Getting Wound Up: A Sapphire Falls/ Love Between the Bases Novel-- PART THREE by Erin Nicholas Read Free Book Online

But she couldn’t say no to it again. She wanted it way too much to keep saying no.
    But she couldn’t say yes. He had to go to San Diego.
    But she didn’t want him to go to San Diego.
    Yeah, she was glad for the interruption.
    “She knows you’re here too?” Caitlyn asked starting for the door.
    “Yes, she handed me the coffee cup and told me to come on up.”
    “Oh boy.” Caitlyn hurried through the door.
    Eli was right behind her.
    “Eli, please tell your family that you’re all coming over for dinner tonight,” Maggie said as they walked into the kitchen.
    The countertop was strewn with grocery bags and she was pulling jars and boxes from them, a whirlwind of activity.
    Oh yeah, something had happened.
    “Well, that’s very nice,” Eli started.
    “I insist,” Maggie said. “I’m going to be baking and cooking all day.”
    Caitlyn gave Eli a worried look. “You okay, Mom?”
    Maggie didn’t even glance at her. “Sure. I’m fine. Just have a lot to do.”
    “Okay. Well, let me know if you need me,” Caitlyn said.
    Her mom wasn’t going to tell her what was wrong and she wasn’t going to say that she needed anything.
    But Caitlyn knew someone who did know what was going on.
    She pivoted and headed for the living room.
    Bryan was just maneuvering himself from his chair onto the couch.
    “You’re not supposed to be doing that by yourself,” Caitlyn scolded him, rushing forward.
    Bryan slumped onto the couch and sighed. Then frowned. “I’m fine.”
    Caitlyn stared at him.
    God , she wanted that to be true. She would give anything for her brother to be fine. For her mother to be fine. If they were fine, she wouldn’t be here right now. She’d be on a plane with Eli on their way to San Diego.
    But she wasn’t on a plane. She was standing in her mother’s living room in Sapphire Falls watching her brother struggle to get onto the couch without help.
    That was not fine.
    “Fine.” Caitlyn threw up her hands, the frustration bubbling up and over the mental levee she’d built to hold it back at moments just like this one. “Everyone in this house is always fine ! Well, guess what? That’s bullshit! It’s not fine. Not all the time. None of us are fine all the time! And you both need to stop saying that!”
    Bryan lifted his eyebrows and glanced at Eli, then back to Caitlyn. “What’s going on with you?”
    “I proposed and Caitlyn is not fine with that,” Eli told him dryly.
    Caitlyn whirled on him. “You’re going to tell everyone you proposed?”
    Eli shrugged, but he met her gaze directly so she knew he was absolutely not nonchalant about any of this. “ I am beyond fine with it.”
    She gave an exasperated little growl. “You should go.”
    “I’m not going anywhere, Caitlyn.”
    She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then softened her tone. “Eli, please . I can only deal with one thing at a time.”
    Eli narrowed his eyes, clearly very reluctant. But finally he sighed. “This isn’t over.”
    “Yeah, I know.” She did. What she didn’t know was how she felt about it. She couldn’t keep saying no to him. But she couldn’t say yes either. She really just wanted to pretend that he’d never asked. That everything really was fine .
    There were moments when she completely understood her mother. Denial was much easier than being surrounded by options that were all equally difficult.
    A very stubborn look crossed Eli’s face and she steeled herself for an argument, but finally he gave her a short nod. “I’ll see you at dinner then. I guess we’re all going to be here.”
    She growled softly at that too. Everyone was driving her crazy. Unable to deal with him—and not throw herself into his arms with an of course I’ll marry you! —she turned away, dismissing him.
    She felt him move in behind her and kiss her on the top of her head. “Love you.”
    Her heart melted at that, in spite of the fact that he was irritating her. She didn’t quite smile, but she