Page 28 of Endlessly Yours (The Wilder Brothers #10)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

brOOKS

S weat slicked down my back as I dug out the final post and set my shovel down so I could wipe away the dirt from my face.

I had spent all morning at the Austin site and now needed to fix this damn post for my fence because the heavy winds had knocked it out.

It didn’t matter that I had settled the whole thing with cement and had even used metal poles as the stationary posts between the wooden slats.

When heavy winds that were near tornado strength hit you in South Texas, a fence or even parts of roofs couldn’t last.

I needed to finish this up pretty quickly, so I could shower and get ready for the next phase of my plan.

A smile played on my lips, but I tried not to look too satisfied because I wasn’t the only one setting up this particular plan.

No, this time, I had help.

It was odd to think that I was sitting here, finishing up a few pieces of yard work on a home that I owned so I could kidnap the woman I was seriously falling for.

I paused, hand over my heart for an instant as I let those words sink in.

Amara had been the only woman I’d ever loved.

And until the moment I had been forced to say goodbye, I thought she would be the only woman that I would ever love for the rest of my life.

That hadn’t been the case in the end. And despite the promise I had made to her saying I would try again, I wouldn’t have thought I would have.

And yet here I was, falling for Rory Thompson.

She was secretive with her feelings, outgoing when she needed to be, and yet so scared about making mistakes where she could hurt those she loved that I couldn’t help but want to be the person that she leaned into through the worst of it.

I was head over heels for her and had been for longer than I cared to admit.

Maybe there had been a reason she had been the first one I had let myself be with. And the person who had haunted my dreams even though I thought I would never see her again.

Now there was no escaping her. Not that I wanted to escape her.

“Brooks! Are you ready?”

I turned to see Alice running towards me, a smile bright on her face, and I looked behind her, hoping that nobody else had heard. She dashed through the open gate between the two homes, and I smiled. “I’m getting there. I have to shower first, though. Are you guys all set?”

“Yep.” She looked over her shoulder and then tried to whisper, though it came out more of a shout.

“Ava and Faith are going to be over soon to watch us. And that means you can kidnap Aunt Rory.”

My lips twitched. “That sounds like our plan. Is Cameron distracting her?” I asked, enjoying the fact that the girls were helping me with this.

I had been right before in which I had told Rory that we hadn’t actually been out often. For two people who spent most nights together and were slowly figuring out the way that our lives could work, no matter what happened in the future, we didn’t spend much time alone outside of our homes.

So tonight, I was going to try to make that happen.

Even if it felt as though I didn’t know what I was doing completely.

“Okay, you go make sure that Cameron is distracting your aunt, and then I will finish this up before I shower so I can take your aunt out. What do you think?”

“I think that’s okay.” She pouted her lips and tapped them with her pointer finger as if she were thinking hard. I did my best not to smile because the kid was too damn cute.

“Why are you fixing your fence now?” she asked softly.

Always inquisitive, I went back to work as I answered.

“Because we’re getting another windstorm over the next week, as well as possible dry lightning.

So I want to make sure that there’s nothing out here that could potentially hurt somebody in case the wind does pick up.

I’m almost done, and then I will get ready.

Tomorrow, I’ll finish prepping the rest of the yard and land around us, just in case. ”

“What’s dry lightning, and just in case of what?”

“Dry lightning is when there’s a lightning storm without rain around here.

Because we live near a lot of brush that could catch fire, we have to be careful.

A lot of this area isn’t developed, which is good for us, but we also want to make sure that the wildlife is safe, and if something does catch fire, it can’t hurt us. ”

“I don’t like that. It’s scary.”

“It’s why I am spending a lot of time making sure that we prepare and keep the area safe. It’s okay, Alice. We’ve got this.” I reached out and wiped a spare fleck of dirt off her face, only leaving more clay behind.

She giggled and smiled up at me with her newly gap-tooth smile since she had just lost a fresh baby tooth.

“Did the Tooth Fairy visit?” I asked, though I knew the answer.

“Yes. Aunt Rory was very excited to tell me all about the Tooth Fairy because they didn’t get to visit my old house.

But they like it here. It’s like a home here.

” She smiled brightly, and I swallowed hard, that familiar kick in the gut whenever she spoke about her past, even if she didn’t even realize what she was saying.

I didn’t know exactly what Rory’s twin had been doing before the girls had moved here, before everything had changed.

But the girls were settling down and figuring out their lives.

Yes, Cameron still sometimes lashed out at Rory, but it was out of pain more than anything.

The fact that the girl was helping me set up this date tonight spoke more about her acceptance of her new life.

“If there is a fire, we’ll be okay, right?”

I set my things down, knowing I’d have to put everything away in a moment. And then I held out my arms. Alice ran to me, and hugged me tightly, and I just ran my hand down her back.

“We are taking care of the land, so that way, the land takes care of us. I know you were scared when you were out in that field by the resort all alone, but you’re not going to run away like that again, are you?”

“I promise.”

“Good. Because we would be worried if you did. But don’t worry okay? We’re always going to be here.”

“Not always. Mommy and Daddy weren’t always.”

I could have rightly kicked myself for saying those words. I, above most people, understood that sometimes, no matter how hard you wanted them to stay, people you loved couldn’t always.

I kissed the top of Alice’s head before I picked the little girl up and carried her back towards Rory’s house.

“You’re right. Sometimes life doesn’t work out the way that you want it to, but your aunt and I are going to do our best to make sure that you guys are taken care of no matter what, okay?”

“Okay. But make sure that you have fun with Aunt Rory tonight. She deserves to be a princess.”

I smiled at that. “Yes, she does.” I kissed the top of her head again as I walked inside and set the little girl down. “Go distract your aunt while I go shower. And then, I’ll be over to kidnap her.”

“Okay!” she shouted before she ran upstairs to where presumably Cameron was asking Rory how to do makeup so that way Rory would be ready for our date tonight. The kid was slightly diabolical, and I loved it.

I ran back to my place, put everything back in the shed, and went into my house to shower.

I was rarely at my place other than to grab a few things, and it didn’t seem to bother the girls, so I wasn’t going to let it bother me.

I checked the weather map again, grateful it wasn’t going to storm tonight.

Fire wasn’t the only thing that we worried about in these places, considering there was also wind damage like we’d already had, flash floods, and various other weather phenomena.

But there was nothing we could do to stop it other than try to pick up the pieces if something else happened.

It had just been a dry few months, and that meant if it did rain, flash floods were going to be an issue.

I shook my head, remembering the flash flood that almost killed somebody that we had loved in our family, but I pushed those thoughts from my mind and quickly slid on dark jeans, a button-up top, and figured that would have to be good enough.

We weren’t going fancy because Rory didn’t like fancy, and I was grateful for that.

A nice steak dinner, and then maybe making out in the back of my truck like we were teens again, was going to have to be a decent date.

I walked around the front of the house and knocked on the door, flowers in hand, wondering why I felt so damn nervous. It wasn’t as if Rory and I were new at this, but it still felt pretty damn new.

“I’ve got it!” Cameron’s voice called from the inside of the house, and my lips twitched as she opened the door. She had had on a full face of makeup but still looked her age. The glitter lip gloss helped.

“Oh good, you’re here. She’s all ready to go.”

“I’m ready for what?” Rory asked as her eyes widened at the sight of me.

“What? What are you doing here.”

“I’m kidnapping you, of course.” I handed over the small bouquet to Cameron, whose eyes widened as Alice ran up.

“Do I get one too?” she asked.

“Alice,” Rory muttered, but I just grinned.

“You do.” I handed over the small bouquet to her before holding out the larger one for Rory.

“What do you think? I thought my girls could use some flowers.”

“Brooks,” she muttered as her eyes filled, taking the bouquet in her hands. She pressed the petals to her nose and inhaled.

“They’re beautiful.”

“Just Texas wildflowers. Nothing like roses, but I thought the girls could use a little color. What do you think?”

“I love them,” Cameron said as she carefully played with one of the petals. “No one’s ever given me flowers before.”

My heart kicked, and I ran my hand carefully over Cameron’s head.

“Well, now you have. Want to go put them in some water?”

“Okay! Oh, hi, Aunt Ava!” Cameron reached out and tugged at Rory’s hand before the girls ran to the kitchen and they moved out of the way for Faith and Ava to walk in.