Page 92 of Chosen By Swift

“Some days I do. Most days,” she amended. “But then he touches me, and I remember how degraded and humiliated I was after he hurt me. I thought I could get over it, but I’m not so sure now.” She nervously played with her wedding band. “Graham offered an annulment.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Does Mama know?”

Bonnie shook her head. “I wasn’t going to say anything until it was done. I was worried Father would intimidate Graham into staying married to me.” She let loose a sad sigh. “I suppose I don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“No.” Alys hadn’t quite come to terms with the fact their father was dead. He had always seemed so big and strong. The idea that a front yard brawl had killed him seemed impossible yet it was true.

“We’ll be lucky if Jack doesn’t start a blood feud with Aunt Jimmie’s nephews,” Bonnie darkly remarked.

“It will be a very short one. Jack’s the only one dumb enough to get involved in something like that.”

“Keren might join him,” Bonnie said, her nose wrinkling at the mention of their eldest sister. “Imagine the screeching when she gets here for Father’s funeral.”

“I’d rather not,” she grumbled. “I wouldn’t mind seeing the children. It’s been almost a year since we saw them last.”

“Gosh, I hadn’t even considered how many people will be under our roof for the funeral.”

Alys had been thinking about it all evening. There were so many things that had to be arranged and completed before their father’s funeral. Normally, he would have been buried tomorrow morning, but under the circumstances, it was likely they would push the burial back one more day. As far as she knew, her father’s body was still here in the outpost hospital. How and when it would be transported back, she didn’t know.

“Is it evil of me to be relieved he’s gone?”

Alys glanced at her sister who seemed ashamed of her thoughts. “No, I don’t think it is.”

“That’s all I feel, Alys. Relief.” Tears glimmered in Bonnie’s big, bright eyes. “I just keep thinking how much easier it will be for me to get away from Graham and start over without Father yelling and screaming and threatening to strap me.”

“You’re not a bad person for feeling that way,” Alys insisted. “He was a mean man. He was cruel and violent. He might have spared you the worst of the physical abuse, but he still hurt you with his words and his actions. He’s gone now, and we can all finally breathe.”

“What do you think Mama will do when she wakes up and learns what happened to him?”

“I don’t know.” Alys suspected that her mother had long since given up on loving their father. She sometimes wondered if their mother even respected him anymore or if she simply deferred to him to avoid his outbursts of violence. Maybe she would be just as relieved to find out he was gone.

“I think Wendy will move back to the farm with Mama.”

“Do you?” Alys hadn’t even considered that possibility. “Why?”

“I heard Wendy’s brother-in-law is finally getting married. His new wife will be the lady of the house.”

“Yes, but Bertie is the heir. Her son is going to inherit that house and two-thirds of the wool factory one day.”

“Maybe,” Bonnie said uncertainly. “I think it’s more likely Pete will keep the house and try to buy out Wendy and her kids. He always struck me as the sneaky type.”

“Well, we’ll have to make sure Pete doesn’t get any funny ideas about taking what belongs to his nephew and nieces and widowed sister-in-law.”

“If I were Wendy, I’d take the money and invest it in the colonies. I wouldn’t want to risk that dummy Pete driving the factory into the ground.”

Alys looked at her sister in awe. “When did you get interested in finance?”

“Well, when you’re married and you can’t stand your husband, you have a lot of hours to fill. Graham’s father left behind a big library, and his mother receives the paper from The City every single day. It’s amazing what you can learn when you’re allowed to read whatever you want.”

“That’s been my experience, too,” Alys replied, thinking of all the knowledge she had soaked up during her time with Swift.

“I’m glad it worked out for you, Alys.” Bonnie gestured to the hallway. “Running off and volunteering to be Grabbed.”

“I figured my chances were better letting a giant sky warrior take me than marrying Wendel. I was right.”

---