AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Either way, Bella seemed content to play with her food and generally enjoy herself, but I could tell Iris was on edge. It hadn’t occurred to me to discuss how the meal would go before we actually sat down. My father took family dinners seriously, and a catered multi-course event wasn’t unusual in the slightest, but she was floundering a bit when it came to the etiquette of such things. There was no good way to lean over and try to explain things subtly, especially with Bella sitting between us, but I knew Iris was a smart woman. She would figure it out just by watching the others.
It still irritated her, though, and I knew that was my fault. I’d have to make it up to her later.
Once dinner was over, it was clear Bella was getting sleepy. We hadn’t been in England that long at all, and her sleep schedule was hardly what I’d call normal to start with. Never mind that Archer family dinners could last, well, all night. There was a reason my father kept such an expansive home even though I was his only — even though he only had one family member living with him. The events were always held here, and if anyone ever needed a safe place to sleep for the night, there was more than enough room for everyone.
I wasn’t sure if Iris was going to stay upstairs once she’d gotten Bella changed and off to sleep, but I wouldn’t have blamed her if she stayed up there. Given the choice, I’d have abandoned the party the moment we all got up from the table. And you might be thinking to yourself, surely a dinner party ends with dinner, right?
Maybe with a normal family. But the Archers? No way.
There were drinks to be had. Someone would turn on the stereo. If my father had more time to plan, he probably would have gotten a local musician. We’d had a dessert course, but I was under no illusions. More sweets would appear soon, as well as coffee. And more alcohol.
It probably sounded like a dream to some, but honestly…I didn’t want to spend that much time with anyone, much less aunts and uncles who may or may not be plotting against my father. I glanced towards the stairs and at my watch.
No way anyone would let me slink off this “early.”
I glanced around and saw my cousin Gordon standing by himself. Gordon and I weren’t nearly as close as I was to his brother, Myles, but we had still gotten along when we were younger. There were a few years between Gordon and Myles, but when we were very young, our parents often sent Gordon along with us to make sure we didn’t get into trouble. If we wanted to walk down to the store by ourselves, we had to ask Myles’s brother.
We neverneededto go to the store; it was simply something that seemed reallycoolwhen you were six years old and you were finally allowed out of your parents’ direct eyesight for more than five minutes. In retrospect, I had no reason to believe Damon hadn’t been shadowing us the entire way there and back, but at the time, I thought it was just me, Myles, and Gordon. I thought I was on top of the world.
I sidled over to him. He raised his drink in greeting and raised a brow. “No whiskey tonight, Eli?”
I shrugged, glancing over at the bar. My father, Gage, and Sam were all huddled around the solid piece of oak.
Gordon followed my gaze and snorted softly. “Fair enough,” he said. “Guess I got there before the old men decided to have a private conversation.”
“How have things been at Longbow Investments?” I asked, looking back over at my cousin. Gage had wanted both of his sons to follow him into the financial industry; Gordon had been happy to, going so far as to get two master’s degrees. Somehow that wasn’t enough, though — it still seemed to chafe my uncle daily that his younger son had gone into the trades instead. Sometimes I wondered what that did to a man, but Gordon never mentioned it, and I never asked. It didn’t seem like my place.
He shrugged, taking another sip of his drink. “Much of the same,” he said, glancing back at me. “I admit, I’m a bit jealous you’ve gotten to go abroad to open a new office in America.”
I gave him a wry smile. “It’s certainly been…interesting.”To say the least.I looked back over at where our fathers were talking and raised a brow. “My dad’s said Uncle Gage has been pretty antsy about the firm lately.”
“Has he?” Gordon tipped his head to one side, the corner of his mouth twitching. “I suppose he always gets a little more uptight when Uncle Nic is away. You can’t blame him. No one wants to ‘mess up’ when the pack alpha has entrusted them with kith and kin.”
“True.” I nodded as if I totally understood. “My dad wouldn’t leave him in charge if he didn’t believe he could do it, though.”
“That’s what I say,” Gordon agreed with a sigh. He shrugged. “If he has been more antsy, he certainly hasn’t said anything to me — but unless I’m bringing him a new client, it doesn’t seem to matter.”
I grimaced, giving Gordon a look I hoped wasn’t pitying. “At least he’s not on you about finding your ‘one true fated mate,’ right?”
The man snorted, taking a much longer drink this time. “Not in public,” he said darkly, staring daggers into the back of his father’s head. “I think he sends me information on Moonmate ceremonies around the world at least twice a month. I used to think Myles was being a bit immature sending them right to his spam folder, but…” He trailed off and shook his head, sighing heavily. “I am not interested, and he just can’t seem to accept that for an answer.”
“Ugh.” My father had been a bit pushy about the whole mateship thing, but at least he wasn’t sending me constant invitations. “Well, hopefully with my dad back in town, he’ll take a deep breath and leave you both alone.”
“We can only hope,” Gordon agreed. “Hey, have you caught up with Maya yet? She was looking for you earlier, before we all sat down.”
I blinked.Why was Uncle Sam’s daughter looking for me?Gordon hadn’t seemed to know anything about what his father was up to, but then again, I wasn’t surprised. Gage didn’t seem to trust his son with finding his own partner, so why would he trust him with pack business?
“I haven’t,” I said, taking a step back. “Thank you for letting me know. I’ll go look for her.”
“No problem,” Gordon said, giving me a wry smile. “If you’re in town for a little while, let’s catch up sometime when it’s a little less…busy, yeah?”
“That sounds great. I’ll see what my schedule looks like.”
It wasn’thard to find Maya, even amongst family. She looked much more like her mother, Louise, than she did my Uncle Sam or the rest of the Archers. Her hair was bright blond and her eyes were a deep shade of hazel, but perhaps more evident were the freckles. Neither of her siblings had them, but Louise and Faye? They were two peas in a pod.
She was laughing softly at something Faye was saying when she spotted me, her eyes lighting up as she waved. “Eli!”
My cousin untangled herself from the others and swanned over, wrapping her free arm around me in a hug. I returned the gesture mechanically. “Good to see you too, Maya,” I murmured, unable to help the soft chuckle. She was so bubbly, you couldn’t stay in a dour mood around her.
