Page 67 of Mine to Protect

It was his desire to make sure she didn’t worry any more than she already had in a situation that she didn’t understand.

She loved Rhett with all her heart.

Same with her brother.

Chris was her only family—her only flesh and blood—left.

Rhett was who she chose to be with. He’d become her safe harbor. Him and this quaint little town of Lighthouse Cove.

Her brother leaned into her with his shoulder. “Come on, sis. Talk to me. I know you were scared for me, and I know I put you in a shitty situation. But I really didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t just tell you what was going on when I didn’t even know who was after us. And it’s a good thing since it turned out it wasn’t exactly who we thought.”

She sucked in a deep breath, filling her chest with as much oxygen as possible. She held it for ten seconds before letting it out slowly. “I could have lost you. And Rhett, too.”

“Shelby, I had to run. And after finding out about Rhett, I knew he would keep you safe. I won’t apologize for that,” Chris said as he kicked his feet. Water gently sloshed against the side of the pool.

“This might sound petty, but I resent how you found out about him.”

“Are you talking about your diaries? I’m sorry, but had I not stumbled onto those, I hate to think where we might be right now.”

She agreed. But that didn’t change her emotions. “You invaded my personal space by reading them.” She held up her finger, hushing her brother. “You violated both my and Rhett’s privacy.”

“I did,” Chris said. “But that’s not something I’ll apologize for. Because without Rhett, we might not be sitting here right now having this conversation, and Jackie might not have the chance to have her family back.” Chris shifted, setting his bottle down. “And you know what else? It hurt me that I never knew about him. And other things. I hate that you felt—feel—like you can’t share your life with me. I’m not the same man I was five years ago, and I want you to lean on me as much as I lean on you. But you never open yourself up. Rhett is proof of that.”

“I didn’t tell you about Rhett because I didn’t think I’d ever see him again.” She swiped at her cheeks. “I kind of wanted to keep him in a safe bubble all to myself.”

“You fell in love with him when you met him, and it’s obvious he fell for you, too,” Chris said. “The fact that you spent five—”

“That was for the best. For both Rhett and me. And I didn’t tell you because we were dealing with so many other things.”

“It’s not really Rhett. It’s everything. You can’t keep shutting me out,” Chris said with heavy emotion. “You say that I did that to you, and you’re right. I did. But you have been keeping me at arm’s length since I got clean. No matter what I do, it’s like you’re waiting for me to fail.”

Tears burned her dry eyes. She shifted her gaze, palming her brother’s cheek. In a few short days, she’d learned so much about herself, her brother, and about love. “All I’ve ever known is the pain of people letting me down. Mommy wasn’t ever there for us. You checked out when you were a teenager, and while Daddy was sick, I felt like I was the only one who could take care of him.”

“That’s just it. You never let anyone help. Not even when I had my head on straight. You always treat me like I’m a child. I’m a grown man, and I’ve come a long way.”

“I know. And I’m sorry for that. It wasn’t my intention to make you feel that way. I was protecting myself from being hurt, and I hurt you in the process.”

He took her hand and kissed it. “I love you, Shelby. You’re my big sister. I want you to get to know Jackie because I’m going to marry her. I want us to be one big happy family.”

“I want that, too.” She let out a long breath. “I hope her uncle and parents aren’t going to be in too much trouble.”

“According to Miles, they’ll be fine.” Chris chucked his fist across her chin in a little love tap. “Rhett seems like a real stand-up guy. I hope the two of you are going to give this rekindled spark a real shot.”

“We’ve talked about dating, and I think we both want that, but we have some things to discuss.” She turned.

“Why are you still angry with me?”

“It’s not anger. It’s hurt. But I want you to know I’m proud of you.”

“Ah. Me going back to school. I wanted to surprise you,” Chris said. “But I’ll be honest with you, I was afraid you’d give me a lecture and not necessarily believe I’d follow through with it.”

She laughed. “I do that, don’t I?”

He nodded.

“I’ll work on that.”

“So, are you going to move to Lighthouse Cove?” he asked.

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