Page 78 of Maple Mountain
“I know.I was with Archer when he got the call, and he wanted me to go with him to pick her up from school.”
Salem frowned.“I feel like I’m getting this story in dribs and drabs.”
“Same,” Hadley remarked.
“Start at the beginning,” Poet said.
“I was with Archer when he got the call,” I began.
Poet shook her head.“Whywere you with Archer?He was at work, wasn’t he?Did that mean you were here?”
I looked at Muddy, who hadn’t said anything.She was munching on a piece of buttered sourdough toast, watching me with just as much interest as my three friends.
“I was here,” I said.
“Why?Were you dropping off his bagged lunch?”Salem teased.
“Did you bring him a hardboiled egg with a cute note on it?”Hadley added with a grin.
“The reason I was here wasn’t important,” I lied.
Muddy leaned forward, interest in her gaze.“On the contrary, I think it’sveryimportant.”
“Do you want to know about Lenni or not?”I asked, my eyes bouncing around the table.
“I want to knoweverything,” Poet stated.
“I went with Archer to the school.He went inside to pick her up.She told us why she got into a fight.She thought Robby was lying.Archer said he wasn’t.He then gave a brief, watered-down overview about why Brooks went to prison and then segued into why Blair didn’t want to raise Lenni around a bunch of bikers.Told her loyalty was a Keel trait and then we went to a steakhouse in Coeur d’Alene last night.The end.”
“So no grounding for fighting?”Hadley asked.“Was that not part of the discussion?”
“Lenni’s nanny was in a fight atyourwedding,” Salem pointed out to her sister.“You really think there was going to be grounding in that house?”
“It’s not up to Wyn,” Hadley said.“It’s up to Archer.He’s her father.”
Her words weren’t said to pierce my heart, but they did it anyway.
I tried not to deflate like a three-day old balloon.
“Right,” I croaked.“And her father decided to take us to a steakhouse to reward her loyalty.”
“Loyalty means a lot to the Keel brothers,” Poet said.“The biker thing.”
“So, were you okay with Lenni’s behavior?”Hadley asked.
“Okayisn’t the right word,” I said.“But as Salem pointed out, I got into a fight at your wedding.Am I really one to judge?”
“You’re one of the adults guiding her,” Hadley said.“I don’t think of it as judgment so much as helping her make choices that won’t get her suspended.”
I sighed.“No, you’re right.It’s my job—and Archer’s job—to teach her that there are better ways to express our anger.But you can’t expect an eleven-year-old girl in Lenni’s situation to emotionally regulate.”
“I’m twenty-three and I can’t even emotionally regulate,” Salem said.“I could use some emotional tools.”
“Youarean emotional tool,” Hadley said to her sister.
I looked at Muddy.“You haven’t said anything about Lenni getting into a fight.”
She shrugged.“Not much to say.”
