Swear (Landry Family 4)

“Sort of, but I’m also in a very different time of my life now, Cam. I would’ve hated this ten years ago.” Shoving back from my desk, I stand, letting the chair roll back and bump the window. “The point is that I didn’t want to follow along with what everyone wanted me to do. I couldn’t imagine playing baseball every day. What’s the point in that?”

She grins. “Lincoln found one.”

“Linc found a couple thousand with nice racks,” I laugh. “And good for him. That’s what made him happy. It wouldn’t have me.” Sunshine beats in and warms my skin as I watch the cars below struggle to get to their destinations. “This family is so goal-oriented,” I say, more to myself than to Cam. “It’s all about the next check-off point, the next level, the next dollar. I had a really hard time with that for a while.”

I turn to see my little sister looking at me. She looks so young sitting there and I calculate how old she is. Then I consider how I felt at her age.

I was just starting to figure out who I was then. I’d seen enough, done enough, been exposed to enough to know what I wanted. What I liked. What I hated. If someone would’ve told me at her age I was wrong for feeling a certain way, I’d have been pissed. Just like she is.

I ran away from my problems and fears. At least she’s fighting for hers.

“Talk to me,” I say. “What’s going on?”

Her eyes flip to the floor as she wrings her hands in her lap. “I met a guy.”

“I know.”

“How do you know?” She looks up at me again. “Did Sienna say something?”

“Sienna has your back to the grave.”

“Then how do you know?”

“This isn’t my first rodeo, Cam. It was obvious to everyone weeks ago.”

She fights the smile stretching across her face, and it’s then I know—she’s much deeper in with this guy than any of us thought.

“Who is he?” I ask.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, it matters.” I quirk a brow. “What’s his name?”

“Look—”

“Why are you doing this?” I sigh. “Just tell me his name so I can figure out who the hell he is—and by that I mean who he is to the rest of the world and not just Camilla Jane Landry.”

Her courage is back. She narrows her eyes. “You know why I won’t tell you?”

“I’d love to know.”

“Because you won’t give him a chance.”

Putting my hands in my pockets, I sigh. “Is he that bad, Cam?”

“No. He’s fantastic.”

“But we’ll just hate him right off the bat because he’s so fantastic?” I groan. “I can’t deal with this.”

Falling back in my chair, I open my laptop. The screensaver waits for the password. I start to type it in when she speaks.

“What if I told you,” she says, gulping, “that he’s kind to me? Sweeter than anyone I’ve ever met? What if I said that he’d do anything to protect me, that he’s loyal . . . like you? What if he was a businessman and started a company from the ground up to take care of his family?”

I consider this. “I’d ask to meet him to see for myself.”

“What if I’m not ready for that?”

“Cam . . .” I bow my head. “I can’t guarantee you that I’m not going to search around and see what I can find out.”