“Is it Amy?”
He snorts. “Right.”
“Okay. So if not Amy, then what?”
Silence.
“Hockey? Your dad?”
“How did you know when was the right time?” he asks.
“The right time…”
“To quit playing football.”
I stop at the red light and tap the steering wheel lightly. So it is about hockey. And his dad. The two have always been inextricably linked in Cam’s life.
“I knew when I finally accepted that I didn’t love playing football the way I would need to if I wanted to make it big. I enjoyed playing, but I didn’t love it like I love Montana and the ranch life,” I say. “I love to coach and be around the sport as much as possible, but to try to pursue it professionally? That never would have made me happy.”
“Yeah.” The line goes quiet again.
“My dad says Uncle Tyler always was the most obstinate of all the brothers,” I say, referring to Cam’s father.
“Oh, yeah? Did he also say my dad was the biggest asshole of the bunch?”
“I don’t know. Dylan’s dad may have him beat there.” I’m not really joking, and Cam knows it. Dylan’s nothing like his father, and my dad always says, “Thank God for that.”
“I appreciate the input, Bray,” Cam says. “I’ll see you in a few.”
“See you. I’m nearly there.”
* * *
I park the truck in my driveway and head up the steps. Olivia opens the front door before I can and greets me with a hug. Her sleek black hair is up in a messy bun, and she apologizes immediately for, “…letting you into your own house.” Jenson and Cam are right behind her, and the four of us walk through the foyer and out to my porch.
We stand in a circle in front of my fireplace with no one speaking at first.
Jenson and Cam don’t ask me what I was doing out after midnight or why I look like hell. Like they always have, they accept me without question, without judgment. Besides my cousins and my immediate family, the only other person I’ve ever met who accepts me unconditionally is across town and days away from marrying somebody else. Someone who’s not me. And the more I get to know Leleila Wills, the more painful that truth has become.
I glance at the cup of tea in Cam’s hand. “That looks good.”
“You want a cup?” Olivia’s already heading for the kitchen. “J put the kettle on when we got in. Our flight was freezing cold; the air never warmed up.”
We all follow her out of the room and take seats on the kitchen bar stools.
I lean my elbows on the island counter. “Thanks, Olivia. I hope I didn’t wake up the kids just now.”
“Not a chance,” Jenson assures me, pushing an overgrown lock of blond hair out of his face. “Meghan sleeps like the dead, and the kids both take after her.” He gets up to take two cups of tea from Olivia, leaning in to kiss her as he does.
As they gaze at each other, my chest clenches with unexpected pain, pain that’s all about my own relationship issues. Olivia and Jenson are so in love and their connection so powerful that I can’t believe they were able to keep it private for as long as they did. I swallow down my own problems and focus on their long-deserved happiness.
“Congratulations on your engagement, you two.” I raise the cup of tea Olivia hands me. “When’s the wedding?”
Olivia smiles at Jenson. “We’re not sure. I don’t want a big formal thing, so we’re still trying to figure it all out.”
She takes a seat on a stool next to Jenson, and the two of them face Cam and me.
“The happy couple and the last two single Wilds.” Cam chuckles. “We make a good pair, Bray.”
