Page 101 of On the Slopes of Tahoe
“God, don’t apologize.” There’s a sheen of tears in his eyes now. “Don’t apologize for doing what makes you happy, Rory. You deserve all the happiness. All of it. I can’t imagine a better man to make you happy.”
I hear a sniff behind me—goodness, we’re all a mess.
“I tried to convince her we needed to stay here for you,” Breck deadpans, and I smack his chest.
“You did not! Look at you throwing me under the bus to try and stay in my brother’s good graces.”
“Well, he has to or I’ll beat him up for going after my baby sister,” Wes jokes and I growl at him, garnering laughs from everyone. “Seriously though, Rory. You’ve given everything of yourself to everyone around you. God, I wish we could all be together, but this isn’t about me—I mean, everything is always about me.” He chortles at his own joke. “But truly, I’m happy for you guys.”
“Thanks, Wessy,” I say through my tears and he barks out a laugh, immediately lightening the mood.
Breck squeezes me tighter against him. “It won’t be right away. There are details we’re going to have to work out here. Willow needs to finish this semester before we take her out of school again. We have to apply for visas and…” Breck blows out a breath. The weight of all that needs to be done is heavy on both of us, but mostly on him.
“There’s a lot to figure out,” I say, kissing the stubbled underside of his jaw. “But we’re figuring it out, together.”
“Yeah, we are.” Breck leans in to kiss my nose.
“We’re here to help. Whatever we can do to make this easier. Do you—” Wes looks around the yard. “Do you have a plan for the house yet?”
“That’s one of the bigger obstacles. I don’t know if I should sell it or rent it or…”
“What if I have a solution to that particular obstacle?” Wes says and looks at Joss, who places her hand over his.
“Oh yeah?” Breck offers skeptically.
“Would you consider selling it to us?” Wes asks.
“What?” Breck and I say in unison.
“Yeah. We’ve been thinking about moving out of the city. We love our apartment, but—” Wes stops and looks at Joss again.
“He’s trying to knock me up, and if it works, we want something bigger. Somewhere with space,” Joss says, not beating around the bush.
“Really!” I yell, running over to my brother and sister-in-law to wrap them both in a hug. It’s awkward with them still sitting in their chairs, but I don’t care.
“Yeah,” Wes says, a cheeky grin pulling his lips.
“It’s new, so don’t get too excited. Regardless, we love this house. And that way, you’d always have somewhere to come back to when you visit.”
Breck joins our hug, making it even more ridiculous. “I think that’s the absolute perfect solution. I just—” His eyes tear up. “I can picture you guys here. I can’t imagine a better place for you to raise your own brood of children.”
“Child… Let’s start withachild and see how it goes,” Joss jokes.
“You’re going to be a great dad,” I say, hugging my brother tighter. Then I stand and look at Joss. “And you’re going to be the best mom. I’m so happy for you guys.”
“Speaking of parents,” Wes says, bringing the celebratory energy to a grinding halt. “I talked to Mom and Dad last week.”
“Both of them—at the same time?” I say, incredulous.
“Yeah. They conference-called me from the office.” He rolls his eyes.
“And…” I say, nerves fluttering in my stomach. They’ve continued to invite me to dinners, and even though I haven’t gone, it has opened a small channel of communication between us, making it finally feel like the ball is in my court.
“They—well,I thinkthey’re finally seeing the writing on the wall for what their relationships with us will look like ifsomething doesn’t change. It was the first time I’d talked to them since they kicked you out.”
“What did they say?” I ask, chewing at my thumbnail. I never meant for my issues to come between them and Wes.
“Mom said she misses you, misses me. Dad was more emotive than I’ve heard him in a long time, maybe ever. He said he’s been watching the children he raised live their lives completely separate from him and he’s starting to see he might be the problem. Thattheymight be the problem.”
