Page 38 of Love’s Silver Bullet

Nodding, he clambered down the front steps, a tic in his jaw as he stormed toward where his horse was tied up to the Burdzy’s front post.

A godsend. He cut loose with a harsh grunt. Maybe tonight, but not in his past. Untying Midnight’s rein, Jake gave his neck a quick scrub before mounting into the saddle.

And definitely not for a man who chewed Sen-Sen.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Tap. Tap.

Still giggling and talking in Sheridan’s bed thirty minutes later, Sheridan and Maggie went completely silent at the sound of a knock on the door, gazes locking before Sheridan squeezed Maggie’s hand. “Who is it?”

“It’s Aunt Libby, darling. May I come in?”

Sheridan bounded from the bed in a virtual leap, swinging the door wide. “Oh, you bet, Aunt Libby, because we’re having a girls’ bedtime chat, and we sure could use your experience and expertise in dealing with hard-headed men.”

“Ooooo, my favorite subject!” Libby hurried in with a devious rub of hands, plopping down on the bed in her nightgown. “I heard giggles on my way to the bathroom, so I’m glad I knocked on your door.” She winked. “Especially since Finn is sound asleep.”

“Me too,” Sheridan said, returning to her side of the bed. She scampered into the middle, patting the empty spot on her right for Aunt Libby. “Snuggle in, Aunt Libby.”

Maggie scooted over to make more room. “Yes, please do because you’re just the person we need to talk to.”

“About what?” Libby glanced from Sheridan to Maggie and back.

“Wellllll …” Sheridan peeked at Maggie with a nervous bite of her lip before returning her gaze to her aunt. “Maggie and Blaze had a fight, so Maggie came to sleep with me tonight.”

Concern immediately wrinkled Libby’s brow as she searched Maggie’s face. “Oh my goodness, Maggie, are you all right?”

“I am, Aunt Libby, but I’m afraid Blaze isn’t.” She put a hand to her lips to stifle a giggle. “Or at least, I hope he isn’t.”

Libby pursed her lips. “Margaret Rose Donovan, I thought we agreed last year that you would call me Libby since we’re dear friends.”

“Whoops—sorry, Libby, but hearing Sheridan call you Aunt Libby brought back the habit.” Maggie reached across Sheridan to give Libby’s hand a quick squeeze. “You see, Sheridan, before I married your brother, Libby was my mother’s dearest friend, not my actual aunt, but that’s what I called her back then—Aunt Libby. But then last year, she became my dearest friend, too, so we decided to dispense with the title even though, after marrying Blaze, she’s now also my aunt as well.” She looped an arm to Sheridan’s waist. “But aunt, nieces, or sisters-in-law, the best thing is we are all best friends now, right?”

“Right!” Libby agreed with a firm nod of her head, tucking her arm around Sheridan on the other side, uniting the three of them in a side-by-side hug. “Oh, how I love this—three strong women in the same house!”

“Uh, speaking of strong, Libby,” Maggie began with a wink at Sheridan, “we have a bit of a woman’s issue to discuss.”

Libby actually clasped her hands to her chest with a little hop, looking far younger than her forty years with thick auburn hair trailing her shoulders and a little-girl grin on her beautiful face. “Oh, pinch me, please, because this has to be the best dream I’ve had in a long, long while. A woman’s issue??” Her shoulders rose and fell in a delighted sigh as she crossed her palms over her heart. “Next to romance, there’s nothing I love more than discussing women’s issues, so let’s have it, ladies, because I am a captive audience.”

Sneaking a peek at Maggie for encouragement, Sheridan turned back to her aunt. “Uh … well, then you are really going to like this discussion, Aunt Libby, I promise, because it’s about a woman’s issue that involves romance.”

“Oooooo!” Libby shimmied into a cross-legged position. “I haven’t had any of that since Finn and I got married last year, when we butted heads over his stance on women’s rights before the mayoral election.”

She rubbed her palms together with a wiggle of brows, making both Sheridan and Maggie laugh. Everyone was aware that Aunt Libby was a suffragist in the truest sense of the word, a situation that had almost derailed her marriage to Finn. “So, spill it, please, girls—what’s on your minds?”

Maggie flopped back against the headboard with a noisy gust of air. “Well, as Sheridan said, I’m bunking with her tonight because Blaze and I had our very first argument.”

Libby shifted to face them both, smile dimming. “About what, Maggie?”

Maggie tucked her knees to her chest and plopped her chin on top. “Blaze is angry at me because Clay showed up tonight.”

“What?” Libby bowed her head, face in a scrunch. “Whatever for?”

Sheridan peeked up at her aunt as she picked at her nails. “Because I sort of, kind of invited Clay to come over today when we met him outside the arena, and Blaze is mad at Maggie because she was with me at the time.”

“Yep.” Maggie’s mouth went flat. “Not only is my husband trying to control his sister, but he’s also trying to control me, telling me in no uncertain terms I needed to ‘butt out’ of Sheridan’s life.”

“Pardon me?” Libby splayed a hand to her chest, green eyes narrowing into battle mode. “Ohhhhh, I see … like nephew, like uncle apparently, bullying his wife around like Finn tried to do when we got married.”