pulling her into his arms. The firelight danced on their faces and I could see her melt the second he touched her, despite the fact she was trying to look angry. There was so much love and attraction radiating between them, I felt an odd pull of emotions. I was happy for my sister—really, truly happy. But it was hard to watch, so I let my eyes drop shut and tried to turn off my mind.
Connor whispered soothing words and my sister said something back. I didn’t focus on their words; I thought about soft blond hair splayed across my pillow in the morning sun, about a laughter filled with high notes like chimes in a breeze, about a cool slim hand I’d once been lucky enough to hold in my own. It hadn’t been perfect. And maybe it had been something far less than that, but I still missed it. Mourned it.
“What do you think, Cam?” My sister was back in her chair, the crisis averted.
“It’s your wedding, Mad. You should have it the way you want.” I had no idea what she was asking me, but this seemed like a pretty solid blanket response.
“Yeah, totally agree. Actually I think the whole world should work that way, but it doesn’t seem to.” She paused and inclined her head, catching my eye. Her voice softened. “I asked if you’d be willing to walk me down the aisle. You know, since Dad . . .”
“Dad can do it,” I said, knowing there were probably a thousand reasons why that was a bad idea.
“What if he’s not lucid that day, Cam? What if he wanders off or gets confused or scared?” Her eyes grew round, her face serious, and I had a glimpse of the wild-haired little girl my sister used to be. My resolve softened.
“Yeah, okay. Of course I will, Maddie.” I couldn’t let my sister down. She was all I had in the world. Her and my dad, and Dad hadn’t been himself for a long time now.
“Thanks, Cam. I know weddings are probably hard.” Maddie had always been better at talking about things than I was, and she’d been trying to get me to talk about Jess—my wife—for a long time. But Jess was the reason I’d let myself stall out for the last two years. Talking about her was more than hard. Hell, thinking about her was hard. And doing just about anything else felt damn near impossible sometimes.
“Hey Cam,” Connor was staring past me, toward the big house set just down the driveway from the little house I lived in. “When are you going to move into the main house? It seems crazy, you living in the guest shack when that incredible house sits there, empty.”
“It’s not always empty,” I reminded them.
“Yeah, you rented my dream house to strangers last year.” Maddie wasn’t done being bitter, it seemed.
“You built your dream house and never moved into it. Some dream.” I could play this game, too. Maddie had been the one who was supposed to live in the big house, but she met Connor mid-build, and ended up moving straight into his house. I ended up in the guest house back then, and just hadn’t seen a reason to leave it. “I’ve got plans to rent it again, remember? That girl Mike hired from New York to work at the Inn.”
“Why don’t you rent this girl the guest house and live in the big house yourself?” she asked. Her curls danced around her head, and I felt a fierce love for my sister when I glanced at her.
“I don’t need the space,” I said. That was the truth. I had no idea what I’d do with myself in the big house on the property my sister had given me when I’d moved up here. The two bedroom guest house that sat off to one side of it was plenty of space for me. I was alone, and had no plans to change that. And one man didn’t need four bedrooms and a chef’s kitchen. It wasn’t like I was entertaining on a weekly basis. “Plus I get more money renting the big house than I would this little house.”
“What do you know about this girl?” Connor asked. The fire danced off his red beard and I thought—not for the first time—that he looked fierce and pretty badass. Besides the fact that he seemed to know a lot about various ways to kidnap, torture, and kill people—thanks to the