Page 40 of The Ruckup
“Umm.” Maddie’s eyes snap from her grandmother to me and then back to her grandmother again. “Sure.” She attempts to take Cupcake from my arm, and the tiny dog bares her teeth, growling for all she’s worth.
“Hey now.” I gently tap her on the end of the nose. “Don’t be sassy to her.” I lean forward to set the tiny dog onto the floor. “If you’re going to give anyone shit, give it to me.”
Cupcake gives Maddie a dirty look as she scoops her up and carries her to the back door, but doesn’t growl again, so I’m going to assume she got my drift. Once Maddie’s out of the house, I turn to Abuela and say, “Better start asking questions. She’ll probably be back soon.”
Abuela lifts her brows. “You’re awfully eager to get the third degree.”
I shrug. “I don’t mind. I get why you’d want to grill me.”
My eyes drift to where Maddie’s now out of my sight, and I get a little antsy. Surely Drake wouldn’t be stupid enough to try to get to her right after court…
“Maddie was raised to be quiet. She wants to be loud, but I don’t know that she has it in her.” Abuela meets my eyes. “So I want to be sure everyone around her will be loud when she struggles to raise her voice.”
“I don’t mind being loud.”
Abuela gives me a sly smile. “I know. I heard.” She winks. “Come help me in the kitchen, guapo.”
I follow Abuela through her small dining room into the attached kitchen. My mouth begins to water at the smells coming from the pots and pans on her stove.
“I’m not sure how useful I’ll be. I don’t know if Maddie told you, but I don’t have a lot of experience with making food taste good.”
I wasn’t surprised when Maddie was shocked at my bare bones seasoning. I know I’m not the world’s greatest cook, but I was only feeding myself. After a hard day of practice or conditioning, I just wanted to get something in my gut as fast as possible.
But I’m ready and willing to learn, and after the Christmas morning breakfast Maddie made, I know her grandmother has a lot to teach me.
Abuela makes a considering noise as she lifts the lid on a pan of simmering chicken. “No grandma to teach you to cook?”
I did have a fantastic grandma. One who was an awesome cook. But as a kid, I wasn’t so interested in spending time in the kitchen when I could be outside burning off my never-ending supply of energy.
Giving Abuela a sheepish grin, I admit, “I didn’t understand the importance of feeding myself until it was too late.”
“Pshh.” She waves a hand my direction. “It’s only too late if you’re dead.” She turns to me, expression serious as hell. “But so you know, if you hurt my granddaughter, itwillbe too late because I’ll beat you to death with my walker.”
“Understood.” I don’t argue. Don’t make promises she probably won’t believe anyway. The only way I can show this woman how serious I am is by showing up.
And then showing up again. And then doing it some more.
Abuela seems satisfied with my response and goes back to fiddling with her food. “I wish I could get my hands on that no-good ex-husband of hers.” She wrinkles her nose. “I knew he was bad from the start, but her parents pushed her to marry him because he made a good living. Maddie only married him because she didn’t know how to tell them to kiss her ass.” She gives me a pointed look before dropping her eyes to the cutting board and knife in front of me.
Taking the hint, I pick up the knife and start chopping the leafy stuff piled on the board, figuring she’ll stop me if I mess up.
“It’s hard to go against your parents. Even as an adult.” I can’t help but defend Maddie. I know her grandmother isn’t saying Maddie did something wrong, but I don’t like the way it makes her sound.
Like she’s weak. She’s not.
“Seems like you know that from experience.” Abuela eyes me as she lifts the lid on a steaming pot of rice. “You have a hard time going against your parents, guapo?”
“About some things, yes.” I turn as Maddie and Cupcake come inside. I smile as her eyes come right to me. “But other things, not at all.”
“ARE YOU OKAY?” I study Maddie as she walks toward me from where her car is parked in my driveway.
It occurs to me her car is sitting out here for everyone to see. I know Drake won’t be able to look my house up, but if he’s committed enough to finding her, he might drive around looking for her car. So I add moving my home gym to one of my empty bedrooms to my to-do list. That’s probably where it should have gone in the first place, but I got lazy and didn’t feel like fighting everything inside.
Turning back to where Maddie stands, I take in her pale skin and pinched expression. “You don’t look like you feel good.”
I know today has been both a good and bad day. Good because Drake was given four weeks in jail for violating the protection order that Maddie has against him, so things should be relatively quiet for the next month. Bad, because she had to go to court and look at his stupid fucking face again.
And she had to do it without me. Thankfully, her new attorney was able to go, and the group of old ladies from Sweet Side Apartments showed up, but I still feel like Maddie doesn’t have enough people supporting her.
