Cami didn’t expect Drew to call for the next few days, but when she hadn’t heard from him by the following weekend, she began to worry. The next week grew so stressful, however, that she didn’t have any time to waste worrying about Drew. She received her first bill from her lawyer. He’d gone through what she’d paid him on retainer quickly, gearing up for what looked to be a nasty custody battle. Even being the cheapest lawyer in the phone book, the man was expensive.
Cami looked down at the bill hopelessly. She’d already spent most of her measly savings on the retainer, and now she was going to have to shell out another thousand dollars quickly, or she’d soon find herself without representation.
Tucking the bill inside her purse, she loaded Madison into her car and headed towards her mother’s. She was already working overtime—close to sixty hours a week—so there wasn’t much more she could do.
“Everything okay?” her mother asked as Cami carried Madison into the apartment, obviously detecting the stress Cami was feeling. Her mom had been oddly supportive lately, not even harping on Cami’s weight or relationship status. “I mean, besides all the crap you’re already dealing with,” she clarified when Cami shot her a look.
“Got a bill from the lawyer’s office today,” Cami replied. “Almost a grand.”
“Damn!” Mom said before catching herself.
“Gramma said bad word!” Madison said. “Bad word!”
“Yes, she did,” Cami replied, looking at her mother with an exaggerated “angry” face. “That’s rude, Gramma!”
“Yes, it is,” the older woman replied. “And I’m very sorry.”
Madison seemed to take this as punishment enough, as she turned and teetered into the living room to play with her toys.
“So,” her mom said quietly once Madison was out of hearing range, “what are we going to do?”
“I’ll figure something out,” Cami replied tiredly. “I will have a big paycheck next week. I’ve been working overtime a lot lately. And I can try to pick up some more shifts. Madison is at Ken’s this weekend, so I can work four shifts in a row.”
“Goodness, child, you’ll pass out if you work yourself to the bone like that.”
“What else can I do, Mom?” Cami asked, heavy emotion in her voice. “I need the money.”
“We’ll figure something out,” her mom said, wrapping her arms around Cami. “Together.”
Cami just nodded, leaning into the hug for a moment before pulling away.
“I have to go,” she said. “And I’ll be late again. I’m working another half shift on top of my own, picking up for a girl who wanted the early evening off.”
“Okay,” her mother replied, smiling sadly. “Have a great day!”
Cami went to kiss Madison goodbye before heading to the hospital.
The ER was busy, which made Cami even more worn out, but also helped the time go by faster. Cami found that it was almost easier to function in an exhausted mode when things were busy. Only when things were slow was when she would start to nod off at the nurses’ station.
It was after midnight by the time Cami made it back to her mother’s house. She let herself in quietly, expecting both Madison and her mom to be sleeping at this late hour. But, to her surprise, her mother was up at the kitchen table, a cup of tea in her hands.
“Hey,” Cami said. “You’re up late.”
“You too,” her mom responded, offering another one of her sad smiles. Cami was beginning to hate that smile. “Want some tea?”
“No thanks. I’m just gonna grab Madison and go.”
“Why don’t you stay here tonight?” her mother asked. “I can throw your scrubs in the wash and I have plenty of clothes for Madison. That way you don’t have to go all the way home only to turn around and drop her off back here in the morning. Then you can sleep in a little and spend a bit of time with your daughter.”
Cami was too tired to argue, so she just nodded.
“Then I’m going to shower and head to bed,” she replied.
“One more thing,” her mom said, rising from her chair and moving to her purse on the counter. She pulled out an envelope and handed it to Cami.
Cami opened it, her breath catching in her throat as she noticed the crisp hundred-dollar bills. There were ten of them…exactly a thousand dollars.
“Where did you get this, Mom?” Cami asked in a cracked voice.
“I sold a few things of your grandmother’s,” her mom said, face betraying no emotion.
Cami couldn’t hide her own feelings, though. Her mom had held on to her own mother’s jewelry since her death nearly two decades prior. Even at their poorest, when her mom had been working two jobs just to put a roof over their heads and food on their table, she’d never even considered selling any of her mother’s jewelry.
“Mom…” Cami said, tears welling up in her eyes. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do,” she said with a determined air. “That will pay for this round of bills, and I still have some more jewelry I can sell. And I’ll be able to get more than that for it. I could have gotten more than a grand for the pearls I sold if I hadn’t been in such a hurry. But we needed the money now, so what can you do?”
“Thank you, Mom,” Cami said through tears, pulling her mom close. “I love you.”
“Don’t worry,” her mother whispered into her ear. “We won’t let them take Madison. I promise.”
Cami just nodded before pulling out and moving towards the bathroom, more grateful for her mother than she’d ever been before. When she got out of the shower, the washing machine was running, and there were some sleep clothes laid out for Cami on the sink. She dressed quickly and then went to curl up next to Madison in the guest bedroom. She was so exhausted that she fell asleep almost instantaneously.
Cami had to leave early the next day in order to meet with her lawyer. Thankfully, she was able to bring a check with her, so that his services were guaranteed for a little while longer.
She sat across from him in his small, stuffy office. It was a far cry from the office of Gil Dubois, Ken’s lawyer. Cami hated to be here… It reminded her of how much things were stacked against her. Ken had the best lawyers money could buy, as well as family connections, while she had a second-rate lawyer with a small, dank office.
“So,” Michael began, “things are at a stalemate right now. He has filed the petition for full custody, and we have countered that. We have not been able to come to a satisfactory agreement—obviously, Ken’s lawyers have stated that he will now only be happy with full custody, which is out of the question for you—so now we’re moving on to court. Our first court date is set for early next month.”
“What happens then?” Cami asked, not trying to think about how expensive his fees were going to be once they were actually going to court.
“Well, first we need to find character witnesses that can speak about Ken’s poor skills as a father as well as his substance abuse problems.”
Cami grimaced, hating the idea of allowing the fighting to get so dirty.
“I’m going to start looking into past arrests and old acquaintances, trying to find as much dirt as possible.”
Cami knew that all of those hours wouldn’t come cheap and, worst of all, Michael didn’t even seem confident in his ability to find much. In fact, as the weeks had progressed, Michael seemed less and less confident. At one point, he’d even asked if she would be willing to give up primary custody of Madison if that would mean being able to see her at all. Cami had almost punched him at the time.
“What should I be doing?” Cami asked.
“Well, I want you to think of anyone who may be willing to testify against your ex-husband. I also want you to write down all incriminating information about him that you can remember. Other than that, just spend as much time with Madison as you can.”
Because you may not have her for much longer. This went unsaid, but Cami knew it was there. She knew she had to d
o something. Even if it meant selling her house and moving in with her mother, she needed to hire a better lawyer. If she thought it would move fast enough to get a lawyer soon, she’d do just that.
She was sitting in her car, debating whether or not to call Maggie and take her up on her offer to pay for a better lawyer, when her phone rang. Cami pulled it out of her purse and did a double take. It was Drew calling. After the first week of waiting, she’d pretty much given up on hearing from him again. This week, she hadn’t even had the time or energy to think about it. And yet, here he was.
Cami was tired and upset and debated letting the call go to voicemail. But she knew that if she did that, she’d never call him back. At least she could talk to him now and get closure.
“Hello,” she said after the fourth ring.
“Cami, hey! How are you?” Drew sounded warm and happy to hear her voice—not like he’d been radio silent for the greater part of two weeks.
“Okay,” she lied. She really didn’t want to talk to Drew about her emotions. That was, in fact, the last thing she wanted to do right now.
“You don’t sound okay,” he said. “Is everything alright? Is it the custody battle?”
“I really don’t want to talk about it right now, Drew,” she said in an icy tone. “What do you want?”
“Oh…um…I just wanted to talk to you, I guess. I just got back from my trip and I was hoping I’d be able to see you this weekend.”
“I don’t know, Drew. I haven’t heard from you in nearly two weeks, and now you’re just back and expecting me to be at your beck and call.”
“Listen, Cami, I’m sorry I haven’t called. This trip was extremely exhausting. I didn’t really have a moment to myself. But I missed you. A lot. One of the things that kept me going was the knowledge that I would get to see you when I got back.”
He sounded so sincere that Cami felt her heart begin to thaw a little bit. Maybe he really had been on a business trip for the last two weeks and hadn’t been able to call. That was the thing…there was always a reasonable explanation, but it continued to happen. He continued to disappear every time things started to get good. He was inconsistent and unreliable.
“Please,” he pleaded.
Cami had half a mind to refuse him, but the truth was, Madison was going to be at Ken’s all weekend, and if she didn’t have anything to occupy her mind, she’d just sit around depressed and moping.
“Fine,” she said after a minute. “I’m free tomorrow night.”
“Awesome!” he replied, sounding ecstatic. “I’ll pick you up at six.”
Cami agreed and hung up the phone.
“What am I getting myself into?” she asked herself as she pulled out of the parking lot. Still, she couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face.
9
Cami
Cami couldn’t help herself. Even knowing that she shouldn’t get attached when it came to Drew, she was ecstatic at the idea of seeing him tonight. Madison was at her father’s all weekend, so Cami had ample time to get ready. She took a long hot bath and spent hours shaving and scrubbing herself all over. She wanted to look perfect for their date.
It wasn’t just the prospect of seeing Drew again that had her excited. The truth was, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the sex they’d had last time they were together. Yes, she’d been too busy this week to mope and pine after the man, but sometimes, in the wee hours of the night, she couldn’t help but think about the way he’d whispered commands softly into her ear, taunting and teasing her. The way he’d tied her hands, held her down, and pounded into her. Even now, her body shuddered at the thought.
Cami had never thought she’d be the kind of girl that liked “kinky” sex, but she was realizing now this may only have been because Ken was such a pathetic excuse for a lover. She couldn’t even picture her ex-husband holding the thrall over her that Drew did in the bedroom. She couldn’t help herself…she wanted more. What did Drew have planned for her tonight?
She had her hair blown out and curled to the pinnacle of sexiness and her makeup done up like a vixen, and she was just trying to decide what outfit to wear when her phone rang. She smiled to herself when she saw it was Drew. Perhaps he wanted to move the date up a little bit. She could be ready in just a few minutes, she reasoned.
“Hello there,” Cami answered in the most sensual voice she could muster.
“Hey,” Drew said in a subdued tone.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Not really,” Drew admitted. “I really hate to do this, but something came up, and I absolutely have to cancel our date tonight.”
“What happened?” Cami asked, suddenly worried.
“Nothing I can really talk about,” Drew said. “I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you, I swear. I’m really sad to have to cancel but I have something I just can’t get out of. Again, I am so sorry.”
Cami was more than a little pissed that Drew wasn’t even willing to explain why he had to cancel. He’d gone out of his way to talk her into the date in the first place, only to cancel less than two hours before they were supposed to get together—it all made her even angrier. Any worry she’d had a few minutes ago had completely flown out the window.
“Whatever,” she replied. “Don’t even worry about it.” Then, without giving him the chance to reply, she hung up the phone.
Cami felt absolutely ridiculous. Her hair was done up to high heaven and she had way too much makeup on. She was exfoliated and waxed to perfection. And now she was going to sit around all night feeling sorry for herself.
Maybe not, she thought. She knew it was last minute, but she decided to give Maggie a call and see if her best friend was available before completely collapsing in on herself.
“Hey girl, what’s up?” Maggie said as she answered the phone.
“Drew just canceled our date,” Cami replied angrily.
“Ouch,” Maggie said.
“Yeah…less than two hours before we were scheduled to get together.”
“That sucks, Cami…but I’m sure he had a good reason.”
“He wouldn’t even tell me why,” Cami snarled angrily. “He just said he was sorry and would make it up to me…like that made everything okay. I’m so over that asshole. He’s so hot and cold.”
“I’m really sorry, Cami. But I know Drew is a nice guy. I’m sure he has a good reason.”
“Honestly,” Cami replied. “I really don’t give a fuck at this point. He can shove his reasons up his ass. I’m over it.”
“Um…okay then,” Maggie said.
“But I’m not calling just to bitch. I’m all made up with nowhere to go. What are you doing tonight?”
“Oh…well…” Maggie paused for a second before continuing. “I actually have a date tonight. But it’s a casual thing. I can cancel.”
“Oh my God, of course you’re not going to cancel,” Cami cried. “But I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were going on a date. I want to know all about it. Who’s the guy? How’d you meet? Is this the first date? It better be, or I’ll be pissed that you’re holding out on me!”
“Listen, Cami,” Maggie began when Cami finally paused to breathe. “This thing is kind of new, and I’m not really sure about it yet, so I don’t really want to say.”
“Okay,” Cami replied, taken aback. Her best friend had never not wanted to spill about her love life. In fact, Maggie normally wouldn’t shut up about whatever guy she was seeing at the moment. “Okay, I guess.”
“Thank you so much for understanding, Cami,” Maggie said, obviously relieved. “And I really will tell you eventually. I promise. I love you to death, but I have to go now ‘cuz he’ll be here soon. I’m really sorry about Drew.”
“That’s fine. Have a great night,” Cami said, trying to sound more cheerful than she felt. “Bye!”
“Bye!” Maggie called as she hung up the phone.
Cami tossed her cell on the couch cushion next to her and slumped over, feeli
ng somehow even more dejected than she had before she’d called Maggie. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel happy for her best friend, because she did. She might’ve been slightly jealous that Maggie had a date when she didn’t, but not enough to hold it against her. And it wasn’t like Maggie didn’t deserve her privacy. She really did.
But, after all of Drew’s shadiness, Maggie’s secrecy just rubbed her the wrong way. Why was everyone being so weird all of a sudden? First Ken, with his ridiculous custody demands. Then Drew, with his weird hot-and-cold attentions. And now Maggie, and her secret boyfriend.
Cami got up and opened a bottle of wine, not even caring that it wasn’t yet five o’clock. It was a Saturday, she was off work, and she’d had a rough day…week…month, really. She deserved to get hammered while her daughter was at her scheming ex-husband’s house, probably cuddling up to his perfect Barbie doll of a new fiancée.
Cami was slumped over on the couch, three glasses of wine deep and watching Sex and the City reruns when the doorbell rang. She sat up, confused, then wandered towards the door. She opened it to find Drew standing in front of her. He had a bouquet of sunflowers in one hand while the other held a bag.
“Hi,” he said sheepishly. “Can I come in?”
“I don’t know,” Cami replied, hands on her hips. “I don’t know if you deserve to come inside.”
“Probably not, but I came to make amends for canceling so abruptly earlier. Look. I’m really sorry. And I brought flowers.” He held the sunflowers out, and Cami took them from him.
“They’re my favorite,” she admitted begrudgingly.
“I know,” he replied with a proud smile. “I also brought you a bottle of merlot and burgers from Downtown Grill.”
Cami eyed the bottle of wine—which just so happened to be her favorite brand. And, of course, Downtown Grill was her favorite place to eat.
“How did you—”
“Maggie,” Drew answered before Cami even had time to finish her question. “And I really owe her because she answered and talked me through everything, even though she was on a date.”
The Stubborn Suitor, Book Two (An Alpha Billionaire In Love BBW Romance) Page 6