Drake entered. Rai, seated behind the desk, scanned his face and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Valinda asked me to marry her.”
Looking confused, Rai asked, “And you’re upset, why?”
“It’s temporary.”
His confusion deepened. “Okay, start from the beginning.”
Drake wasn’t sure why he’d come, but for all of Rai’s bossy, sometimes insufferable, eldest-brother ways he was usually the one they all sought out when there was a problem, or they just needed to talk something over. When Drake finished the story, Rai asked, “So, are you upset because she didn’t jump up and down and say yes, she wanted to be with you until death do you part?”
“Maybe.”
“She’s looking for a way out of her father’s trap, Drake. I know you think the sun rises and sets because you walk the earth, all we LeVeq men do, but one thing Sable has taught me is that sometimes it isn’t about us.”
Drake’s jaw tightened.
Rai said, “I know that’s hard to hear but you’re in love, brother. Your ego is going to be punctured on a regular basis, and after a while you’re not going to mind, because you wake up every day beside the most beautiful thing in your life. A woman who could’ve chosen any other man in the world, chose you. Would you have been happier had she asked Archer, or god forbid, Beau?”
Drake’s eyes shot to his.
“Exactly. Count your blessings. It will work out. Always does. Anything else?”
“No.” Drake stood up and started to the door.
Rai said, “Drake.”
He stopped.
“According to Sable, Val is in love with you, too. You’re a LeVeq. If you can’t figure out how to make it permanent, I’m disowning you, and putting your chair at Mama’s table up for auction.”
Amused in spite of his mood, Drake exited.
Despondent over her rift with Drake, Val was seated at the dining room table preparing lessons for her students when Julianna and Henri returned. “How was the opera?” she asked.
Julianna replied, “The soprano left a lot to be desired, but the Opera House only allows us to attend occasionally so we take advantage of their bigoted largesse when we can.”
Val said, “May I speak with you for a moment before you go up?”
“Certainly.”
Henri kissed his wife’s cheek. “I’ll see you upstairs. Good night, Valinda.”
“Good night, sir.”
Julianna took a seat. “Did something happen while I was away?”
“Yes, I’m going to be a temporary daughter-in-law.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Temporary?”
Val explained, adding, “I hurt his feelings with my lack of enthusiasm.” Guilt grabbed her, again. “I feel awful.”
“Drake may be the biggest and strongest of my sons, but he’s also the most tenderhearted. He keeps it hidden because his brothers often teased him about that when they were growing up.” She paused for a moment as if thinking back. “When Drake was maybe five or six, he got very attached to the ducklings and piglets we had. He fed them. Played with them. I of course was raising them for Christmas dinner. Christmas Day comes. We’re having dinner, and Archer, I believe, made a comment about how delicious Drake’s duck friends were. Drake looked down at his plate, looked over at me, and his little face crumbled. He left the table crying. To this day, he won’t eat duck.”
“Aw.”
“His brothers of course howled with laughter.”