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“Just because I’m twelve months younger than you does not mean I’m your little sister.”
Declan laughed. “That’s exactly what it means.” The fact that they were half siblings and their father had been living two lives at once, with two separate families, hadn’t been an issue between them since they were kids.
Amber ignored him. “I miss you. Are you still in Cedar Springs?”
“I can’t imagine being anywhere else.” She could hear the love in his voice. “Of course, there’s been a few trips back and forth, but Cedar Springs is definitely home now.”
Amber still had a hard time wrapping her head around all of her siblings being in Cedar Springs. Together. Never in a million years would she have thought that they’d all be able to put their feelings aside and be a happy family after everything that had happened with their parents. Especially Ian and Mitch, her oldest brothers. They’d taken their father’s betrayal the hardest and for many years had refused to have any relationship with Amber and Chelsea at all. That had changed recently, but Amber still hadn’t met Ian and Mitch, at least not properly.
When she didn’t say anything right away, Declan added, “You’re surprised, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” She laughed. He knew her too well. “Not that you’re in love—that’s fantastic. But I never would have guessed that you would settle down in a small town. But if that’s where your heart is…”
“It is,” Declan said quickly. “So much. And I can’t wait for you to meet Evie. She’s amazing.”
Amber had heard all about her brother’s new fiancée, as well as Ian’s new fiancée, and of course her movie star brother, Cal’s, new love. And then there was Mitch, who’d taken it to a whole new level and fallen in love, gotten married, and gotten pregnant in record time. Hell, she’d barely met Mitch and now she had a whole other family to meet and she was going to be an auntie. At least Chelsea wasn’t getting married. Yet. But after the last time she’d spoken to her, it seemed as if even her little sister had also found love in the small mountain town.
Amber risked a glance down the hall, where she could hear Cole starting to get to work.Maybe she’d found love in the prairies?
As soon as the thought settled, she pushed it out.Temporary.One night and one morning of hot sex—veryhot sex—wasn’t love. Far from it.
Even if her heart was starting to think so.
“When are you coming?”
“What?” It took Amber a moment to realize Declan was asking her a question. “Coming where?”
“To Cedar Springs, silly. The lake…to come visit and meet everyone properly. A lot has changed with everyone.”
Reflexively, Amber shook her head, even though her brother couldn’t see her.
“I hear Christmas here is beautiful,” Declan continued. “And with Jonah, Evie’s little guy, it’s going to be so fun. Amber, you have to come.”
“Oh, I don’t know.”
She did know, and the answer was—no.
Chelsea had tried to get her to go visit Cedar Springs, the tiny lake town in the middle of the Canadian Rockies, to see their half-brothers a few months earlier. At the time, she’d used the excuse of having to finish up her internship, which wasn’t totally an excuse. But the truth was, she also wasn’t in a hurry to visit her two older half-brothers for the first time. There were four brothers all together. But Chelsea and Amber only had a good relationship with the two youngest, Declan and Cal. Likely because when the scandal of their parents blew up, they were all young enough to be forgiving and when they ended up in school together, a friendship formed. That wasn’t the case with the older ones, Ian and Mitch. Chelsea had met them both over the summer and swore to Amber that they were great guys. But despite everyone’s attempts, Amber just hadn’t been able to get in theone big happy familymood.Maybe that could change, too?
“I don’t think so,” she told Declan. “I’m kind of busy.”
“Is that right? Didn’t you graduate a few months ago?”
“I did.”
“And Chelsea said you were finishing up an internship and you haven’t accepted a job yet. So the way I see it—”
“I’m not going.” She could only deal with so many things at once. “Not this time, Dec.”
“Okay.” His voice was kind. Her brother knew when not to push. He was genuinely one of the nicest people she’d ever met, which was exactly why he was in the perfect profession. “So tell me,” he shifted gears, “what are you up to these days? You’re done with school, you haven’t taken a job yet…and…that’s totally unlike you. Are you feeling okay?”
Amber laughed and walked through the kitchen, out the back door and into the crisp November morning air. There was the distinct smell of snow lingering in the air. Maybe they’d get a big snow fall after all.A lot of things were going on that were totally out of character for her, she thought, thinking of Cole. Declan didn’t know the half of it. “I’m taking a bit of a break to figure things out. I’m just feeling a little unsure of everything right now.”
Where had that come from? She wasn’t taking a break. Not really, anyway…
“That doesn’t sound like you at all.”
“That’s the point.” It felt good to say it out loud. “I think I’m more than ready for a change. I’m not the same little girl anymore who needs to control everything.”
