Page 40 of Stolen Time
His parents exchanged a glance, and Seth watched his father’s mouth thin.
“If you had reconciled,” he said, “then of course your mother and I would make your excuses to Mabel and her daughter. However, since it doesn’t sound as though it’s a settled matter, you will need to participate, just like any other eligible cousin.”
“It’s not anything that either you can avoid,” Molly put in. Although her voice was firm, Seth couldn’t miss the compassion in her clear blue eyes, telling him she knew this was difficult for everyone involved.
He found himself saying, “If that was the case, then I’m surprised you haven’t done more to stop me from seeing Miss Rowe.”
His mother’s gaze softened even further. “Oh, Seth, you know that’s not how these things work. It has never been our way to tell the young men who might be a future consort that they can’t have their own lives and seek out their own wives. We trust the Goddess to guide us to the right place in this, as in all other things. If you were meant to be Abigail’s consort, then you would be utterly free when it came time to find her partner. And that goes for you as well, Charles,” she added, “We have to believe that if you weren’t intended to be a possible consort for ourprima-in-waiting, then you and Mary would never have fallen out in the first place.”
These reasoned arguments didn’t appear to have much effect on their recipient. Lip curling, Charles retorted, “And I have tobelieve that if Father hadn’t shown off in the store that one day, then Mary and I wouldn’t have had our ‘falling out,’ as you put it. I don’t think the Goddess had anything to do with it. Just…bad luck.”
Their father’s eyes narrowed. “It wasn’t ‘showing off,’ Charles,” he said, tone flat. “It was stopping a thief from stealing our hard-earned money.”
“Of course, Henry,” Molly said, laying a placating hand on her husband’s arm. “We all know why you did what you did. But we also can’t deny that if your use of magic hadn’t been witnessed by everyone in the store, then Mary’s family would have had much less reason to make her break off the engagement. At any rate,” she continued briskly, “that is neither here nor there. We are all where the Goddess wants us to be, and that means you will respond to the summons to be Abigail’s possible consort, whenever that happens.”
Seth couldn’t quite stop himself as he reached for his glass of water to soothe his suddenly dry throat. Unlike his brother, he wouldn’t offer any further protests, since he knew they would fall on deaf ears. For uncounted generations, the sons of witch families had always answered the call when it came time to find a consort for theprima-in-waiting. He might rail inwardly against what he thought was a ridiculous custom, and he might privately think that if the Goddess’s hand was behind all this, then She had very bad timing, but he would hold his tongue. While he had absolutely no interest in becoming his sickly cousin’s consort, he would have been far more resigned to the situation if he had never met Deborah Rowe and had no idea what it felt like to be truly attracted to someone.
Charles, on the other hand, didn’t seem willing to let it go. “And if I don’t respond to the summons? If I refuse?”
“You will not refuse,” Henry McAllister replied, his voice implacable.
Their mother’s expression had also hardened, although when she spoke, it was in the same soft, persuasive tones she’d used a moment earlier. “Oh, Charles, that’s impossible. Don’t you know the elders and theprimacan compel you to go to Abigail and share the consort’s kiss? Just because they don’t rule this clan with an iron fist doesn’t mean they won’t bring their powers to bear if they believe that’s what’s required.”
Seth slipped a sideways glance at his brother. Charles’s jaw was still taut, but there was also a certain fear in his eyes, a clear worry about what the elders might do if he angered them enough.
Before either of them could speak, though, their mother went on, “Besides, the chances that one of you would be Abigail’s consort aren’t so very high. You’re second cousins, and I’ve found that aprima’sconsort tends to be someone more distantly related. I wouldn’t be surprised if ourprima-in-waiting found her match among our relations in Prescott or Payson.”
That would be the best possible outcome for everyone involved. Charles could continue in his quest to woo back Mary Towne, and Seth could continue…well, whatever he was doing with Deborah Rowe. Spending as much time as possible in her company, he supposed, knowing that her tenure in Jerome might not be a lengthy one, should her memories return to her and she go back to her people, whoever they might be.
“I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” Seth said, which was the only real response he could give right then.
“Yes,” Charles said, his tone far more ominous, “I suppose we shall.”
That night, Seth lay awake for a long time, watching moon-cast shadows move across the ceiling. He knew the wise thing to do would be to tell Deborah they needed to spend a little time apart, just until he knew for sure whether he would be Abigail’s consort or not, but he couldn’t think of a single way to articulate the situation without giving far too much away about the McAllister clan’s inner workings. If he was too vague, he feared he might give Deborah the wrong impression…but on the other hand, spelling things out came with its own set of issues.
Whatever happened, he knew he needed to speak to her in person. Merely sending her a note telling her they shouldn’t be in contact for a while seemed too cruel.
Or maybe it was only that he wanted to spend some time alone with her, just in case his life was entirely upended in the very near future.
In a way, as much as he hated the thought of sharing the consort’s kiss with his cousin Abigail…not when he’d secretly dreamed of kissing Deborah almost since the moment he met her…he also thought it might help everyone involved if he was one of the early candidates to be presented to theprima-in-waiting. At least if that were the case, he could get this over with as soon as possible, and would either know the worst or realize he was now free to pursue Deborah without any fear of having all his hopes of a future with her ripped away at the last minute.
And since tomorrow was Sunday and he didn’t have to work, he could spend the afternoon with her…if she was free, of course, even as he guessed that whatever chores Ruth might have dreamed up for her wouldn’t last the whole day…and then he could let Deborah know that family business would consumehis time for the coming week or so, but that he hoped she would still want to have dinner with him once the matter was handled and he didn’t have it hanging over him anymore.
What he would do if she started asking probing questions, he wasn’t sure, but he had to hope he’d be able to come up with answers that sounded plausible enough but wouldn’t lead to more queries.
One way or another, he should find out tomorrow.
13
COOKIES AND COURTSHIP
The note was deliveredby a different kid this time, a boy who looked younger than the one who’d brought the previous message from Seth. I had a feeling this child was a McAllister, since he was much better dressed, looking more like he’d come to Ruth and Timothy’s house straight from Sunday school rather than the mine…even though I doubted any McAllister child would have attended such an overtly Christian institution.
“A note for you, Miss Rowe,” the boy said. He had a mop of sandy blond hair and mischievous green eyes, and looked extremely amused by his errand. “Cousin Seth told me to wait so I could bring back your answer.”
Oh, really? My mouth curved in amusement as well, and I replied, “Of course. Give me a minute to look at this.”
The boy nodded, and I unfolded the piece of paper and scanned the several lines it contained.