Page 63 of Broken Heart

Rhea laughed, forcing me to look in her direction again. “There’s never a dull moment around here, that’s for sure,” she said. “Funny you should ask about how Wyatt and I met, Skye. I have an ice cream shop on my family’s farm, and back in March, Wyatt walked in, looking to purchase part of our land for the amusement park expansion. I turned him down, and I thought he graciously accepted. But then he turned up at the spot I go running every morning, and I was convinced he was stalking me.”

My eyes rounded. “Was he?”

She shook her head, a bright smile on her face. “No. But I was stubborn and refused to believe him. We ran together without speaking to each other for quite a while before he wore me down.”

“And if anything, it was almost as though Wyatt had taken a page out of Cooper’s book for some time in the beginning there,” Jules noted. “He’s a determined guy, but Rhea wasn’t making things easy for him.”

It seemed the Westwood men had a particular way about them. I was no stranger to that determination. I didn’t have the full story yet, but it was evident Wyatt’s persistence had paid off, considering Rhea was sitting here now. If Wyatt was anything with Rhea like Cooper had been with me, I couldn’t say I didn’t understand why he’d been successful.

“Oh, shoot!” Ava cried out. I snapped my head in her direction to see her standing from her seat with the remnants of her drink in her hand. The rest of it had spilled down the front of her shirt. “This is lovely. I’m going to go get this cleaned up. I’ll be back.”

“Do you want help? I can find another shirt for you,” Ivy offered.

Ava shook her head. “I think I have something in my car. I’ll let you know if I don’t.”

As Ava walked off, Ivy let out a laugh. “It blows my mind how she does what she does for a living and still manages to be accident prone. All that coordination, and she consistently spills something or winds up with unexplained bruises.”

“What does Ava do?” I asked.

“She’s a professional dancer. In fact, she’s gearing up to head out on tour in a few days and is expected to be gone for the better part of the next year,” Ivy shared.

“Wow,” I marveled. Clumsy or not, I admired Ava. I couldn’t begin to imagine getting up on a stage and dancing in front of such large crowds. “I could never do that.”

Jules and Rhea nodded their agreement as Ivy said, “I couldn’t either. But she loves it.”

“How does she manage being away for such long stretches of time?” I asked.

Before Ivy could respond, one of the guys yelled, “Heads up!”

My body braced for impact as I attempted to discern where the threat was looming. Surely, something was flying in our direction.

Just before the disc got too close, Liam caught it. A second or two later and Jules would have gotten whacked in the head with it. “Thanks for keeping us safe, Liam,” Jules shouted.

He glanced back at his sister, offered a half-hearted smile, and returned, “Always.”

While it was clear he was genuine and meant what he said, there was something else lingering there. His features were strained, and the tone of his voice was a bit forlorn.

Or, so I thought.

When Liam returned to the middle of the field, doing as we watched, any of the tension I thought was there was gone.

So, I let it go.

Partly because I didn’t think I was in a place to make assumptions or even ask about Cooper’s brother’s mindset. But the bigger reason I didn’t keep my thoughts focused on Liam was because it was at that moment when I realized just how intense the game had gotten. The men were covered in sweat, several of them having lost their shirts. Cooper was one of them, and I wasn’t too proud to admit it took some strength not to start drooling. Sure, I’d seen him shirtless during his birthday party, but this felt different for some reason.

“That was close,” Rhea said, pulling me out of my fog.

“Yeah, I guess so. But having lived with four older brothers for so long, I expect as much,” Jules replied.

“Give it some time, and you’ll start to worry if stuff like that doesn’t happen,” Ivy added. “And to answer your question about Ava being away for such long periods of time, Skye, the answer is relatively simple. She loves dancing and has always wanted to do what she’s doing. She’s living out her dream, and all I can say is that I admire her courage to keep chasing that.”

Nodding my understanding, I said, “Well, that’s got to be so exciting for her to travel all over the world.”

“Where are you going, Tate?” Cooper yelled out.

Tate, shirtless like his brother, was heading back toward the house, one hand holding the other. He turned to look back at Cooper and the rest of the guys. He held up his hands and declared, “Injury. I’ll be right back.”

I shook my head in disbelief, returned my attention to Rhea, and tried to get us back on track. “I’m sorry. We sort of got distracted here. So, how exactly did things go down between you and Wyatt? I hope you don’t mind me asking, but I’m curious how you went from not talking to him at all to being here celebrating the 4th of July with him and his family.”