Free The Christmas Wager by Jamie Fessenden

younger brother. ―If your Uncle Thomas
    has nothing better to do than traipse about in the snow, then
    by all means go and join him.‖
    Pompous dullard , Thomas thought. The smile was
    threatening to fade from Susan‘s face, so he called out, ―Come
    along, poppet. We don‘t want to miss the snowfall.‖
    It proved easy enough to entice Hew and Duncan away
    from their morning chores, though Thomas made a mental note
    to take responsibility for it, should Simcox take them to task
    over it later. With the twins taking the lead, the small
    expedition trudged out across the fields, fresh snow crunching
    under their feet. Susan‘s joyous mood had returned at the first
    sight of the falling snowflakes. She was hindered only slightly
    by her heavy boots and clothing, as she ran to keep up with the
    boys, while Thomas and Andrew followed behind at a more
    dignified pace.
    ―Somebody needs to give my ass of a brother what for,‖
    Thomas muttered under his breath.
    He was pleased to see Andrew smile. ―I do believe he‘s
    larger than you.‖
    ―But I am far angrier. I mean, really , Andrew. She‘s his
    daughter, and he barely appears to notice her existence.‖
    ―I agree,‖ Andrew said, ―it‘s appalling. But you have no say
    in the matter.‖
    Thomas fumed about this for a few minutes, until they
    caught up with the twins, who were teaching Susan to make
    snow angels. The boys had a loathing of footprints spoiling
    their angels, so they were teaching the girl to jump into a
    pristine snow bank and flop onto her back. When she had
    finished her angel, she stood, and Duncan called out, ―Wait,
    Miss Susan! Don‘t move!‖
    The Christmas Wager | Jamie Fessenden
    70

    Then he reached over and lifted her out, leaving her
    beautiful little angel free of any trail leading away from it, as if
    it had simply appeared on the hillside by magic.
    ―Quite lovely,‖ Andrew observed, to Susan‘s delight.
    Thomas was happy to see his friend smiling, but he knew
    Andrew was miserable under the surface, and it made him feel
    wretched that he could do nothing about it. Thomas had never
    even contemplated the notion of one man being in love with
    another, before last night. Was such a thing possible? Yes, he‘d
    heard sordid tales of men doing sexual things together, but
    even that was generally talked about indirectly. Gentlemen
    never discussed such things in a straightforward manner, so
    Thomas wasn‘t at all certain what two men would do together,
    in a physical sense. Had Andrew done these things? Had he
    thought about doing them with Thomas?
    Thomas could feel himself blushing at the idea, and he
    forcefully pushed it to the back of his mind.
    The concept of a man falling in love with another was even
    further removed from his education. He‘d often heard the love
    of two male friends—filial love—described as pure and noble
    and of the highest good. That, he had once felt certain, was the
    kind of love he and Andrew had always shared. But what
    Andrew had done last night wasn‘t at all brotherly, and when
    he had said ―I love you‖ there had been no doubt in Thomas‘s
    mind that he was referring to something beyond filial love.
    How long had Andrew felt this way toward him? Had he
    been hiding this for all of the years they‘d known each other?
    Although Thomas knew he was supposed to react to this
    thought with revulsion, or at best pity, he felt neither. What he
    felt was an immense sorrow for his friend‘s suffering. And a
    powerful desire to ease that suffering. But he had absolutely no
    idea what he could do.
    The Christmas Wager | Jamie Fessenden
    71

    Hew and Duncan helped Susan make her first snowman,
    and both Thomas and Andrew joined in, Thomas loaning the
    snowman the use of his scarf. When it came time to make Lady
    Snow, both of the twins demonstrated that they were indeed
    still teenaged boys by giggling overmuch when they fashioned
    the breasts.
    ―Gentlemen,‖ Thomas said, laughing with them,