Page 60 of Sweet Home Louisiana

For just a second, Maddie’s mind went dirty and she thought about the things Owen had that he hadn’t given her.And how much she wanted them.But then the words really sank in.“Owen’s sick?”

Kennedy nodded.“At home tonight all by himself.Didn’t even come in for dinner.”

Maddie was up off her stool before she even thought about it.“No one’s been over to check on him?”

Kennedy looked over at Tori and Josh.“I didn’t go.”

“Me, either,” Josh said with a shrug.“But he just went home a little bit ago.And he’s got all our numbers.”

Tori nodded.“And I’m sure Ellie will check on him later, right?”

Maddie, Kennedy, and Josh all laughed at that.Tori looked at each of them.“No?”

Josh shook his head.“She stayed away when we were sick.Didn’t want to catch it.She has to run this place and she’s never missed a day for illness.”

Tori’s eyes widened.“Seriously?”

“She cleans this place top to bottom with some powerful stinky cleaning solution that she mixes up herself, and she bitches at anyone who comes in here with so much as a sniffle,” Kennedy said.

Maddie nodded.“There were always other people around to watch us if we were sick and needed to stay home from school.”

“Ninety-five percent of the time it was Callie,” Kennedy said.She glanced at Tori.“Owen’s mom.She did daycare for all of us from the time we were born until we were old enough to take care of ourselves after school.She was a single mom and everyone just grouped around her and figured out that they could take care of her by paying her to take care of all of us.”

Tori’s eyes went soft—Maddie swore she looked like those stuffed animals with the huge, round, sweet eyes—and she sighed.“Oh, that’s nice.”

The thought of Callie Landry made Maddie smile.Callie had been the stay-at-home mom for them all.If they were sick, she was there.She greeted them with cookies after school.She showed up for their school programs and always went along on school field trips.She was actually the complete opposite of Ellie, her mother, in nearly every way.Which amused everyone.Including Callie and Ellie.

“Anyway, if none ofyouare going to go check on Owen, I guess I will,” Maddie said.

Ellie carried her food over just then.

“I’ll have to take it to go, Ellie.”

Ellie sighed.“You couldn’t tolerate these three even long enough for a meal?”

“Yourgrandsonis sick and I think someone should check on him.”She hadn’t noticed that Owen seemed sick but maybe it had come on suddenly.Or maybe he’d just pushed through it.It probably wouldn’t be good for business for the tour guide to act ill.Maybe he’d faked it for the sake of the tourists.Owen would totally do something like that.And that made her even more concerned.How bad was it?

“He’s a grown man,” Ellie said, studying Maddie as she said it.“You don’t think he can take care of himself?Let us know if he needs something?”

Maddie scowled at her.She actuallyscowledat Ellie Landry.“You know, I get the tough love thing and I know you actually care about all of your kids and grandkids, but once in a while it would be okay for you to show it.If you’re not going to hold hands and wipe brows, you could at least, I don’t know, make chicken soup or some damned thing, couldn’t you?”

Ellie simply waited until Maddie was done, lifted a brow, pulled a take-out box from under the counter, and dumped Maddie’s food—the salad and the rice and beans all together—into the box.She shut the lid and slid it across the bar.

Okay.Point taken.“Thanks.”She grabbed the box and Ellie turned and headed back down the bar.

Maddie blew out a breath.“Shit.”

“Wow,” Kennedy said.“So that was—”

“Yeah, I know,” Maddie snapped.“I keep telling you all that I do things and say things here I wouldn’t and don’t anywhere else.”She sighed.“I’ll apologize to her.”

“Tomorrow,” Josh inserted.“I’d wait ’til tomorrow.”

Crap.She didn’t want to insult anyone.Least of all Ellie.Her second grandmother.She ran a hand through her hair.“Okay, well, I think she’d like me to leave and I get it, so I’m going to go check on Owen.”

“Yeah, good idea,” Kennedy told her.

Maddie thought she saw Tori elbow Kennedy in the side, but she couldn’t be sure.

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