Free The Troublemaker Next Door by Marie Harte Page A

problem, we can—”
    “No, no. My mom is dying to talk to you all. Whenever she gets a chance to talk to women, she’s excited. Too many men in the family.”
    Colin thumped his chest. “Yeah. I’m a man. My tooth is totally gone.” He tried to stick his tongue through the opening.
    “We won’t keep you any longer. See you on Saturday. Two-ish.” Mike handed her a note. “The directions are on there. The folks are just two streets over and down a quarter mile. Tan house, blue shutters. Lots of cars in the drive.”
    “Thanks, Mike. See you, Colin.” She watched them turn and leave, then entered the house to cook…something. Hmm, hot dogs. That and some macaroni and cheese—now that sounded good and easy.
    An hour later, as Maddie cleared her dishes from the table, Vanessa bitched about the meal, despite the fact that she’d arrived home late and should have been grateful to eat anything prepared at all. “I hate hot dogs.”
    “I know. That’s why I made them.”
    Abby crossed her eyes behind Vanessa’s head.
    “I saw that.”
    “You should have been a schoolteacher. The dreaded Miss Campbell. Oooh.” Abby raised her hands in mock fright. “I have work to do. Maddie, if you or teacher-creature needs me, I’ll be on the computer.”
    “It’s not teacher-creature,” Vanessa grumbled as she ate her hot dog. “I hate when she calls me names.”
    “And yet the shoe fits.” Maddie grinned. “I saw Jed Rawlins today. He told me to remind you about coffee supplies. Something about creamer?”
    Vanessa sighed and shrugged out of her suit jacket. She wore her hair in a bun, the escaping strands actually softening her face. But far be it from Maddie to tell her cousin she looked pretty. Pretty had no place in accounting.
    “You know, if Jed put half the effort into work as he does into taking coffee breaks, we’d probably be the preeminent firm in Seattle.”
    Maddie found Vanessa as intriguing as she sometimes found her annoying. Unlike her, Vanessa didn’t seem to have any confidence issues. A rock of solid self-love. Not selfish or arrogant, just a woman happy with herself and her place in life. An oddity among women everywhere, but there she was.
    “Jed would do better to be more like me,” Vanessa continued, talking with her mouth full. She downed her carb-loaded macaroni and cheese like a Hoover set to high. “I’m too busy doing my damn job to worry about sugar, creamer, or the who’s-dating-who chatter by the watercooler.”
    Maddie blinked. “Do they really have watercoolers at your work? I thought that was just an expression. ‘Watercooler talk.’”
    “Yeah. We do. It’s purified water. Not bad, but I bring my own.”
    The queen of self-sufficient would. Maddie sighed.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Have you ever had a problem in life you couldn’t solve? Ever had a problem too big to handle on your own?”
    Vanessa paused. “Nope.”
    “Bitch.”
    Vanessa smiled. “Jealousy will get you everywhere. There’s nothing I like more than envy.” She glanced down at the crumbs on her plate. “As far as hot dogs go, I guess these things aren’t bad. Mac ’n’ cheese isn’t either.”
    “Want to lick the pan?”
    “Sure.”
    Maddie grimaced as her cousin took every piece of macaroni from the pan and ate it. “You should be really, really fat. How is it I eat one hot dog and my butt explodes? We’re related. I should have your metabolism.”
    “Must get it from your dad, whoever he is.”
    And that’s one of the things Maddie truly appreciated about Vanessa. She didn’t coddle or softly gloss over hurtful details. She went straight at life with a one-two punch. Because Maddie knew Vanessa loved her, she normally didn’t take her comments as digs, but rather as unfortunate truths.
    “But look at it like this. Aunt Michelle is a pretty redhead too, but she burns two seconds in the sun. You must get that Mediterranean skin from your dad. So big ass, but nice skin. It all evens