Page 20 of Endlessly Yours (The Wilder Brothers #10)

I loved my parents. They’d helped me figure out the paperwork of death with Amara and had helped me figure out how to get up the next morning.

Grief wasn’t new to our family, not with my aunt and uncle passing away or the near misses we’d each had over time.

We’d only grown closer over the years, and I knew they were thinking of officially moving away from our childhood home and staying local permanently to be near their grandkids.

But they usually warned us before they showed.

“Mom, I didn’t know you were coming,” Wyatt said as he set his plate on the table and ran to the couple. He picked Mom up around her waist and spun her around.

“Please do not break your mother,” Dad said dryly, as I just shook my head and moved with the others to welcome them.

Taking my turn, I hugged him tightly, oddly relieved to see them. “Nice surprise. Though you both don’t usually like surprises,” I drawled.

“We called Eli earlier to see if there was room for us here so we could surprise you. And now we’re here.”

I raised a brow at my eldest cousin, who just grinned at me.

He and his wife were speaking to the stranger my parents had brought, but I moved to my mother and held her closely, letting out a deep breath as I rested my chin on the top of her head.

She was a tiny woman, one who I couldn’t believe had raised four rambunctious, and what had to be very annoying, kids.

But she fit right underneath my chin and nuzzled into me.

“I’ve missed you, baby boy.” She pulled back, and I noticed a glint in her eyes.

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything. However, let me introduce you to Lauren. She works with our realtor, and well, she is a fan of Wilder Wines, so we thought we’d bring her so she didn’t have to drive alone to her meeting.”

Alarm bells shot off in my head, and I narrowed my gaze at my mother before putting a polite smile on for Lauren.

“Nice to meet you,” I said softly, wondering what the blonde woman in front of me had been told.

Lauren gave me a strained smile. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you too.” She looked around the room, her eyes slightly wide. “There are so many of you.”

My mother grinned. “And not all of my brood are here. Well, let me introduce you to the rest, and we’ll come back to Brooks. That way you can get the full circle.”

My mother gave me a look before she pulled Lauren away, and I just glared at my father.

“Really?” I asked, looking at the man who was practically my mirror image.

It was nice to know what I would look like one day in a couple of decades.

He had a full set of hair, gray at the temples, and was just as muscular as ever.

I loved my dad. However, he was just as scheming as my mother when it came to the lives of their children.

And their children included my cousins. Because when my aunt and uncle had died, though the cousins had taken care of themselves, my parents had been there to help wherever they could.

“She’s just a nice woman.”

“Are you kidding me?” I growled but did my best not to be loud. I went back to my seat, my father following me.

“We just want you to be happy. And frankly, Lauren was on her way here for a meeting. And your mother waylaid her.”

“And Eli mentioned this was more of a quick meal rather than a business meeting, so we didn’t think it was going to be too big of a problem.”

“Dad,” I whispered. I didn’t know how I was supposed to say that I was taken because I wasn’t even sure what my and Rory’s label was. But there had to be a label for me not wanting to be set up with another woman by my parents.

Lauren seemed to fit right in, though, with the others as she smiled and talked about Wilder Wines and an upcoming corporate sale.

When my mother came to the table, I ignored the questioning glance on Wyatt’s face and glared at the woman who raised me.

“What? It isn’t like I set you up on a date. I was just bringing a friend.”

I let out a breath. “Mom, I’m… this isn’t a good time.” In fact, it would never be a good time when someone tried to set me up.

She leaned over and patted my hand. “It will never feel like the right time. And I’m not pushing Lauren on you. I’m just bringing a friend.” She paused, her voice going soft. “I loved Amara.”

“It’s not that.” I pinched the bridge of my nose.

We were on the far end of the room where we could keep private with our voices low, and thankfully, the rest of the family was loud and boisterous as they finished dinner.

As if adding random members to dinner for casual setups was par for the course.

“Did I ever tell you that Amara made me promise to date again? To not fall into a pit of despair and actually love someone again? Did I tell you that?” I asked quietly.

My mom’s eyes widened as they filled with tears. “No. Oh, baby…”

“I don’t know what I’m doing, Mom.” I blurted out the words, knowing they weren’t the exact words I needed to say. I needed to talk about Rory. To tell somebody. And yet everything felt so twisted inside.

“You don’t need to know what you’re doing right now. And I know you’re following a path that’s hard. I’m sorry I’m making it harder. Everything just happened all at once, and then I was inviting her, and I couldn’t warn you, and I don’t know what I’m doing either.”

“Mom. This really wasn’t a good time, though,” I said after a moment.

“What wasn’t a good time?” Lauren said as she came up to me, looking statuesque in her perfectly cut suit and bright smile. She really was a beautiful woman, but she did nothing for me.

No, Rory was the only one that did that to me these days.

And I wasn’t sure what to do with that.

My mother beamed up at Lauren, but I saw the tension in her shoulders now. “I’m annoying my son like usual. Here, Lauren, take my seat, and I’ll get something to eat. Brooks, entertain her while I do that then hug my grandbabies.”

She was so smooth about it that I couldn’t protest without being a jerk, and then, somehow, Lauren was sitting next to me at the table, and Wyatt and Ava glared at me over the others’ heads. From how people were reacting, it seemed that not everyone knew about me and Rory. Not yet.

And I had a feeling I was going to hear an earful if I didn’t fix this. Soon.

Lauren blinked at me, shaking her head. “I love your mother, Brooks. But wow. I have no idea how I found myself in their car with them, let alone at a family dinner with you. I’m sorry.

I’m totally not here to hit on you or anything.

Promise. I really just wanted to see the place that made my favorite wine since I needed to come out to San Antonio anyway. ”

I let out a breath at her wince, feeling awkward as hell.

“I’m going to be blunt with you. Usually, I’d beat around the bush, but frankly, I’ve had a long day.

It’s not your fault that my mother and the rest of my family keeps trying to set me up with women.

” I cleared my throat. “I lost my wife four years ago now, and they are all doing their best to help me move on. Too bad they don’t get that I am fine figuring things out on my own. ”

Lauren’s eyes widened, and she leaned forward, setting her hand on my forearm. “I am so sorry about your wife. And… well, I don’t have any words. I’ll try to let your mother know both of our feelings about that. It’s nice to meet you, Brooks Wilder. And I’m truly sorry for your loss.”

I opened my mouth to mention I wasn’t free, but then the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I paused as I looked to see who stood in the doorway. Rory stood there, a hand on Alice’s shoulder, Cameron on her other side.

My gut clenched at the look on Rory’s face when she noticed where Lauren’s hand was.

“Oh. Well.” Rory cleared her throat. “The girls and I were just popping up to say hello on our way home. Sorry for the surprise.”

My parents looked between us as my mom’s eyes widened, and my dad cursed under his breath. Each of my other family members might have had their own reactions, but I couldn’t pay attention to them. Instead, I stood up and walked right to her, throat tight.

“Hey, girls. I didn’t know you’d be at the Inn today. Did you enjoy dinner?” I asked.

“It was fine,” Cameron said softly as Alice just smiled up at me.

“Come join us for dessert,” I offered. “Okay?” I looked into Rory’s gaze, but she merely blinked at me.

Then she looked toward Lauren, who had also stood, her face pale.

“Thank you for the offer, but we have to head back home. School night. Say goodnight to the Wilders, girls.”

I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying, not with the roaring in my ears, but as I reached out for her, she took a step back. Then, in a blink, the three were gone, and I couldn’t move. The idiot I was.

I cursed under my breath. “No. I need to fix this.”

“Yes, you fucking do,” Wyatt growled.

“What’s going on?” Faith asked, but the others pulled the kids into other conversations about desserts.

My mom moved to my side, hands clenched in front of her. “Oh damn. I am so sorry, Brooks. I didn’t know.”

“You didn’t, nobody knew.” I cleared my throat and looked at my family members, who happened to still be in the room.

“I’ve got to go. But seriously? I’m seeing Rory.

Please stop setting me up on dates. Please stop making it weird.

Because it’s already hard enough,” I growled, realizing that I didn’t usually share my thoughts or feelings, and I didn’t really feel like doing it right now.

But I’d seen the hurt on Rory’s face, and I had to wonder what exactly she had seen before I had noticed her.

Lauren waved slightly and I knew she had to be feeling so far out of the loop it wasn’t even funny.

“If it helps, I truly came here because I love your parents and Wilder Wines, so I’m not going to make it weird.

If you need me to talk to her to let her know that I’ve literally spoken six sentences to you, I will. ”

I snorted, wondering why the hell this was my life before I turned and ran.

The others all spoke at once, but I ignored them, knowing I needed to find Rory.

I didn’t know what I felt for Rory other than I had made a promise.

And I wasn’t about to fuck this up. And that meant I needed to make sure that I hadn’t just pushed away the one woman who could stand me after all these years.