“So, things seem to be going well with you and the bee charmer.” Ned wiped at the sweat on his forehead from the heat coming off the cooking pot.
“So far.”
“Don’t try to be all nonchalant about it. I can tell you really like her by the way you act around her.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Royal leaned forward on the stump to get a better view of Ned’s expression.
“I’ve never seen you act nervous around a girl before.”
“I’m not nervous around her.”
“Says you.”
They were quiet for a minute or two before Royal spoke again. “Do you think a girl like Lovey could really go for someone like me?” Royal wasn’t so sure. She felt somehow like under more thorough examination on Lovey’s part she wouldn’t measure up.
“She seems like she likes you. What’s not to like about the Duvals, right?”
But before she could respond to Ned, they heard rustling footsteps coming toward them. Royal stood up just as Wade appeared at the edge of the small clearing around the distilling rig.
Wade didn’t speak but instead, after hesitating for only an instant, went right for Royal. He grabbed her by the shirtfront and shoved her to the ground.
“What the hell?” Royal scrambled backward and got to her feet.
“I should be askin’ you that question.” He came at her again, and she shifted so that a thick tree trunk blocked his reach.
“What’s the matter?” Ned asked.
“You stay outta this!” Ned visibly flinched when Wade jabbed an accusing finger through the air in his direction.
“Royal, your momma let it slip that you was with Lovey Porter today. That she actually came by the damn house!”
“So?”
“So her father is Abraham Edwards. He and Boyd Cotton are thick as thieves, that’s the so!” She tried to move away from him again but stumbled. Wade grabbed her arm and slapped her hard across the face.
Royal had suffered Wade’s verbal assaults before, but he’d never hit her. The sting of it tingled across her face. He slapped her again, and she fell backward from the blow. Ned was edging toward them now. Royal motioned him away because she knew he’d had more than his share of his father’s temper.
“Don’t hit me again, damn you.” She touched her face, and when she pulled her fingers away there was blood. She wasn’t sure if it was from her lip or her nose because the whole side of her face registered the pain of the blow.
“Well, then you better fucking stay away from Edwards’s daughter. I tolerate your queerie ways, but when you bring that business right to our doorstep you’ve gone too far.” Wade stood over her with clenched fists. She didn’t get up for fear he’d swing at her again.
“You’re not my father, Wade. Quit acting like you have any say over my life.”
“No, I’m not your father. Thank God for that small favor.”
“You don’t get to tell me who I spend time with.”
“I do and I will.” He reached for her, pulling her up by the front of her soiled shirt.
When he pulled back to strike, Ned grabbed his arm, which seemed to enrage him further. He spun on Ned and landed a punch to his jaw that sent him to the ground hard. But Ned’s distraction gave Royal just enough time to get to her feet. She put the mash pot between them, the steam from the bubbling mixture creating an eerie, distorted image of Wade’s face from Royal’s viewpoint.
Fury surged through her system. She was looking around for something she could use to even the fight when Ned grabbed her and pushed her back toward the tree line.
He urgently whispered in her ear as she pushed against him trying to break away from his grasp. “Let it go. He ain’t worth it. You can’t win this.”
“You better fucking leave and don’t let me catch you showing that bitch around the place again.”
Ned kept pushing her back away from the still and down the winding path through the woods back toward the farm. She pulled away from him at one point with every intention to head back and confront Wade.
“Don’t! Don’t let him get to you! You’ll just get yourself hurt.” He stepped into her path to block her. “Trust me on this. I know what I’m talking about.”
“God, how do you put up with him? He’s getting worse.” Royal was pacing in a small circle. She ran her hand through her hair trying to calm down. “If he says or does one thing to Lovey…one thing…”
“He won’t. He wouldn’t.”
“The day he takes over from Granddad is my last day. It should be yours too.”
“Just walk it off, Royal. Walk it off.”
Royal nodded and reluctantly strode ahead of Ned back down the wooded path toward her mother’s house. Her face stung and ached from the strike of Wade’s palm, but her heart rate was finally starting to slow to a normal pace.
Chapter Twenty-one
The much-anticipated Friday night dinner hour finally arrived. Royal pulled in the driveway and grabbed the flowers she’d picked that lay in a clump on the seat beside her. They were wildflowers of blue and yellow with a few groupings of Queen Anne’s lace thrown in. She practically skipped up the porch steps but paused before knocking, her hand suspended an inch from the door. What if Lovey’s father was still in the house? She looked around for somewhere to stash the flowers, which now seemed like an impulsive mistake, when Lovey opened the door. A big smile spread across her face when she saw the flowers in Royal’s hand.
“Oh, these are for you.” Royal handed her the flowers. “I had a momentary panic that your father might still be here and so, well, these might have seemed awkward if that had been
