Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #7)(95)

The boys met up with the freshly washed up Millie in the living room and they all sat, even the naked one. Brooke winced, but let it go as she opened her laptop and scrolled her way to a Disney flick to stream. “Millie? This one?”

Millie didn’t answer.

Brooke looked at the boys.

“You have to call her Princess Millie,” Mason said, still naked. He had a bloody knee. “She only answers to Princess Millie.”

“Right,” Brooke sent a glance toward the kitchen, but nothing from Mindy. She’d either made a run for it through the garage, or she was hiding out, drinking her wine in peace. Brooke grabbed her backpack and pulled out the first aid kit she always carried with her and grabbed the antiseptic.

Mason covered his knee. “Only need a Band-aid.”

While she could appreciate the sentiment more than he could know, the cut was dirty. She doctored him up and looked at Millie. “Back to the movie. The Lion King or no?”

“No,” Millie said. “The dad dies and it makes Mad Dog cry.”

“Me too,” Brooke said and scrolled to Toy Story 3 .

“That one makes all of us cry,” Millie said.

They finally settled on Cars 3 . Brooke brought Maddox his clothes and helped him into them, and then tented a big soft blanket over the back of the couch to the coffee table, pinning it in place with several heavy books, one of which was filled with her own photography. Back from when she was actually having the adventures Mindy thought she was still having.

“A fort!” Mason yelled enthusiastically.

Maddox barked with equal enthusiasm.

“Aunt Brooke is the best,” Brooke heard Millie whisper to her brothers.

She felt herself smile with pride and also a sense of warmth and affection that had been all too rare in her world lately. But along with the goodness came something else. A sense of dread. Because blood or not, family or not, this couldn’t happen. She couldn’t fall for Mindy’s kids, no matter how much she wanted to.

“Mad dog!” Millie cried out. “You pooped!”

This was followed by a giggle. Mad Dog, presumably.

“You’re supposed to do that in the bathroom!” Millie said shrilly. “Mom said!” And then she yanked the blanket down around them to dramatically gasp in some fresh air.

Mason and Maddox were looking at each other and laughing.

“Boys are disgusting,” Millie announced.

Brooke shrugged. “You might think differently in a few years.”

“No way.” She jabbed a finger at Maddox. “You’re going to have to change him, you know. If you don’t do it right away, he gets a rash and screams bloody murder.”

Brooke slid another look toward the kitchen. Still nothing from Mindy. Great. Although she was starting to think she didn’t have to be worried she’d fall for these guys after all. With a sigh, she scooped up Maddox and then nearly staggered back from the stench coming out of this sweet, little boy.

At the look on her face, he giggled again and drooled down her front.

“You know what would be even funnier?” she asked, walking him out to the car to find his diaper bag and then changing him outside on her porch lounge so that she didn’t have to hazmat her place afterwards. “If you used a toilet like a big boy and showed your siblings what you’re capable of.”

He stared up at her, not committing to this but clearly considering.

When she was done, she brought him inside and recreated the tent. Then she walked into the kitchen.

No Mindy.

Troublesome. Brooke filled a bowl with cut up apples and a pile of almond butter for dip, and thrust it into the tent.

It was immediately accepted with squeals of delight.

Proud of her aunting skills, she went in search of Mindy. It was with great relief that she found her sister in the bedroom, sprawled out on the bed with a bottle of wine.

No glass.

“Mom called,” Mindy murmured, staring off into space. “She told me that my husband and children are perfect.” She took a swig of wine. Clearly not her first. Or tenth. “Which means it’s me.” She set the bottle down on the nightstand and flopped to her back on the mattress. “Oh my God, this bed. It’s heaven. Your sheets are clean. You’ve got plants that haven’t been eaten. There’s no poop anywhere, it smells delicious.”

“Okay, seriously,” Brooke said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “You’re scaring me. Who are you and what did you do to my sister?”

From the bathroom in the hallway came Mason’s voice. “I finished!”

Mindy sighed. “I had babies. That’s what happened to me.”

Brooke didn’t flinch. Progress. “You still haven’t told me about Linc other than he’s working long hours.”

“You know his dad left him and his brother the practice. But his brother’s been slacking, leaving the brunt of the work to Linc. I never see him. A few days ago he left for a conference in Florida and he suggested I take the kids to mom and dads while he was gone. So I asked Brittney—our nanny—if she wanted to come with me, but she said she couldn’t. And on her Instagram, she was on a beach.”

“Okay,” Brooke said. “So . . . ?”

“So what if she’s on a beach in Florida with my husband?”