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“Where are all the kids?” Caden asked.
“Either at school or with my mom,” Dani said. “We thought the adults would be enough for today.”
Elmer poked his head in the door. “Is the patient ready to see his best pal?”
“He is,” Max said.
Elmer led Daisy into the crowded house, and she looked around until she found Caden, her eyes widening and her tail wagging madly when she saw him. “Remember what we talked about, Miss Daisy. Nice and gentle with your boy.”
Caden held out a hand to her, and she came over to sniff and lick him, making him giggle.
Somehow, the puppy seemed to understand that he was hurt and nuzzled him gently. She ended up on the sofa, parked between Caden’s legs, the two of them happy to be reunited.
“I missed you, girl,” he said as he scratched behind her ears.
“We made everything,” Max’s sister Hannah said. “Dig in.”
“Thanks, guys.” Max fixed a small plate for Caden and then went back for some of Ella’s chicken and Charley’s mac ’n’ cheese for himself.
“We knew there wouldn’t be room for everyone, so we made this an OG mission while the kids were in school,” Landon said, meaning “original gangsters.”
“Good call,” Max said.
“So, how’d you leave things with Lexi when you had to come running home?” Charley asked.
Max paused mid-bite. “Um, well, she knew I needed to get home as fast as possible. We’ve been talking.”
“Did you have fun in Houston?” Ella asked.
“Uh-huh.”
“Girls, leave your brother alone,” Molly said.
“We’re just making sure he doesn’t mess this up, Mom,” Charley said.
Max scowled at her. “I’m not going to mess it up. Now go away.”
“We’re keeping an eye on things,” Lucas said for himself and his twin, who nodded.
“We won’t let him mess it up,” Landon said.
“Oh my God,” Max said with a groan. “The last kind of help I need is from you two.”
“Which of us are happily married and which of us isnot?” Landon asked. “Hmm?”
“Boys, please, stand down,” Colton said. “I’ve got this taken care of.”
Max rolled his eyes.
“How quickly you forget, young grasshopper,” Colton said to Max. “Who was the one who pushed you in her direction when she was here?” Colton held his hand to his ear. “What’s that? I can’t hear you saying, ‘Colton did that.’”
“I blame you two for this,” Molly said to her husband and father.
“What’d we do?” Linc asked, full of innocence.
“What didn’t you do? Now they all think they have some sort of right to butt into other people’s relationships.”
“We do have that right,” Charley said. “It’s in the Abbott family rulebook.”
