“You said you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself from asking her to stay. Why can’t you?”
“Because she can’t stay. And I can’t go. It’s that simple.”
Brian made a really annoyingbut is it, thoughsound. “People move. It’s a thing that’s possible. People even did it before trucks were invented and they had to carry their shit on their backs.”
“Erika has all this data and growth projections and business plans. Hannah’s been going through it and sorting into pros and cons and comparisons and all that. They’re making plans—big ones—and based on what I saw, not the kind of plans you just toss out the window on a whim.”
“But Hannah doesn’t have all the data, does she? You can’t feel like she’s leaving you out of the decision if she doesn’t even know you’re part of it.”
Rob’s hand—the one not rubbing Stella’s head—was balled into a fist so tightly his knuckles ached, and he forced himself to open it and rest his palm on his thigh. “She told Erika I’m a summer fling. That’s the dataI’mworking with.”
“I’m sorry, Bobby.” Brian blew out a breath. Then he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “But have you thought—”
Rob pushed to his feet and turned his back on his brother. He wanted to walk out the door, but he had nowhere to go. “I’ve done nothingbutthink about this for weeks.”
Brian stood and put his hand on Rob’s shoulder to spin him back to face him. “I’m going to finish my sentence.”
“Why? Shouldn’t you be the last person to be fighting for love?” As soon as the words left his mouth, Rob regretted them. “I’m sorry.”
Brian was quiet for a long moment, his eyes sad in a way that battered at Rob’s broken heart. “I don’t even know what went wrong with Kelly. One day she just decided she didn’t want to be married to me anymore. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in love, Bobby. Do you really think I can look at our family—at our parents and our grandparents—and not believe in it?”
Unable to meet his brother’s eyes, Rob looked down and gave Stella a sad smile. She cocked her head, probably trying to figure out why her favorite humans were upset with each other.
“Joey found it,” Brian continued. “I want it for all of us. I want it for you. I even want it for myself again someday. If you really love her—if she’s the one—you can’t just let her leave without telling her.”
“I’m not sure if I can survive Hannah telling me she doesn’t love me enough to stay.”
“Sit back down,” Brian demanded, and since Rob had no idea what else to do with himself, he listened. “You can’t frame it like that, man. She either stays or she doesn’t love you. It’s not like her family lives a few hours away, so that’s not fair. She might love you, butalsolove her family and her home and the life she’s built.”
“I know.” Rob dropped his face to his hands, giving it a good scrub.
“Do you loveherenough to go with her to California?”
Rob froze except for a tremor deep in his muscles as the emotions his brother’s question evoked threatened to overwhelm him. “I can’t do that.”
“Why?” Brian sat back in his chair and held up his hand. “Do you not loveherenough?”
Heat prickled over his skin, and Rob looked down at his hands because he couldn’t bring himself to meet his brother’s eyes. Yes, he loved Hannah. But even if he could be happy so far away from New Hampshire, how could he leave his family? Would he get to see them once a year? Twice if he was lucky?
And there was no way he could bail on this campground before the first summer was over. He’d come into this hoping to earn his brothers’ respect so they’d take him seriously. That would never happen if he took off.
How did he end up in this place—having to choose between the woman he loved and everybody else he loved?
“Yeah, that shit you’re feeling right now?” Brian said. “If she lovesyou, she’s feeling the same thing. And because neither of you want to say it out loud because it looks too hard, you both might walk away from the best thing to ever happen to you.”
“I can’t leave,” Rob insisted in a hoarse voice. “I made a commitment to you guys. An even bigger commitment now because Joey’s having a baby and we’re going to take up his slack. You’re my brothers, and we’re in this together.”
“That means we’ll figure it out together.” Brian shoved a hand through his hair. “And if we don’t... Bobby, come on. There’s no business—no amount of money—that’s worth you throwing away your chance at a future with the woman you love. We’d walk away from it and let it go bankrupt and all of us go back to rebuilding the lives we had before the campground before we asked you to do that.”
Rob wasn’t sure he could speak even if he’d any idea of what to say to that. He looked at his brother, looking for annoyance or even anger. All he saw was concern and sincerity.
“I don’t know what to do,” he whispered.
Brian shook his head. “You already did it, dumbass. You shouldn’t have told her it was over. You should have told her you love her.”
“It’s too late now.”
“I’m pretty sure if Dad was here he’d say it’s never too late,” Brian said. “So would Mom. And literally everybody.”
