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I ducked out of Mezzanotte's stall

Father picked his way toward the back of the stable His eyes flicked over me, and I felt suddenly embarrassed for him to see me caked in sweat and dirt "We have stable boys for a reason, son "

"I know," I said, feeling as though I'd disappointed him

"There's a ti fun with horses But then there's the point when it's ti and become a man " Father hit Mezzanotte on the flanks, hard She snorted and took a step back

I clenchedfor hiinia froht and bargained to build a tiny, one-acre plot of land into as now the two hundred acres of Veritas Estate How he'd named it that because veritas was Latin for truth, because he'd learned that as long as aas a ht deception, he didn't need anything else in life

Father leaned against the door of the stall "Rosalyn Cartwright just celebrated her sixteenth birthday She's looking for a husband "

"Rosalyn Cartwright?" I repeated When ere twelve, Rosalyn had gone to a finishing school outside of Richirl with mousy blond hair and brown eyes; in every memory I held of her, she wore a brown dress She'd never been sunny and laughing, like Clementine Haverford, or flirty and feisty, like Amelia Hawke, or whip-smart and mischievous, like Sarah Brennan She was si on all our childhood adventures but never to lead them

"Y Rosalyn Cartwright " Father gave me one

es of his rare shtly upward, one would think he was sneering if one did not know hi, and it seems the ideal union She's always been quite fond of you, Stefan "

"I don't know if Rosalyn Cartwright and I are a h the cool walls of the stable were closing in onMr Cartwright owned the bank in town; if Father had an alliance with him, it would be easy to expand Veritas even further And if they'd been talking, it was as good as done that Rosalyn and I were to be man and wife

"Of course you don't know, boy!" Father guffawed, slapping ood spirits My spirits, however, were sinking lower and loith each word I squeezed e knohat's good for hi a dinner for next week to celebrate the two of you In the meantime, pay her a call Get to know her Compliment her Let her fall in love with you " Father finished, takinga box inside my palm

What about me? What if I don't want her to fall in love with me? I wanted to say But I didn't Instead, I shoved the box inat its contents, then went back to attending to Mezzanotte, brushing her so hard, she snorted and stepped back in indignation

"I'lad we had this talk, son," Father said I waited for him to notice that I'd barely said a word, to realize that it was absurd to ask irl I hadn't spoken to in years

"Father?" I said, hoping he would say so to set me free from the fate he'd laid out for ,"shut behind him

I clenched ht back to our childhood, when Rosalyn and I would find ourselves pushed to sit together at Saturday barbecues and church socials But the forced socialization simply hadn't worked, and as soon as ere old