Page 5 of Wyatt

With my elbows on my knees, I rest my head against my closed fists. “I know. I know I messed up so bad. I should never have kissed her, but more than that I shouldn’t have lied about why. How do I fix it?”

When I peek my eyes over at Brooks, he’s got a thoughtful look on his face. “I agree that you shouldn’t have lied about the reason why you did it, but not that you did it in the first place.” When I raise a brow at that bit of news, he continues. “Why do you think you aren’t good enough?”

I shrug a shoulder. “I’m a screw up, a joker,” I say, my voice getting lower. “A clown.” Brooks scoffs and punches my shoulder, hard. “Ow, fucker. What was that for?”

“For being a dumbass,” he says, shaking his head at me. “Wyatt, we all know that you’re kidding around is to keep us smiling, keep things light so we don’t all fall back into feeling how much we miss mom and dad.”

My eyes widen at this new information. “I never figured you guys knew that. You were always giving me shit for being such a goof-off that I guessed that was all you saw me as.”

Brooks winces, his expression turning contrite. “That was kind of our way of showing you we love you,” he tells me, tapping his leg with his hand. “I guess we went a little too far with that. I’m sorry, Wy. If I would have known that’s all you would think of yourself, I never would have done it.”

“S-okay,” I tell him. “Nothing we can do to change the past.”

Brooks smiles. “Exactly, but you can change your future,” he says, nodding up at the homestead. “You’re a good guy, Wyatt. Funny, yes, but also smart and hard-working. Someone I think Georgie would be proud to be with, especially considering she’s been in love with you for the last ten years.”

I rock back on the log, damn near falling off. “What are you talking about? She’s not in love with me,” I insist, even though in my heart of hearts I want it to be true so badly.

A snort sounds next to me. “If you think that, you’re a blind fool,” he says, shaking his head. “Either way, you’ve got to make things right with her in the morning. Apologize and tell her how you really feel, Wy. She deserves the truth, and you deserve a chance at happiness.” Brooks slaps my back and stands, grabbing the bucket to pour water and dirt on the fire.

I stand up to help him, leaning away from the smoke that rises as we douse the flames. “When the hell did you get so wise?” I ask as we walk up to the house.

Brooks smiles sadly. “I almost lost my chance, almost lost Lacey entirely,” he tells me, reminding me of how his now-wife was in a car crash and got amnesia for a while. “I don’t want to see the same thing happen to you.”

When we’re on the porch, I turn to my older brother and pull him in for a hug. “Thanks, Brookie. You’re the best.”

He laughs and slaps my back a few times. “You’re welcome,” he says, opening the door to the house and heading inside. “But if you call me Brookie again, I’m going to kick your ass.”

I chuckle and lock up the house. As I make my way up the stairs, I try to think of exactly how I can apologize to Georgie. A simple “I’m sorry” isn’t going to cut it. No, I need to go above and beyond to make things square between us, and after that I can tell her how I really feel. That I love her and want to be with her. I may not feel totally worthy yet, but I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to be.

***

The alarm on my phone sounds a bit earlier than normal, but that’s okay. I’m used to waking up during the early hours of the morning. A rancher’s work starts early and ends late, but it’s all worth it to be able to work the land and be your own boss. That work will wait today, though. This morning, I’m up early to get started on breakfast and clean up from the night before.

Georgie is normally up early, getting the coffee pot going and prepping for the morning meal, so I had to wake up an extra hour early to beat her to it. My eyes are dry as hell and my back aches a bit, but it’s worth it to take a little bit of the load off her plate and show her that I care about her.

After a quick shower, I head downstairs and check the calendar to see what meal she planned for today, sighing with relief when I see it’s just scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. No doubt Georgie planned something light for the morning after her birthday, knowing how tired and possibly hungover some of us would be.

My girl’s is a smart one, I think to myself as I go to grab the bacon from the fridge. My girl. It feels right to think of Georgie that way, and if everything goes as planned, I won’t just have to think it because she’ll be my girl for real. Trying to tell myself I wasn’t in love with her was dumb, and I’m trying not to be that anymore.

Making my way over to the cabinets, I take out a cast iron pan and put it on the stove, then go back to grab a big bowl to crack the eggs into. I flip the coffee maker on, smiling at the percolating sounds as I work on the egg batter. Today, I’m going to make things right with Georgie and then we can start our lives together. I should take her out to a fancy restaurant, really treat her to something special because that’s what she is and that’s what she deserves.

Floorboards creak above me as the rest of the house comes to life. I get the bacon cooking and pour myself a cup of coffee, adding a splash of milk before downing the whole thing in one go. My mind needs to be as alert as possible when I go to set things right with Georgie. No more words gone wrong.

The footsteps on the stairs are heavy, and when I turn I’m not surprised to see all three of my brothers coming into the kitchen, rubbing their tired eyes and grabbing some coffee for themselves. Brooks smiles and nods approvingly at my making breakfast, but Sawyer and Mav have much more suspicious looks on their faces.

“Why are you making breakfast?” Sawyer asks, crossing his thick arms over his chest.

“Another birthday present for Georgie?” Mav asks, blowing off the steam from his mug of black coffee before turning to Sawyer. “I told you we should have given her the week off.”

Sawyer looks offended and shrugs a shoulder. “I offered, but she declined,” he says, looking at the watch on his wrist. “Maybe she’s taking me up on my telling her to sleep in more though.”

My eyes flick to the clock on the wall, and it is about half an hour past when she would normally already be up and about. A sinking feeling settles in my stomach. “Yeah, maybe.”

A sniffling sound comes from the base of the stairs and I turn to see Scarlett standing there, still in her pajamas and tears on her face. “Nope,” she says, her voice wavering. “Georgie’s not sleeping in. She’s gone.”

The spatula I’m using to flip the bacon falls to the ground. “What do you mean gone?” I ask, my heart racing at the thought of Georgie not being here anymore.

Scarlett steps into the kitchen, waving a letter of some kind in her hands. “I went to her room to check on her since she went to bed early last night, and all her stuff was gone,” she tells us.