Page 49 of Best Laid Plans (Rock Harbor #1)

“It just happened , Wyatt. There was no big conspiracy. No attempt to keep you on the outside. We just didn’t want to label it to other people. And you, my brother, are the king of labels. Once you knew what was going on, we’d have been scrutinized by you every second of the day.”

Wyatt looked affronted. “I’m not that bad.”

Elle rolled her eyes. “Look, I love you, but you are intense. In so many good ways, but in some ways that make it difficult to talk to you sometimes. You have really high standards for yourself, but you expect other people to uphold them, too. It feels impossible sometimes. ”

Now she felt like she’d kicked two puppies today, as Wyatt’s broad shoulders slumped. “I didn’t know that you felt that way.”

“I came home to stay with you because I love you and I feel safe with you. And I know that you’ll always be there for me, no matter what.” She paused.

“But…”

“It comes at a price,” Elle admitted. She bit at her lip, hating the dejected look on Wyatt’s face.

Still, she pushed forward. This conversation was too important to not be honest. “You have to know that Cam would never hurt you, right? All he’s ever cared about is living up to your expectations.

He’s probably the only person in this world that doesn’t think they’re insane. ”

His jaw flexed, and she could see him grinding his teeth. She thought that he was going to unleash about Cam again, shocked at the next words out of his mouth. “I feel like a complete asshole for what I said to Cam. He hasn’t returned any of my text messages or calls.”

Wow, texting first was big for her brother.

Come to think of it, him coming over here first was too.

Seemed like Wyatt and Cam were both in tatters at the thought of their bromance being on the rocks.

She laughed, in spite of the tumult making her stomach feel a little queasy.

“God, I feel like a third wheel with you two.”

“Have you talked to him?” Wyatt asked, trying to sound casual. He was like a teenager asking about his crush, which only made her laugh again.

But then she shook her head, her smile faltering.

Every time she’d thought about texting, she hadn’t known what to say.

“I don’t know that Cam and I are in the same place.

But what I don’t want is for anything between him and me to impact your friendship with him or his relationship with our parents.

No one did anything wrong. I promise.” She crossed her fingers over her heart.

Wyatt looked out toward the street as a car drove by. “He still worked yesterday so that Dad could go to the football game. He makes it really hard to be mad at him sometimes.”

Elle let out a strangled laugh. Of course he had. “He and I worked on a proposal together this past week. For him to invest in Pierce’s so that Mom and Dad wouldn’t have to sell.”

Wyatt’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding me.”

“We both know that I’m not. He was going to give it to Dad today, but I don’t know if that’s happening anymore,” Elle said, sadness seeping into her tone.

“We really were going to tell you about us, Wyatt. I was just trying to give Cam time to feel comfortable with the idea. He was so worried about what you’d think.

That you’d be upset with him. I’m pretty sure that he’d rather chew off his own arm than disappoint you. ”

Wyatt massaged at his brow, clearly upset. His voice was choked up when he said, “I shouldn’t have yelled at him. He hates being yelled at.”

For as much as she’d grown to know Cam over the past month, what her brother had probably seen made her heart ache–for both of them.

Cam as a teenager, when he still lived with his father.

During his first years in Boston, alone while Wyatt was living out his college and then professional dreams. “He’s a great guy, Wyatt.

A guy I would be lucky to have in my life. ”

Lips drawn inward, Wyatt stood quietly. Finally, he cleared his throat. “I know. He’s the best man I know.”

“If anything, it’s me you should be telling to stay away from him,” Elle said, managing a playful smile.

Wyatt’s own lips tipped into a small smirk. “That’s probably true.” His posture changed, then, as he put his hands in his pockets, looking awkward. “So, what’s going on with you two?”

The empty feeling in her heart, which had been persistent since she’d last talked to Cam, came back to the forefront.

“I don’t think a whole lot. I think that the Pierce family may have finally scared him off.

I think that I–” She took a deep breath, trying to settle her jangling nerves.

“I think that I pushed him too hard. I didn’t realize what he was putting on the line for us to be together.

I didn’t treat it with the care that it deserved.

” And that was the reality that made her a little queasy to think about, the feeling she’d been sitting with for the last few hours, unmoving from the front porch.

“The thing about Cam is that he’s a really forgiving guy,” Wyatt said sincerely, meeting Elle’s somber stare.

“I don’t want to force him into something he’s not ready for, but I don’t think that I can get in any deeper with him unless I know he’s all in. I don’t know that my heart could handle it.” God, of all the conversations she never expected to have with her brother, this had to top the list.

Wyatt walked over to the porch swing and sat next to her, the wood groaning under his weight. “So this is serious for you then? You really care about him?”

Elle nodded and wiped at her eyes, which apparently were a never-ending fountain of tears. “He made me look at everything differently. He’s made me a different person. In all the best ways.”

Instead of answering, Wyatt wrapped his arm around Elle’s shoulder and pulled her close. He kicked off with his foot, giving them a push to start swinging. And then they sat, side-by-side, watching as the afternoon clouds rolled through the sky.