bowl in his arms. Falcon pointed a finger at him. “Your ass is mine in the morning.”
“What did I do?”
“You spiked the punch,” his mother told him. “And now Eden, Zane and Grandpa are drunk.”
“I told them not to drink it.”
Kate placed her hands on her hips. “How many times have I told you not to spike the punch?”
A silly grin split Phoenix’s face. “Well, Mom, I’ve lost track, but I haven’t done it for a while. Jenny put a damper on the party and I was just trying to liven things up a little bit, to get things going again. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody.”
“Pour that punch down the drain. I’ll deal with you later.”
“I’ll deal with you in the morning,” Falcon said.
“You’ll have to find me first,” Phoenix muttered under his breath, and Quincy had to give his younger brother credit for still cracking jokes when doom was about to rain down on him. Falcon was mad and everybody knew when he was to stay clear.
Rachel entered the room, followed by Egan. She looked at Paxton, who seemed to be holding up the wall. “Lisa’s looking for you.”
Paxton pushed away from the wall and walked out without a word to anyone.
“What’s going on?” Egan asked. “Why does Paxton have a bruise on his face?”
“I’ll tell you later,” Quincy said, figuring there had been enough excitement for tonight. If Egan found out Paxton had bad-mouthed their mother, Paxton would suffer another bruise on his head. Quincy was hoping he’d come to his senses and apologize before the party was over. If not, he’d have more than words for his brother.
Egan kissed his mother’s cheek. “We’re going home. I’ll be back in the morning to help with the cleanup.”
“Don’t worry about that. There’s enough of us here to take care of it. Spend your Sunday morning with your wife.”
“Ah, Miss Kate, that’s very thoughtful.” Rachel hugged her mother-in-law. “We’ll both be here because Egan wouldn’t be happy unless he was doing his part. And if he’s not happy, I’m not happy.”
Gabe, their uncle and his wife, Lacey, were the next ones to leave. Little by little, the party broke up. Since things had settled down, Quincy went to check on Grandpa, who was snoring into the sofa. He’d wake him up later. At the front door, Paxton and Lisa were saying goodbye to friends. Elias and some rodeo guys and a girl were out on the deck and Quincy could see things were getting heated. Elias was waving his arms. Quincy groaned and made his way to the deck.
“Party’s over, boys,” Quincy announced.
The rodeo guy glanced at Elias and then put his arm around the girl and they walked into the den.
“What’s wrong with you?” Quincy asked Elias. “You’re starting a fight in Mom’s house?”
“I danced with his girl, so what? She didn’t seem to mind.”
Quincy looked toward the sky. There had to be a full moon tonight because everyone was acting crazy. “Pick up some of these cans and let’s start cleaning up.”
Elias downed the rest of his beer. “You’re such a downer, Quincy. Do you ever have fun?”
That question was on his mind a lot lately. He was tired of being peacemaker in the family. Maybe it was time for him to let everyone handle their own problems.
“Life isn’t always about fun.”
Elias laughed. “After we get everything picked up, I’ll take you down to Rowdy’s for a beer and introduce you to someone who could change your mind in about fifteen minutes or less.”
“I’m not interested in cheap sex.”
“Who said it was cheap?”
“You’re an idiot.” Quincy went back into the den, and Lisa and Paxton were huddled together at the bottom of the stairs. Quincy could hear them as he made his way to the kitchen.
“Come on, Pax, your mom won’t know a thing. When she goes to sleep, just sneak into my room. I don’t understand why you didn’t come last night. I don’t like sleeping by myself.”
Quincy sincerely hoped Paxton wasn’t thinking of doing such a thing.
“Quincy.” Paxton caught up to him before he reached the door. “Please talk to Mom. She listens to you.”
“I can’t make her change her rules. There’s an easy solution to all this. Phoenix and Jericho can move into the house and you and Lisa can have the bunkhouse to yourselves. Everyone will be happy.”
Paxton glanced down at his boots. “Lisa thinks I live in the house. I haven’t told her I live in the bunkhouse when I’m home.”
“Have you told this girl anything about yourself?”
“Come on, Quincy. You know how it is. I met her at a party after a rodeo in Los Angeles. She’s an actress and I was blown off my feet by her beauty and I couldn’t wait to talk to her. When I did, it was bam—” he slammed one fist into the other “—love as if I’ve never felt it before. I wanted to spend every second with her. After two days, I asked her to marry me.”
“Where do you plan to live?”
“Man, I don’t know. I haven’t thought it through.”
“You better start thinking. She doesn’t seem like a girl who would enjoy following the rodeo circuit and sleeping in the back of a truck.”
“Mom would probably let us live here in the house. Lisa seems to like the house.”
“After what you pulled, you’ll be lucky if she still lets you live in the bunkhouse.”
“I know. I lost it for a minute. I’m just nervous about everything. I’ve never been this nervous in my life.”
Quincy felt a pang of sympathy for his brother. He’d gotten himself into a mess. “First, you need to tell Lisa about your living arrangements and talk about how she’s going to fit in with you riding the rodeo circuit. There’s very little work in Horseshoe for an actress. Second, you need to apologize to Mom profusely. And third, you need to apologize to Jenny.”
Paxton nodded as he followed him into the kitchen and apologized to his mother. He then asked if he could sleep in the house while Lisa was here and his mother said it was okay. He would have to sleep in the bedroom downstairs next to hers. Paxton frowned, but he didn’t say anything.
Quincy went to wake Grandpa, deciding it was time to let Paxton handle his own life. He had enough worries of his own. He’d hurt Jenny and that would weigh on his mind for a while. And his heart.
* * *
JENNY SAT ON the back stoop with a wine bottle in her hand. She tipped it up, taking a swig. She’d made a fool of herself tonight,
