Zoe barked, her tail thumping against the table leg. But she kept her distance, her body vibrating with excitement. Leo bent his head like a bull and tried again, this time wrapping his arms around Eddie’s waist.
“You have to go in low on Eddie,” James told Maddie as if imparting some hard-earned wisdom, “or you’ll never have a chance of taking him down. He’s built like a tank.”
“Didn’t I say you were boneheads?” she grumbled. “All three of you.”
Eddie and Leo wrestled, each trying to gain the upper hand. Leo was taller and wiry, but James was right—Eddie was pure muscle. They crashed into the island. Leo grunted, swore, then tried to sweep Eddie’s feet from under him. When that didn’t work, he used his longer reach to pop Eddie on the chin hard enough to have his teeth snapping together.
They were evenly matched. Too evenly matched. And Bree would be getting out of the shower any minute.
Maddie crossed to the sink, turned on the cold water full blast and grabbed the spray hose.
And doused them both.
They sprang apart, roaring like a couple of idiot bears.
“What the hell was that for?” Leo yelled, his arms out, his hair dripping. To her left, Eddie shook like a dog, his shoulders hunched.
“That,” she said in a decent impersonation of her mother’s most regal tone, “was for fighting in my kitchen. And this—” She sprayed Leo’s face. He sputtered and held out his hands. “—is for asking such a stupid question.”
She shut off the water, stalked over to him, grabbed his ear and twisted.
“Who do you think you are,” she asked as she dragged him toward the door, “coming here, telling me what I can and can’t do? Did you really think I’d take orders from a man who still plays video games, thinks Mob Wives is quality television and jumps off of cliffs for the hell of it? Huh?” When he didn’t answer, she twisted harder. “Well?”
“Ow. Damn it, Maddie. I’m only trying to help.”
“If I need your help, I’ll ask for it.” Opening the door with her free hand, she shoved him onto the porch. “Until then, whatever happens between me and Neil is none of your business.”
His expression darkened. She was surprised the water on him didn’t turn to steam. “Nothing better happen between you two. Not again.”
“I didn’t mean it that way. But if you’re seriously worried about keeping my virtue safe from Neil Pettit, you’re twelve years too late.” Turning, she faced Eddie. “You can leave under your own power, or I can escort you out the same way I did this bozo,” she said with nod at Leo. “Your choice.”
“I’m going,” he said. It wasn’t until he’d hurried past her that she realized he had her leftovers in his hands.
“You’d better bring those containers and my fork back,” she called after him.
Walking down her driveway, he lifted said fork in salute.
She slammed the door shut. While Zoe sniffed at the water on the floor, Maddie got the roll of paper towels out from under the sink, tore off several then tossed the roll at James. He bobbled it, then hauled it into his chest.
“Come on,” she said, squatting to sop up water. “Since you didn’t stop them from wrestling like a couple of overgrown children, the least you can do is help clean up.”
Why hadn’t he stopped them? she wondered, throwing wet towels into the garbage can. James could usually be counted on to be their family’s rock. Solid, steady and dependable. Besides keeping Montesano Construction running smoothly, he also kept the peace within the family, and kept Eddie and Leo from killing each other.
Usually.
“How’s Bree?” he asked, wiping water off the cupboards.
“She’s fine. Just a couple of skinned knees.”
“No, I meant emotionally. Leo said she was pretty upset about Neil leaving her behind like that.”
Neil left Bree behind? Seemed her daughter conveniently managed to forget at least one key point when she’d told Maddie what had happened. But she wasn’t going to get into any of that with James. As much as she appreciated her family helping her out with Bree—and always being there for them—Maddie needed to handle this...situation...with Neil on her own.
“I’ll talk to her about it,” Maddie said, ripping off several more towels. “I’ll take care of it.”
James touched her arm. “You sure about this?” he asked quietly.
She didn’t need to ask what he meant. Was she sure about letting Neil be a part of Bree’s life? Was she sure she wasn’t