up through this very day.

  At the first twinge of pain, she’d picked up the phone and called her oldest son. Not even the bad memories of sterile, antiseptic hospital smells or the depressing graying walls could deter her from taking care of her health. She had a mission to accomplish before she left this earth.

  She glanced at the attractive young doctor who had met her at the Emergency Room. Any woman who looked good in drab hospital green had potential. “You’re new to this town, aren’t you?” But Raina already knew the answer before the other woman nodded.

  She knew everyone in Yorkshire Falls, population 1,723, soon to be 1,724, when the editor of the local section of the Yorkshire Falls Gazette and his wife had their baby. Her general practitioner had been Dr. Eric Fallon, a close friend for years. Widowed like herself, Eric only recently had succumbed to the desire to enjoy life more and work less. As Eric’s new partner, Dr. Leslie Gaines was his answer to less stress.

  She was new to town, and from Raina’s perspective that made her not just interesting, but fresh, potential wife material for her jaded sons. “Are you married?” Raina asked. “I hope you don’t mind my prying, but I’ve got three single sons, and—”

  The doctor chuckled. “I’ve only been here a few weeks and already your sons’ reputations precede them, Mrs. Chandler.”

  Raina’s chest swelled with pride. They were good men, her boys. They were her greatest joy and recently the source of continued frustration. Chase, her oldest, Rick, the town’s favorite cop, and Roman, her foreign correspondent and the baby brother, who was currently in London covering an economic summit.

  “Now, Mrs. Chandler—”

  “Raina,” she corrected and studied the good doctor. Nice laugh, sense of humor, and a protective nature. Raina immediately discounted the woman physician as a mate for Roman or Rick.

  Her no-nonsense demeanor would bore Roman and a doctor’s hours would clash with Officer Rick’s. But she could be just the right woman for her oldest son, Chase. Since taking over as publisher of the Yorkshire Falls Gazette for his father almost twenty years earlier, he’d become much too serious, bossy, and overprotective. Thank God he had his father’s handsome, chiseled face to make a decent first impression before he opened his mouth and started taking control. Good thing women loved a protective man and most single women in this town would marry Chase in a heartbeat. He was handsome, as were Rick and Roman.

  Her goal was to marry off all three of her boys, and she would. But first they had to desire more from a woman than sex. Not that there was anything wrong with sex; in fact, it could be more than pleasant, she thought, remembering. But it was her sons’ mind-set that presented her with a problem. They were men.

  And having raised them, Raina knew exactly how they th
ought. They rarely wanted any female for more than one night. The lucky women lasted a month, no longer. Finding willing women wasn’t the issue. With the Chandler good looks and appeal, women fell at their feet. But men, her sons included, wanted what they couldn’t have, and her boys had too much, too easily.

  The lure of the forbidden and the fun of the chase was gone. Why should a man consider until death do us part when he had women willing to give it up without commitment? It wasn’t that Raina didn’t understand today’s generation. She did. But she’d also loved the trappings of a family life—and was smart enough to hold out for the whole package.

  But in today’s world, a woman had to offer a man a challenge. Excitement. And even then, Raina sensed her boys would balk. Chandler men needed a special woman to pique their interest and keep it. Raina sighed. How ironic that she, a woman who held marriage and children as her ideal, raised three sons who thought the word bachelor was sacred. With their attitudes she’d never have the grandchildren she desired. They’d never have the happiness they deserved.

  “Some instructions, Raina.” The doctor snapped her chart closed and glanced up. “I’d suggest keeping a bottle of antacid in the house, in case of emergencies. Often a cup of tea is the best remedy.”

  “No more late-night pizza deliveries, then?” She met the younger woman’s amused gaze.

  “I’m afraid not. You’ll have to find another way of entertaining yourself.”

  Raina pursed her lips. The things she endured for her future. For her boys. Speaking of whom, Chase and Rick would be back any second and the doctor hadn’t answered the most pressing question. Raina let her gaze slide up the doctor’s slender physique. “I don’t mean to push, but . . .”

  Dr. Gaines grinned, obviously still amused. “I’m married. And even if I weren’t, I’m sure your sons would appreciate finding their own women.”

  Raina tamped down her disappointment, then waved her hand in the air in response. “As if my boys would ever find their own women. Or should I say wives. Nothing short of a life-or-death emergency would force them to pick one woman and settle down. . . .” Raina’s voice trailed off as the import of her own words sank in.

  Life-or-death emergency. The only thing that would convince her sons of the necessity to get married. Her life-or-death emergency.

  As the plan began to form, Raina’s conscience begged her to dismiss the idea. It was cruel to lead her sons to believe she was ill. On the other hand, it was for their own good. They couldn’t deny her anything, not when she truly needed them, and by playing on their good natures, she’d ultimately be leading them to happily ever after. Not that they’d know or appreciate it at first.

  She gnawed on her lip. It was a risk. But without grandchildren, loneliness loomed large in her future, just as, without a wife or family, it loomed large for her sons. She wanted more for them than empty homes and emptier lives—the kind of life she’d had since her husband died.

  “Doctor, my diagnosis here . . . it’s confidential?”

  The younger woman shot her a slanted glance. No doubt she was used to that question with only the most dire of cases. Raina checked her watch. She was running out of time before the boys returned. Her newly formulated plan as well as her family’s future depended upon the woman’s answer, and Raina waited, tapping her foot impatiently.

  “Yes, it’s confidential,” Dr. Gaines said with a good-natured laugh.

  Raina relaxed a bit more. She hugged her cotton hospital gown closer. “Good. I’m sure you don’t want to have to evade my sons’ questions, so, thank you for everything.” She extended her hand for a polite shake, when she really wanted to shove the other woman through the curtain before the cavalry arrived with pointed questions.

  “It was a pleasure and an experience meeting you. Dr. Fallon will be back in the office tomorrow. If you have any problems before then, don’t hesitate to call.”

  “Oh, I won’t,” Raina said.

  “So what’s the story?” Rick, the middle child no one had ever been able to ignore, barreled through the drawn curtain with Chase on his heels. Rick’s brash nature echoed his mother’s personality. His dark brown hair and hazel eyes resembled Raina’s before her hairdresser had gotten hold and changed her to a honey-blond to obliterate the gray.

  In contrast, Roman and Chase were the bookends with jet-black hair and blazing blue eyes. Both her oldest and youngest were the spitting image of their father. Their imposing builds and dark hair never failed to remind her of John. Only their personalities were uniquely their own.

  Chase stood in front of his agitated sibling and faced the doctor head-on. “What’s going on?”

  “I think your mother’s condition is something she’d like to explain herself,” the doctor said, then slipped beyond the awful multicolored curtain.

  Ignoring the tug of guilt in favor of the greater good, and assuring herself they’d thank her in the end, Raina blinked back tears and placed a shaky hand over her heart. Then she explained her frail health and long-standing desire to her sons.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Roman Chandler glared at his oldest brother, or more accurately he glared at the quarter in Chase’s right hand. After getting the phone call about his mother’s heart problem, Roman had grabbed the first flight out of London. He’d flown into JFK Airport, taken a connecting flight to Albany, and then rented a car so he could drive an hour to his hometown of Yorkshire Falls, just outside of Saratoga Springs, New York. He was so tired even his bones ached from sheer exhaustion.

  And now he could add stress to his problems. Thanks to his mother’s heart condition, one of the Chandler brothers would have to sacrifice his freedom in order to provide Raina with a grandchild. A coin toss would decide which brother would shoulder the burden, but only Rick and Roman would be involved. Having already done his family duty by giving up college to run the paper and help his mother raise his younger brothers, Chase wouldn’t take part in the toss—despite his argument to the contrary. He’d wanted things equal. Rick and Roman had insisted he opt out.

  He’d play executioner instead.

  “Call it. Heads or tails,” Chase said.

  Roman glanced at the unpainted ceiling, toward the upstairs of his childhood home where his mother was resting, as per doctor’s orders. Meanwhile, he and his brothers stood waiting on the dusty, dirt-smeared floor of the garage that was attached to the family house. The same garage where they’d stored their bikes and balls as kids, and where Roman had snuck beers when he thought his older brothers weren’t around. And the same house they’d been raised in and their mother still held on to, thanks to Chase’s hard work and his success with the newspaper.

  “Come on, guys, someone call it,” Chase said in the wake of the surrounding silence.

  “You don’t have to sound like you’re enjoying this,” Rick muttered.

  “You think I’m enjoying this?” Chase twisted the coin between his fingers, frustration tugging at his lips. “That’s bullshit. I sure as hell don’t want to see either of you lose the life you chose just because of some whim.”

  Roman was certain his oldest brother felt so strongly because Chase hadn’t chosen his own life path. Instead he’d been thrust into the dual roles of publisher and parent overnight. At seventeen and the oldest sibling when their father died, Chase had felt a duty to take his father’s place as head of the family. And that was the motivating factor for Roman’s participation in the coin toss now. Roman had been the one to leave Yorkshire Falls and follow his dreams, while Chase had stayed behind and given up his.

  Both Roman and Rick looked to Chase as their role model. If Chase thought their mother’s dire health and her deep desire for a grandchild warranted a sacrifice, then Roman had to agree. Not only did he owe his brother, he shared the same sense of devotion to family.

  “It’s no whim Mom suffered,” Roman said to his siblings. “She said it’s a weak heart that can’t handle stress.”

  “Or disappointment,” Rick said. �
��Mom didn’t use that word, but you know damn well she meant it. We’ve disappointed her.”

  Roman nodded in agreement. “So if grandchildren will make her happy, then it’s up to one of us to give her one to coddle while she’s still around to enjoy being a grandmother.”

  “Knowing one of us is happily married will take the edge off that stress she’s supposed to avoid,” Chase said. “And a grandchild will give her life direction.”

  “Can’t we just get her a puppy?” Rick asked.

  Roman understood the sentiment. At thirty-one, his lifestyle precluded settling down. Marriage and family hadn’t been in the future. Until now. It wasn’t that Roman didn’t like women. He did. Hell, he loved women, how they smelled and how their soft skin felt gliding against his aroused body. But he couldn’t imagine giving up his career in favor of looking at the same female face across the breakfast table every day for the rest of his life. He shuddered, amazed that his life choices had come down to this one moment.

  He turned to his middle brother. “Rick, you’ve tied the knot once. No need to do it again.” Though Roman had no desire to announce himself the man for the job, he couldn’t let his sibling repeat his past—marrying to help someone else while sacrificing himself in the process.

  Rick shook his head. “Wrong, baby brother. I’ll take part in the coin toss. Last time has nothing to do with this. This is about family.”

  Roman understood. The Chandlers were all about family. So he was back to where they left off. Would he return to his job as foreign correspondent for the Associated Press, continue to land in political hot spots and get the untold stories out to the rest of the world, or would he settle down in Yorkshire Falls the way he’d never planned? Though sometimes Roman wasn’t sure whose dream he was actually pursuing—his, Chase’s, or a combination of both—Roman lived in fear of replicating his brother’s life, of being closed in with no options.