“It is.” I smile, and he laughs, dropping one more kiss to my lips before he tugs me up off the couch. “Go get dressed, and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
“Yay.” I lean up without thinking and kiss the underside of his jaw. “I’ll be quick.”
With a bounce in my step, I go to our room and dig through my bag for something to wear, then strip off my T-shirt and the bike shorts I had on.
I slip on my simple white maxi dress and head for the bathroom, taking my hair out of the bun I had it in, deciding to leave it down and run a few pumps of hair tamer through it so it won’t look so wild. I then grab my makeup bag and quickly add some bronzer and blush along with mascara.
When I’m finished, I grab my jean jacket and am just about to put on my sandals when I hear raised voices coming from the kitchen.
“Oh no,” I whisper, recognizing one as Jace and the other as Brice. “This can’t be good.”
I swing open the door and start to rush down the hall, but a hand bands around my wrist, stopping me before I can reach the kitchen. I spin around to tell whoever it is to let me go, but freeze when Daniel says softly, “This fight is long overdue. You need to let them hash it out.”
“But—” I start, but he cuts me off.
“Trust me, Penny. This is a longtime coming.” He tugs me back with him toward the stairs away from the yelling, then urges me up the first one. “Go wait in the library with Janelle.”
Biting my lip, I glance toward the kitchen one last time, then nod and walk up the stairs, jumping every time there is a loud noise. When I reach the library, I open the door and attempt to smile when I find Janelle curled up on the couch where I was sitting earlier.
“Close the door, sweet girl, and come here.” She pats the couch next to her, and I reluctantly do as she asked, then wrap my arms around my waist as I walk to where she’s sitting. “One thing you’ll learn rather quickly if you ever have sons is boys are not good at talking about their emotions. They let everything bottle up until it’s too late, and then they explode all over the place.” She rubs my arm when there is a loud bang. “It sounds worse than it is.”
“What started it?” I look over at her.
“Brice lost some money on a bad investment, and he mentioned that he might have to sell their house. I told Jace about it in passing, and he decided to step in and offer him what he lost.”
“So Brice is mad that Jace offered to give him the money he would need so he wouldn’t lose his house?”
“I think you and I both know there is more to it than that.”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “I know.”
“Both my boys, God love them, are idiots. Brice, for not talking to his brother, and Jace, for thinking that shoving money someone’s way will make things better.”
“Jace’s heart is in the right place,” I defend, because really, if anything, Brice should be thanking him for the offer, then apologizing for being a jerk. Not that he shouldn’t have fallen in love with Haylee, because sometimes things happen and you can’t stop how you feel. “Where are Haylee and Dash?”
“Out with Eva.”
“At least there’s that.”
“At least there’s that,” she agrees. “Haylee would be sick if she knew the two of them were fighting,” she whispers, and I know she’s right. But I also know you can only avoid the elephant in the room for so long before it tramples you.
We fall into silence, and I wonder what is going on downstairs, because now it’s quiet, then my pulse skitters when the door is opened, and I jump to my feet when Daniel pokes his head inside.
“You two can come out now.”
“How much furniture did they break?” Janelle asks like she’s asking about the weather.
“A couple of chairs.”
“Do I need to get my shoes to go to the hospital?”
My eyes widen at that question.
“Not this time,” he says, then looks at me. “Jace told me to let you know he’s gonna have a beer with Brice but will be back.”
“Oh, okay. Yeah.” I nod relieved the two of them are actually talking and that the fight didn’t make things worse.
“Were you two going somewhere?” Janelle asks as we head down the stairs.
“We were gonna go into Wenatchee to see some historical sites.”
“That sounds fun. I’ll take you if you want.”
“Oh, no, that’s okay.” I shake my head, stopping at my bedroom door. “I think I’ll hang out until Jace gets back.”
“All right, well, you’re welcome to join me down by the lake if you get bored. The kids have the sac race and tug-o-war this afternoon.” She rubs my back before heading to the kitchen, and I let out a breath before I turn to look at Daniel.
“Was Jace okay?”
“He might have a shiner, but he’s all right,” he says gently, then nudges me toward my door. “Go rest. He’ll be back soon.”
“Okay.” I nod, then without much of a choice, I open the door and walk to the bed. I fall to my back and stare at the ceiling, knowing two things for certain. One, the knot in the pit of my stomach isn’t going away until I can see for myself that Jace is still in one piece, and two…
Men are so weird.
Chapter 25
Time Out
With Jace and Brice still not back after hours, Haylee and I sit cross-legged in the grass with a group of girls surrounding us. All of them are watching with excitement and fascination as we braid together daisy chains using the flowers they brought to us. The first one I made while Haylee and I talked, I gave to Dash, and after he ran to show his cousins and friends, chaos descended on me in the form of little girls. So Haylee, who is a quick study, started helping me out.
Not surprisingly, Haylee was worried when she arrived home to news that a fight had taken place between her husband and Jace, and she immediately came to make sure I wasn’t upset with her about what happened. After explaining I thought both men were idiots, the relief on her face let me know just how worried she was about how I was feeling.
I’m sure that another woman might have felt upset that her fiancé was fighting over his ex, but Jace isn’t really my fiancé, and even if he were, I know the fight had less to do with Haylee and more to do with his brother’s lack of respect. I’m not saying Jace would have liked Brice telling him that he had feelings for Haylee when the two of them got together, but I can almost guarantee he would have been able to accept it if the conversation had taken place.
Instead, he felt like everyone was keeping a secret from him. So not only did he have to deal with the fact that his brother was in love with the woman he thought he would eventually marry, but he had to deal with his family not telling him about it. And even if I get why they did what they did, I still think it’s wrong. The truth always comes out at one point or another, so it’s usually easier to deal with things head-on and face the consequences.
When the daisy chain I’ve been working on is done, I hold it up, and the little girl who has been waiting for her turn leans forward so I can place it on her head like a crown.