Page 11 of The Maverick’s Forever Home (Montana Mavericks: Behind Closed Doors #2)

Braden gave each of them another glare but stayed quiet.

“I’m guessing it has something to do with the woman Delilah was talking about—Cody’s mom.” Miles’s guess was surprisingly insightful. “Also, I’m guessing this woman’s name isn’t Cody’s mom?”

Hayes’s brows rose. “The humming has to do with a woman?”

Well, hell . “Can you both just…stop?” He wiped at the sweat on his forehead with the back of his forearm.

“We can.” Hayes cocked his head to one side. “Sure.”

“But what’s the fun in that?” Miles started laughing.

“No fun at all.” Hayes burst out laughing, then.

Damn it all, he was laughing, too. He couldn’t help it.

It’d been a while since he and his brothers did this—acted like brothers.

When they were kids, sure. Nothing had been off-limits—from bad haircuts to their current crushes.

They’d teased one another mercilessly. They were brothers, and at the end of the day, they’d been raised knowing that family came first. It was the one unshakable bond that would keep them together through the ups and downs of life.

“Braden…” Miles was wiping tears from his eyes as he spoke. “Fess up. Mom’s not here. Neither is Rylee.”

“And? Does that mean you’ll keep your mouth shut when Mom or Rylee or both of them are around?” Braden shook his head. Sometimes his brother had a real problem with discretion.

“He has a point.” Hayes pointed at Miles. “You can’t keep a secret to save your life.”

“Hey, I’m offended.” Miles actually did look insulted before he frowned at Hayes and said, “For someone who’s wanting answers, you’re not helping here.”

Hayes tugged at his collar. “Right.”

Braden had to laugh at the two of them. “I’ll say one thing, you’re all gettin’ way ahead of yourselves.

” There was nothing going on between him and Maggie—and nothing was going to happen between them.

If he had to tell himself that fifty times a day, he would.

He couldn’t afford to think about anything else.

That included Maggie Cooper, her green-green eyes, long curly hair and sweet-and-sexy smile.

Perfect . He ran his hand over his face and looked at his brothers.

Miles and Hayes were both watching him.

“Nope.” Miles crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re… Something is up. You’re humming.”

“And spacing out.” Hayes pointed at him. “You are acting…weird.”

It was Braden’s turn to be offended. “Have I slacked off? Screwed up somewhere?” He hadn’t. He knew he hadn’t.

“No, but…” Hayes turned to Miles.

Miles hesitated, then said, “You’re awful determined to convince us you don’t like… Cody’s mom.”

Hayes nodded. “Exactly.”

“Or maybe you all are determined to make this into something. When it’s not.

” He sighed. “I’ve spent all of two hours with Maggie.

Other than that she’s a single mom—and a good one—I don’t know enough about her to have formed much of an opinion of her—or like her.

” Which wasn’t exactly the truth. He’d developed an awful lot of opinions about Maggie. That was concerning.

“Maggie. Cody’s mom’s name is Maggie.” Hayes sounded downright triumphant.

“That’s what I heard.” Miles looked equally pleased.

Braden swallowed down an irritated groan. “Did either of you hear a word I just said?”

“You said something about how she’s a good mom.” Hayes glanced at Miles. “You heard that, too?”

“Yep.” Miles tucked his thumbs into his belt loops. “She’s a pretty, single—good—mom.”

Braden threw up his hands in defeat. “Really? That’s what you got from what I said?”

“That’s the only part that mattered.” Miles shrugged. “When are you going to see her again?”

“Saturday—” He broke off. Dammit . What had he just done? Screwed up, big time, that’s what. He stared at the ground, silently cursing himself for slipping up so monumentally. There was no way they were going to let that go. No way.

“Oh, ho, Saturday?” Hayes chuckled now. “You don’t say.”

“Maybe you’ll have time to develop an opinion about her?

” Miles clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I hope it goes well, Braden. I mean it. I do.” His gaze was surprisingly intent.

“The last couple of years haven’t been easy on any of us.

But things are better for Hayes, Rylee and me.

We’ve slogged through the dark and BS and come out on top.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve found the person that—damn, this sounds cheesy—completes us.

Understands and accepts us. It’d be nice for you to have that, too. ”

Braden’s throat was too tight to speak. Hadn’t been easy?

That was the understatement of the decade.

The last couple of years, he’d bounced around working odd jobs—hoping to avoid the stress and drama here at home.

Then the last six months, he’d been in Florida taking care of Delilah while Phoebe lost her battle with cancer.

While he’d been there, his siblings and parents had been struggling with their own tribulations.

And, yes, they’d all pulled through—and found their other half.

He didn’t know much about statistics, but he was pretty sure the odds for them all to have a happy ending were pretty slim.

Since his siblings had all found their person, he sort of expected he’d be the odd man out.

But he had something none of them had. He had Delilah.

“You done? Got it all out? Cuz this work isn’t going to do itself.” Braden shot them both a look.

“Okay, Dad.” Miles’s emphasis on the word dad was hard to miss. It was enough to have them laughing as they got back to work.

But his brothers’ comments stuck with him, giving him pause. What would that be like? To have a partner? How would it feel to have a person that was always in his corner, cheering on his successes and comforting him through rough patches?

Pretty damn good, probably .

He wondered what sort of partner Maggie Cooper would be? Then stopped short.

There is nothing going on between me and Maggie—and nothing is going to happen between us.

Friends. Friends was good. It was what was best for everyone involved.