“It’s your last meal here.” His half-Aleut, half-Russian brother, Ilya, tore off a piece of bread from where he was seated at the table beside Yuri. “I thought you were supposed to pick what we’re having for dinner. Or does Evelina only do that for Alexei and Sacha and Mikhail when they leave?”
“I asked Yuri what he wanted,” Evelina said from several places down the table, then pressed a hand to her stomach, which hadn’t even started to grow round yet.
Ilya turned back to him and dunked his bread into the borscht with the type of bored look that only a thirteen-year-old could muster. “Of all the things you could have picked, you told Lina to make borscht?”
“I like borscht.” Yuri tore a chunk of bread from the slice on his own plate and mimicked Ilya by dunking it into his soup. “And Lina’s bread. I won’t be able to have either in San Francisco.”
Evelina sent him a bright smile. “Thank you, Yuri.”
“You’re welcome,” he said around his mouthful of food. Though to be honest, he couldn’t really claim to taste the borscht.
Just like he couldn’t really claim to be paying attention to the conversation Maggie, Sacha, Mikhail, and Bryony were all having on the opposite side of the table.
He’d even lost track of how many times he’d bumped elbows with his brother-in-law Nathan, on his right, and it must have been a lot, considering how crowded they were.
Because his mind kept traveling back to that dratted cove. If only he knew why Rosalind hadn’t?—
“Maybe you should have sent Mikhail to San Francisco.” Ilya leaned forward and looked at Alexei, their oldest brother, who was sitting at the head of the table. “He always picks a bear roast on his last night.”
Alexei dabbed his face with his napkin. “Like Yuri, I happen to like borscht—and Evelina’s bread.”
Ilya scowled into his soup. “I still think Yuri should have requested bear, or at least venison.”
Laughter erupted from the other side of the table, and Yuri slanted a glance at his large, burly brother Sacha, who wore a grin that spread from ear to ear. Mikhail sat beside him, the back of his neck and the tips of his ears red as he slowly shook his head.
“Wait.” Bryony leaned closer to Mikhail, then peeked around him to look at Sacha. “Did he just say what I think?”
“Yes.” Mikhail pressed his lips into a firm line, but Bryony’s cheeks turned a bright shade of pink.
“Sacha, behave.” Sacha’s wife, Maggie, nudged him with her elbow.
Sacha only smirked. “They’re newly married. Someone needs to say it.”
“Do I even want to know?” Alexei murmured.
Jonas, Evelina’s husband, loosed a chuckle from the other end of the table. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mikhail look quite so guilty,”
“He’s not guilty.” Sasha sent Mikhail a wink. “Just embarrassed.”
Mikhail set down his drink, everything about his movements measured and patient. “One of these days, Sacha, someone is going to throw you into Sitka Sound.”
Sacha held up his hands. “You’ve been saying that for years, and yet here I am. Dry.”
“How unfortunate,” Nathan said as he reached for another slice of bread. “I have a feeling Sacha could use a good dousing.”
Kate shook her head. “Stay out of it, darling, or you’ll be the one tossed into the sound, and don’t ask how I know this.”
“That’s the key to survival in this family,” Evelina said around a mouthful of bread. “Stay out of things and don’t ask any unnecessary questions.”
“I can confirm this strategy works.” Jonas raised his mug in agreement before taking a sip. “And seeing how I was the first one to marry into this family, while you and Kate haven’t even been married a year, I would know.” He sent Evelina a wink.
Mikhail, meanwhile, continued to glare at Sacha, as though he truly was contemplating whether he could drag their giant, lumbering brother out the door and toss him into the sound in the middle of winter.
Honestly, Yuri wasn’t sure which brother would end up in the water if Mikhail tried it. Probably both of them. Sacha might be bigger, but as a frontier guide, Mikhail was fast and strong in his own way.
“In this case, though, I have a feeling Sacha’s just saying what everyone else is thinking.” Jonas set his mug on the table with a thunk.
“I highly doubteveryoneis thinking that.” Mikhail shot a sharp look down the table at Jonas.
