“Because he thinks the world of you, fat-head. Come off it, now. Everyone knows Nalle was your Mum’s pet. Your uncle owns Minor, and as for the youngsters, well, they belong to everyone. But you’re Emil’s one. Not because you’re his eldest but because you’re so alike. He told me so once. He said, ‘I just love being with that boy.’”

Kennet chewed on that, along with the sound of his father’s first name in Marta’s voice. He’d never once, ever, heard her say Emil.

“He needs to know you’re all right with us getting married. Go find him tonight? Please?”

“Of course.”

Horse’s Neck

“Let’s go have a drink,” Kennet said.

Emil looked up from his paper. “Now?”

“Now. I need to talk to you.”

“What about?”

“About who’s going to pay for your wedding.”

A beat as Emil stared at him. Kennet leaned into the door frame and crossed his arms. “Marta and I had a chat. Let’s you and I go have one, too.”

“What about your brothers?”

“They’ll come later. Right now, I’m pulling rank as the oldest. Me first. With you. Alone.”

It was Sunday and the bar was closed to the public. Kennet and Emil leaned elbows on the bar’s shiny top. Only a few lights on, catching beams in the rows of bottles and the planes of ice cubes.

“I’m happy for you,” Kennet said. “Honest. Once I got over the surprise, it made perfect sense.”

“I don’t know if I’m over the surprise yet,” Emil said ruefully.

“Tell it to Sweeney. A dashing widower such as yourself. It was only a matter of time.”

“I didn’t want you kids to be hurt. Or think I forgot your mother.”

“Of course not. And Ma’s the last person who’d want you to be alone. You need a wife. You wouldn’t know what day it was without one.”

“You’ve gotten fresh in your old age.”

“If I can go to war, I can listen to my father talk about being lonely.”

Emil rolled his lips in and pressed them tight, nodding a little.

“I feel bad I never even thought to ask,” Kennet said.

Emil waved a hand. “You have plenty else to worry about.”

“And while I was worrying, I could’ve asked you how you were feeling. If you were lonesome. If you ever thought about getting married again.”

“I wasn’t entirely averse to the idea. But I never once thought that…” Shaking his head, Emil swirled the whiskey in his glass and took a pull. “Funny how it happens. Marta was always there. But one day…there she was.”

“Like I said, it makes perfect sense.”

“But it’s more than my need for companionship. It’s the future of this family. My three eldest boys going off to fight. Minor already having a close call and—”