Maddox
Page 19
“Jealous?” I tease.
His eyes widen for a second before he shakes his head, grinning. “Have you met me? It’s me people should be jealous of.”
I roll my eyes. “Of course.”
“Two large breakfasts please.”
“I’m not going to eat—”
“But I will,” he explains, tapping his card on the machine.
He grabs the two plates from the cashier and hands one to me. He lets me go in front of him, and the things I don’t put onto my plate, he does, making sure I have an overflowing plate by the end of it.
When we head back to the table, I feel my cheeks heat. I don’t want people to think this is the amount of food I eat. But as I take a seat next to Maddox, opposite Max and Jasmine, I realise my plate is small compared to the rest.
My eyes widen as I take in the heap on Jasmine’s plate. She digs in, her eyes glazed over as she absorbs everything.
“Oh dear,” I murmur, trying not to laugh.
Maddox chuckles, watching her like me. “She fits in perfectly.”
She really does.
I glance down the table and notice Lily hold Asher close to her, her entire face lit up. I feel like I’m invading in on a personal moment when she tilts her head up, sharing a loving look with her husband. Her eyes glaze over with tears, and Jaxon smiles, leaning down to capture her lips in a kiss.
“Can you not do that in front of Asher?” Maddox calls out.
Lily jumps, letting out a giggle. “Sorry.”
“As long as she doesn’t get any ideas,” Max grumbles, watching her with Asher.
Her cheeks redden, and across from her, Maverick, the guy I rent a house from, begins to choke on his food.
Max, none-the-wiser, glances at Maddox. “So, your neighbours. I’ve been thinking a lot about this—”
“You only got told about Hayden last night,” Maddox retorts after swallowing down his food.
“I said I’m handling it,” Malik calls out, glaring at Max. “Which is why I told you to leave it alone.”
Maddox sits back, slamming his hands down on the table. “I can do it myself.”
The dads give him a pitying look, but it’s his father who speaks up. “No offence, but what you’re doing isn’t working.”
“Which is why I should—” Max begins, but is cut off by Malik again.
“No. If you get involved, it will escalate. Let me sort it.”
Max glances down at my daughter, letting out a huff. “They never listen.”
She sighs, shaking her head as she leans back to pat her stomach. “Kids.”
“What are you going to do, Dad?”
Malik shrugs. “What I always do. Sort the problem out.”
Harlow leans forward, her eyes soft when they land on her son. “Let him sort it. You’ve gone on long enough listening to them.”
“Okay,” Maddox concedes. “Just don’t do anything to my house.”
“Is my name Max?” he retorts, earning a snort from Max.
“You wish, bro. You wish.”
“This is going to end badly,” Maddox whispers.
“It could be worse,” I tell him, and he turns, giving me a doubtful look.
“How?”
I grin. “You could be living next door to them for years.”
His expression tightens, and he turns to his dad. “Do whatever you have to.”
“Me too?” Max asks, sitting up eagerly.
“No,” everyone yells.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MADDOX
The tyres going over the gravel clink against the car as I take the turn up to Paisley’s bed and breakfast. I wince, hoping I haven’t caused any damage to the paint work. I forgot I was driving Amelia’s car and not my truck. Taking a quick glance in her direction, I’m glad to find she doesn’t seem affected.
“Are you sure you aren’t mad?” Jasmine asks for tenth time. In my rear-view mirror, I grin at Landon. He looks uncomfortable squeezed between the two car seats, his large shoulders scrunched forward to fit in.
Amelia turns around in her seat, wincing. “I’m sorry. He’s just—”
Landon grunts. “I know, and it’s fine,” he tells her before turning to Jasmine. “No, kid. I’m good.”
I smirk, turning my attention back to the road. When I realised it would be me dropping him off, I got a little payback for him turning up late and then taking the last of the bacon. I wanted seconds, but by the time I got up there, breakfast was coming to an end and you could only take what was left on the hot plates. That fucker pretty much stole the lot. Which is why he is now squeezed in the back, and not Amelia.
“But you look really mad. Is it because they broke your car?”
He grunts again, and I inwardly chuckle. “I’ll fix it.”
“It’s bad luck you left your tools here,” I mention as I put the car into park.
“I swear, Reid is going to get it when I see him. I know it was him. He might as well have recorded himself doing it and sent it me the video.”
“What did he send you?” I ask.
As we were leaving RJ’s, we heard a ruckus in the car park. We turned to find Landon kicking the wheel of his car. He couldn’t get it started, and the tools he needed—which none of us had on us—were here in Paisley’s storage room.
Max, his dad, offered to bring him, but if Reid was home, Max would intervene. It wouldn’t have ended well. So we squeezed into Amelia’s car and drove here. Before we left though, Landon got a message.
“An emoji of a blue car.”
I turn in my seat, grinning. “Want help getting him back?”
Landon chuckles, shaking his head. “Nah. It will be fun to watch him sweat as he waits to see what I’ll do.”
“Call me if you change your mind,” I tell him, before turning to Amelia. “Want to meet Paisley and take a look at the work I’m doing?”
“Sure,” she murmurs, shrugging.
“I’ll get the pram,” I tell her.
“No need. I’ve got a baby carrier in the boot. There’s no point dragging the pram out, and he’s awake.”
“Wow, look how beautiful that dog is,” Jasmine murmurs, staring out the window.
“He’s not beautiful. He’s fierce,” Landon comments, waiting impatiently for me to let him out.
“Beautiful,” she whispers, earning a grunt from Landon.
I get out at the same time as Amelia. I open Jasmine’s door, letting her jump out before going round to the boot, where Amelia is. She’s struggling to strap something around her back. My brows pull together, wondering what she’s trying to achieve.
“Here, let me,” I offer, taking the clips. I hold the two in my hands, wondering where the hell they go, because the two I’m holding don’t go together. There are four other clips too, but it’s too complicated to figure out. I clear my throat. “Why don’t you put it on me. At least then you’ll know it’s on properly.”
She lets out a laugh. “All right.”
In less than two minutes she has the thing strapped to my chest and Asher tucked in. I’m impressed. I chuckle as I tuck his ears back under his hat.
We head over to the bed and breakfast, just as the duck comes flying out of the entrance. Jasmine screams, followed by Amelia, both of them running behind me for cover.
“Get back here, Cluck,” Paisley screams.
I squint, noticing the little shit has something in his mouth. “That bird is gonna be roasted,” Landon growls.
“She has a duck?” Amelia asks, smoothing her hands down her coat.
“Kind of.”
“Did she name it?”
“She’s a nut,” Landon answers her question.
“Is that a bra?” I ask, squinting to see what it is.
We watch as Paisley trips over a log trying to catch the damn bird. Jasmine giggles. “I want to play.”
“She’ll never learn,” Landon sighs.
“Cluck!” Paisley screams, getting up off the floor. She
wipes the dirt off her knees before turning to go back in. She comes to a sudden stop when she spots us, and I chuckle at the red blush rising over her cheeks. “You’re back.”
“Your damn brother broke my car.”
She grits her teeth. “I’m gonna kill him.”
“Can I pet your dog?” Jasmine asks sweetly.
Paisley’s expression softens. “Of course you can.”
Landon whistles through his teeth, and Rex comes barging over, coming to a stop by Landon’s legs. “Sit.”
Jasmine walks over, slowly reaching her hand out to stroke behind his ears. “He’s so soft,” she whispers. She giggles when he begins to lick her hand, then her face. “He’s licking me!”
Amelia giggles as she watches. “He’s gorgeous.”
“He’s fierce,” Landon argues.
“Paisley, this is Amelia, her daughter Jasmine, and her little guy, Asher.”
Paisley holds her hand up in a small wave. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too,” Amelia replies. “Do you really have a duck?”
Paisley wipes her hands down her jeans. “Kind of. He wasn’t always like this. I think being around my brothers and Landon’s family has given him a complex. He likes to play pranks.”
“Pranks?” Landon comments, arching an eyebrow at her.
She wraps her arm around his waist. “Pranks, Mister.”
“What was in his mouth?” I ask.
She lets out a heavy sigh. “A guest’s bra. I swear, at this rate, I’ll either have guests coming to specifically see Cluck or I’ll lose guests because of him.”
“Why not get rid of it?” I ask.
Landon grunts. “Because he has a way of making everyone feel sorry for it when we try. Sometimes I want to drop him back on Charlotte’s doorstep, but I’m worried it will end up dead then.”
“Her cat attack her again?” I ask, nodding like I understand.
Landon lifts his chin. “And keeps escaping. He’ll go out and taunt her. Once she reaches him, he’ll rush off and hide again.”
I chuckle, turning my attention to Paisley. “Do you mind if I show Amelia around? I want to show her the place and what we’ve been working on.”
“Can I stay with Rex?” Jasmine pleads, glancing up at her mum.
“Sure,” Paisley tells me, then gazes down at Jasmine. “Only if it’s okay with your mum. Ella is making some cupcakes if you want to come and help us.”
Seeing the conflict on Amelia’s expression, I nudge her with my shoulder. “She’ll be fine here. I swear it.”
Amelia slowly nods. “No leaving Paisley,” she warns.
“She’ll be fine with me,” Paisley assures her, reaching out to take Jasmine’s hand.
“Cluck won’t eat me, will he?” Jasmine asks.
Giggling, Paisley shakes her head. “No. He’s a softy really. Just don’t let him eat your cupcakes.”
Jasmine straightens. “I won’t. I swear.”
“She just had a big breakfast,” Amelia whispers, holding back laughter.
Rex barks, following behind them. Landon exhales, turning to me. “Thanks for the lift back.”
“No problem,” I reply. “Do you need help getting back to your car?”
“Nah. I’m going to steal Reid’s car and leave it there after. Let him sort it out.”
“Alright, I’ll see you later then.”
He gives us a chin lift before heading into the house. My eyes widen as I remember Paisley’s words. “Don’t go eating all those cupcakes, you fat bastard.”
He turns, walking backwards, and a grin spreads across his face. “I had a small breakfast. They’ll go down a treat.”
“Prick,” I grumble.
“So, what have you been working on because this looks finished,” Amelia comments once he’s inside.
I begin to walk, and she steps up beside me. “We’re doing the new addition around the back. Before she opened, her vision was for a rustic farm feel. But she wants more, so we are doing a mini spa out the back. I think further down the line, once she has enough profit coming in, the plan is to build a function room to have parties and stuff.”
“The place is beautiful. Is this her family’s farm?”
I nod. “It is. It’s a huge piece of land, and they all own parts of it. I know Jaxon is having his company relocated to a secure piece of land. He’s having trouble with some guy wanting their company.”
“Sounds interesting,” she murmurs, taking in the new addition in front of us.
“I’ll have to take you to Faith’s one day too. Her place is across from the entrance of here.”
“I’d love that,” she tells me.
Mark strolls out, clipboard in hand. He looks up, hearing us approach, and grins. “Well, well, well. We didn’t get to formally introduce each other the other day. I’m Mark. His cousin.”
Amelia smiles, reaching out to take his outstretched hand. “I’m Amelia. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too,” he replies, before turning to me, his eyebrow arching at the sight of Asher. “I never thought I’d see you with a baby.”
“I never thought you’d make it through college but here we are,” I mutter dryly.
He laughs, blowing it off. “Whatever. I need to go. Ella is doing us an early lunch.”
My stomach grumbles, and I turn back towards the house. “How is the work going?”
Mark shrugs. “It’s going okay. I think the new kid is going to be a fast learner. He got the boards up and plastered the office area.”
“Good to hear. After everything Joey did, we need someone like him,” I tell him.
“Joey? The guy who did mine?” Amelia asks.
“Yeah, we had to fire him. It wasn’t the first time he fucked up. He wasn’t training either. He’s been doing this for years and should know by now what to do.”
“It’s no loss. This new kid, Sam, is good.”
“We’re going to go in and take a look around. Everyone else inside the bed and breakfast?”
He nods. “Yeah. I’ll catch you later.”
I give him a nod before pushing through to the open reception area. Amelia takes slow, steady steps inside, walking around in a circle to get a look at the room. “I bet she can’t wait to get all this done.”
“She’s excited. We’ve been so busy between other jobs we had to put the work on hold for a bit. She understood since we fitted her in at the last minute.”
“What’s going to be through there?” she asks, pointing to the left.
“That is going to be some green room. She saw it on a television programme. It will be filled with plants and recliners,” I explain before moving on through the right door, down a short hallway, pointing to each room. “Down there will be the two massage rooms and where people can get facials. These rooms are going to be for mani’s and pedi’s. This, once the equipment comes, will be a changing room. The men’s will be just down the hall.” I lead her outside, through the archway we built in for shelter. This is the part I’m most proud of.
There are five handmade huts scattered in places on the grass in front of us, with a cracked, stone path leading up to each hut. The outside of each one has a seating area that has a smaller fence to give privacy. Inside the huts, the walls are bigger and have wooden stairs leading up to a hot tub.
Each hut is decorated with plant features or something that fits into the theme Paisley has been going for.
“This is amazing,” Amelia rushes out, walking inside the first hut we come to. “What’s going there?”
I glance to the wall she’s gesturing to. “A place to put speakers. It’s so guests can connect their phones to play music.”
“You built all of these?”
I nod. “I did. All of the outside I designed myself, and took the plans to Paisley to confirm. Mark helped me put it together.”
Her smile is warm when she turns to me. “You seem proud.”
I shrug. “I like building things.”
“If she can get a liquor licence she will. If not, she’s going to put a juice bar up.”
She points to the longest wall in the bar. “I guess that is going to be for a tele.”
I grin because she’s not wrong. “It is. If all the females can get pampered inside, then the men can come out here to watch a game and have a drink.”
She laughs as she steps back outside, going to the centre. “This is going to be amazing once it’s lit.”
The fire pit is another feature I’m proud of. The beige stone looks perfect against the black that was used on the inside. The seat logs were the hardest for us to get a hold of, but luckily, we managed to get some. After hours of sawing and carving, we managed to build six sturdy seats.
“Personally, I’m hoping she lets us come here once it’s open. Once we finish a job like this, we’re done with it. We never go back unless there’s an issue. So we never get to see it in its final stage. It’s nice to know once Paisley has put her touch on it, we will get to come back and see it.”
“I bet that will be nice for you. And who wouldn’t want to come back here. I know it’s not finished but it’s surreal,” she tells me, her eyes sparkling. When she gazes over the bed and breakfast, she points to the stairs. “What’s that?”
“It’s the stairs leading up to Paisley’s and Landon’s room. They’re hoping to take the room to the left and add additional rooms onto theirs.”
“I guess if they want kids, they’ll need to,” she tells me. “But that’s not what I was talking about.”
“What do you mean?”
She heads over to the stairs, and I can feel a blush rising in my cheeks. This is the part I’ve been doing in my spare time. It’s not something Paisley asked for, but I couldn’t help it. I see something that has potential and I have to do it. In this case, it’s a large stone feature. When it rains, it will turn into a waterfall that pours into the pond at the base.
The feature is in three steps. The bottom has the pond that is surrounded by wild flowers and a few things I made, one being a wooden ladybug. The second is the waterfall, and this one has a miniature barrel, a tiny cottage that sits next to a miniature tree of life, and a wishing well. The top level has a large windmill that I made out of bamboo.