Ready For It (MacAteer Brothers #2) - M.L. Nystrom Page 0,24
never have any trouble at all from Magnus. He’s always perfectly well behaved. I cannot understand why my second child is such a hooligan.”
“She hasn’t had a chance to go upstairs yet, ma’am.” Bedelia placed the teacup on the table, and my attention was drawn to the tiny wisps of rising steam.
Mommy huffed again. “You shouldn’t have given her food until she changed her clothes.”
I looked up at Bedelia, and she shook her head at me in warning as she answered. Her lips were still curled inward. “Yes, ma’am. It won’t happen again.”
The cup clinked against the saucer when Mommy lifted it and blew on the hot liquid. My eyes returned to my sandwich. Fear of what she would say next kept me from picking it up and biting into it.
“Bedelia, I noticed Martin’s Mercedes is back in the garage. Where is he?”
I held my breath to suck back any noise as I started to cry. If I stayed real quiet, she wouldn’t see and I wouldn’t get into more trouble.
“He’s… he’s busy, ma’am.”
Mommy put the cup back on the saucer without taking a sip. “I see.”
I tried not to make a sound, but a hiccup escaped.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, stop crying! I said I have a terrible headache, and you sit there caterwauling, making it worse. Such a selfish little girl! No consideration for anyone else. If you can’t control yourself, you may leave the table and go to your room. Insufferable child. I don’t want to see you until dinner!”
I twisted my fingers together as I got up and left the room. I wanted to run, but I’d probably get yelled at again. Running in the house was forbidden. I climbed up the stairs, my steps heavier with each tread. When I got to the top, I saw Mommy had come up the stairs too, but on the other side. I looked at her back through the carved rails as she stood outside Daddy’s room. Her hands balled up into fists, and she tucked her arms tight against her hips. I still heard the bouncy sounds and the monster grunts. I pressed the back of my hand against my mouth to keep real quiet and held my breath. Mommy’s back stood really straight, and she didn’t move. She looked like one of the statues in the big garden. I didn’t move either. If she saw me watching her, she’d get madder and yell at me again.
She stood there for a long time. So long, I thought my air would burst out. I opened my mouth and let out my breath real slow and tried to take in air without making a sound. My knees shook so much, I thought I might fall down if I took one step. My head got all wonky and my eyes got fuzzy. I still didn’t dare move, I was so scared.
Mommy finally walked to her room. Once she closed her door, I took a big breath. My head cleared up, and I ran on tippy toes to my room. I pulled down on the shiny handle real careful to keep it from clicking. When I got inside, I closed my door and slowly let the handle slip back up for the same reason.
Once I entered my own space, I was safe. I got on my bed and pushed my face tight into my pillow. I cried then. Big crying. Mommy would get mad at me if she saw me, but as long as she didn’t hear me, I could cry.
A hand touched my back, and I jerked up to see Bedelia. I flung myself into her generous arms and used her shoulder instead of my pillow.
“It’s okay, moje dítě. It’s okay.”
Chapter Eight
“Cut to the left. Sharp. Sharper. Okay now back up straight. Oy, where did you find this heap? Shoulda got Eva to draw up a tiny house plan for you.”
Owen eased his camper into the spot next to the woodshop as Connor coached him. It barely fit, but it was the best place to have water and electric hookup. After he made the decision to stick around for the summer, he’d wanted to set up a spot separate from Connor’s family. They were his family too, but he needed his own space, and the ancient holiday rambler fit that need.
Eva, his younger sister, had designed and built her own tiny house as a teenager and kept it for years until it met with an unfortunate accident at a job site in