Page 85 of Billionaire Unreachable: Wyatt

I wanted to believe that he needed me as much as I needed him, even though we’d never really expressed those emotions to each other.

I had to be an optimist until I had proof that I was wrong.

It would rip out my soul if I was wrong, and I didn’t want to face that until I knew what was really going on with Wyatt.

“Are you okay, honey?” my Aunt Millie asked as we finished our dinner. “You look like your thoughts are a million miles away.”

Not a million, but maybe a little over twelve hundred miles away.

I pulled myself back into the present, and smiled at my aunt. “I’m good. I was just thinking about what else I can get done for the picnic tomorrow.”

I was so lying my ass off, but I didn’t really want to share what happened with Wyatt with my family right now.

My emotions were still too raw, and I wasn’t sure what to tell them anyway.

The whole thing could be a misunderstanding.

They knew Wyatt and I were dating, and how much I cared about him. I preferred to leave it that way for now.

Aunt Millie shot me an admonishing look. “I think you’ve helped enough. You prepped almost all of the food today. Between you and my sons, you haven’t left much for me to do tomorrow.”

Kaleb and his brothers had arranged almost everything except the food. I’d asked him to leave that to me.

“And because I’ve been so helpful,” Kaleb said jokingly from his seat next to me. “I think I get the first piece of this pie.”

I slapped his hand as he reached for the beautiful huckleberry pie that was sitting in the middle of the table. “Oh, no, you don’t,” I warned as I cut a piece and put it on my plate. “I haven’t had a piece of huckleberry pie in a long time. If you guys get to it first, I’ll never get a piece.”

I stood to go get the ice cream, keeping my eye on my piece of pie as I pulled it from the freezer.

I didn’t trust any of my cousins with huckleberry pie, and my Aunt Millie made the best one in Montana. She had friends who brought her the best huckleberries in the state in exchange for a few pies and some of the jam she made.

I watched my cousins argue over the pie as I plopped a scoop of vanilla ice cream on mine with a smile.

It was hard to believe that three of the richest men in the world were squabbling over a pie, but my cousins’ wealth hadn’t really changed them much. Not to anyone who really knew them. While they might be sharks and were revered in the business world, they still acted like normal brothers when they were alone.

Everything about this family dinner felt familiar, including seeing my cousins argue about their portions of my Aunt Millie’s pie.

“You’re not nervous about tomorrow?” Kaleb asked as he put ice cream on his pie. “You’ve seen enough of the people in town to realize that nobody cares about what happened over a year ago, right?”

We’d gone to town several times, and other than curious glances from people I didn’t know well, no one had acted weird. I’d been welcomed by old friends, and ignored by everyone else that either didn’t remember me or know me.

I’d been uptight at first, wondering if people would be pointing fingers and gossiping, but it hadn’t happened yet.

“I’m not nervous,” I said with a sigh. Even if there was a little talk, I’d be gone soon, and it wouldn’t affect me much. “It’s nothing like it was over a year ago. You were right.”

I also realized that I’d changed over the last year, and I wasn’t nearly as vulnerable as I’d been before.

I’d gotten stronger, and I was much more capable of dealing with criticism about the incident because I didn’t feel the same guilt as I had right after it had happened.

Wyatt had helped me with that. He’d made me realize that I was a victim, no matter what people said about me.

“Please don’t tell me you’re mooning over being separated from Wyatt,” Tanner said drily. “It’s only been a few days.”

“And he’ll be here on Tuesday,” Devon said teasingly. “You can manage being separated for a week.”

My aunt glared at her sons. “You boys stop teasing Shelby right now. I’m thrilled that she’s with Wyatt now. He’s such a nice boy.”

Kaleb smirked, but as the oldest, he knew when to keep his mouth shut.

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