girl. Ale’s in the cupboard,” he added, stepping away from the Amichais. “And who is your friend here?” he asked, turning toward his second oldest daughter.
Keeley heard his quick intake of breath when he recognized Gemma.
“My dearest girl,” he said, arms wide open as he moved toward her, but Gemma quickly caught his hands, not allowing him to hug her.
Keeley could see the startled pain on their father’s face and she wanted to beat her sister into the ground for hurting him.
“Father. It’s so good to see you.”
He nodded, holding in tears. Unlike their mother, their father tended to cry a lot.
“I see you joined an order,” he noted, sniffling.
“I did.”
“Well . . . we’re all very proud of you.”
“Despite how chunky a life of piety has made you,” Keeley remarked, walking between her sister and father so that Gemma could no longer hold his hand.
“And you have shoulders like a man!” Gemma shot back.
Keeley spun around, ready to slap her sister and those ridiculous white robes into their neighbor’s farm several leagues away but her father stopped her.
“None of that, you two.” He nodded at Gemma. “Your mum will want to see you. Go.” When she walked off, he focused on Keeley. “And Big Bart is having problems with his back again. Go fix it.”
“Is he really or are you just saying that to make me stop fighting Gemma? Because I’ll never stop fighting Gemma!”
“Be a girl, Keeley. Try. For me. Because if you two don’t get along, I’ll have to hear about it from your mum. I don’t want to hear it from your mum. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
He leaned down, kissed her forehead. “That’s my girl.”
Keeley started off toward the stables but said to her father, “Da, could you take care of our guests for me? They helped me today, so I owe them.”
“Of course! It’ll be my pleasure.”
“I’ve told them a lot about you, and Caid, there,”—she pointed—“he has been dying to talk to you. To hear all your stories!”
Her father clapped his big hands together. “And I’ll be more than happy to tell him everything.”
Unable to help herself, Keeley looked over her shoulder at Caid. The Amichai was glowering at her through that shaggy hair he refused to push off his face and she struggled not to laugh at him. He was so annoyed, and she knew her father would only make it worse.
* * *
Keeley’s father watched her and the others walk toward the farmhouse at the bottom of the hill. When they were a good bit away, the man looked back at Caid.
“Have they been bickering all the way back from Keeley’s shop?”
Laila answered for him. “Aye.”
He chuckled. “My girls. They can’t help themselves.” He faced Laila. “They’ll get over it. Gemma’s just like her mum, and she never holds a grudge. At least not forever.”
Angus jerked his head toward several buildings. “Let me show you where you’ll be sleeping tonight.”
“Wait,” Laila said, holding up her hand. “You’re just going to let us stay here? Without asking us any questions?”
The man’s grin was wide and exactly the same as his eldest daughter’s.
“Really?” His grin grew even wider. “You want me to ask ya questions?” Arms crossed over his massive chest, he stepped closer to Laila. “You want me to ask what Amichais are doing this far south? Why one of the protector clans sent out a battle unit to come here? Or maybe you want me to ask why you’ve been lurking in the forest surrounding me farm? You want me to ask you about all that?”
Laila didn’t answer; she was too busy gawking at the human with her mouth open. Again. Father and daughter knew how to surprise.
Keeley’s father chuckled. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. Come on then,” he said, heading down the hill. “I’d let you stay in the house but we have a lot of brats and they can be noisy.”
He glanced back at them as he walked. “But you lot don’t mind the stables, do you?”
Then Angus laughed. Long and loud, enjoying himself immensely.
* * *
Keeley watched her mother hug Gemma until the babe clasped to her breast began to whine.
“Want me to take her?” Keeley offered, reaching for the child, but her mother pushed her hands away.
“No. I have her.”
Their mother sat down in her rocking chair, her gaze locked on Gemma. An intense stare that had Keeley looking back and forth between the pair.
Keeley wasn’t jealous. Gemma would say she was just jealous, but she wasn’t jealous. She was