I poured myself a cup of tea and settled back into a corner of the couch. “What are you two doing today?” They were dressed in wool jackets and knickers.
“We’re taking Papa up to the mountain to show him the ski runs,” Flynn said. “Now that the snow has finally come, we want to show him how the pulley system works.” When they’d skied in Europe, they’d studied systems for pulling people up the mountain. Theo, always clever with engineering, had repurposed abandoned mining equipment into the rope pull that would take the skiers to the top. All they had to do was hold on to the rope and let the machine do the rest. “He wants to try out the slopes himself.” I smiled at the pride in his voice. Flynn, of all of us, craved Papa’s praise. Not elusive to any of us, of course. If anything, Papa admired us a little too much. According to him, there wasn’t anything his Lucky Seven couldn’t do.
“I can’t imagine why anyone would want to put sticks on their feet and slide down a mountain,” I said.
“Jo, you won’t believe how much fun it is,” Flynn said. “We can’t wait for you all to learn.”
“What about you, Theo?” I asked. “Did you fall in love with it as much as Flynn?”
“I did. Not that I was challenging Frenchmen to races like my brother.”
“Cymbeline will be doing so the moment she masters the skis,” I said.
“That’s my sister,” Flynn said. “I’m so proud of her.”
“Delphia’s going to be just as bad,” I said. “Yesterday at the pond, she ran into a boy and kissed him.”
“That child scares me a little,” Theo said.
“She’s a rascal,” I said. “Wild. Like you and Cymbeline.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Flynn grinned before taking a large bite of scone.
Theo set down his teacup. “Are you going to the festival with anyone, Jo?”
“You mean with a man?”
“Is that such a strange idea?” Flynn asked.
“I’m not interested in any of that,” I said. “There’s no one who could hold up to Walter.”
“You knew him such a short time,” Theo said softly. “Don’t you think it’s time to move on?”
“I’ve moved on.” I prickled with defensiveness. “I have my work.”
“You don’t appear to have moved on.” Flynn spoke in his gentlest tone, which softened me somewhat.
“What am I supposed to act like? Running after every eligible man in town? Acting silly and ridiculous? I had true love, and now I’m going to devote myself to my work.”
Theo cocked his head to the side, obviously trying to soften what came next. “Two weeks doesn’t seem like enough time to know if you love someone or not.”
“They were the best two weeks of my life.” I stopped talking, afraid I would start to cry. “He was just everything I ever wanted. Smart and funny. He made me laugh, and you know how I barely have a sense of humor.”
“Not true,” Flynn said. “You’ve been laughing at me my whole life.”
“At you, brother, is different from with you,” Theo said.
“We would be married now if he hadn’t died,” I said, ignoring their obvious effort to make me smile.
“But Jo, he didn’t formally propose,” Flynn said. “Or ask Papa.”
“We didn’t like that,” Theo said.
“Not one bit,” Flynn said.
“He would have, but he had to report for duty.” A gnawing shadow of doubt niggled at me. Not just at the moment, but in the middle of the night when I lay awake staring at the ceiling. I would never admit it to anyone that his lack of steady correspondence hurt. One time I’d snapped at poor Martha when she asked me about how unequal it seemed to be. I knew she was only expressing concern, but it bothered me. Still, who knew what it was like over there, gunshots and tunnels? I couldn’t expect him to have sat around writing to me all day. Perhaps he hadn’t wanted to scare me. Which, as it turned out, I should have been more afraid. I’d been so certain he would return.
“Papa didn’t want you to marry him,” Flynn said.