Preview of Dealer's Choice, Chpt 1, entry #2

She’d heard him come in last night, but he’d never come upstairs. No doubt he’d spent the night on the couch in the library again. Ever since she’d made him promise to quit his gambling, he’d done nothing but sulk and try to avoid her.

Pressing the tips of her fingers together, she winced at their soreness as she rehearsed her oft-made argument. Her sewing could only bring in so much. They simply could not afford his gambling losses any longer. He was nothing like their papa, who rarely came home— even in the early days of the war—without the heavy jingle of gold in his pockets. However, he was also tipsy. In this, her brother was very much like their father.