Tall, Dark & Lonely (Pyte/Sentinel #1)(77)

“Give me five minutes and I’ll be good to go again,” he mumbled, “I swear.”

“You’re not getting between my legs again until I’ve had at least eight hours of sleep and some food in my stomach.”

“Not fair,” this came out as a muffled mutter as he buried his face in the pillow. He was down for the count and not getting back up for a while. Thank god.

******

“Madison, wake up please!” Joshua’s banging on the door and sobbing pleas had her sitting up so fast that her head spun.

“Ephraim!” she hissed. She reached over to wake him and practically fell over. His side of the bed was empty. It was twelve in the afternoon. “Damn it,” she mumbled. They’d only been asleep for an hour. Well, she had, she had no idea what he’d been doing.

He walked back into the room yanking up his pants. He wore nothing else. “Baby, get dressed.”

“Madison?” Joshua cried louder.

Ephraim yanked her drawers open and tossed clothes to her. “Hurry up, he’s upset.”

“Just a minute!”

Ephraim walked over to the door, his hand on the doorknob and his eyes on her as he waited for her to cover up. When she had a shirt and pants on he opened the door. Joshua came running into the room, rubbing his eyes. He didn’t see Ephraim as he ran into Madison’s waiting arms.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” Madison struggled to keep her balance. He wasn’t a baby anymore and she wasn’t strong enough to hold a ten year old boy for more than a moment or two. She stumbled under his weight.

Joshua gasped as strong hands pulled him away from Madison. He opened his eyes in surprise. Then his face crumbled again. He threw his arms around Ephraim’s neck and buried his face against Ephraim's bare shoulder.

“Tell us what’s wrong, little man,” he said in a soothing voice.

Madison rubbed Joshua’s back. “What happened?” She tried to ignore the holes in his shirt.

“Gran…….Grand…….Grandma’s crying!”

“What?” That’s the last thing either one of them expected to hear.

“She’s crying. He yelled at her…and then…..she talked to them…….then…then….they left for a little while….then….they came back….and they….she….” He was sobbing so hard he could hardly get a coherent word out.

Ephraim kissed the top of Joshua’s head. “Where’s Grandma now?”

He took in a deep breath. “She’s downstairs crying, people are yelling, others are crying. It’s horrible! I’m so glad you’re back, Ephraim!”

Ephraim looked at Madison. “Me, too. Do me a favor and go to your room and relax for a while.”

“No! I need to make Grandma feel better and Jill’s crying too!”

“Let’s go.” Ephraim held Joshua against his body with one arm and held Madison’s hand as they made their way downstairs. Halfway down, they heard loud arguing coming from the living room.

He quickened his pace and stepped into the room as Chris threw his hands in the air. “All right, everyone shut up and stop yelling at her!”

Mrs. Buckman, the one woman he thought was tough as nails, was practically backed up against the wall with several of the renters screaming at her and sobbing.

“Rent more rooms because I’m not paying another dime!” one of the men said.

“Stop yelling at her!” Brad yelled. “There are no more rooms available.”

“Of course not, there are five rooms being taken and no one is paying.”

“I said shut the hell up!” Chris yelled. No one paid attention to him and no one noticed Ephraim in the doorway with Madison and Joshua.

“Mama, you said I could come here rent free and now you’re demanding I pay? That’s not fair and you know what? I’m moving out tomorrow. My friend is going to let me crash at his place for a while,” Candy sobbed theatrically. “I can’t believe my own mother would do this to me!” Most of the people stopped yelling in time to roll their eyes.

“Look I said I would try! I can’t afford this anymore. I’m sorry,” Mrs. Buckman cried into her hands.

“I don’t know why everyone is yelling at her. I told you all to come in here and nicely tell that her we’re moving to the boarding house on Smithson not scream at her!” Brad said.

“You’re all moving out?” Candy asked.

Brad nodded. “We can’t afford to pay more and the Boarding House on Smithson charges less to start with and has more amenities. We had to make a choice.”

“She’s going to lose the house,” Mrs. Adle said to no one in particular. Mrs. Buckman cried harder and tried to turn away. The people around her made it impossible.

“If she hadn’t taken in that dead beat and her kids she’d be fine!” one of them said, looking at Candy who pretended not hear.

“No, if that dead beat would help out she would have been fine.”

“She was fine before they came. No mortgage on the place. Did I tell you she tried to get a loan and they denied her?” Mrs. Adle informed everyone as if Mrs. Buckman wasn’t there crying.

“This is bullshit. I’m not leaving.” Ephraim recognized the newest renter.