“Which wasn’t my intention. But why can’t I defend her? Or what we’ve got? We aren’t doing anything wrong.”
“No,” Drake said and just started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“You. You’re not laughing. You aren’t smiling. You’re sunk. You’re drowning and you’re asking your older brother to throw you a lifeline to pull you in. Oh, how I wish Noah were here right now.”
“Ass,” he said, but did grin. Didn’t Adriana say it wasn’t about pranking or joking but about his relationship with his family? That they knew he’d always make them laugh or smile.
Well, it seemed like his family knew how to do it to him too.
It wasn’t a flaw as much as his character, she’d told him too. It’s what his family used to help him if he needed it.
“Yeah. You’d both be rubbing my face in this. So, any advice or do I have to just get a rag to clean up the mess you’re smearing on my nose?”
“My advice is to follow your gut but listen to her too. She is living it as much as you and most likely worse. Kara worried here too, but it was for nothing. No one said a word when it was known about our relationship.”
“Nor would they,” he said.
“True. And I took that into consideration. It helped having Dad’s and Uncle Grant’s support.”
“I’ve got Sam’s in the hospital,” he said. “That alone would shut some people up.”
“But you’ve told him not to say anything too, right?”
“Yeah. Maybe if he slipped though and people saw she was involved with the family then it’d be different.”
“Or maybe not,” Drake said back, “since didn’t you say that is how Adriana has explained your relationship? Or did in the beginning. That the two moms knew each other?”
“Yeah. Shit. I feel like it’s a no win situation here.”
There was a knock at the door and they turned to see their father open it. “Everything okay in here? You don’t usually come to the office, Wyatt?”
“Just looking for some advice,” he said.
“Love advice from his older brother,” Drake said.
“Why not ask me?” his father said. “I’m the wisest one in this room.”
Wyatt and Drake both laughed, but he did open up to his father too.
* * *
“Grant,” Garrett said, “get in here.” He hung up the phone in his office and waited for his brother to come in. “Shut the door. I need to tell you about Wyatt and Adriana. I have to call Carolyn too. Damn it. I want to tell you both at the same time and this is the only way.”
“What’s going on?” his brother asked. Sometimes you just wanted to go to your twin for things, but his wife wouldn’t get it.
“Wyatt just left. He was in Drake’s office asking for relationship advice.”
Grant started to laugh. “You guys are doing good on this one. Call Carolyn and put her on speaker.”
He hit the button and dialed his wife’s number. If she didn’t answer then he’d have a good excuse to tell Grant first. But his wife picked up on the third ring.
“Garrett. Everything okay? You never call me when it’s getting this late in the day.”
“Everything is great. I couldn’t wait. I’ve got Grant in here too, that’s why you are on speaker. Wyatt just left the office.”
“Wyatt was there? He hardly ever goes to the office.”
“No, he doesn’t. He came looking for relationship advice from Drake. I interrupted them and helped out.”
“You better not have ruined anything,” Carolyn said. “Sometimes you panic. You don’t have that good of a poker face like me.”
He wrinkled his nose and looked up to see his brother laughing. “I just listened. Drake gave most of the advice. What I gather is Adriana is like Kara and wants the relationship kept quiet at work.”
“Makes sense,” Carolyn said. “He doesn’t have the best reputation there. But it’s not that quiet. We know he met Adriana’s father and Maggie. They both loved him.”
“Everyone loves Wyatt,” Grant said. “My nephew could win over a nun with a ruler in her hand after he’d filled her erasers full of chalk as she tried to wipe down the board.”
“Grant,” Carolyn said. “Your age is showing. Those kids don’t know much about chalk and blackboards. It’s whiteboards, markers or computers now.”
“Whatever,” Grant said. “I was trying to make a joke.”
“You didn’t do that good of a job at it,” Garrett said.
“Boys,” Carolyn said back into the phone. “Now isn’t the time. Wyatt, please.”
He laughed when his brother smirked at him. Their wives didn’t get them either. “Sorry,” he said. “I told him to listen to his heart and that he should only let her have her way so long.”
“You don’t want him to get in trouble though,” Carolyn said. “No reason to cause a fight between them.”
“No,” he said. “But there is no reason our son should feel like he isn’t good enough either.”
There was silence on the other end and he thought for sure he had his wife there. “You might be right. For as confident as Wyatt is, he did try to hide the fact he wanted or needed attention. He could be feeling not worthy in her eyes if she is trying to hide their relationship.”
“Exactly. I told him that he should talk to her about it more and go from there.”
“Good advice,” his wife said.
“See. I know what I’m doing. I’ve been married a long time.”
“And spent some of it in the doghouse yourself,” Grant said.
“You too, Grant,” Carolyn said back. “But I’ll let you two go now. I’ll see you when you get home, Garrett. Love you.”
“Love you too.” He hung up and looked at his brother. “So, did I do good?”
“You said the same thing I would. Now they need to work it out themselves.”
“I would like to see Wyatt in the doghouse,” he said. “But something tells me he might have been there a
