Queen of Men (King Maker 2)

Two of my brothers, however, hadn’t bothered to greet me except to say “Hi” in the food line as if it hadn’t been years since I’d seen them. Jacob, the older at seventeen, carried himself like my father, regal and sure of himself. John, the younger at fourteen, seemed in awe of his big brother but was more reserved and shy.

He’d given me a winning smile. I was sure he would have happily hugged me if not for Jacob at his side. So when my sisters walked away, I sought out not only Mary, but my brothers too. I found the boys first.

“John,” I said, enveloping him in a hug. “I missed you.”

He squeezed me back. When he spoke, his voice lacked the baritone that came with age and, in fact, cracked a little. “Bails.” A shyness that screamed embarrassment crossed his face. I wanted to tell him he wouldn’t be the squeaky boy for long. Yet, I held my tongue.

When Jacob walked over, trying to be cool and lightly punched me on my shoulder, I took him by surprise in my embrace. “Hey, Jake,” I teased. He was Jake and Father was Jacob. It had always been that way to keep them separate since they shared a name.

“Bails,” he hesitantly said, patting my back awkwardly before pulling away. “Yeah, since you’re so happy to see us, maybe you could do us a favor.”

“And what’s that?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“There’s a dance Friday. Father won’t let us go unless we have an escort.” He rolled his eyes like it was nonsense.

An arm at my shoulder acknowledged the presence of Turner at my side. “She’ll come because she’s my date.”

John glanced back and forth between us, and Jake got a wicked gleam in his eyes. “I bet she is,” Jake said before striding off. Apparently, he was done with me. The strawberry blonde in the corner he was heading toward was all the confirmation I needed that I’d been sorely dismissed. John smiled before following in his brother’s wake.

“Date,” I said, swiveling to face Turner.

“Yeah, the one I was going to ask you on. But thankfully, Jake took care of that.”

I almost contradicted him when the elders strolled in. Everything quieted and I headed back to my place by Violet with Turner in tow.

The meeting only brought me farther back in time. It was almost as if I’d never left. According to the elders, things were good. They talked about the plans for surviving winter and preparing for spring.

After the meeting was over, it was up to the younger generation to remove any plates or trash left on the tables. The women were huddled to the side in front of large basins either washing or drying the dishes, while others wrapped up leftover food for those who had iceboxes and wanted to take it.

The men worked together to move the large tables and benches to one side of the hall, leaving the place empty for whatever events were to come. And according to Jake, that would most likely be a dance on Friday night.

When it was all done, I went to find Mary.

I found her with a gaggle of females as she held her baby close to her chest.

“Can I speak with you?”

She rolled her eyes, which got a lot of giggles from the peanut gallery. I ignored it because you couldn’t choose family. And though she may have hated me, I still loved my sister.

“What is it that you want now?” she asked, sounding put out.

“I’m staying with Vi tonight.”

“Of course, you are, after all the trouble I went through to make a place for you to sleep.”

My father must have talked to her before I could and warned her of my arrival.

“I’m sorry. I can cancel.”

She waved me off with her free hand. “It’s better this way. You won’t disturb my routine. I was only doing it as a favor to Father.”

“Right,” I said, trying to bite my tongue. “Far be it for me to interfere in your life.”

I walked away and tried to see it from Mary’s point of view and couldn’t.

By the time I made it back to Vi, her husband wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“Can I walk you ladies home?”

Vi looked up at Turner with dreamy eyes. Of course, she’d crushed on him. Turner was closer to her age than he was to mine. Being the good-natured person she was, when she found out years ago that Turner and I had eyes for each other outside of friendship, she’d bowed out and told me I was a lucky girl.

On the other hand, Mary had taken it badly. She’d always competed with me at every turn. I wasn’t even surprised at her choice of husband. Thomas had pursued me until he found out about my betrothal to Turner and backed off. Their wedding had been the reason I’d returned home a couple of years ago.