Page 19 of Endlessly Yours (The Wilder Brothers #10)

CHAPTER NINE

brOOKS

Me

The girls get to school okay?

Rory

Yes. And no fighting over homework today. I think it’s a miracle.

Me

Better knock on wood if you’re truly going to believe that.

Rory

Very much so. Hold on.

Me

Did you really just knock on wood?

Rory

Of course I did. And I know you did too.

Me

Maybe.

Rory

It’s only a half day though. So the girls will be home early, and we have homework, and then figuring out what sports and classes they want to start doing after school. I have no idea how moms do this every day alone.

Me

Well, I think it’s because many of them don’t do it alone.

Me

I can pick them up if you need.

I froze, wondering why I had said that. It wasn’t as if I knew what Rory and I were to each other, but wouldn’t a friend offer help?

Yes, a friend would offer help. And I was their neighbor after all.

It just made sense. And it wasn’t as if Rory or I were any better equipped than anyone else when it came to figuring out how to navigate not only what it was between us but the girls’ lives as well.

Rory

I can’t ask you to do that.

I frowned, a little annoyed.

Me

You weren’t asking. I was offering. You know any of us Wilders would be there for you.

Rory

I just hate asking for help.

Me

I try to never ask for help. And then I get yelled at.

Rory

That is true.

Me

Just let me know what I can do. Don’t you have a conference coming up, too?

Rory

I might have to back out of that. I don’t think I have enough energy to do an entire weekend away, let alone the burden of having anyone watch them. And not just asking people to do it, but the girls themselves. I don’t know if I’m ready to be away from them for that long.

I swallowed hard, my fingers hovering over the keys.

I needed to get back to work, especially since we had another Wilder meeting coming up in a few hours.

But I couldn’t help but want to continue this conversation with Rory.

Though, I hated texting. Mostly because my fingers were way too big for the keys, and with every update, I swore typing got harder.

Did they make the keys smaller? Or did they just decide to change it so that way some program lied to you? I wasn’t sure, but I hated it.

Me

Whatever you decide, let us know. And I’ll see you later?

My stomach tightened, wondering if I was ready for this, whatever this was.

But I wasn’t going to hurt her. I couldn’t.

I’d already promised myself and her that I wouldn’t be that much of an asshole, so I was going to have to figure out how to do this whole being-together thing.

Even though I had no idea what the hell I was doing.

Rory

I need to get back to work, but I’ll think about it. And yes, I’ll see you later. Have a good day, Brooks.

My fingers hovered over the screen again, but there wasn’t much to say. I needed to get back to work and not think about Rory.

Not that it was going to be easy. Hell, it hadn’t been easy since I had first seen her over a year ago on this property. Why would I think that once I had her underneath me, and would be doing so again, it would be any easier?

No, it was never going to be easy.

I shook myself out of wherever the hell my mind was going and got to work.

Unlike the girls, I had a full day, then a family dinner that included every Wilder in town.

Usually, it would annoy me that we would have so many family dinners one after another, but for some reason, it didn’t bother me that much.

Okay, I could probably guess the reason at this point, but it wasn’t as if I was going to spring that on the world. Nor were we hiding it.

We hadn’t exactly had that conversation, but I knew that Ava knew, and therefore Wyatt knew. Which meant the rest of my family probably knew, too. Wyatt couldn’t keep a secret to save his life. And, frankly, I didn’t care.

Maybe it would finally get everybody off of my back when it came to setting me up. At least, I hope the hell it did.

I talked with my crew as we got to work, and ran my hand over my chest. Wondering when things got to be this way. I didn’t know what I felt for Rory because I had never been in this situation before.

I had met Amara when we were young, and we had fallen into dating. I had loved her with every ounce of my soul and still felt as if part of me would be forever crushed.

But then again, I wasn’t that man anymore. It was the truth. I may not know how to date or know what to feel when it came to anyone but Amara, but I wasn’t going to compare the two.

That would be a disservice to both of them.

I looked up to the sky and closed my eyes. “I hope you know what the hell I’m doing because I don’t, Amara,” I whispered.

I didn’t talk to her often, but it didn’t feel bad if I did. Rory was dealing with her own grief, something I knew I needed to pay attention to. But maybe that meant that she would understand that everything in front of us would be forever complex.

I went back to work, knowing that the expansion on this property was only a small part of the overall work to be done.

I didn’t want to have to travel to Austin again, and though it wasn’t a long drive comparatively, it still meant that my days were longer.

And with the girls, the family, and multiple jobs, finding time with Rory wasn’t easy.

But I was going to find time.

And wasn’t that something different?

By the time dinner rolled around, I said goodbye to my crew, made sure my foreman was ready to go, and headed to the other side of the property in my truck rather than a golf cart and parked in front of the main building.

The sun was still bright in the sky, even at this time of day since it was summer in Texas, but I was already hungry.

Part of me wanted to pull out my phone and see what Rory was up to—the other part of me knew I needed to take a moment to think about what I wanted.

What we needed.

And I didn’t know how to be part of a we .

“It’s about time you show up,” Wyatt said as I walked to the side door, and my brother held it open for me. He gave me such a wide smile that I had a feeling he knew too much.

I couldn’t help but narrow my gaze. “I’m not late. I don’t know why you’re acting like I am.”

“You’re not early enough for me to rib you. I mean, I hear you have news. Lots of news.”

I shoved at his shoulder as I passed him, and Wyatt just laughed.

“Well, I guess that answers that.”

“It answers nothing,” I growled as I made my way down the hall to the private dining room.

There was already a buffet out, and I was grateful to Kendall’s team.

I nodded at my siblings and cousins, noticing they each already had food and were milling around.

No need to eat family style tonight when we were trying out different recipes for the restaurant.

My stomach rumbled, and I pulled up a plate for myself and began to pile roast chicken, scalloped potatoes, three veggies, and two rye rolls.

The others were already eating, talking amongst themselves, so I went to take a seat next to Ridge and Aurora.

“You look happy,” Aurora said softly, a smile in her gaze and on her face.

I let out a breath. “Hungry? Yes.”

Ridge’s lips twitched, but he didn’t say anything.

Ava and Wyatt took a seat across from us, Faith at their side. “Hi, Uncle Brooks! I saw Alice at school today, and she said you helped her with her bike, and I wanted to say thank you too. Because you help me, and I knew you’d help her.”

My family smiled at me and didn’t say a thing. Bastards.

I quickly wiped my mouth with my napkin. “I did. Alice had trouble with her rear tire, and I was outside. Easy enough fix.”

“Alice really likes you. And so do I. And I like mashed potatoes.” And with the happiness of a kid with potatoes, she dug into her dinner as the others turned to me.

Wyatt leaned over and spoke softly. “When did it happen? How long has it been happening? And tell me everything.”

“Tell you what?” Kendall asked as she skipped over to me. “Maybe why you ran out on Singles’ Night and left a pizza for others to eat. Or something else?”

“You guys are ridiculous,” I growled before I stuffed one of my rolls into Wyatt’s mouth.

Faith burst out laughing, and the others followed.

“Please do not get Wyatt started,” Ridge said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “He’s going to start singing about kissing in a tree.”

“Who is kissing?” Faith asked.

“Mommy and Daddy,” Ava answered.

“Blech,” Faith said with a sigh. “But kissing means maybe I get a baby brother, so that’s okay.”

Both Wyatt and I choked on our drinks, and I quickly cleaned up the mess as my siblings laughed and Ava took Faith away to help her get a drink and “answer questions”.

When the two left, Kendall followed to go sit at the nearby table with Evan and the kids.

People laughed good-naturedly, and everything warmed to the point that it felt like home.

I ate as others came over to the table, talked about their days, then moved around, enjoying the time together without making it feel stuffy.

I leaned back after a moment, watching the way our family had changed over the past years.

I’d had this before. Not exactly this, but happiness. I’d had something that made sense. A family. Or at least the start of one. Then she was gone, and I’d told myself that I only needed this. My brothers. Cousins. Their families.

But now…

No. It was way too fucking fast.

But I wasn’t ignoring her anymore.

Or us.

“Now, back to what we were talking about. From what I heard, there was kissing somewhere, and probably more,” Wyatt said with a full mouth of food.

“Wyatt Wilder, what did I say about speaking with your mouth full,” a familiar voice said from behind us, and we all whirled to see our parents walking through the door with a woman I didn’t recognize behind them. I set my fork down and stood up, surprised to see them there but not unhappy.