Page 126 of Havoc's Fox

“At 6:30 in the morning?”

Emmalyn sighed. “Okay. Truth. I’ve been at Mom and Dad’s for about a week. It’s killing me being at Mom and Dad’s. They are so overprotective.”

“Then go back to Alabama. Don’t you have to work?” Havoc asked.

“Not at the moment. I’m between cases and I’ve been told to go somewhere and lay low for a while. Besides I don’t want to go back to Alabama. I miss being here. Y’all are here living your lives and I’m in a city with a bunch of strangers. I’m thinking about starting on my house here. Nice and safe, and surrounded by everybody I love. Was thinking about building right next door. Right in the middle of everything. What do you think?” Emmalyn asked excitedly.

“Nope,” Havoc said.

“Nope?” Emmalyn asked.

“Can’t,” Havoc said.

“I most certainly can.”

“No, you can’t. Brandt promised that nobody would be building right up on top of us, even if we do love them we want our privacy. In fact, the deed to our house includes an acre on each side and behind. I don’t want anybody as close as the spare house they built between Remi and Christian. I want to keep the woods around us,” Havoc explained.

“Oh.” Emmalyn said, her disappointment clear. “Yeah, I can see that. But I can build a little down the street. Maybe across the street. I could see you from my porch.”

“I’d really like that,” Analise said, happily licking the Bavarian cream from her donut off her fingers.

“Me, too,” Emmalyn said.

“If you don’t come over first thing in the morning, before we’re even up every day,” Havoc said, making a face at her.

Analise laughed. “You two kill me. I think you like fussing at each other more than anything else.”

“It’s our love language,” Emmalyn said, tossing a balled up paper towel at Havoc. “Got to pick on the brother.”

“In-law. Brother-In-Law,” Havoc reminded her.

“Same thing,” Emmalyn said.

“Hey! Anybody up?” Barron called from the front door as he tapped on it, opened it, and walked right in.

Emmalyn looked dispassionately at Barron, then glared at Analise and Havoc. “Texting Maia, huh?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Analise said, carefully choosing a second cream filled donut.

Barron walked over to the table and sat down directly across from Emmalyn. “I love donuts.”

“Don’t eat my donuts,” Emmalyn warned.

“Hey! That’s not nice,” Barron said.

“Uncle Barron can have some donuts,” Harley said from the living room.

“Yeah, Uncle Barron can have some donuts,” Barron repeated, grabbing a donut, an eclair, and a cream puff and putting them on a paper towel in front of himself.

Emmalyn scowled at Barron.

“Want some coffee?” Analise asked.

“I’d love some, ‘Lise.”

“Coming right up,” she said, getting up to get him a mug of hot coffee.

Barron picked up his donut and took a huge bite while pointedly looking Emmalyn in the eye.