Open Your Heart (Kings Grove #4) - Delancey Stewart Page 0,78
movie myself, holding on to Cam like a maiden in distress as the shock of the mountain lion fight wore off and everything inside me reached for him, for the hope that he really did intend to try to stop me from leaving.
We headed to the buffet, and Cam filled a plate for me, checking in about what I wanted, what I liked, and then he settled me at a table with my father and Miranda’s parents. “I have to sit at the head table for a few minutes,” he said, then fixed me in his blue-eyed gaze. “Don’t you dare leave. We are not finished.”
I found myself nodding, happy to be taken care of for once, and half in awe that it was Cam doing it.
Before he went to the head table, Cam leaned in close to Ranger George’s side, and I watched as Miranda’s father’s face took on a firm set. Cam was clearly telling him about the mountain lion encounter.
“We’ll have to send a team up with tranq guns,” the older man said, looking to me as he spoke. “This has gone on long enough. Thank God nothing happened,” he said. “Harper, I’m glad you’re all right.”
I nodded and felt my dad’s eyes on me. As Cam went to the front, I told the story of the mountain lion encounter to the table, feeling more like myself as I spoke. As I was finishing up, the microphone crackled to life, and Cam’s voice rang out over the deck, quieting the buzz of conversation.
“Hi there,” he began. “Hi everyone.” Cam stood next to where his sister and Connor sat, and Maddie beamed up at him, her eyes shining as Connor’s arm rested around her shoulders. Cam held the microphone with both hands, looking slightly nervous as he shifted his weight back and forth. “I’m Maddie’s brother, Cameron Turner. I know most of you, but for those I haven’t met before, you can just assume that I’m every bit as wonderful and charming as my sister here.”
The crowd laughed appreciatively, and Cam’s shoulders relaxed a bit as he smiled down at his sister and then looked back out at the crowd.
He chuckled and then went on. “If only that were true,” he said. “But it isn’t really. My sister got the lion’s share of charm and grace in our family, as I’m sure those who know her well realize.”
Cameron dropped one hand into a pocket, seeming to settle into his role a bit as he looked out at the crowd and continued. “For as long as I’ve known her—which was my whole life, really—my sister has been a role model for me. That might sound odd because I’m the older sibling, but from the moment I first saw Maddie when I was about three years old and my parents brought her home and told me it was my job to look out for her, she’s shown me over and over again the kind of person I want to be. She’s strong and determined, she doesn’t let anything knock her down for long. But beyond that, I think what I’ve always admired most is her willingness to believe in those around her, her commitment to seeing the best in people, even when they’re showing her their worst.”
Cam looked down at Maddie and Connor, smiling. “When my sister met Connor, she and I were barely speaking, so I didn’t get to know him right away as I would have liked. I wasn’t really doing the job I’d promised my parents I would—I wasn’t looking out for her. But I know the story, and I know that she gave Connor that same benefit she offered everyone—she doesn’t believe the rumors or the whispers about someone, no matter what people might be saying. She looks for the truth of a person, she looks for what matters. Maddie doesn’t allow people to be anything less than what they truly are around her, and I know that was part of the reason Connor fell in love with her—I know it’s a big part of why I love my sister so much. She makes us all better.”
“I don’t know Connor as well, but I see a similar authenticity in him, a matching desire for what’s real, and I think that’s why they’re a great fit. They live their lives fearlessly, side by side, taking on challenges together and moving through them, stronger. Watching them together is like having love explained to you in understandable terms, having