Okay, so her insides weren’t done giving her fits. They rolled over again. But she nodded. “Sure, I’d love that. If she’s good with it.”
“Don’t be silly,” he told her, shaking her shoulders playfully. “She might joke about her cleaver, but she’s a softie. Again, don’t tell her I said that.”
She looked over her shoulder and mimed zipping her lips closed. “She won’t hear it from me.”
The puppy raced toward them when they reached the kitchen. The delicious aroma of smoked meat and spices reached her. Suddenly she didn’t know what to say to her fierce friend, so she fell back on the one thing they’d always had in common. “Smells delicious in here.”
Madison looked over from chopping onions at the counter, doing her best to smile despite her obvious strain. “Hey, Thea! Thanks. If you can’t bring the boy to Texas, you bring the BBQ to Paris—or something like that. How’d it go at the bakery today? Sold out early again?”
She rocked on her heels as the puppy raced back to Madison, looking up at her with complete devotion. “Yeah, we’re barely open two hours before every morsel is gone. It’s been like that every day since we opened. Dean has started a bet on how long the streak will run.”
“I’ll have to get in on that action,” Madison added, gripping her cleaver so tight Thea could see the whites of her knuckles. “You want to stay for BBQ? Maybe Jean Luc can come over.”
She’d only slept about an hour. “I’m dead on my feet, but another night for sure.”
Madison lifted her shoulder. “Totally understand. Hey! How about a scoop of ice cream before you go? I seem to remember how much you love it.”
Kyle laid a hand on Thea’s shoulder, still behind her. “The ice cream is from Madison’s favorite place in Miami.”
“That idiot has it imported all the way over to Paris,” Madison told her with an eye roll. “Then again, he’s a pretty crazy guy.”
“I’d love a scoop,” Thea said, because she suddenly realized what was going on.
Just like making Kyle BBQ, Madison was showing her love the only way she knew how—with those thoughtful little touches Thea had been thinking about earlier.
Yeah, there was no way she was letting anyone break up her family.
