Page 113 of Married With Malice

Anticipating this attempt, I refuse to let him get under me and dig in, trying to force him to lose his balance.

We’re locked in a tug-of-war of brute strength and who knows how long it would have gone on if the shrieking hadn’t started.

“STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY!”

We were so intent on our battle that we’re both startled into flinching. This is enough to disturb the equilibrium and send us sprawling on the ground.

“BOYS!” Peggy has now galloped all the way across the yard at an inspiring pace. “STOP FIGHTING RIGHT NOW!”

Cale lands on me in the fall and the wind gets knocked out of my lungs for a few seconds. He rolls away and I find myself flat on my back on frozen ground, staring up at the clear blue sky while the tiny but formidable caretaker of Bright Hearts Ranch continues to shout her condemnation.

“Look what you’ve done,” I say to Cale when I can breathe again. “You’ve upset Peggy.”

He sits up and moodily brushes snow from his shirt. “We’re fine,” he calls to Peggy. “I was just helping my kid brother adjust his attitude.”

He ignores me when I start cackling and shift to a sitting position.

Peggy, now less than ten yards away, crosses her arms and shoots us both dirty looks. “No more fighting. You aren’t children. I can’t be expected to fix you if you break.”

“Sorry, Peggy,” we say in unison.

With a final grunt of annoyance, she does a one eighty and rapidly hikes back to the house.

Cale is now moving his arm around, testing out his shoulder.

“Do you need a stretcher?” I ask him. “Or I can bring the wheelbarrow around.”

He scowls. I swear, no one can scowl quite like my brother.

“Fuck you,” he says.

“You used that insult two minutes ago. Try again. Get creative.”

He cuffs me across the back of the head. I’ll let that one go by for now. He’s having a rough afternoon.

Sadie calls her husband’s name and I’m just now realizing that both of our wives have observed this entire spectacle. They are inside the fenced paddock and giving some of the rescue dogs their play time.

Anni stands with her hands on her hips. Sadie, looking ever more pregnant by the hour, keeps one hand on her belly and the other pressed to the small of her back.

“All is well!” I shout and move closer to Cale so we appear more friendly.

Anni shakes her head but she’s smiling. Sadie says something that I can’t detect from this distance but it’s enough to make Anni laugh. It’s a sound that lights up every troubled corner of my soul.

When I manage to tear my eyes away from my wife, I find Cale staring at me.

“Things seem to be going well between you and her,” he says.

Through the dense leather of my gloves, I feel for the hard shape of my wedding ring. “It’s more than that. I love her, Cale.”

He nods without surprise. “I can tell.”

“Do you approve?”

“Would it matter if I didn’t?”

“No. But I want you to like her.”

He watches my wife throw a tennis ball and then clap her gloved hands with excitement when one of the dogs catches it.

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