The Fall of Shane MacKade (The MacKade Brothers 4)

“I didn’t hit on her.”

“That’s bull. She’d barely unpacked her bags and you were stalking her in my kitchen. I should’ve punched you out right then.”

Shane’s eyes narrowed. “Try it now. You’ve got it all figured out, don’t you? Now that you’ve got your pretty wife and your pretty kids. All of you.” There was more anger than he’d realized boiling inside him. “I live my life my way, not yours. So stick your advice and your judgments and anything else you’ve got up your—”

From the kitchen window, Rebecca watched the four men. She was puzzled. At first it had seemed they were having some sort of serious discussion—some logistical problem with the hay, she’d concluded. Then it had looked as though an argument were brewing.

“Something’s going on out there,” she commented, and Savannah, an infant over her shoulder, wandered to the window.

“Oh, they’re going to go at it.”

“At what?”

“Each other, what else?” She shook her head and called to Regan and Cassie, who were busy at the stove. “Our boys are about to rumble.”

“Fight?” Shocked to the core, Rebecca goggled. “You mean they’re going to fight with each other? But why?”

Regan walked to the kitchen door, opened it. “It’s just something they like to do from time to time.”

“Do you think it’s early enough to stop it?” Cassie wondered out loud.

“We can— No,” Regan finished as the first blow was launched. “Too late.”

With horrified eyes, Rebecca watched Shane’s fist streak out and plow into Rafe’s face. An instant later, they were rolling in the dirt. “But— But—”

“I’ll make sure there’s plenty of ice.” Cassie turned away from the battle and went to the refrigerator.

“Why doesn’t somebody stop them?” Regan demanded. “Jared and Devin are just standing there.”

“Not for long,” Savannah predicted.

As if on cue, Devin reached down. If his intention was to break it up, he failed miserably. Now there were three men wrestling in the mud the rain had churned up.

“This is ridiculous.” By the time Rebecca reached the kitchen door, Jared had joined in the fray.

She couldn’t see how any of them could tell who was fighting whom. She certainly couldn’t. All she saw were arms and fists and bodies. All she heard were grunts and curses.

Outside of movies and television, she’d never actually seen anyone brawl. It was messier than she’d imagined, and certainly looked more painful.

“Isn’t one of you going to do anything? They’re your husbands.”

“Well.” Slowly Savannah ran a hand up and down Miranda’s back. “We could put some money on it. I’ll take Jared for five—it’s a matter of loyalty.”

“Five it is,” Regan agreed. “Cassie?”

“All right—but Devin was up half the night. Ally’s teething.”

“No handicapping,” Savannah declared. “Straight odds. You want to take Shane, Rebecca? Seems fair.”

Totally baffled, she stared at the women. “Why, you’re as bad as they are.” She straightened her shoulders. “I’m going to put a stop to this, right now.”

As Rebecca marched out, Savannah slanted a look at Regan. “To borrow Bryan’s phrase, she’s really stuck on him, isn’t she?”

“I’m afraid so. It worries me.”

“I think she’s good for him.” Cassie joined them at the door. “I think he’s good for her, too. Both of them need someone, even if they haven’t figured it out yet.”

The only thing Rebecca figured as she marched toward the hay barn was that these four grown men—brothers, no less—were absolute fools.