September: Calendar Girl Book 9 Read Free Page B

me and hear me well. I am, always have been, and will always be Madison Saunders. Got it? I was fine in my skin before, and I’m not changing it because some DNA test proves something. I’ll admit that I’m shocked that I have a brother and am actually happy about that fact, but you will not win me as some kind of Meryl Colgrove consolation prize. Got it?”
    “Baby girl…” My own voice was unrecognizable with the amount of sorrow rushing through it as I put an arm around my sister. Her whole body slammed into my chest, and her face went right into my neck.
    “I’m Madison Saunders! I’m not a Cunningham,” she sobbed, the thick veil of my hair covering her face.
    “Hey, baby, nobody’s trying to change you, your name, or who you are. You’ll always be my sister. You’ll always be Pops’s daughter. Now, we just have a whole other part of our family to love and get to know. Nothing changes, Mads. Nothing. It’s still me and you against the world, okay?” She nodded but continued to cry. “I mean that. Max is not here to change anything, are you, Max?”
    Maxwell cleared his throat and put a giant paw on the back of my sister’s head. “Sweetie, I already love you and Mia very much. You’re my little sisters, and from the moment we all met, I felt that tug of awareness, of family. I wanted you and your sister my whole life. Wanted that family. Now I have it, and I’m happy, honey. Cyndi, Isabel, and baby Jack are going to have some seriously awesome women in their lives, and I just feel fortunate. That’s all, darlin’. That’s why I’m here. To lend support while you and Mia take care of your dad.”
    After a few moments, Maddy lifted her head. I cupped her cheeks and wiped her tears. “Nothing’s changed, okay?”
    “F-Feels l-like a lot has c-changed.” She wiped her snotty nose on her sleeve. Yikes. We were both disgusting.
    “Even though it feels that way, it really hasn’t. You’re still in school, you’re on the road to being Mrs. Matthew Rains, and you have me forever. Now, you just have a big, badass, rich cowboy brother.”
    “Well, we’re all rich.” Max supplied helpfully, which really wasn’t helpful at all.
    Jeez Louise. There had to be a shut-off button. Weren’t brothers supposed to come with one of those? I hadn’t had a chance to discuss the Cunningham Oil & Gas business when the news of Pops taking a turn hit.
    Maddy’s eyebrows came together, leaving a cute little wrinkle above her nose. When she was little, I’d kiss that little wrinkle and tell her not to frown because it would stay that way and she’d hate it later on in life.
    “We’re not rich, Max,” she scoffed. “Far, far from it.”
    Maxwell directed a harsh look my way. “You haven’t told her?” He crossed those massive arms over his even wider chest.
    I wanted to slink down into a puddle of goo at his feet. There had been way too much drama to deal with to be having this conversation right now. First Millie, now Max and Maddy. Criminy.
    “Told me what?” Maddy pressed.
    “Max, we’ve had some pretty severe shit going on. The last thing I needed to do was add yet another complication.”
    “What complication?” Maddy asked.
    “It’s really not a complication. More a benefit,” Max added.
    “And that would be?” she asked.
    Instead of participating, I was just too damned tired to figure out a way to ease into it, and Max seemed gung-ho, so why the hell not? Sipping on my coffee, allowing the creamy liquid that admittedly always tasted better when someone else made it—or it could be the addition of cream and sugar—I watched as Max explained to Maddy that we were all three going to own a piece of Cunningham Oil & Gas, though I did get him to agree to split Maddy’s and my amount in half so he’d still carry fifty percent of the company. It was his birthright and his legacy, not something we ever grew up wanting a piece of. The two of us would each have twenty-five percent, which would