Page 21 of Endlessly Yours
But I wouldn’t tell her yet. Trying to find common ground with her would just make her even more angry with me.
Knowing I only had a little while before I had to make dinner, I went through the list again of what I would have to buy for the girls. If I couldn’t drag Cameron with me, then Ava said she would watch her while I took Alice out. For some reason, Cameron didn’t seem to mind being near Ava and Wyatt. Mostly, Wyatt. That made me smile. No, Cameron may hate me and yell at me often, but those Wilder men, even at their most growliest, couldn’t help but make a girl swoon.
I didn’t think Cameron had a crush per se, but she listened when the Wilder men spoke. So Wyatt and Ava would be able to watch Cameron if I couldn’t get her out of the house to go shopping.
And if all else failed, I could get Cameron to stay on the Wilder property that she somewhat liked, even though I knew she lied to me about it. And then I could get work done.
Like I was supposed to be doing right now.
With a sigh, I brought out my sketchbook and got to work.
I ignored emails, knowing I’d have to get to those tonight when the girls were asleep. Eventually I would sleep, but then again, if I did, I would either be thrown into a nightmare of a plane crash, or worse, one where Brooks was the main feature, and I was then thrown into a plane crash.
I shook my head and tried to get back to work. When my alarm sounded forty-five minutes in, I frowned and realized that Alice hadn’t checked in.
Music was still going, and I could hear Cameron stomping up there, so I set my work aside and went out to the backyard to search for Alice.
“Alice! I’m going to start up dinner soon. Where are you?”
The fence line was only on part of the property and not on the rest. It was more like a dog run, where the rest was open so you could see the beauty of the Texas landscape. There was a house to the right of us, but it was an elderly couple, and I rarely saw them. To the left of us, of course, was Brooks, and I hadn’t seen him since I had moved in.
But Alice wasn’t out near the small copse of trees, or the native bushes that I knew that she liked to play near and pretend she was in fairyland.
“Alice! Where are you?” I asked, my heart racing.
I didn’t see her outside, so I ran back in, calling her name.
She wasn’t in her room and wasn’t in any of the other places that she normally would be.
I knocked on Cameron’s door, but she didn’t answer.
“Cameron. I’m coming inside. I need to find your sister.”
“Don’t you dare come inside!” Cameron shouted.
The doors for the girls’ room didn’t have locks for a reason, and I walked right in. Cameron lay on her bed, journal in hand, and she glared at me.
“This is my space,” she snapped.
“And I knocked, and you know the rules. I come in after I knock to check on you. For safety. However, where’s your sister?”
“You already lost her? Great supervisor you are,” she sneered.
I stared at her, knowing I would have to deal with this soon. But first, I needed to find Alice.
Without saying a word, I whirled on my heels and ran down the stairs before going outside again.
“Alice!” I yelled.
“She’s over here, Rory,” a familiar, deep voice said smoothly, and I froze, my throat going tight.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no. When had he come home?
I turned to the side and realized that Brooks stood there, Alice in his arms, as she wrapped her little arms around his neck, calmly laying her cheek against his shoulder.
The fences themselves had a small gate to connect them, and I figured it was because Brooks owned the places, but it was all I could do not to but my knees finally gave out.
“Alice. You didn’t tell me you were going over there.”
