Page 78 of Absinthe Minded

Determined to finish her dessert, Cocoa inhaled and gagged at the same time like a malfunctioning vacuum cleaner.

“What happened?” I set Ella in her port-a-crib, grabbed the dog’s collar, and pulled her out of the kitchen.

She might have been a chocolate lab but eating that much chocolate cake would give her the runs.

“Cocoa got under my feet. I twisted my ankle.” Zach held his lower calf.

Chloe and Ryan appeared at the bottom of the stairs and took in the show.

“Let me take a look at it.” Ignoring the fact that Cocoa had followed me back into the kitchen, I knelt beside Zach.

“No. It’s fine.”

“Don’t be silly, let me see.” I reached for his foot, and he moved away.

“Don’t touch it…” His reaction reminded me he was still a kid.

I lowered my voice. “I can look at it now, or we can call Maggie home, and I can take you to the ER for someone else to look at it.”

“No,” Zach cried out. “I don’t need to go to the hospital.”

I reached for his foot again. This time he let him take a look. “It’s not too swollen. Ice it. If it gets worse, we should get it checked out.”

“I’m on it.” Chloe filled a baggie with ice. Unfortunately, she spilled half of it on the floor.

“I’m on it, too!” Ryan tossed the cubes into the sink one at a time.

Cocoa retched in the living room, and we all moved at once. I went for the damned dog. Cocoa dodged, ran to the corner, and puked. Chloe ran for the bathroom. Zach scrambled to his feet and set Ryan on the couch.

“Go ice your ankle. I got this.” I pulled the dog out the back door.

Zach hobbled into the living room and sat beside his brother.

Fearing the sight of vomit had made her sick, I hurried to the bathroom to check on Chloe. “You okay?”

“Yep.” The girl practiced her dance moves in the mirror.

In the time it took me to get back into the living room, the dog had come back inside and left another mess. To be honest, I had no idea which end the pile of brown goo had come out of.

Adding insult to injury, Ryan had escaped the couch and was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor eating chocolate frosting out of the bowl—along with the idiot dog.

I would have cried, but I’d been raised to believe that guys didn’t shed tears, they yelled. “For Christ’s sake, nobody move!”

Ella let loose a scream that hit the same pitch as a knife scrapping a plate.

“You get her. I’ll take Ryan.” Zach limped to the kitchen and yanked the bowl away from his brother. This sent the boy into a full-blown tantrum.

“You need to ice your ankle.” I shouted over the din.

“I will, but right now you’re seriously outnumbered.”

“Okay. You throw Ryan in the bathtub and stay with him. I’ll settle Ella and clean up after the dog.” I dragged Cocoa out back and made sure to turn the lock near the top of the door—out of Ryan’s reach.

Holding Ryan at arm’s length to avoid being slimed, Zach hobbled down the hall.

“This is between you and me. Man to man. The girls don’t need to know.”

“Gotcha.” Zach called from the bathroom.

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