Page 57 of Stolen Time
He’d just bent down to start pulling off his work boots when someone knocked at the door. At once he straightened, startled. He seldom had visitors, and even when he did, he usually had some advance notice that they would be dropping by.
Could it be that Deborah had slipped away from Ruth and Timothy’s house and come down the hill to see him?
As much as Seth might have wanted that to be the case, he somehow doubted Deborah would do anything so bold. Not because she didn’t possess the requisite fire or spirit to act on her own, but only because she wouldn’t want to do anything that might compromise her reputation, which was already on slightly shaky ground thanks to the utter mystery of her origins.
Frowning, he went to the door and opened it. Outside stood his brother Charles, still wearing the same stony expression he’d been sporting through most of dinner.
“We need to talk,” he said, and brushed past Seth almost as though he wasn’t there at all.
That kind of behavior only deepened his scowl, but he didn’t reply at once, and instead shut the door before turning toward his brother, who now stood in the middle of the living room, arms crossed.
“I thought I already offered you my congratulations,” Seth commented dryly, but Charles only made an impatient gesture.
“I don’t give a damn about that,” he replied, irritation flashing in his eyes, their clear blue almost as bright as his own. “Believe me, this situation was none of my choosing, and you know that as well as I do.”
Maybe a bit of hyperbole, but it also didn’t require a mind reader to see that Charles was less than pleased to be Abigail’s future consort.
“Because of Mary?” Seth ventured, and his brother’s brow darkened.
“Mary,” Charles replied, “and a whole lot more. This new wrinkle puts me in a hell of a bind.”
“Your outside arrangement,” Seth said. Even though they were alone here and the windows were shut tight, making the little house positively stuffy, he still wasn’t sure if he wanted to utter the word “bootlegging” aloud.
Charles’s mouth twisted. “As good a way as any of describing it. But yes, that. I know Mabel, and therefore I know she’s going to want me involved with as much of the wedding planning as possible, even though I don’t give a good damn about any of it. Then there’s the house — ”
“‘The house’?” Seth repeated, not sure what his brother was driving at.
The answering look that Charles sent him dripped with condescension. “You don’t really think Mabel is going to let her precious Abigail live in a flat above a store, do you? No, she’s already talking about buying the Waters’ house — ”
“The one you wanted for you and Mary?”
Angry fire flashed in his brother’s eyes. “Yes, that one. I suppose the Goddess is having her little joke with me. Then again, good-sized houses aren’t exactly thick on the ground around here, so it’s probably not so surprising that Mabel would choose that one. At any rate, I’ll be trying to juggle wedding preparations with setting up a new house so Abigail can go straight to a fancy new home as soon as we’re married.”
Seth wondered if he should say “sorry,” even though none of this was his doing. However, he decided it was probably better to remain silent and allow his brother to speak his piece. Itwouldn’t change the situation, but it might help him a little to vent his frustration to someone he knew wouldn’t betray his confidence.
“And of course Mabel wants me to stop working at the store,” Charles continued. “I know that a consort doesn’t work, but I didn’t think she’d ask me to quit until closer to the wedding. Which is why I’m talking to you, Seth.”
He didn’t much like the sound of that. “What does any of this have to do with me?”
His brother released a disgusted breath. “It has everything to do with you. If I’m not working at the store, then you have to.”
Hell, no,rose in Seth’s mind, but he kept that inner protest to himself. In the back of his mind, he’d always known that if something should happen to Charles, he’d need to step in to pick up the slack. Working at the mine was more lucrative, but family came first.
“I can do that,” he said calmly. No point in letting his brother see that he was not entirely pleased with the prospect, even if Seth might allow himself a few inner grumbles.
“Good,” Charles replied. “Because you’ll need the cover of working at the store to take over my Prescott route for the bootleggers.”
Had Charles completely lost his mind? But no, he stood there calmly enough, looking as though he hadn’t just made a completely outlandish proposition.
“I can’t do that,” Seth said flatly, and his brother’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes, you can, and you will,” Charles returned. “They won’t care about the change in my circumstances, and obviously, I can’t tell them the whole story. The only way to prevent them from retaliating against me is to make sure their deliveries continue uninterrupted…and that means having you drive the truck to Prescott whenever they need you to. If there were anyway to continue doing it myself, I would. But I can’t risk having Mabel discover what I’ve been up to. She’s going to be watching me like a hawk now that I’m her daughter’s new consort.”
On the surface, that excuse made some sense. However….
“What’s the worst that could happen?” Seth asked, then went on without waiting for his brother to reply. “Maybe it would be better if theprimaknew the truth. She certainly has the power to ensure the bootleggers stay far, far away from our family.”
Charles’s lip curled in contempt. “Don’t be an idiot. Mabel might have magic, but they have guns. Do you really want to risk the safety of our clan members, merely for a chance to expose those men for what they are?”