Reluctantly Royal(54)

“Should we go help Marty?” I squeezed Meredith’s fingers gently.

“I think I’d be more of a hindrance than a help.” She flashed a brief smile. “I’m terrible.”

“It’s all for fun.” I pulled her toward the field. “Get some sunshine. It’ll do you good.”

“You’re as persistent as Marty.” She shook her head. “You’re going to regret this.”

“No I’m not.” I laughed. “You’re on Cathy’s team.”

She looked at me and started laughing. “That’s cruel.”

“She’s making Marty chase her all over the place. This way it’ll be fair.”

“Fine.” She pulled her hair back away from her face. “If I break a leg, it’s on you.”

“I can live with that.” I ran ahead, catching Cathy from behind so that Marty could grab the ball.

“Penalty!” Cathy shouted.

“It’s an all for all.” Marty took the ball and started dribbling it toward the large tree.

Meredith chased after him, desperately trying to kick the ball away from him while the boy laughed loudly.

Letting Cathy go, I chased after Marty and Meredith. “Pass!”

Marty kicked me the ball and I dribbled it a ways while Cathy gained ground on me.

“I’m open!” Marty called, Meredith still doggedly pursuing him.

“Here.” I kicked the ball to him and hollered in triumph when he scored a goal between two trees.

Samantha cheered from the sidelines, her hands in the air.

“Good job.” Meredith held her hand out for a high-five.

“You too.” Marty hopped up and smacked her hand.

We spent hours playing in the sun, chasing the ball back and forth. Meredith scored a goal, which was cause for celebration, even if it looked like it wasn’t on purpose. I picked her up and she laughed as I spun her in a circle. Marty giggled at his mom as she tried to get me to put her down.

“It was an accident.” She smacked at my shoulder.

“Don’t admit it.” I set her back down. “And that’s a hell of an improvement.”

“Gee, thanks.” She playfully punched my shoulder. When she turned to go back toward the ball I smacked her ass.

“Fair’s fair.” I winked at her shocked expression.

By the time dinner rolled around I had almost forgotten how the day had started out. Meredith and Marty fit into my family’s routine smoothly. In some ways it felt like they’d always been a part of it. In fact it was a little scary how easily they got along with my sister and sister-in-law.

“Alex should be home soon.” Samantha was sitting on the floor, putting together a puzzle with Marty. We had all taken up spots around the room after eating. Cathy was working on her computer and I was idly sketching the room.

“He’s coming back tonight?” It was a long drive to D’Lynsal from the palace.

“You know how he is.” She shrugged, but I could see her smile. Alex barely let her out of his sight now that she was pregnant. For some reason that didn’t seem as annoying to me today as it normally did.

“Are you coming tomorrow?”

“Of course. We all are.” Sam shot me a pointed look before tilting her head in Marty’s direction.

“Right.” Clue understood. I wasn’t to speak about the funeral in front of Marty. No reason to upset him.

Looking back at my sketch pad, I frowned. I needed to pick out an appropriate suit before the morning. We’d have to leave early to make it back to the Thysmer township in time.

“All right, buddy. Time for a bath.” Meredith came down the stairs, her hair still wet from her own shower.

“We’re not done yet!” He looked up at her with worried eyes.

“It’s a six-hundred piece puzzle. You’re not going to be able to finish it tonight.” She leveled a stare at him.

“Can we work on it tomorrow?” Marty looked at Sam with big eyes.

“We’ll leave it here until we can, okay?”

“Okay.” He hopped up and ran toward his mom.

She chased him up the stairs, telling him to not make a mess.

“Spill.” Sam looked at me with serious eyes.

Cathy shut her computer and moved closer to me. I sighed and shut my sketchbook. There was no escaping this. They needed to know, especially with the funeral tomorrow.

“It was bad.” I leveled my gaze on them.

“What happened?” Cathy shook her head at me. “You can’t just say it was bad. What was bad?”

“Her father.” I had to walk a careful line here. I didn’t want to tell them all of Meredith’s dirty laundry. “He drinks.”