Page 173 of Mad Love

After the funeral, some of the stable staff who knew Corinne had offered to keep an eye on her so she could play with the puppies and even go for a horseback ride. We’d all assumed keeping her away would be the right call; in the last two days, Cori had started to regress, just as Ryan had feared.

She constantly sucked her thumb now, usually not bothering to remove it from her mouth when speaking. Her speech had become stilted, and a lisp she’d overcome years ago seemed back in full force. She also had become extremely dependent on a threadbare stuffed pony that had once belonged to her mother, which Grandpa had saved. The one night we couldn’t find it before bed, she’d had a full-blown meltdown, complete with hyperventilating.

Eleven adults had spent three hours scouring every inch of Brookfield to find the pony, which had been left in a stall in the barn.

That set off another round of hysterics when Corinne declared she was a horrible girl for forgetting her most important friend.

It was heartbreaking.

Ryan and I had planned to spend the holidays in Brookfield with Corinne, but now we were considering going to the beach house instead so she could have a break from this estate.

“Puppy!” Corinne screeched, barreling into the room and hitting a serving platter close to the edge of the buffet table. It went flying, throwing canapés into the air. “Come back!”

Ryan moved to intervene, but Corinne ducked between a group of adults gaping at her like she was a sideshow freak.

“Cor, wait,” Ryan called.

I moved to intercept her, and she tripped over a man’s shoe. She went sprawling into me, and I lost my footing in these damn heels. We both crashed into the ground, my back hitting the edge of a table, but considering the alternative was Cori’s head getting cracked open, I’d take it.

I hissed out a breath, pain lancing through me as people moved to help us up.

Cori’s thumb went back into her mouth, her big blue eyes staring up at me with fear and pain. “Sorry, Maddie. Cori is sorry.”

My eyes went wide, because talking about herself in the third-person was new.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” I assured her, smiling.

A man I didn’t recognize bent and lifted Corinne off me with a gentle smile. “Here you go, honey. Right as—”

Corinne screamed so loud I thought my eardrums would bust.

The man let her go and fell back in surprise as Ryan swooped in with a glare. “What the fuck did you do to her?”

“N-nothing,” the man stammered, eyes huge as they bounced from me to Corinne to Ryan. Cori kept screaming.

“He just helped her up,” I added, getting to my feet with Ash’s help.

Ryan picked Corinne up and grunted as she started kicking and flailing. “Cor, it’s me. Settle down, honey.”

It didn’t work. Corinne wasn’t registering that she was with Ryan, or that Royal was suddenly standing at her side. That I was there, or even Mrs. Beechum, who had pushed her way into the room.

And she definitely didn’t see the room full of gaping strangers. Several curled their lips at her, shaking their heads and muttering.

Ryan shot me a worried look and, with Royal’s help, took Corinne from the room. But her shrieks echoed in the air.

“My goodness,” the woman who had declared a dog a rat muttered, waving a gloved hand in front of her face. “Someone needs to teach that child some manners. What a disgrace to Michael’s memory.”

I saw red.

Fuck. This.

I turned to Ash and saw Court behind him. Both looked a mix of stricken and furious.

“Maddie.” Mrs. Beechum touched my elbow, looking as angry as I felt.

I met her eyes. “Get everyone out of here. Party’s over.”

CHAPTER 61

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