Wild Love (The Wilde Brothers #1)

Chapter 17

17

SCARLETT

W hen we woke up the next morning, Eli said he was going skydiving with the guys. He'd said he hadn't done anything wild in a while and needed to do something to feel alive.

I couldn't tell him not to do it. But I felt this overwhelming sense of anxiety.

I tried to focus on Saturday-morning rehearsal, but it was impossible.

Marigold finally pulled me away. "Are you as freaked out as I am?"

"Is Chance doing it too?" My heart raced.

"Uh-huh. I tried to talk him out of it, but he just laughed and said it was safer than driving or some BS.

"Did you just swear?" I asked, a little shocked even though she'd used the acronym.

"Scarlett. Focus. The boys are going skydiving. They could die. I looked up Chance's claim about it being safe, and he was lying. Flying is safer than driving. He's falling. Out. Of. A. Plane," she said, emphasizing each word .

"I'm sure they're not falling per se. Surely, there's more finesse to it than that."

"Do you remember how gravity works?" Without waiting for a response, she continued, "Do you know the stats on how often the parachute doesn't open?"

I swayed on my feet. I couldn't imagine Eli not coming home. When he'd told me about his plans for the day, I couldn't speak any of my fears out loud because it would mean admitting that I cared about him. And that wasn't part of our deal.

Marigold gripped my forearms. "Scarlett. Get it together. We need to stop them."

"Stop them?" I asked, feeling lightheaded as I looked around at the kids who were playing some elaborate game of hide-and-seek. This was not going according to plan.

Marigold moved away from me to the center of the stage. "I'm sorry, but we've had an emergency come up. We need to end practice early."

"How soon?" one of the parents asked without looking up from his phone.

"Now."

There was a flurry of activity until we could get the kids in their coats and out the door. When the last one walked out and the door was locked behind us, Marigold gripped my arm, practically dragging me down the sidewalk to her car. "We don't have much time."

"I can't believe you let Chance go."

"Me?" Marigold asked as her gaze flitted from the road to me. "You're the one sleeping with Eli."

"How do you know?" I didn't think I'd mentioned it to her.

"It's obvious. The way you two look at each other. And not to mention the fact that you just admitted it."

I opened my mouth to protest, then closed it when I realized she was right. "You're obviously worried about Chance. "

"I care about him just like you care about Eli. Chance is my friend and your brother."

I should have said the woman doth protest too much, but I couldn't talk around the fear that threatened to close my throat.

Marigold drove way too fast to the airstrip just outside of town. It was a small airport for private planes and helicopters. I knew Eli’s friend, Dax worked here but otherwise not much else. I hoped we got there in time to stop them.

Marigold parked and had barely thrown her vehicle into Park, before I was out the door and jogging toward the large building. I went through the open door and ran into someone.

"Whoa, there. This is private property. Where are you going in such a hurry?"

Marigold skidded to a stop beside me. "We're here to see Chance and the Wilde brothers. Are they here?"

"They just went up. I can take you to the spot where they're supposed to land. Give or take a few miles." Dax chuckled as he let me go.

I glared at him. "There's no way to stop them?"

Dax sobered and pointed at the poster that listed the adventures to be had at the airstrip. "Now why would I do that? They paid for an experience. That's what we do here."

"Because it's dangerous and not to mention stupid," Marigold continued, her voice high-pitched.

I was worried she was going to hyperventilate. "Can you take us to the landing spot now?”

"Yeah, sure." He went into his office and came out with a set of keys. We followed him to a jeep and climbed inside. "We take them up to ten thousand feet, and they step out."

"That's not helping my anxiety," Marigold said in the back, where she was rubbing her arms as if she was cold.

“You know these guys trained for this, right? They were waiting for Walker to be home so they could do it together.” Dax looked in the rearview mirror at her. "Which one are you worried about?"

Marigold opened her mouth once, twice, then finally said, "We're all friends."

"Sure you are. I get lots of panicked friends here." He put quotes around the word friends.

"We are just friends," I said, even though it didn't feel right. "Chance is my brother."

Dax glanced over at me. "He'll be fine. We know what we're doing."

"What if the parachute doesn't work?" Marigold asked, her voice quiet.

"There's a fail-safe."

At Marigold's furrowed brow, he continued, "A second parachute."

"What if that one doesn't work?" Her voice rose.

"That's unlikely, but my coworkers are flying with them. They know what to do if there's a problem."

"I hope you're right," Marigold mumbled.

Dax came to a big field and stopped. "This is about where they should land. We can watch from here."

We got out, shivering in the cool air.

"You think you'd like to go up one day?" Dax asked Marigold.

Marigold scoffed at him but kept her gaze on the sky. I didn't hear or see a plane yet. But I wasn't sure we would. How far did they drift from the aircraft? I'd known nothing about skydiving until this morning. I wish I had more time to prepare.

"There's the plane." Dax pointed to the sky, and I had to squint to see anything behind the bright sun.

"We should see them soon."

Marigold huffed out a breath. I wanted to grab her hand and squeeze it, but Dax had already placed a hand on her shoulder as he stood behind her .

"They'll be fine," Dax reassured her, and she didn't even acknowledge that he was touching her. What was going on?

"They better be," I warned him.

Dax smirked. "No safety issues here."

"There's a first time for everything," I mumbled, afraid to voice that too loud.

"There they are," Marigold yelled, and we took off running in the direction of the dark figures with the parachutes above them.

They wore flight equipment, so I couldn't tell one from the other. The first one landed with a run on the ground, the parachute falling around him. He flailed to get it off. Then a second one landed. I kept my arms crossed over my chest, worried if I let go, I'd unravel and drift away with the wind.

"Chance!" Marigold cried as he finally got the parachute off his face and removed his goggles.

"Marigold? What are you doing here?" Chance looked from her to where Dax stood behind her, both hands on her shoulders.

Marigold waved in my direction. "We were worried about you."

Chance grinned. "It was amazing. Best adrenaline rush I've ever experienced."

"Are you okay? No trouble with your parachute?" Marigold took a step forward, Dax's hands falling away.

Chance frowned at her obvious panic. "I wasn't worried. Dax runs a good operation here."

"I tried to tell her that," Dax said jovially, but Chance gave him a look.

I should have wondered about his reaction, but my gaze was on the other men. Xander was second, then Oliver, and their cousin Walker who was home for leave.

I'd blame Walker for this craziness. He probably did this in the military and thought it would be fun. But not everyone was an adrenaline junky. I liked to be carefree, but that didn't equate to participating in dangerous activities.

"Eli." It came out more like a prayer. I ran to him and waited for him to extract himself from the harness and the chute.

"What are you doing here?"

His words weren't even out of his mouth before I was flying through the air and landing against him. I must have caught him off guard because he held me to him while we fell. He landed with a thud on his back.

But when he met my gaze, a smile spread over his face. "I didn't know you would be the most dangerous part of my morning."

I smacked his shoulder. "What were you thinking?"

"I thought you were okay with me skydiving. You didn't say anything."

"Ugh," I groaned. I was so pissed at him. "I was worried about you."

"Aw. Scarlett St. Claire, do you care about me?"

My gaze narrowed on him. "Did you do this on purpose to prove something?"

He smiled wider. "Not consciously, but I like where this is going."

My lips twitched, but I held onto my fear. "I'm so mad at you."

A throat clearing sounded from somewhere behind us. "Someone want to explain this to me?"

I held up my hand to block the sun, finding Chance standing nearby with his arms folded over his chest. Marigold stood off to his right.

I was straddling Eli for anyone to see. I'd forgotten where I was and who was here. I scrambled off him. I was at a loss for words. Do we tell him or maintain the lie? My chest hurt as I looked frantically from Eli to Chance .

Eli took his sweet time standing up and handing the equipment to one of the workers who stood nearby. "We need to talk."

Chance crossed his arms over his chest. "We sure do."

I rolled my eyes. "This is ridiculous. We were worried about you."

Xander threw an arm over my shoulder. "There's nothing to worry about. We were perfectly safe."

"Do you know how dangerous stepping out of a plane is?" Marigold asked.

I wasn't sure either one of us would get over the fear anytime soon. We walked back toward the jeep, where a van had appeared. They were throwing equipment in the back. Then the guys piled inside for the ride back to the main building.

We rode with Dax. I appreciated that Dax didn't fill the time with unnecessary conversation I wasn't capable of right now.

At the building, I stood by Marigold's car and waited for the guys to come out. They were full of energy.

"We should do that again. Best high ever," Xander said as he came over to us.

"I told you it would be amazing," Walker said.

"Happy to have you home. We're going out tonight?" Eli asked him.

"Absolutely," Walker replied.

I wasn't sure how I felt about Eli going out. I trusted him. I just wasn't sure if I trusted other women.

Chance came over.

Eli grinned. "It's sweet that you were worried about us."

I gestured at Marigold. "Marigold was listing all these scary stats to me. Got us both worked up."

"You want to go to brunch?" Chance asked me.

I looked over at Eli.

"We should all go. The four of us." Eli nodded toward Marigold.

Chance looked over at her and then said, "Yeah, that works. "

I got into the car with Marigold and waited for the boys to get into Eli's SUV. "This is going to be the most awkward brunch ever."

"Just tell him the truth. He's an adult. He can handle it."

I let my head fall back on the head rest. "I'm always disappointing my family. What's one more screwup?"

"Do you see it that way though?" Marigold asked as we followed Eli's SUV out of the lot and toward town. "Is Eli a mistake?"

"We're risking his friendship with Chance."

"But what if you love him?"

Did I love him? I'd never said that to anyone. I didn't take it lightly. If I couldn't hold up my end of the bargain, then what was the point of telling someone how I felt? No one could rely on me. I never stayed. For the first time, I felt defeated. As if my life was out of control. I wasn't the one calling the shots. Even though I followed that instinct that told me to keep moving.

We parked across the street from one of the popular brunch places. I was starving, especially after the stress of the morning. We met the guys inside and followed the hostess to a table by the windows.

I ordered pancakes, eggs, and bacon.

"Someone's hungry," Chance observed.

"Your recklessness caused us a lot of emotional distress." I waved a hand at him and Eli who sat across from us.

"We're not called the Wilde brothers for no reason. We have a reputation to uphold," Eli said with a wink.

"That's your name," Marigold pointed out flatly, then glared at Chance. "But it's not yours. So what's your excuse?"

Chance shrugged. "Maybe I want to break out of my boring reputation. I always have to follow the rules and do what's expected."

Chance's response was sincere, as if he'd been thinking about this for a while. Before I could ask if a woman had said something to him, Eli said, "Stick with us, and you'll shake that rep."

"I've been hanging out with you guys my whole life. It's the uniform."

"I suppose you have to be a rule follower if you're a police officer. Nothing wrong with that," Marigold said.

Our food came, and we dug in. I still felt shaky after the panic I experienced this morning. I was going to need some wind-down time tonight, and I hoped Eli was the one who'd provide it. It was his fault after all.

The conversation turned to the cabins Eli was building on his property. He was settled here in Telluride, running his family's business. And the addition of the cabins only meant that he was more invested than ever.

He would never leave. This was his home.

I'd waited for weeks but hadn't gotten the itch to leave, and it was starting to freak me out. I never stayed in one place longer than the run of a show, and the play's performance was this week. Would I feel it then?

I was feeling a mix of emotions because I hadn't gotten any calls back on my inquiries into open parts. Would I ever work again?

I couldn't continue to work for free, which was what I was doing now. I couldn't live in Eli's condo forever. I needed to get a paying job, and soon.

The easiest choice was acting on the road because our hotel rooms were paid for by the company. I didn't need to rent or buy a home.

But I couldn't reconcile any of that with the feeling that I was home with Eli. I enjoyed my job even if it was unpaid, and I loved working in the old theater. It felt like mine even though it wasn't. There was always a chance the owner could decide to sell it and move on .

Any new owner would most certainly turn it into a bar, restaurant, or a bed and breakfast.

I watched Eli talk about his business with affection, wishing I had something like that to fuel my passion. Why did my joy come from a job where I had to move so much? Why couldn't I be happy here?

After brunch, we went our separate ways. Eli to the lodge and Chance to work. Marigold had plans with her parents who were in town for the weekend. But I had nothing to do. I'd already dismissed the kids from rehearsal. But the theater called to me.

I unlocked the door and sat in the last row, wondering if this could ever be mine. Maybe I could save up enough money to buy a place like this one day. But I'd need to get a job and start saving. I hadn't done a great job of that over the years.

I used my salary for more travel in between shows. I'd spend a week at the beach or a swanky spa. I treated myself when I should have been thinking about the future. Now, I was pushing thirty and didn't have a good plan.