Page 30 of The Plan

Right by where Murdoch had been parked across the street.

It surprised her it had taken Murdoch, Cam, and Anthony this long to find her, actually. George’s house wasn’t hard to find at all. Of course, they’d probably spent most of last night arguing amongst themselves about what to do about this situation. Well, Murdoch would have made demands and threats, Anthony would have tried to calm his twin, and Cam—well… with Camden Lake, nothing was ever predictable. She’d given up trying years ago.

But they loved her. That was something she had never doubted.

“Your sister is old enough to make her own decisions,” George just had to say.

Well, she had told George that yesterday, as he was stuffing her into his truck. “So you remember that when it’s convenient for you, Georgiano Maxwell?”

She just couldn’t let that pass.

“I always remember that. I just want to be your choice now.” Oh, he was looking at her that way again. The way that just meant trouble. He pulled her closer, kissed her right on her mouth, and nudged her toward his youngest brother. Next thing she knew, she was behind a tall Hiller twin boy’s back. And George was stepping off the porch, all puffed up and confrontational. “She’s staying here with me.”

Oh, this was definitely not going to go well.

Murdoch stepped right up to him, and tried to go around him. What was her brother doing? Was he going to slug it out toget to her? He was a cop, for heaven’s sake. He could lose his job for being so stupid.

Someone was going to have to take charge here.

"Don't be idiots! You are all too old for this!” she said.

But Gunn shifted right into her path, so protectively. “You’d probably better stay back. I don’t think this is going to be pretty.”

No kidding.

Gene moved fast, after all.

He grabbed Murdoch’s shoulder. “Get lost.”

That was all it took. She would never know who threw the first punch—Gunn was rather tall, and hard to look around. But she knew… she had heard that particular sound so many times before.

Bodies hit grass.

Cam went for Grady—but just to pull him off of Murdoch’s back, she thought. Anthony circled left, saying words Ronnie didn’t even know her sweetheart of a big brother even knew. Anthony almost body-checked Guthrie. That one made Ronnie stare for a second. Cam and Murdoch, yes—they could be a pair of monkey butt idiots—but Anthony?

"Sweet mother of—" Mrs. Sandoval said from across the street. Loud enough for Ronnie to hear. Her sons were cheering—and Ronnie thought she heard them making bets.

Gene tackled Murdoch off his brother. They crashed through the old roses right there in front of the porch. There was George. On the ground. Why was Georgie on the ground?

No.

That wasn’t going to happen. Her brothers were not going to clobber George. She just wasn’t having that. He had a baby on the way to support, for heaven’s sake.

Gene and Grady sat on Murdoch. They just… sat on him.

But her brother was still swinging. Kicking, too. And Murdoch had really long legs.

She looked over at the one man she thought would be reasonable—besides Gunn, anyway. Anthony was holding the most George-like of the Hiller brothers—Guthrie—back. But it wasn’t easy for her brother. They were pretty well-matched, those two. And they were wrestling against each other, locked in some weird guy competition. They almost looked like they were enjoying themselves.

Where was Cam?

Her eldest brother just stood there, blood dripping down his face from a scratch on his forehead. He looked at her as he touched the scratch. “Rosebush got me. You want me to stop this?”

“Well, yes, ding-dong. I do.”

“I thought so when you just yelled ‘Don’t you dare hurt Georgie, you idiots!’ Three times, you yelled it three times. So I decided to back off. Not hurt your precious little Georgie. But you know how Murdoch is.” Cam just shrugged and turned to Anthony. “Let that one go. We’ll rescue Murdoch in a minute. Maybe. I’m really having fun watching this, honestly.”

Anthony immediately turned to Guthrie and held out a hand to him. “How have you been, Hiller?”

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