Page 95 of Red Mountain Burning
Brooks twisted his head to the four other astonished faces, including Emilia herself. He patted her back. “Look at you. The princess of Red Mountain has spoken. What an incredible blend.”
He’d never seen Emilia happier. She was trying not to cry as she shrugged it off, but it was nearly overwhelming. “I thought it was pretty good,” she said nonchalantly.
“Well done, Em,” her dad said. “You get the crown. The blend is yours this year.”
She was too shocked and excited to say another word.
Brooks noticed Emilia look at Carmen for a second, perhaps searching for approval. Carmen gave her no such thing. Her mother was staring past her at the wall with an angry look on her face. Or was it jealousy?
Just like a scene in a movie where all the Navy SEALs’ phones rang at the same time, the phones in everyone’s pockets dinged and buzzed. It was a funny coincidence, and they all looked at each other curiously.
“What the heck is this?” Emilia asked, staring at her screen.
Brooks was not surprised to see the youngest had beat everyone to their phones.
“What’s going on?” Jake asked.
“Otis and Harry Bellflour just got into a big fight,” she told them.
Brooks wasted no time running out the door. He climbed onto his motorcycle in the back lot and sped up the hill to Sunset Road. Once he was on pavement, he rode as fast as his Scrambler would go until he reached the turn to Otis’s house.
Two mixers were pouring gold concrete in the Drink Flamingo driveway a little farther down Sunset. He made a mental note to process that vision as he swung right toward Otis’s house. There was a police car in the driveway. Looking past it, he saw two policemen escorting Otis down the steps.
