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I would have been annoyed by that if I wasn’t being left alone. If getting rid of her was the outcome, then I would happily take my time making a salad for the princess. At least I was alone again. This would also give me the chance to clean things up. When Mrs. Jolene returned in the morning, the kitchen would be exactly like she had left it.
It took me several minutes to find a colander, cutting board, salad bowl, vegetable peeler, and knife, but once I had all my supplies, I went to work on the salad, making extra for Saxon and myself. Lost in the process, I didn’t hear Saxon walk into the kitchen and jumped, startled, when he placed the pizzas on the counter.
“Wow, you can really make a salad,” he said to me. “Declan said you insisted on making it, and now, I can see why. Hers wouldn’t have looked anything like that.”
I’d insisted, huh?
“I made enough for all of us,” I told him. “We could use some veggies with our pizza.”
He held up a box. “This is veggie pizza.”
I grinned. “That’s been cooked with cheese, and it’s full of grease, taking all its nutritional value out of the picture.”
He smiled. “I don’t normally eat salads, but since you made it and pointed out my lack of proper vegetables, I’ll have some.”
I started to reply when Declan came back into the kitchen.
“Is it ready yet? I didn’t expect a simple salad to take so long. I would have stayed and helped you if I’d known you were going to struggle with it.” All the while, she kept her friendly smile in place.
I imagined taking the salad bowl and tossing it in her face. The thought made me feel better.
“It’s done now,” I replied. “Saxon, what dressing do you like?” I asked him, taking the attention off Declan.
“He doesn’t eat salad,” Declan announced. “But I hope you do. That’s entirely too much for me, and I’d hate to waste any of their food. You should have been careful. Jo might need some of those things tomorrow.”
So, she was worried about wasting their food, but not about wasting their electricity. How did Saxon deal with her? Did she not drive him nuts?
My brother had always said, “Guys think with their dicks, Maddy. The hotter the piece, the more bullshit they will put up with.”
I’d always rolled my eyes at that saying, but in this situation, that had to be the case.
“Maddy made enough for all of us. She pointed out the lack of nutritional value in the pizza, so I agreed to eat salad too,” he explained to Declan, then looked back at me. “I like ranch.”
I nodded and went to get the ranch from the fridge again. I liked it, too, so this would work for both of us. Closing the door, I went over to set it on the counter.
“I’ll get the plates,” I said since I had found them while looking for a salad bowl earlier.
“Are we eating in here? Wouldn’t the dining room be better?” Declan asked.
“No need to mess up the dining room. It’s just us,” Saxon replied and walked over to me to take the plates.
He handed one to Declan, and she took it as if it were a foreign object. Saxon didn’t seem to notice and began putting one of each of the pizzas on his plate, and then he took the tongs I’d put in the salad bowl and added a small portion of salad on the space left.
I took my plate and followed his lead while Declan watched us, frowning before moving toward the salad bowl and putting an even smaller portion than Saxon had gotten onto her plate. Realizing I had indeed made too much salad, I went back and put a much larger portion of the salad on my plate. I didn’t want to waste the salad, and it was clear that Declan wasn’t going to eat more than a few bites.
Once she had her food, Declan walked out of the kitchen with her plate and toward the dining room. Saxon watched her then looked at me and rolled his eyes before taking his plate to follow her. My new plan was to eat, then claim a headache and get back to the solitude of my room. There was no way I was staying down here and watching a movie with the two of them.
Eight
Saxon
Declan was either trying to be friendly with Maddy or she was faking it. My bet was on the latter. I knew Declan was unhappy about Maddy living here. Once Declan had seen her today, that unhappiness had escalated. She hadn’t known that my mother’s orphaned best friend’s daughter was also gorgeous. Neither had I.
Tonight, I had hoped to get to know Maddy better and make her feel comfortable here. Mom wanted her to feel like this was her home. Truth was, my mother had always wanted a daughter, but after I was born, the doctors had warned her that her body couldn’t handle another pregnancy. She’d tried anyway a few years later and lost the baby at twenty weeks. I didn’t remember it, but I knew from things Dad had said, Mom had been heartbroken. The baby had been a girl.
Maddy was exactly the kind of daughter my mother would have wanted. My mother loved beautiful things, and Maddy fit that category. When she’d gone to get Maddy in Texas, I had wondered if the girl would be what my mother wanted. Not to say Mom was shallow, but a part of me felt like if Maddy didn’t meet her expectations physically, Mom might not want to offer her a home. I never voiced that concern, and when Maddy had walked into the kitchen this morning, I understood my mother’s buoyant mood. She had gotten the perfect daughter.
Dinner was exhausting. I did my best to control the conversation so that Declan wouldn’t say anything to make Maddy feel uncomfortable or unwanted. However, when Maddy stood up from the table with her empty plate, I could see the look on her face. She was going to bolt, and honestly, I didn’t blame her. Nothing about this meal was what I had planned. Declan had made sure that Maddy didn’t get a chance to say much. She’d managed to turn the topic to herself every chance she got.
