Page 32 of The Maxwell Brothers
And the most dangerous part? It also melted all my defenses, and I knew I had to do something about it.
I was going to think really hard about everything over the weekend, but I didn’t think it was a good idea to stay on as Paisley’s nanny.
CHAPTER 9
TATE
After Lexi left,I made myself a promise: I wouldn’t contact her until Monday.
I went back to the party, heading straight for the grill. Tyler and Declan exchanged a meaningful glance before looking at me.
“Not one word from anyone,” I said as I picked up the fork, placing the corn on the grill and turning the five chicken wings I’d put on it before going inside with Lexi.
Declan glanced at Tyler again. “He didn’t say anything about not talking to each other.”
Tyler held up his hands. “I’m going to withhold my opinion.”
“I won’t,” Luke said. “I like what I see so far.”
“I already gave my opinion on this,” Declan said.
Tyler rolled his eyes. “Can you stop being a lawyer for a minute here?”
“I’m just a concerned brother,” Declan pointed out.
“There is no need to be concerned about me,” I said, loud and clear. “Why don’t we worry about the real problems in the family? Where is Reese, by the way? She wouldn’t say what’s going on, but I’m going to assume things with Malcolm aren’t going well.”
“She left earlier,” Declan replied. “And no, things aren’t going well. Malcolm insists on moving forward with the spa. The Halsey Group has a lot riding on this.”
The Halsey Group was the company Malcolm worked at.
“What the fuck?” I exclaimed. My hackles rose. “Don’t tell Gran. Not until we’re sure of it.”
“I wasn’t planning to,” Declan said.
No one was going to hurt my family. Not my grandmother, not my cousins, no one. I was going to make sure of it.
“Let’s change the topic. Gran’s coming this way,” Luke said. “Don’t look guilty or she’ll know we’re hiding something.”
We’d perfected the art of the poker face over the years, but fooling Gran wasn’t an easy feat. She picked up a chicken wing, glancing around the group.
“Whatever you boys think you’re doing, it’s not working,” she said nonchalantly. “And before you ask how I know you’re hiding something, remember I’ve caught you six scheming since you could barely walk.”
“Gran, cut us some slack,” Luke said.
She took yet another chicken wing. “I will. For now.”
Tyler chuckled. Luke winked at Gran. Declan shook his head.
We hadn’t perfected that poker face as much as I thought.
As soon as Gran headed back to the swing where Paisley was sitting, Tyler said, “Let’s talk about this at the office. We got away once, but I don’t think she’s gonna be so forgiving a second time.”
“Agreed,” I replied, continuing to handle the grill because Tyler deserved a break.
Twenty minutes later, I remembered why it wasn’t a good idea for my brother to have too much time on his hands. He gotideas. I only realized he and Paisley were up to something because they both had smug looksandheld their hands behind their back.
“What is this—” I started to say, but before I could finish the sentence, both of them released firecrackers. I burst out laughing so hard I nearly cracked a rib, and so did Declan. Luke was looking with so much pride at the two of them that I wondered if he hadn’t given them the idea in the first place.
