"Yeah," Jason mumbled.
"Whatever," Danny said, glaring at Jason.
"Clean up this mess, too," Brett said while exiting the cabin, the screen door slamming shut. A chill remained in the air, yet at any minute a spark could ignite overtaking the chill and causing an eruption. Megan took a deep breath and fixed her ponytail. What do I say to help them understand my cousin means business? The boys stared at each other, neither wanting to move first. When they saw Megan staring at them, while tapping her boot on the floor, they started cleaning. Danny grumbled as he threw his clothes in the dresser. He grabbed the metal bed frame and pushed it upright. It dropped to the floor and shook the cabin. After he stormed out, Jason stared at his pile of clothes and shrugged. Each shirt was folded as were the jeans, and placed neatly in his dresser. He then grabbed his sweatshirt and headed outside, all the while avoiding eye contact with Megan.
Though her heart said to follow him, her legs carried her to the corral. There stood Brett, his arms leaned on the top fence rail. She saw the tension in his rounded shoulders. When she stood beside him and looked at his face, she saw hurt and confusion in the wrinkled brow. "They're young and full of energy, or as Charlie would say, spitfire. We could lock them in a room until they get along." She wanted a laugh, even a chuckle, but her cousin's mood was strange. Something from his past showed in his sad, blue eyes, but she knew better than to ask. If he wanted her to know, he would tell her. "Any suggestions on what we do?" she asked.
"I don't know," he said, staring at the open land.
Her mind whirled at his dry response. She never knew Brett not to have an answer, or at least a thought about what may work. "Will you send them home if they fight again?"
"They won't," he said, dryly, never looking at her, never blinking.
"How do you know? Do you see Danny backing down from this fight?"
As he ran his fingers through his tousled blond hair, Brett said, "Ah, heck, Megan, I don't know. Part of me says let them fight and clean out their system, but fighting isn't the solution. It only adds to the existing problem." He stared off into the distance as if reliving that moment when something drastically changed in his life.
"Brett," she said, touching his muscular arm. "Tell me what to do to keep them from fighting. I want them to enjoy the ranch and the summer too."