A Knight In Cowboy Boots by Quint Suzie

Author:Quint, Suzie [Quint, Suzie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Pink Petal Boots
Published: 2011-08-03T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

As Rachel approached, one of the customers down the bar flagged Maddie. The whole time she was filling his drink order, it felt like a herd of moths was trying to beat its way out of her stomach. Stolen glances revealed Zach leaning a little too casually on the bar, Rachel standing stiff beside him. Neither looked at or even acknowledged the other that Maddie saw. Jake had gone silent as well, but the hint of a smile on his lips between sips of beer as he watched his siblings ignore each other betrayed his amusement.

Maddie kept her eyes on Rachel as she came back to them. She fervently wished Zach had just left it alone.

Rachel shifted from one foot to another, her frame stiff with internal tension. She took a deep breath, dropped her eyes, and said, “Zach has pointed out to me that I have boundary issues and may have inadvertently offended you this morning. I hope you’ll forgive me for butting into your private business.”

It was a no frills apology, but asking forgiveness was obviously not something Zach’s sister had a lot of experience with. “I appreciate your apology,” Maddie said. “As far as I’m concerned, this morning is forgotten.”

“Thank you.” As Rachel turned to leave, she shot Zach a look that was—triumphant?

Zach swiveled on his barstool to watch her go. Maddie shifted her gaze to Jake, who looked as though it was all he could do to restrain himself from laughing out loud. Suddenly, Maddie saw the humor in it. As Zach swung back around to the bar, Maddie and Jake burst out laughing.

Zach looked at them like they’d lost their collective minds. Then he shook his head and muttered, “How does she do it? She lost that round, but she acts like she won.”

“Only Rach can do that,” Jake said through his laughter.

“You’re family dynamics are so strange,” Maddie told Zach.

“I don’t think they’re that strange. Don’t you have any brothers or sisters?”

A vivid image of Laurel’s coffin surrounded by flowers at the front of the chapel flashed through Maddie’s mind. Her face suddenly felt stiff, but she forced her lips to shape the word, “No.”

*

I’ve just stepped on a landmine, Zach thought. “I’m actually kinda glad to hear that,” he said, trying to find a way to keep his simple question from exploding under him. “When that door opened this afternoon, I had visions of some hulking, overprotective brother stomping me into a blood splatter. You probably done noticed I wasn’t exactly prepared to defend myself. Being an overly protective brother myself, I figured a duel at dawn probably wouldn’t be an option. Especially with my choice of weapons.”

“And that would be what?” Maddie asked.

Zach bought a dramatic pause with a sip of beer. “You’ve seen the weaponry. What do you think?”

A grin spread slowly, thawing Maddie’s face, and Zach congratulated himself on sidestepping the danger.

“Could it be the one in your pants?” Maddie asked with mock innocence.

“I didn’t tell you how good I got at those pissing contests, did I?”

It was Jake’s turn to look perplexed.

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