Edward exhaled slowly, like a man choosing his next step with care.
“Let’s not do this like adversaries,” he said, turning slightly so he could address both Maddy and me. His voice softened, pitched for reason. “Archie, this wasn’t meant to blindside anyone. Maddy was trying to do what she thought was best for Frankie. We all were.”
Maddy seized on that instantly. “Exactly,” she said, relief brightening her expression like she’d been thrown a lifeline. “I didn’t want a scene, Archie. I wanted a smooth transition. You know how Frankie gets when things are stressful.”
Jake made another sound, sharper this time, but I held up a hand without looking back.
“This isn’t about tone or transitions,” I said coolly. “It’s about consent.”
Maddy’s smile thinned. “You’re overreacting.”
And there it was.
Before I could respond—before Jake could explode, before Frankie could be forced to speak—Jeremy appeared in the doorway from the hall, his timing impeccable as always.
“Sir,” he said evenly, directing it to me but allowing the room to hear, “the cats have arrived. They’ve been settled in the east sunroom for now. They’re calm.”
The effect was immediate.
Maddy’s head snapped around. “What do you mean they’rehere?”
Frankie rose from the couch in one swift, furious motion, hurt and anger flashing across her face so nakedly it made something twist hard in my chest. Her tea cup was forgotten on the table, hands clenched at her sides like she was holding herself together by force.
I stepped forward instinctively, cutting Maddy off before she could take even a single step toward Frankie.
“They’re here,” I said flatly. “Where they belong.”
Maddy turned on me, eyes sharp. “You let them bringanimalsinto this house without asking me?”
Edward moved then.
He stepped past me—past the line I’d drawn—and placed himself slightly in front of Maddy, his body angled in a way that was unmistakably placating.
“I made the arrangements,” he said calmly. “Frankie’s cats were too important to her to leave in limbo. I didn’t see any reason for them not to be here.”
Maddy stared at him like he’d just spoken another language. “Eddie?—”
“I don’t mind them being in the house at all,” Edward continued, gently but firmly. “They’re part of her life.”
I blinked.
Once.
Twice.
In all the years I’d known my father, I couldn’t remember him ever choosing empathy over convenience. Ever prioritizing someone else’s attachment over optics or control.
It was—genuinely—the kindest thing I’d ever seen him do.
And Maddy hated it.
Her mouth tightened, displeasure flashing hot and unfiltered across her face. “That’s not what we discussed.”
Edward didn’t rise to it. He simply shook his head once. “Then perhaps we should have discussed more.”
Jake shifted closer to Frankie, his presence a quiet, furious wall at her side. Frankie’s gaze was locked on the hall, on the place where her cats were, shoulders trembling just slightly like the fight was barely contained.
The room was still tense.
