Page 24 of Endlessly Yours (The Wilder Brothers #10)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

brOOKS

I sank into the couch cushions, that familiar leather-like butter.

It had taken Amara and me a good month to find this couch and then three more months for it to arrive, and it was like our child.

I put my feet up on the coffee table, pulled out my e-reader, and decided I was just going to read for the afternoon.

Amara would be home any minute, and then we would sit and maybe put this couch to good use.

After all, it was time to have another baby, at least according to Amara. One that wasn’t a couch.

My lips twitched, knowing that we were also looking for a dog, one that would fit our family and would probably destroy the couch.

I pat the leather, holding back a laugh. “So sorry,” I said, trying not to smile as I went back to reading.

The door opened slowly, and I looked up as the love of my life walked into the room, her auburn hair framing her face and the shoulder-length haircut she had just gotten and wasn’t quite sure she liked.

I thought she looked beautiful no matter what she wore.

Hell, she made me hard just looking at her, but saying that didn’t help her like her haircut.

She’d always had flowing long hair and spent much of her fun budget on different products for it.

I didn’t mind because when I ran my hands through it, it made her purr.

“Hey there, babe,” I said, and Amara looked at my feet on the table but didn’t say anything. I frowned, setting my booted feet down on the ground, wondering why she hadn’t. I liked our jabs at each other, cute ones that just meant we loved each other.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, setting my book down and up by her side in a flash.

“I… it’s bad, Brooks.”

I swallowed hard, trying to hear what she said, but it was a garbled mess.

Then we were standing in a doctor’s office, explaining how stage four meant it had fully metastasized and moved to other organs.

There were treatments that we could try, special programs so we could pay for it.

And yet, the doctor’s words were just as jumbled.

I blinked, and we were sitting in the hospital room, poison being injected into my wife’s port as she finally took off the cold cap, annoyed with it.

“I don’t need to keep my hair. I just need to get this over with.”

I leaned down to kiss her, but then the dream changed, and that sense of fear that had been with me from the moment I had seen her was not able to take root.

Now, we stood in the bathroom as she sobbed into her hands, and I finished shaving off the rest of her hair. I leaned forward, tapped her shoulder, and immediately began to shave off mine.

“Brooks. No.”

“We can grow it back together. Damn it.”

She looked up at me then, but there was no hope there.

But that wasn’t right. She had been the hopeful one. I had been the one who had looked into the abyss and tried to evade my own pain.

We blinked, and we were back on that couch, and she was making me make a promise that I didn’t want to keep.

“You have to, Brooks. Love again. That’s all I’m asking. Rory’s such a good person, don’t you think?”

I blinked, confused as hell.

“What?”

“Your heart is so big, Brooks. You take care of everyone. And now you’re taking care of Rory and those girls. They need you.”

I tried to pull away, but her strength had returned, and she clutched at my wrist.

“I could never hate you, but this isn’t right. This isn’t what you said.”

“I love you, Brooks. And I know you love me. Now, remember your promise. You said you hated me and loved me all at once because I made you promise.”

I swallowed hard and reached out for Amara, but then it was Rory sitting there, her bald head cold without her cap. Her lips were chapped, her eyes sunken. And I screamed.

I shot up in the bed, heart pounding, as Rory reached for me.

“What is it?”

“Sorry. Bad dream.”

She frowned, but I didn’t say anything. Instead, I leaned forward and kissed her forehead, running my hand over her braid that she slept in.

“I’m going to go splash water over my face,” I whispered.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked as she sat up next to me.

I shook my head. “No, I’ll be okay.”

Hurt slid over her face, and I understood it. But I wasn’t about to tell her that I had pictured her in Amara’s place, dying in my arms. There was no need to dive deeper into that.

Instead of heading to her bathroom to wash my face, I padded down the hallway so I could go to the kitchen and get some water.

I wore sleep pants and a T-shirt, considering I was sleeping at her house.

We had been doing this for a couple of weeks now, and the girls hadn’t minded.

In fact, they hadn’t said anything. I didn’t know when that was going to change, but for now, we were making it work.

This relationship.

A sound hit my ears, and I paused outside of Alice’s room.

“Momma!”

I cursed under my breath and slid into Alice’s room as she twisted in the sheets, tears running down her cheeks even as her eyes squeezed shut.

I sat down at the edge of the bed and turned on the lamp on the nightstand table.

“It’s okay. Wake up, Alice. It’s just a dream. A nightmare.”

Alice shot up from bed and threw her little shaking body around me, sobbing into my shoulder.

“I miss my mommy,” she muttered into me, and I let out a shuddering breath, just running my hand up and down her back.

“I know you do, baby. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t go. Don’t go like Mommy and Daddy.”

I just held her, not making any promises.

I didn’t know if Rory and I were going too fast, or slow as molasses, but if I walked away because I kept having dreams that I was losing Rory just like I lost Amara, I wasn’t only going to hurt the woman I was trying not to fall for.

I was going to hurt this little girl and the almost teenager standing in the doorway, arms folded over her chest.

“Alice had a nightmare.”

“I can handle it,” Cameron said as she lifted her chin.

“But you don’t have to,” Rory whispered.

Cameron just shook her head and slid past her back to her room.

Rory met my gaze, sighing.

I wasn’t sure how to get through to Cameron.

I knew that she had to be hurting, but every time she lashed out at Rory, it hurt her.

Hell, it hurt both of them. But Rory continued to take it, and that’s why I had a feeling Cameron kept doing it.

Because Rory wasn’t going to leave, no matter how many times Cameron lashed out.

Eventually, Rory and I got Alice back to bed, and instead of heading for water or anything in the kitchen so I could get away for a moment, I followed Rory back to bed, and without a word, we fell back asleep, thankfully, dreamless.

* * *

The next day, instead of taking my day off or the girls spending time outside with their friends, we were all at a wedding.

There was a major wedding taking place on the property later tonight, and a few of the crew were sick, and that meant all hands on deck to finish prep.

As the wedding planner, Alexis was in twenty places at once, giving orders like a drill sergeant, and we did whatever she needed.

There were hay bales to be moved in one area and seating moved to another. Kendall and her team were in charge of catering, and I wasn’t quite sure how Kendall could do eight jobs at once, but hell, I did the same.

Even Bethany, my cousin-in-law who happened to be an Academy Award-winning actress, had her hair pulled back, a ball cap on her head to hide her face slightly, and was standing up on a ladder and working on fairy lights that had come down in the winds overnight.

Rory stood by my side, both of us working on setting out chairs for the outside evening wedding. Cameron had been helping, but now she sat on the ground near us, pouting as she stared at the book in her hands. She wasn’t reading anything but glaring at it.

Alice, however, had found a few friends from school and the five of them were playing soccer in the field near us. There were adults watching, and every once in a while, Rory would keep her eye on Alice, making sure that the little girl stayed in place. Hell, I was doing the same thing.

“Okay, how many chairs does this wedding need?” Rory asked, and I shook my head.

“I have no idea. However many Alexis tells me. That’s really the only answer.”

Rory smiled up at me, and my heart kicked. I didn’t even think twice about it; I just leaned down and brushed my lips against hers.

“Well, well, well,” Ridge muttered, and Aurora shushed him before wiggling her fingers at us and going back to the main building.

As she was the main pastry chef for the company, I knew she had to be either working on the wedding cake or some of the desserts that had to be served.

I wasn’t quite sure, as I just did what I was told.

“Ugh, why do you have to keep kissing like that. It’s gross.”

“Brooks and I like each other and are seeing each other. That’s really all that matters,” Rory answered before I could.

“I just don’t think you should be doing that in public.” Cameron stood up and brushed the dirt off of her jeans. “I mean, the girls that kiss boys at schools are just sluts, so I guess you are too.”

“Cameron!” Rory gasped, but I pushed past her and leaned down over Cameron. She shivered back, eyes wide.

“I know you’re hurting. I know that nothing is right at the moment, and everything you try to do pales in comparison to the life you thought you’d had.

I get that. But right now? This is the life you’re living.

If you want to be bitter for the rest of your life, you’re more than welcome to, but if you ever talk about Rory like that or say anything like that to her face, we’re going to have a problem.

And frankly, you shouldn’t be calling anybody a slut. ”

Cameron’s eyes filled with tears before she pushed at my chest and ran in the opposite direction. Because I hadn’t been expecting it, I took a step back and frowned.

“Fuck. I’m sorry.”