7. Ambrose
Ambrose
The picnic tables were laden with food. Too much food.
Food that didn’t make sense in the slightest. Everdeen may have been full of wealthy country folk, but seeing snails and—ew, was that eel?
It wasn’t food that people in Everdeen ate.
Yet here it all was for the taking, along with every familiar face I didn’t want to talk to.
My father talked business without taking a breath, while Marigold held a snake beside him.
Why was my oldest sister holding a snake?
She let it slither around her arm and neck, the dark scales brushing against her blonde hair.
When Emiline and Hattie made their way to her, I tried to shout.
Nothing escaped my mouth. Then someone stood in front of me, a shadow swallowing me whole.
I glanced over to see a dashing smile and golden amber eyes fixed on me.
When Zeth moved forward, my troubles melted away.
He drew close to me and swept his knuckles against my cheek.
Then he kissed me. Something stirred deep in my chest for this man.
A man I had known my whole life, my best friend, my—
A knock sounded on the door, ripping me from my dream, and my eyes shot open to find the dimly lit ceiling above me.
My clothes were damp, and sweat beaded on my head.
My, these blankets were hot . Upon throwing them off, I peered down at the bulge in my trousers.
Sighing, I sat up with a groan, trying my best to ignore the fact that such a thing had arisen from dreaming about Zeth .
The room was cast in shadow, and a quick glance at the window told me it was late evening.
“Amby, are you alright?” came Emiline’s voice from the other side of the door.
I pulled the linens back over my lap before saying, “Yes. You can come in.”
The door opened gently, and Emiline peeked inside before stepping fully in. She held a lamp and set it on the end table before sitting beside me on the bed. I could feel her staring at me, but I didn’t meet her gaze. Not yet.
“Well?” she asked.
“Well, what?”
“You missed supper, and you took a nap. Either the picnic really did a number on you, or you’re bothered by something.”
My twin never missed a beat with me. She knew my moods like the back of her hand. “The picnic was full of the usual noise and crowd. You know how both give me a headache. I needed to sleep it off.”
“That’s not the whole truth.”
She was prodding me to talk, but I just wanted to forget all about today, so I only stared ahead.
“Amby…” Emiline took my hand. “Please talk to me. I know when you’re bothered. Don’t make me pry it out of you like I have to with Father.”
Her words got to me. I know she didn’t mean to insult our father, though it was true the man never shed a tear or shared his troubles.
He listened, and that was about it. Emiline was the only one who could get through to him, and still only sometimes .
He was the shining example of what a man should be, what I should be—resilient and unbothered.
The mounting pressures of finding a wife and taking on the banking business always formed such a tight knot in my stomach, making it harder to let out how I truly felt about it all. I did need to let it out.
“Em…” I finally met her gaze to see her auburn braid shining in the dim light, and her face creased in concern. No, I didn’t want to talk about Father right now, so I closed my mouth instead.
Emiline’s thumb gently rubbed the back of my hand. “Hattie told me Zeth is back in town. And that Millie twisted her ankle in the woods.”
I blinked at her, coming out of my straying thoughts.
“Well, it didn’t take Hattie long to give away the events of the entire day over supper.
” I couldn’t ignore the talk about Zeth even if I tried.
My sister knew I had loved him, that I had spent so long being heartsick over losing him.
I rubbed my face with my hand and finally said, “He’s here to court Annabelle. ”
“What?” Emiline drew back, so startled she gave a laugh. “Zeth Washer would never court someone like Anna.”
“I know!” I shot to my feet, no longer able to hold it in, and began pacing the floor.
“She’s not his type, for one. Second, why would he come back here after nine years and show his face unannounced at the picnic?
Third…” I huffed out and stopped as it struck me.
Despite our parting, I thought we’d remained friends.
At one time, we’d matched together like apples and caramel, like cheese and wine.
We were the Daring Duo, a pair who always got into shenanigans. But Zeth didn’t want to be near me now.
After that near-kiss he tricked me with, the only thing I could think about were his last words for me to leave him alone.
Those words shouldn’t have cut me so deep, yet here I was, thinking deeply about them anyway.
No wonder I felt so affected. I was still tied to him by a thread, even if it was thin.
Zeth’s cruel words to me were born out of bitterness for how I had ended things between us nearly a decade ago.
He’d even counted the exact days we’d been apart.
He must really hate me…
“Amby?” Emiline leaned forward on the bed.
I frowned, then heaved a hot breath as I pulled open my dresser drawer to get a new shirt. “I’m fine.”
But I wasn’t. I wasn’t fine, and Emiline knew it. Rather than push the subject, she got to her feet.
“Get dressed and come downstairs. I have supper saved for you. Then maybe we can sit on the deck and have lemonade?”
I nodded, and she squeezed my arm with affection before leaving.
I changed my shirt and glanced around my room.
It wasn’t as big as the rooms I’d stolen a peek of in Annabelle’s house yesterday, but our historic country home was cozy and warm.
It had been a family estate for two hundred and fifty years.
My father adored Everdeen’s history, so much that he invested in the local museum.
He did his best to preserve our home too.
While a few things had been updated to make life easier for us, especially in the kitchen, he made sure certain pieces of furniture and outdated equipment were well-maintained.
We didn’t even have electricity, though he was looking into acquiring it.
Ivory wallpaper with burgundy flowers covered the walls of my room, and the wooden floors shone from recent waxing. My dresser was made of fine oak stained in cherry, and the mirror and wash basin matched. It was all so orderly and precise. So very… Father.
The green-cushioned window seat, however, was the one thing I loved about this room.
I stared at it now, remembering how Zeth used to climb up to my window and sneak inside while the rest of the house slept.
For years, it was a way for us to continue our shenanigans.
We’d often play tricks on Hattie while she slept before sneaking out to the river till midnight.
The year before Zeth left, it had been his way to climb in and meet me in my bed.
His scent had stained the sheets for a long time.
Even after he’d left, it had taken several washes to remove it.
For months after Zeth had gone, I peered out my window hoping he would return, only for disappointment to smother me every night. Until finally I slept on my left side so I couldn’t see the window anymore. The disappointment was easier to deal with that way.
I moved to the door and made my way into the hall.
My head was such a mess; I was being pressured to court a woman who was also being pursued by my past lover.
I shook my head at the absurdity of the whole situation as I rumbled down the stairs, taking the steps at a hurried pace as always.
When I stepped through the foyer and into the parlor, I was surprised to see my eldest sister sitting with my father, a teacup in her hand.
Marigold turned to me with poise. Not a blonde hair was out of place in her neatly styled bun, and judging by her smart dress, she’d come straight from the bank.
At thirty, she was already married, and lived close to the bank so she could be there quickly if need be.
She was poised and intelligent, much like Annabelle, but her face always held a permanent stone-like expression.
Marigold never cared for me, so I never cared for her.
We mostly stayed out of each other’s way unless forced to converse, like now.
“Ambrose.” She dipped her head toward me.
“Marigold.” I looked from her to Father, who was still wearing his attire from the picnic. From the tired expression on his face, he no doubt had some sort of lecture he was about to deliver.
Their silence meant they’d been conversing about me before I arrived. That was fine. I would make my way to the kitchen and let them continue their gossip. “Well, I’m going to get a quick bite to eat.”
As I started forward, Father’s firm voice stopped me in my tracks, “Aren’t you going to ask how your sister is doing?”
I clenched my fists before forcing a smile on my face and turning around. “You look well, Marigold,” I told her.
Her lips tightened as she eyed me from head to toe. “I wish I could say the same of you.”
And there it was. Only one minute in the same room with her and already she was being a thorn in my side. “It was a long day.”
“ Very long,” Father piped up. His blue, round eyes found mine. “But I had household duties to attend to once we arrived home, while you stalked off to your room.”
“My head was aching, I had to sleep it off.”
“Pah,” Father waved his hand and raised his pipe to smoke. “When you own this estate, you’ll have no time for such things.”
I didn’t want to engage further in this conversation. Doing so would keep me in the room longer than I wanted to, and my father was determined to deliver a lecture, so I waited.