“Right. Sorry.”
As soon as her feet hit the floor, she took off toward the backyard.
“Stay away from those filthy dogs!” Finn yelled after her before turning toward Shay and asking, “You want some spaghetti?”
“You made spaghetti?”
“Charlie made spaghetti. That was Mads. We’ve been invited. For spaghetti.”
“Will there be sauce?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”
“We could buy some sauce. If they don’t have sauce.”
“I’m sure they’ll have sauce.”
“Who will have sauce?” Keane asked, walking into the kitchen.
“Charlie invited us to her house for spaghetti. Did you threaten that old man?”
“He’s not that old. He’s just lived in that house since he was a kid. And yes. I threatened him. But don’t worry. Nothing that could be used in a court of law. I did it with my eyes. And why do we need to see the honey badgers again?”
“We’ll also see Nat.”
“I do like Nat.”
“We all like Nat.”
“But we don’t know if Charlie will have sauce?”
“Why wouldn’t they have sauce?”
“They only mentioned spaghetti.”
“You should ask. In case we have to bring our own.”
Finn texted Mads. A few seconds later, he said, “There’ll be sauce.”
“I like sauce.”
“I do, too.”
“We all do.”
“Are you really all talking about sauce?” Dani asked, gazing up at them and petting something in her hands.
“What’s that, honey?” Finn asked.
“A puppy.”
“Where did you find a puppy?”
“Outside with the dogs. Looks like one of them had puppies.”
“How many puppies?” Shay asked.
“Six.”
“Jesus, those things are huge. Now we’ll have to get more food,” Finn complained.
“Princess had six puppies?”
“You call that drooling animal ‘Princess’？” Keane demanded.
“I love Daddy’s dogs,” Dani informed her uncles in a tone that would tolerate no dissent. “Do not roll your eyes at me, Uncle Mean.”
Keane leaned down until he was nose to nose with Shay’s daughter. He rolled his eyes again and again until she laughed.
“Are we going to get spaghetti or not?” Finn wanted to know.
Keane stood tall and asked, “What about the kid?”
“She can come.”
“To the honey badger house?”
“Nat will be there.”
“I love Auntie Nat!”
Keane put his hand over Dani’s face, and as hard as she tried to get him to remove it, he wouldn’t budge.
“Are you really okay with your offspring hanging out with those badgers?” he asked Shay.
“My offspring, as you call her, has named you Uncle Mean, and you’re worried about Mads and her friends?”
“I’m not mean to her. I’m mean to everyone else.”
“I don’t know how that’s better. But it doesn’t matter. I need to talk to Charlie.”
Keane glanced at his niece, who was still trying to wiggle away from his big hand.
“Talk to Charlie? About last night?”
“No. About the puppies. I’ll bring the puppies. And the mom. In case the puppies get hungry.”
Shay slapped Keane’s hand off his daughter’s face. “Want to get all the puppies together? We’ll bring them with us.”
“Yay! Puppies!” Dani cheered before rushing out again to the backyard.
“Why are we bringing the puppies?”
“I need Charlie’s advice about them.”
“About what?”
“How to take care of them.”
“By leaving them alone in the backyard with their mother?”
Disgusted, Shay shook his head, and went to get the crate for the back of the SUV.
“Are you doing this for Tock?” Keane asked and Shay immediately stopped.
“What?”
“Are you bringing puppies with you to impress a woman we were, at one time, pretty sure was going to blow up a kitten?”
“Mads said later Tock wasn’t going to blow up the kitten.”
“You’re friends with someone who blows up kittens?” he heard his daughter’s sweet voice ask, and both he and Keane looked down to find her staring at them with wide eyes and three tiny puppies in her hands.
“Of course, I’m not. I’d never be friends with someone like that. Your Uncle Keane was just joking.”
“He’s not laughing.”
“Your Uncle Keane never laughs, baby.”
Dani thought on that a moment, those worry lines forming on her forehead. Finally, after a full minute, her forehead cleared and she said, “That’s true.”
She walked off, and Keane glared at him.
“What?” Shay was not going to fight about bringing his kid to Charlie’s house. But that was not the issue bothering his eldest brother.
“I laugh,” Keane insisted with an angry snarl. “I have quite a healthy sense of humor.”
“Oh, my God!” Shay gasped loudly before lowering his voice and adding, “I never knew you were delusional.”
Chapter 9
When Nelle realized that what was supposed to be a short stopover at Max’s Queens home had turned into a dinner party with pool access, she slipped out and went across the street to change. They all kept extra clothes in Mads’s house because they knew they’d be crashing there at some point. It was a great place to heal from wounds or lie low after some socialite had discovered their half-a-million-dollar painting was missing.
When she opened the front door—using the set of keys she’d made for herself while setting the place up—Nelle walked inside to find Tock sitting on the big couch, watching TV.
Moving across the room, she studied Tock’s expression.
“Why are you pouting like a child?” she asked when she stood next to the couch.
“I’m not pouting. Just watching TV.”
“Watching TV while pouting.” She glanced at the television. “Animaniacs?”
“What? I like cartoons.”
Nelle sat down in one of the accent chairs she and her designer had chosen for this front room. When first seeing it, she’d thought of the space as a foyer with access to stairs leading to the second floor, a half bath, an extra bedroom, and the kitchen and great room with glass doors looking out over the backyard. A room that Nelle, personally, would have called the living room. She knew her teammates better than she knew her own family, however, and Mads wouldn’t look past the first room she walked into. That was where she would dump her bags when she first moved in and that’s how she would think of it. As the living room. Because it would be days, if not weeks, before the woman even noticed the room next to the kitchen.
She knew Mads was still pissed that Nelle had taken it upon herself to have the entire house decorated and stocked with food, clothes, and supplies. But what did Mads expect Nelle to do? Sit around in lawn chairs and pretend to be okay with that? They were no longer eighteen, and nothing was worse than twentysomethings still acting as if they were living dorm life.