The Death of a Bachelor

Chapter Forty-nine

Ray tossed his head back and let out an exaggerated groan that resembled a moo of a cow giving birth. “Brother, please sit down. Pacing like that will not bring him to you any sooner. You are not a human magnet.”

Anger rose in Joshua’s being, but he did not cease his back and forth pacing in the Hammedatha sitting room. “How can you be so calm when our brother’s gone missing? He’s been gone the whole night, and he isn’t back yet. Why hasn’t he returned? He should have returned yesterday or at least before the sun came up.”

“Okay, first of all, he is not missing. He went to see his ladylove, remember?” Ray stood up from the sofa. “Second of all, if he’s not back yet, it can only mean that he spent the night with her.”

Joshua’s steps came to a swift halt and he gaped at Ray.

Ray wrapped his arms around himself, closed his eyes and started winding his body. “They spent the night in each other’s arms, and the months of pent-up passion finally rippled free; their dance of love witnessed only by the moon and stars,” he cooed, breathily.

Joshua narrowed his eyes. “Kieran has only one good arm now, so that is an impossibility. Also, she is not his ladylove.”

Ray tipped his chin downwards and eyed him skeptically. “Are you still inclined to say that after all that has happened?”

“Josh is a mindless boar,” Aira chimed in as she waltzed into the sitting room and stood between the two men. She cocked her head at Joshua. “Which is why he can’t see that Kieran has fallen in love with Elena.”

“Because he has not!” Joshua retorted.

Aira sighed. “Come now, don’t be so rigid. By the time Ray admits it-”

“Uhm, no. Correction, sister,” Ray cut in. “What I convey is not an admission but a possibility. It is possible that Kieran has fallen for sister-in-law Elena, but also possible that he has not.”

“Oh, shut it,” Aira spat, rolling her eyes at Ray. “The both of you just don’t want to admit that I was right. And neither do you want to admit that I, consequently, have won the bet.”

“What!” Ray and Josh exclaimed.

Aira jutted out her chin and smirked. “I told you that Kieran would fall in love with Elena before the engagement and oh, see! He did. Now you two have to admit you lost the bet and lick my boots for three months.”

“Wha-?” Joshua raised his arms and let them fall in an aggravated gesture. “How did this conversation even turn from our worry for Kieran’s whereabouts to the bet we made on his love life?”

“Uhm, no. Correction, brother,” Ray said, tilting his head sideways to look past Aira and at Joshua. “You are the only one worried about Kieran’s whereabouts.”

“Yeah don’t piss your pants scared, Josh,” Aira added. “Your idol’s going to turn up sooner or later.”

“I’m not-” Joshua stopped his vent of frustration and regarded Aira at the same time as Ray, both of them giving her critical looks.

“Did you just say piss?” They inquired simultaneously.

Aira raised her eyebrows, as though she’d just realized her mistake. Her eyes darted between them. “No?”

“Where did you learn that?” Ray asked.

“Who taught you that word?” Joshua demanded.

“It was Luke, wasn’t it?” Ray presumed.

“It was definitely Lukas,” Joshua affirmed.

Ray shook his head and narrowed his eyes. “I always knew that buzzard was bad news.”