Page 31 of Protecting What's Mine

She wiggled her fingers at him. “Hi, neighbor.”

“The devious Doctor Dreamy.”

“Is that her superhero name?” Leah wondered. Her pink sneakers scrabbled at the fence as she tried to climb up to get a better view.

“Hi,” Bryson said, dropping his voice lower and hiding the dart gun behind his back. “Uncle Linc, can we spend the night?” It looked like two Reed men had a crush on the same woman.

“Take that!” Samantha crowed, raining Nerf darts down on them in a fatal torrent.

“Excuse me for a minute,” Linc said to Mack and then collapsed to the grass in an epic death scene.

Bryson and Leah followed suit.

“I am the victor!” Samantha shouted, taking a victory lap around the yard.

A dart pegged her square in the forehead. “Not anymore, Mantha.” Kinley smugly twirled her dart gun around her finger.

“No fair!” Samantha complained. “I didn’t know you were playing!”

“It’s called strategy. You should use it sometime,” Kinley said in a superior tone.

“You know the rules, Mantha. Let’s see the death scene. Make it Oscar-worthy,” Linc called.

Samantha stomped her foot and then swept a hand to her forehead. “I feel faint! I see light. Great-Granny Mildred? Is that you?” Her knees buckled. Sunshine, concerned with the moaning, trotted over to lick her reassuringly.

But Samantha couldn’t be revived. She fell forward and crawled the twenty feet to her audience. “Always remember,” she rasped. “That you’re all fart faces.”

And with that, she left the mortal coil.

Sunshine, confused and concerned, lay down next to Samantha and licked her ear.

“Bravo!” Linc started the standing ovation and was joined by the rest of the kids and Mack.

“I didn’t know you had almost an entire starting basketball team lineup,” Mack teased.

“Oh, we’re not his kids,” Samantha said, coming back to life.

“Yeah, he can’t settle down,” Kinley piped up from over her book.

“He likes practicing making babies more than actually making them,” Bryson said with a “what are you gonna do” shrug.

The kid had charm in spades.

“Are you single?” Leah asked Mack. “Do you like kids and hot dogs and darts and Sunshine?” Leah smooshed Sunshine’s face in her hands to emphasize the dog’s cuteness.

“We don’t know if he likes ladies or men yet,” Kinley reminded them.

“Ladies! I like ladies,” Linc said emphatically. “Not that there’s anything wrong with liking men or both or whatever. I like ladies, and you all can feel free to shut your traps right about now.”

Mack laughed. A low, rich rasp that caught him in the chest. And Linc decided he’d be happy to be the butt of all jokes forever if he got to hear that laugh again.

“Did you guys know that your uncle got hurt?” Mack asked, stepping off the deck and wandering over to the chest-high fence.

“Mom said he saved someone’s life,” Samantha said, tying her long hair back in a lumpy ponytail. “I like your hair.”

“Thanks.” Mack smiled. “I like yours. Uncle Linc hurt his shoulder and got burnt, and he’s supposed to be resting. I think you’re supposed to babysit him today and make sure he doesn’t do anything too strenuous.”

They converged on him like lions on a fresh kill.