Page 5 of The Scholar (Emerson Pass Historicals 3)

“Pinched like—in the face.” Cymbeline scrunched her brows together. “Like she always has a lot on her mind.”

“That’s a shame. Is she stepping out with anyone?” I was pleased with myself that I could ask the question and not care about the answer. My misplaced feelings for her were nothing but a boyhood infatuation. I’d hardly thought of her in the time I’d been away.

“No.” Cymbeline shook her head. “She doesn’t do much but church duties and taking care of the Linds. They’re not young, after all.”

I left it at that, not wanting to delve any further into the Linds when it was my sisters I was interested in hearing about. “What about you two? Do I need to chase any suitors away?”

“Not a one,” Cymbeline said. “We like it that way.”

“And why is that?” I asked.

“Because we’re busy,” Fiona said. “Me with my music. Cymbeline helps Poppy with her veterinarian calls almost every day.”

“Really? That’s great, Cym.” My middle sister had always loved animals. She loved being outside as well.

“Papa says it keeps me out of trouble,” Cymbeline said. “Which apparently is important because of my attitude.”

All three of us burst into laughter.

***

The entire family had lunch on the newly built screened porch at the back of the house. Perhaps it was because I was home, but everything shone with a special luster. I couldn’t remember the lawn ever being

as green. Rhododendrons bloomed in bright pink and red at the edges of the fenced yard.

Everyone talked at once between bites of Lizzie’s juicy fried chicken pieces.

“Mama, can we be excused to play croquet?” Delphia asked.

“Yes, but you have to let Quinn play too,” Mama said, gesturing toward my niece, who sat in her father’s lap. “Please be careful to keep her out of harm’s way.”

“We will,” Fiona said before lifting Quinn into her arms. “Do you want to be my partner?”

Quinn nodded and answered with a slight lisp. “Yeth, please.”

“Are you coming?” Delphia asked Cymbeline.

Cymbeline looked torn for a moment, but her love of sport won out over wanting to stay with the adults. “Why not?”

Except for Josephine, all my sisters exited the porch and spilled out onto the lawn. If I were a painter, I would have wanted to capture the beauty of the girls in their light summer dresses.

“Aren’t they something?” Papa asked me.

“They are. I’ve missed you all more than I can say.” I exchanged a smile with Josephine.

Talk turned to Josephine’s library and how they’d had to allocate money for more children’s books. “We’ve had quite the population growth,” Papa said. “There are a lot of new babies, not just here at our table.”

“A large batch of christenings over the last few years,” Mama said.

Flynn glanced at his pocket watch for the sixth time in as many minutes. “Flynn, do you need to be somewhere?” Papa asked, indulgently.

“Are you worried about Shannon?” Mama asked.

“A little,” Flynn said. “She was feeling pretty sick earlier.”

“Go home,” Josephine said. “It’ll ease your mind.”

“I hate to leave,” Flynn said. “But I should check on her. She wasn’t doing too well when I left.”