BreadCrumb Trail (The Yellow Hoods, #2): Steampunk meets Fairy Tale by Adam Dreece
Authors: Adam Dreece
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chuckling.
“Yeah,” replied Bakon.
“Isn’t this nice, Gabriel?” said Victoria, trying to get conversation started again.
Gabriel knew what his wife was trying to do, and he knew that she was right, but this was their only daughter, their only child. He didn’t want to let her go in any way.
“Don’t you think you’re a bit old for our daughter?” asked Gabriel, getting the question off his chest. “You’re, what, twenty-six? She’s just nineteen.”
Victoria’s face reddened with embarrassment and anger. Under the table, she kicked her husband in the shin. Wincing, Gabriel tried to glare back, but she had her finger pointing at him.
“I am not going to apologize for loving my daughter!” yelled Gabriel, pushing his chair away from the table and then standing.
Victoria bolted up and pointed for Gabriel to sit down. “I was seventeen when we got together!”
Gabriel started to yell back, “That’s not the—”
With a flare of her eyelids, Victoria stopped her husband. Her voice was of a woman who was not going to have even the King of Freland ruin her breakfast. “You are behaving worse than my father ever did.”
Bakon and Eg had been looking back and forth silently. All of them now looked at Gabriel, who glanced at each one in turn.
Victoria sat down, pulled her chair back to the table, and commanded to Bakon and Eg, “Eat.”
They looked at each other and then their plates, and then back at Gabriel.
Gabriel frowned. “Don’t cry,” he said to Victoria as he noticed her eyes welling up.
His wife pierced him with her gaze. “I am not crying because I’m upset. If you’d learned anything by having two women in the house, you’d know that I’m angry and this is just how some women work!”
Gabriel sat back down at the table. He took a moment to compose his thoughts. “You know, your dad was a real jerk with me.”
Wiping her nose and eyes with a napkin, Victoria chuckled, “The worst.”
“And… I guess…” Gabriel straightened his mustache. He was terrible at apologies, especially the ones that mattered. “Bakon, did I ever tell you about this time when Victoria’s father chased me down the streets of Mineau with a cleaver in his hand? It was part of the reason we moved up here to Minette.”
Fifteen minutes later, Gabriel had finished telling a second embarrassing story from his youth. Everyone wiped away tears of laughter as he stood up and gave Bakon a hearty slap on the back.
Egelina-Marie started wiping the floor—she had spat out her tea from laughing so hard and unexpectedly. She’d barely managed to avoid spraying everyone at the table.
Gabriel put on his thick winter coat and turned to Bakon. “I have to get to work. No day off for the captain. But, do stay—you’re welcome here.”
“Thanks, but I have to get back to my brothers. After breakfast, there’s a leak we need to fix,” said Bakon, standing and excusing himself.
“Suit yourself,” said Gabriel, smiling. Things had turned out better than he’d expected—a lot better. He knew he owed his wife a huge apology, and for that, he was going to need chocolate. He hoped that Victoria wouldn’t see through his ruse of having to work.
After the men had left, Victoria turned to her daughter, who kept laughing as she remembered the bits and pieces of her dad’s stories.
“You okay?” Victoria asked.
Egelina-Marie had a perplexed look as she thought about what had happened. “I’m not sure what the lesson was, mama, but I need to learn it,” she said. She’d never seen her parents fight like that before, but figured they must have, in private.
Victoria gave her a hug and smiled. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do for that man. As for the lesson, if your bear isn’t listening, hurt his ego—and nothing wounds your father’s more than being told he’s just like my father. I thought his mustache was going to curl up at the ends when I said that!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Meet the
“Yeah,” replied Bakon.
“Isn’t this nice, Gabriel?” said Victoria, trying to get conversation started again.
Gabriel knew what his wife was trying to do, and he knew that she was right, but this was their only daughter, their only child. He didn’t want to let her go in any way.
“Don’t you think you’re a bit old for our daughter?” asked Gabriel, getting the question off his chest. “You’re, what, twenty-six? She’s just nineteen.”
Victoria’s face reddened with embarrassment and anger. Under the table, she kicked her husband in the shin. Wincing, Gabriel tried to glare back, but she had her finger pointing at him.
“I am not going to apologize for loving my daughter!” yelled Gabriel, pushing his chair away from the table and then standing.
Victoria bolted up and pointed for Gabriel to sit down. “I was seventeen when we got together!”
Gabriel started to yell back, “That’s not the—”
With a flare of her eyelids, Victoria stopped her husband. Her voice was of a woman who was not going to have even the King of Freland ruin her breakfast. “You are behaving worse than my father ever did.”
Bakon and Eg had been looking back and forth silently. All of them now looked at Gabriel, who glanced at each one in turn.
Victoria sat down, pulled her chair back to the table, and commanded to Bakon and Eg, “Eat.”
They looked at each other and then their plates, and then back at Gabriel.
Gabriel frowned. “Don’t cry,” he said to Victoria as he noticed her eyes welling up.
His wife pierced him with her gaze. “I am not crying because I’m upset. If you’d learned anything by having two women in the house, you’d know that I’m angry and this is just how some women work!”
Gabriel sat back down at the table. He took a moment to compose his thoughts. “You know, your dad was a real jerk with me.”
Wiping her nose and eyes with a napkin, Victoria chuckled, “The worst.”
“And… I guess…” Gabriel straightened his mustache. He was terrible at apologies, especially the ones that mattered. “Bakon, did I ever tell you about this time when Victoria’s father chased me down the streets of Mineau with a cleaver in his hand? It was part of the reason we moved up here to Minette.”
Fifteen minutes later, Gabriel had finished telling a second embarrassing story from his youth. Everyone wiped away tears of laughter as he stood up and gave Bakon a hearty slap on the back.
Egelina-Marie started wiping the floor—she had spat out her tea from laughing so hard and unexpectedly. She’d barely managed to avoid spraying everyone at the table.
Gabriel put on his thick winter coat and turned to Bakon. “I have to get to work. No day off for the captain. But, do stay—you’re welcome here.”
“Thanks, but I have to get back to my brothers. After breakfast, there’s a leak we need to fix,” said Bakon, standing and excusing himself.
“Suit yourself,” said Gabriel, smiling. Things had turned out better than he’d expected—a lot better. He knew he owed his wife a huge apology, and for that, he was going to need chocolate. He hoped that Victoria wouldn’t see through his ruse of having to work.
After the men had left, Victoria turned to her daughter, who kept laughing as she remembered the bits and pieces of her dad’s stories.
“You okay?” Victoria asked.
Egelina-Marie had a perplexed look as she thought about what had happened. “I’m not sure what the lesson was, mama, but I need to learn it,” she said. She’d never seen her parents fight like that before, but figured they must have, in private.
Victoria gave her a hug and smiled. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do for that man. As for the lesson, if your bear isn’t listening, hurt his ego—and nothing wounds your father’s more than being told he’s just like my father. I thought his mustache was going to curl up at the ends when I said that!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Meet the
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