Page 30 of Endlessly Yours (The Wilder Brothers #10)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

RORY

T he next day, everything ached, but it was a good day.

Something had changed the night before, and it wasn’t just all of the dirty, inexplicably amazing things that Brooks and I had done in the back of that truck. My skin heated as I remembered, and I hoped nobody could read my mind. Because nobody needed those thoughts. Not even my best friend.

My lips curved into a smile as I thought about exactly how Brooks had cleaned us both up and cared for me in such an indescribably sweet way that it had brought tears to my eyes. But in the end, it was all I could do not to fall into a heap or at least melt into a puddle when I thought about him.

Because I loved him, and I hoped to hell that I would soon have the courage to tell him.

He had gone out of his way to make sure that we had an incredible night of just the two of us. And the girls had not only been taken care of, but they had been part of the planning.

The girls loved me. Or at least, liked me.

They had helped Brooks ensure we had all had an amazing night.

And we had crept into the house, underneath Ava’s knowing gaze.

Ava had slept in the guest room, while Faith had slept in Alice’s trundle bed, and Brooks and I had huddled underneath my comforter.

The only reason that Ava hadn’t gone home was that Wyatt had been out of town and had just come back today after a distillery retreat.

So now, the three of them were at the house for an early dinner, and we were going through class projects, prepping for the upcoming soccer season, and I was just blessed.

I still wasn’t sure exactly how this had happened, though.

“You’ve been doing great with the new fence. You should come over and fix ours,” Wyatt said as he pointed his beer toward Brooks.

Brooks stood at the grill and rolled his eyes. “You’re an adult. You can do that yourself.”

“But you’re the handy one. I’m just the brains.”

“Babe, if you’re trying to get your brother to do something, maybe don’t lie about the whole brain thing.”

Wyatt growled at his wife and then chased her around the backyard, much to the delight of Alice and Faith, who ran around with them.

I shook my head, smiling at their antics and trying my best to ignore the flutters in my belly as I watched them move.

Once again, I knew I was a goner when it came to Brooks Wilder, and I was going to have to try to find a way to let him know. Without giving up everything.

Because I was so damn afraid that we were going too fast. That maybe he didn’t think the same as me, or if I said something silly, I would ruin everything for me and the girls.

I had never been in love before, after all. I didn’t know what I was supposed to be feeling or thinking.

“Is he going to put cheese on my burger?” Cameron asked, and I shook myself out of my thoughts and looked down at my niece. “You asked for it, and Brooks said he would. But maybe you should go double-check. We can walk over together.”

Cameron wrapped her arms around her belly and shook her head. “No. It’s okay.”

I frowned and tugged her into the alcove where the others couldn’t hear.

“Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale.” I reached out and put my hand over her forehead. She flinched, but I didn’t feel any heat.

“I’m fine,” she grumbled.

“Cameron. What’s wrong?”

“Everything’s fine. I just… I don’t want to talk about it.” And with that, she stomped over to Brooks but smiled wide like she didn’t have a care in the world.

I shook my head, wondering exactly what that was about.

Some days, I felt like the two of us had found our path; other days, I felt as if I was once again making a mistake.

She was so kind to me sometimes, and other times, pushed me away for no other reason than she knew I would come back.

Her 13th birthday was coming up, and I was already dreading the full teenage years. Twelve years old was already breaking me. I could not imagine the rest.

We all were in Brooks’s backyard since he had the largest deck and grill, and as the wind picked up slightly, I pushed my hair back from my face and glared at the clouds off in the distance.

“Hey, do you think we should bring this party inside?” I asked as I pointed towards the clouds.

He scowled at them and shook his head. “They’re going in the opposite direction, but you’re right. The wind is picking up. We’ll eat inside, but we should be okay for now for actually finishing up on the grill.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed me softly.

Wyatt whistled as the two youngest girls clapped their hands.

I rolled my eyes but blushed.

“Brooks.”

“What? It’s not like they don’t know.”

“Oh, we know,” Cameron said, even as her lips twitched into a smile.

I grinned and leaned into him. “I don’t want to know what you know.”

She just laughed and went over to help Ava move a few things into the house.

I smiled and watched as the youngest girls danced around, and everything just felt right.

Like this was a family.

I missed my sister and my parents something fierce, but I also knew they were never coming back.

We had somehow been forced to make this new family of ours, and while I couldn’t say we were always blessed, not with the pain that brought us here, but with what we had right then?

I wasn’t going to take this for granted.

Because the girls were healthy and they were safe, and the man I had fallen in love with had his arms around me.

Honestly, that didn’t sound like too bad of a way to celebrate the end of a lovely weekend.

“Hey, are we eating at your place or at his,” Ava asked, and I pulled myself out of my thoughts and grinned.

“I actually have some of the side dishes over at mine, so let’s bring everything in there?” I asked.

“No problem. We’re good here. Let me just…” Her voice trailed off as the hairs on the back of my neck rose. I turned to see what he was looking at, what had just made his face pale, and it felt like everything tilted on its axis.

An older couple stood there, both of them holding onto one another as they looked surprised to see Brooks here at his own home.

The husband had a stern expression on his face, and the woman was just staring at Brooks as if she were seeing a ghost. For some reason, I felt as though I needed to stand in front of him to protect him or hide so no one could get hurt.

“Brooks?” I asked, my voice soft.

“I— it’s my in-laws,” he whispered, his voice broken. “I just, hey Wyatt, can you handle the grill? I’ll be right back.”

His brother gave him an odd look, pity filling his gaze as he looked at me before he gave me a tight nod.

“No problem. You guys head into the house, Brooks, you let me know if you need anything.”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Brooks squeezed my hand but didn’t kiss me as he walked away without saying another word. He just left. Left us behind without looking back.

Luckily, I didn’t think the girls quite understood what was happening as they had already been moving towards the house, but Wyatt did.

“Hey. We didn’t know they were coming. It was a surprise. Everything’s going to be okay. All right?”

“Yeah,” I said, clearing my throat. “We’re all good. I just hope Brooks is okay.”

He gave me an odd look, but I didn’t want to stay to interpret it.

Instead, I took the last few things, other than the burgers themselves, back into my home, leaving Brooks back at his place with his in-laws and the slap in the face of a past that I knew still haunted him every time he closed his eyes.

I just had to hope he was okay. I wanted to wrap him in my arms and tell him that he was okay. That he didn’t have to worry about me, that I would take care of him. And yet, part of me didn’t know if I had the right.

How silly was that? I was just telling myself that I was in love with him, that I needed to tell him, and the parents of the woman that he had loved more than anything, the woman that had shaped him into the man that he was now, had made him look as if he had seen a ghost.

The ghost that had always stood between us, or perhaps, next to us.

I shook myself from those thoughts, knowing they weren’t going to help anyone, as I went to help a curious Ava set up the rest of the meal.

I looked over the crew, realizing that Wyatt had come in with the burgers to help set everything up with Ava. Faith and Alice played a game beside her, but I couldn’t find Cameron.

The wind picked up, slamming open the back door that I hadn’t latched properly, and I went to close it, only to see that Cameron was still outside.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, pushing my hair back from my face as the wind shoved it forward.

“Be careful out there, I think the lightning is coming pretty close.”

Even as Wyatt spoke, an arc of lightning cracked over the sky, and I cursed.

“Cameron!” I called out.

But she didn’t seem to hear. Instead, she kept walking towards the field, and my pulse raced.

“Cameron!”

I ran past the gate and towards the little girl that I loved with all my heart and reached for her. She whirled away from me, and my eyes widened.

“What’s wrong, baby?”

“Everything’s wrong. Mom’s not here. She promised she would be here for this.”

I blinked at the venom in her tone, wondering where it had come from.

“For what, baby? You know she would’ve been here if she could. What’s wrong?”

“Today’s the day that Mom said I’d be a woman, and yet she’s not here. She promised she would help me. And I don’t know what I’m doing.”

It all clicked then, the mood swings, the paleness of her face earlier.

“Oh, baby. You started your period?” I asked softly.

“Yes. And I don’t know what I’m doing. I know Mom talked about it, and so did the school, but it’s stupid. Why do I have to do this?”

I shook my head even as I reached for her. “It is stupid. I hate that it’s every month. But you’re not alone in this. I’m here. Let’s talk about it.”

“Every month?” she asked, eyes wide. “I don’t want to do this every month.”

“It’s not fair that not everybody has to deal with this for sure. But we’ll handle it. Let’s get you back home and taken care of. Maybe get you something to drink and some Ibuprofen? You think that will help?”

“I don’t know. I just want it to stop. Because Mom promised she would be here, and she’s not. She had to go off and die because she and Dad wanted a weekend alone. And I hate that she’s gone. I hate her.”

“Oh, Cameron. You don’t hate her. You can hate everything that’s happened, but you don’t hate your mother.”

“You don’t know what I feel. She was supposed to be here.

She was supposed to help me with this. And I love you.

I know that you’re great, and I hate the fact that I keep yelling at you.

But I can’t seem to stop. Every time that I want to say something right, it comes out wrong, and then I’m a bitch.

And I don’t want to be a bitch. Mom would hate me being mean to you.

Because you have her face. You’re just like Mom, but you’re not.

And I just want my mom.” She burst out into tears then, as the wind continued to ramp up around us.

I pulled her into my arms, even though she tried to tug away.

“It’s okay. No, actually, I’m wrong. Nothing’s okay.

But I love you. We all love you. Your mom still loves you.

I know that she’s not here, and I miss my sister every single day.

But she wouldn’t want us to yell at each other or to feel bad that we miss her.

So let’s get inside before it starts raining, and let me take care of you all, okay?

I know I’m not your mom, but I am your aunt.

So let me love you like your aunt, okay? ”

“I miss my mom. But I love you too.”

My heart swelled as I held her close.

“I love you so much, kid.” Tears slid down my cheeks as Cameron cried in my arms.

Lightning cracked again and then two more times in rapid succession.

Shivering, I looked up and realized that the storm was now overhead, and the lightning was far too close. My hair stood on end again, but this time, it had nothing to do with Brooks’s in-laws.

“We need to get inside, Cameron. Now,” I said, and she must have heard the urgency in my tone.

Cameron looked up and nodded as another arc of lightning slammed into the breaker near us.

I pulled at Cameron, running before the lightning even finished its arc, the breaker bursting into flames, and then everything seemed to happen at once.

Cameron screamed, tripping over her feet. I tugged her up, ignoring the tears streaming down her face and the blood on her knee.

“We need to get going,” I called, knowing we were too far away from the house for anyone to hear us over the lightning and wind.

But the smell of smoke hit my nostrils, and then the fear set in.

Because there was no rain, only lightning and fire.

And as I coughed, Cameron doing the same, I pulled her close and skidded to a halt as the fire surrounded us.

“Aunt Rory!” Cameron called.

“It’s okay. We’ll be okay,” I lied. “There’s a gap over there. We’ll get through, and I’m sure the others are on their way and called the fire department. Just keep your head down and stay close. I’ve got you, Cameron. I am not letting you go. Ever.”

The fear in her gaze didn’t subside but she nodded, the trust in her eyes nearly sending me to my knees. And now I had to pray to whatever gods were listening that I hadn’t truly lied to my niece about everything.

Because the others couldn’t see us, and the fire had spread far too quickly.

And the only thing I could think of as I pulled Cameron close, keeping her face away from the flames, was Brooks, and hoping to hell he’d find us. I refused to let the man I love lose anyone else, nor would I let Cameron get hurt.

So we did the only thing we could.

We ran toward the edge of the flames… and prayed.