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I teasingly whisper, “suck up.” He responds by hooking one arm around my neck and dragging me close for a kiss to my temple.
The goofy smile that kiss puts on my face lasts until the mosquitos come out, our cue to say goodnight.
I go into my room and pack a bag for the night, preparing to hear comments about my choice to stay another night with my beau. No one says a word, which speaks volumes about what the three most influential people in my world think of Torben. Lord knows what they will think when they find out we’re engaged to be married already.
I will let that bake for a while before I tell them. Make sure it sticks.
My goofy smile dissipates when Toad wanders up from the Cooper place, full of more piss and vinegar. At least he has the presence of mind not to interrupt our long goodbye with the older folks. It’s always a long goodbye.
“You are doing this all wrong, sister. I’m telling you,” Toad says when Mama and the grands have wandered off indoors, away from the mosquitos.
My brother is drunk and not holding back. Alright, I guess we’re doing this.
Torben rests his hand on my lower back as I stand with the car door open, readying myself for another fight.
I scoff. “Is this wrong because I’m finally doing something for myself? Is that what you can’t stand?”
He bares his teeth and gestures at the ground with one stubby index finger. “Nah. Because you’re so hell-bent on having your little adventure, you don’t see what’s about to happen.”
“What’s about to happen, other than me doing something for myself for once?”
He glances over at the prince, then presses the meat of his palms into his eye sockets and makes a loud, frustrated noise. “Gah. Fine. If I have to say it in front of him, I’ll say it. They aren’t going to like you.”
“Who?”
“The royal fucking family, you nitwit.”
Torben steps forward, placing himself between us. “You will refrain from insulting Hailey, or we will have a big problem.”
“This is a sibling matter,” Toad says, then peers at me around the bulk of his future brother-in-law. “They aren’t going to accept you, Hailey.”
He rarely refers to me with my given name.
I swallow back the anger that’s rising in my throat.
“Of course, they will. They will have to accept her. She is my choice, and I’m hers. Nothing comes between us.”
Oh, I love this man even more now.
“I’m saying,” Toad says, “that your family will never accept someone they see as a trailer trash simpleton from nowhere, West Virginia.”
I suck in a breath. No one has ever treated me poorly for where or how I grew up. Granted, I’ve not traveled too far out of West Virginia, but at this moment, a person could knock me over with a whisper because I’m so stung.
“Who are you to talk about where I’m from? You’re from the same damn place, dummy!” I shout.
Toad nods and gestures wildly in the air to indicate everything around us.
“Exactly! And do you think some old, stodgy, wealthy, royal, half-crazed-from-inbreeding royal family would accept me marrying into their family? I think not, sis.”
“Hey! Take that back!”
Torben squeezes me close. “It’s okay, Hailey. I’m used to it.”
I turn to face the prince. “You are?”
He shrugs. “All part of growing up as a public figure.”
If my life, and our future children’s lives, will involve dealing with these sorts of insults daily, do I really want to have that life?
