Oh, great.
Jake looks him up and down.“So.Big, bad Evander MacLaine had to get himself rescued, too?”
Evander nods.
“Oh, Jeez.”I drop my face into my hands.
“Who’s that guy?”Rick asks, his voice cracking.
And just then, all the MacLaines walk in—Cal, Finn, Declan, Special K, and Jamie.
“I hope someone remembered the chips and dip,” Declan says, smiling.
“No, but I brought a can of whoop ass,” Special K says.
Jamie walks right past my brothers to Mama, bends down, and gives her a polite hug.“What a relief that everyone’s safe, right, Izzy?I’ve never seen anything like this storm in my whole life, and I’ve been around a long, long time.”
My mom pats his hand and smiles up at him.“Once in a lifetime, that’s for sure.”
“They’re calling it the “Storm of the Centur—”
Jamie’s small talk ends because Jake’s walking over to Evander.He leans in and gets right in Evander’s face.“Why were you with my sister?”
“Just worked out that way.”
I try to get out of bed, but Rick puts a hand on my shoulder and presses me down.I stare at him in disbelief.
“That’s a bunch of shit,” Jake says.“Did you follow her out there or something?”
“Nope.”Evander’s voice is flat.Totally calm.
“The State of Nevada has laws against stalking and harassment.”
“As an attorney, I’m quite familiar with the revised statutes.”
“You better not have touched her, asshole.If you laid a finger on Phoebe…”
My other brothers form a semicircle behind Jake.The MacLaines do the same behind Evander.
Mama rises from the recliner.“Jake!That’s enough.Leave the boy alone.”
“Hey, now!”Jamie says.“I’m sure you all can resolve—”
Jake grabs Evander by the neck of his scrubs, but that’s all he gets to do.Evander hits Jake with an uppercut nastier than anything I’ve seen him endure on the ice.
Jamie yells for his sons to stop, pulling my mom toward the window and away from the chaos.My mother screams for my brothers to stop, too.No one listens.
They’re too busy beating on each other.
Rick backpedals his way into the bathroom doorway.
“Stop it!”I scream.“Enough!”No one hears me.
So, I jump to a stand on the mattress, grab the avalanche whistle from the nightstand, and blow it with all my might.
The melee ends instantly.
Everyone freezes.There’s a lot of heavy breathing in here and I see blood in Jake’s mouth.Cal, who had lifted Bo several feet off the floor, lets him drop to the tile with a thud.
