Page 13 of Wild Heart
“I am,” he declared. “I never thought I’d be this excited about it, either.”
“I still can’t get over the fact that Rhea was that close to you all these years, and you never knew it,” I said.
“Trust me, I think about that all the time. I wish I’d gone for a scoop of ice cream years earlier.”
The sting of regret.
Something I understood all too well. Something I’d been living with for more than a year now, longer if I really allowed my mind to drift.
“Hey, look on the bright side,” Liam chimed in. “You’re the first of us to make it happen. I definitely didn’t see that coming.”
Wyatt, Cooper, and I all exchanged nervous looks before turning our attention to our youngest brother. Liam was the quietest of the bunch, something that had gotten worse in recent years. It had been more than three years since he’d been left heartbroken, and I wasn’t sure he was ever going to recover.
Noting the worried looks on our faces, Liam said, “Relax, guys. I’m fine.”
“Are you?” Cooper questioned him. “You know we all thought this was going to be you.”
Liam shrugged. “Yeah, but it’s not. I have no choice but to be okay with it. And the last thing I’m going to do is ruin this weekend for Wyatt. I just…” He shrugged again. “Like all of you, I thought I was going to be the first one here. I thought I was lucky. Now, I’m not sure it’s ever going to happen. It is what it is. I’m happy for you, Wyatt. And Rhea is awesome. You’re both very lucky. Cooper and Skye are, too.”
A smile hit my face as mixed emotions moved through me. While we were all happy for Wyatt and Rhea on their upcoming wedding as well as Cooper and Skye on their recent engagement, there was a sense of devastation over where things were in Liam’s life. Nothing had turned out for him like any of us expected, especially not him.
“Thanks, Liam,” Wyatt said. “It means a lot to me.”
Liam went back to being silent.
“What about you, Tate?” my oldest brother asked.
“What about me?”
“I’m going to be a married man in a week. Cooper’s going to be there next year. I guess I’m curious if you’re ever going to stop working long enough for you to have the time to find someone.”
Avoidance was going to be my tactic on this topic.
“There’s a lot to be done at work,” I reasoned.
It wasn’t a complete lie. Our company, The Westwood Company, didn’t sleep. There was always something to be done, a place to expand. In my role as the head of marketing and product development, I didn’t sit around waiting for things to happen. I studied our product line, looked at what was selling, and made changes as necessary. I also looked at what things we offered at Westwood’s that would draw more crowds—whether to the hotel or the amusement park. I thoroughly enjoyed being part of the continued growth and success of our family’s company.
“Don’t even try that, Tate,” Cooper advised. “I’ve got a list of things that need to be done, and it grows every day. I’m convinced you create work for yourself. You’ve been working more hours over the last year than any of us have, and I don’t think there’s a need in the business for it.”
Why was this suddenly turning into a conversation about my work? I didn’t need them digging into what was happening inside my head.
“Yeah, you could take some time off for a little bit of fun,” Wyatt reasoned.
I swept my hand out in front of me, palm facing up, and said, “What does this look like?”
“Other than the usual holidays and birthday celebrations, this is the first you’ve taken some time off from work. It’s crazy.”
“That’s rich coming from you, Coop.”
Holding his hands up in surrender, he explained, “Listen, a good woman will change that for you.”
Visions of Ava flashed through my mind. I couldn’t start thinking about her again. She was the reason I’d been working so much over the last year. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t forget what happened at the lake house last year. I walked into that bathroom when my brothers and I arrived here, and I swore I could still see her standing there in her bra, tending to the wound on my hand.
She was all I thought about for more than a year now, and I didn’t know how to cope, other than to drown myself in my work.
Getting my head screwed on straight was going to be a necessity, though. Because I’d be seeing Ava again for the first time in nearly a year. She’d left a couple of days after the 4thof July get together last year to head out on tour, coming back only briefly during the Christmas holiday. I’d seen her once during that break. We never had the opportunity to be alone with one another then—something I believed she’d made sure was the case—and the very little interaction we’d had with each other was awkward at best.
I hated it.