Firestorm - Ellie Masters Page 0,61
Evelyn didn’t walk up and grab your junk.” Bastard should have said something. “I bet she hugged you first. You should have said something.” The way he won’t meet my eye tells me all I need to know.
“Fucker.” I take a swing at him, but he dances out of reach.
“Hey, she copped a feel of Brody, too. Don’t take out all your aggression on me.”
“You could’ve told her when she hugged you.”
“But she smelled so good. And it’s not like I hugged her back. Next I knew, she was squeezing my ass and copping a feel.”
“Asshole.”
“Sticks and stones may break my bones…”
“Shut the fuck up.” I jab my finger toward him. “And keep your hands off my girl.”
“Tell your girl to keep her hands off my junk and we’ll be good.”
I take another swing at Cage, but my heart’s not really in it. I need to find Evelyn and apologize. Not that I’ve done anything wrong, but apologizing up front tends to work best with women.
I dig out the carrot I’ve been hiding in my pocket and use that to lure Knight into his stall. Despite my desire to smooth things over with Evelyn, I don’t rush through taking care of my horse. Ten minutes later, I find her sitting on the front porch with her cellphone to her ear.
She lifts a finger telling me she’ll be right with me and continues speaking to whomever is on the other end of that phone.
“Yes, I’m at La Rouge Vineyards… No, you don’t have to do that… Okay, if you insist, but it’s not necessary… Do you need the address? You can Google it… Oh, okay, your driver has it? How long before you get here?” She leans back and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
My fingers itch to touch and smooth away what I can of what happened this morning.
Brody comes out. “Breakfast is ready.” He looks between me and Evelyn and huffs a low laugh.
“Met your girl earlier. She’s quite handsy.”
“That’s it.” I’m up in a flash.
My fist connects with his smug face before he can raise his guard. I get one or two hits in, before he fights back. We stumble back, off the porch, trading blows, while Evelyn pulls her feet up and tucks her legs beneath her on the lounger.
Her grip on the phone tightens, but she makes no move to intervene. That comes in the form of our mother who arrives in her little, red corvette stingray. It’s the car she and our father dated in back in the early seventies and she holds onto it, diligently maintaining it even as my brothers and I urge her to buy something more practical.
The engine cuts out and her crystal-clear voice pierces the air. “That’ll be enough, boys.” Her tone promises punishment and we snap apart.
Brody spits on the ground while I dust the dirt off my hands. We’re a mess, dirty from head to toe. Cage trots out from the barn and gives mother a peck on the cheek.
“Hey, mom,” he says.
“Don’t you mom me. Why are they fighting?” Her head swivels and her eagle eyes land on Evelyn who’s desperately trying to hide out on the porch.
Just what I don’t need.
“We have a guest for breakfast?” Her tiny fists go to her hips as she stares us down. “Brody, why didn’t you tell me? And the two of you are fighting?”
“Wrestling.” I stretch out my fingers and rub at my knuckles. I got a couple good hits in.
“Wrestling?” She looks between the two of us and I give Brody the eye. Our mother doesn’t tolerate fighting, and while we may be pushing thirty, we respect the hell out of our mother. “Is that true, Brody?”
“Yes, ma’am. Just a little fun.” He returns my look, letting me know we’re good.
My brothers and I settle most of our disputes with our fists. We’re well matched, literally, and it gets all our aggression out in the open where we can deal with it and move on. I slap Brody on the back and give mom a hug.
“Good morning.” I place a kiss on her cheek. Brody does the same.
She turns toward the porch. “And who is our guest?”
I take my mother’s hand in mine and lead her up the porch. “Mother, may I introduce Evelyn Thornton. Evelyn, my mother, Abbie La Rouge.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. La Rouge.” Evelyn stands and shifts awkwardly on her feet.
My mother wastes no time in pulling Evelyn into a hug.