by Elena Aitken
“Hey, Drew?” Cam’s voice called from the other room. “Don’t worry about that other bottle. I should really get—” Her words died on her lips when she walked into the room and saw Evan. “What are you doing here?”
He took a step toward her and pulled her into a hug, stopping before giving her a kiss. “I was just delivering helium for the balloons. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I didn’t expect to be here, either. I just needed a bit of a break before I went home. It was…well…it’s not been a great day.”
“I heard.” He nodded sympathetically.
“You did?” She gave Drew a look, but her friend only grinned.
“I did.” He could see the stress on her face, and the need to make things better for her was intense. “But don’t worry. It’s normal teenage stuff.”
Cam’s back stiffened and she gave him a sharp look. “Normal?”
Next to her, Evan vaguely recognized Christy and Drew make their escape into the living room, Christy shooting him a look of warning as she went. But warning of what? Evan knew teenagers. He’d worked with them for years as local law enforcement. And he knew Morgan. After their time doing the community service, he knew she was just a normal kid who had some typical angst to deal with. Cam didn’t need to worry about anything. He told her as much.
“You have no idea.” She shook her head and turned away from him.
Determined to cheer her up, Evan took a step closer to her and because there was no one watching, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.
Cam shrugged him off and stepped away. “Stop it.”
“Stop what? I’m trying to cheer you up.” Again, he stepped in close.
She spun around and pushed him back with one hand. This time, Evan held back from reaching for her again. “Cam? What’s wrong?”
Her mouth fell open. “You’re serious?”
He shrugged.
“Nothing about this is normal, Evan.” She waved her arms to encompass the kitchen, but Evan was smart enough to know she wasn’t talking about Christy’s house. “It’s a total mess. My daughter is a total mess. She hates me, Evan.”
Evan shook his head. “We all used to hate our parents, Cam. Don’t you remember how—”
“No.” She squeezed her eyes. “This is different. You have no idea.”
No. He clearly didn’t. But if she’d let him, he wanted to find out. “Cam, it can’t be that bad. Morgan’s a good kid.”
Cam turned around and stared out the window into Christy’s yard. “She’s hurting so much and I’m afraid she might be right.”
He risked putting a hand on her shoulder because he just couldn’t not touch her while she clearly needed a hug. “Right about what?”
“Maybe it is all about me. Maybe I haven’t been putting her first the way I should be.”
“Cam, you’re a great mother.”
She shook her head.
“Let me help you,” Evan said. “What do you need from me? I can talk to her. I can—”
“No.” She turned and he saw her tear-streaked face. “I don’t think you can help. It’s just a lot. She’s a lot. She always was and that was before this big mess with her dad. I need to deal with it on my own.”
“No.” He didn’t know why, but he could feel her slipping away and he desperately needed to prevent that from happening. “You don’t need to deal with it on your own. There’s no reason you should be alone in all this, Cam.”
“You’re right.” She scoffed. “Her dad should be helping me.”
I should be helping you.
“You’re right,” Evan said. “He should be.”
“But he won’t,” she said. “In fact, he doesn’t want anything to do with her. It’s breaking my heart but I can’t even call him and tell him what’s happening because he’ll just tell me how I need to handle it because she’s with me, and I don’t need to go running to him all the time.” She dropped her head into her hands. “Her own father doesn’t want to deal with her. How can I ask you to get involved with this?”
The conversation took such an unexpected turn, it took Evan a moment to catch up. “What?”
“Maybe she’s right,” Cam continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Maybe I am being selfish. I can’t ask anyone else to be part of this. Not when I don’t even—”
“Cam.” He grabbed her wrists and forced her to look at him. “What are you talking about? What do you mean you can’t ask me to be a part of this? Of what?”
“Of this, Evan.” Tears streaked down her cheeks. “I mean, I don’t even know what’s going on with us. Everything is such a mess.”
He pulled her close. “We’re not a mess, Cam. I’ve got you.” He felt her relax a little against him so he continued to murmur reassurances in her ear. She might not believe it right away, but he really was going to be there for her. No matter what. “I’m not going anywhere.” He repeated the words over and over while he stroked her hair until her tears were exhausted.
Chapter Twelve
“So the big dance is tomorrow.”
Morgan was finishing a shift of her community service hours with Officer Anderson, and something about it felt weird. No doubt her mom had told him all about her freak-out at the store a few days earlier. It was such a pain in the ass living in a small town where everyone knew everyone. Especially if they knew her mom.
“And?” She dipped her brush into the paint can and slapped it onto the boards in front of her. With every hour she completed, Morgan was more and more sure that community service was just code for free child labor to get odd jobs done around town. Like painting the gazebo in the town park.
“Are you excited?”
Morgan almost laughed. Almost.
“I guess.”
“That sounds like a yes.”
She turned and looked at him where he sat on a nearby picnic table. “It’s neither a yes or a no. It’s an I guess.”
He grinned. “It’s okay to be excited about it. The whole town is. I’ve never seen everyone so jacked up about something.”
She turned back to her job. “Are you? Excited about the dance, I mean.”
“I am.” Behind her, she could hear him jump off the table and walk closer.
“Is that because you’re going with my mom?” Morgan wasn’t stupid and after hearing about how hot and heavy the two of them were when they were kids, and then seeing them together when they were trying to act like they didn’t care about each other, she was pretty positive they were dating. She’d thought a lot about it and Morgan had decided that she didn’t care. In fact, if anything, it was a good thing. Maybe.
To her surprise, he answered her honestly. “Yes. Is that okay with you?”
She nodded. “I guess.”
“Are you going to the dance with Trent?”
The question came so far out of left field that her cheeks flamed to life.
“Your mom said she bought you a new outfit.”
Morgan’s cheeks flamed again, this time because she remembered what a bitch she’d been to her mom at the store and then she’d come home to see the bag with the outfit she’d picked out. Her mom had bought it for her despite her tantrum. It had almost made Morgan feel worse.
“Yeah,” she said after a minute. “She didn’t have to do that.”
“Because you freaked out on her?”
“Jesus.” She dropped the brush into the paint can and stalked off to the picnic table. “You just don’t care, do you?”
“About what?” Evan stood in front of her. “About confronting you on your shit?” He shook his head. “No. And yes, I just said shit.”
She couldn’t help it. That made her smile. But just a little.
“But yes,” he continued. “I’m not going to ignore the fact that you’ve had some pretty major meltdowns lately. Want to tell me about it?”
She shook her head.
“Then maybe you should get back to work?”
Her head shot up and she glared at him. “Can’t I take a break?”
“Only if you’re going to talk.”
“That’s blackmail.”
He shrugged and smiled. “Maybe.”
She picked at a drop of paint on her shoe for a minute and finally said, “I don’t actually know what to say. It’s not that I don’t like it here. I kind of do.” She looked up. “Don’t tell my mom that.”
“Promise.”
“It’s just different and I’m just kind of mad I guess.”
“At your mom?”
She nodded. “But mostly my dad.”
“So why take it out on your mom?”
Morgan was quiet for a minute. Finally, she looked up. “Because she’s there.”
“There?”
“Not like there-there. But more like there there. Does that make sense?”
Evan sat on the picnic table next to her and for a minute she thought he might put his arm around her. She decided she would probably be okay with that. “It makes perfect sense. Your mom’s always there for you. So it’s safe to be mad at her because she’s not going anywhere. Right?”
When she looked up again, there was a tear in her eye. “Yeah. But I guess that’s not very fair, is it?”
“No,” Evan agreed with her. “But it makes sense.”
They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Morgan sat up. “Thank you.” He looked as surprised as she felt to be saying it, but she continued. “For listening, I mean.”
“You’re welcome. It’s no big deal.”
“Wrong.” Morgan jumped up and started to walk back to the gazebo. “It’s a very big deal.”
Cam looked at the price tag on the dress and for the fifth time, calculated how much money she didn’t have. She couldn’t justify it. Instead, she turned to the rack with the sale items and picked up a cream-colored blouse. She could pair it with one of her black skirts that she’d been wearing to work. Maybe with her red heels it would even look a little dressy.
“There’s no way.” Amber took the blouse out of her hand and shoved the dress she’d just been admiring at her. “This is what you should wear. It’ll make your eyes look crazy awesome.”
“Crazy awesome?” She laughed at Amber. “And no.” She shook her head slowly. “I can’t afford it. Not right now.”
“My treat.” Amber started to push her toward the dressing room. “Seriously. Pretend it’s for all the birthday presents I forgot to send. And then, after you try it on so I can confirm how hot you’ll look in it, we’re going over to the Chop Shop for a little pampering. I booked appointments for all of us. Christy and Drew are meeting us there. And I don’t want to hear any complaining because I want to do it. So don’t make me feel bad about doing this for us.”
Amber had always had a generous spirit. Cam gave her a spontaneous hug. “I’ve missed you. So much.” It was true. She hadn’t even realized how much she’d missed her friends but now that they were back, even temporarily, she didn’t want to let them go.
“Yeah yeah.” Amber protested, and tried to act tough the way she always did, but Cam saw the shimmer in her eye. Most people didn’t know it, but Amber had a secret soft side. “Now go and try it on. We only have a few minutes.”
Twenty minutes later, after Amber confirmed how great Cam looked in the dress, paid for it, and begrudgingly let Cam treat them both with lattes from Daisy’s, they both walked through the door at the Chop Shop and were immediately greeted by Christy and Drew. The shop was buzzing with activity as people clambered to look their best for the big anniversary party.
“I’ve never seen Timber Creek like this,” Cam told Christy as they waited for their names to be called. “You’ve done such a great job with everything. The whole town is excited.”
“It’s nothing.” Christy waved away the compliment. “It’s kept me busy and given me something to focus on.”
“As if you don’t have enough to keep you busy with helping out at Mark’s clinic and everything.”
“Right.” She snorted. “Like Mark wants me there.”
Shocked, Cam stared at her friend. “What are you talking about?”
Christy tried to act as though it were no big deal, but Cam could see the thread of hurt right beneath her bubbly surface. “Mark would rather have me home with all the kids we don’t have. But since that never happened, he gave me the job to keep me busy more than anything while we wait for the fertility treatments to work.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
“Oh, it is.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. But working on the anniversary committee has definitely done one thing for me. At least we’re not in each other’s faces all the time now. It’s been kind of nice not seeing Mark all the time.”
Concern for her friend filled her. “What do you mean? I thought you guys liked working together.”
“Right now we don’t like doing anything together.” Christy tried to keep her voice light, but Cam caught the shake in her words. She looked Cam in the eye. “Like anything.”
“Anything anything?”
“Especially anything.” Christy rolled her eyes.
Cam wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but before she could, Christy gestured behind her and Cam’s name was called. She glanced at the lady who held out a smock for her to slip over her clothes and back at Christy.
“Do you want me to—”
“You know what, Cam.” Christy put her hand on Cam’s arm, interrupting her. “Why don’t I take this one and you can take my slot?”
“That’s okay. It looks like you’re next anyway.” Another stylist stood next to the first one. “We’ll go together.”
“Let’s switch.” Christy’s eyes filled with concern and her lips pressed together. “It’s no big deal. If we just—”
“Why?” Cam laughed. “You’re being silly. Come on.”
It wasn’t until Cam was sitting in the stylist’s chair with the smock fastened a little too snugly around her neck that she understood her friend’s strange behavior. “So you’re the famous Cam Riley?”
The stylist’s voice was laced with something Cam couldn’t quite place. She tried to laugh. “I wouldn’t say that.”
The woman picked up her long blonde hair and let it drop onto her back again. “Oh I would definitely say that.” She met Cam’s eyes in the mirror. “I’m Stephanie.”
Stephanie.
Cam quickly racked her brain for where she’d heard that name and why it should be of relevance to her. The moment she made the connection—this was Evan’s ex-girlfriend, or at least the woman he’d dated—her eyes widened. Especially considering Stephanie clearly knew exactly who Cam was.
“Hi. It’s nice to meet you.”
Stephanie ignored her. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
She didn’t like the tone in the other woman’s voice.
“I can’t imagine you’ve heard that much,” Cam tried to joke. “I haven’t lived here for so long I’m sure no one remembers me.”
“Oh, he remembered you quite well.”
He?
“Look, Stephanie.” Cam twisted around in the chair so she could look at the other woman easily. “Whatever you’ve heard about—”
“Oh, it’s fine.” Stephanie’s face transformed into a sweet smile. “It’s really old news, isn’t it? I mean, it’s not like Evan and I were ever really serious.” Her voice was light, but Cam wasn’t sure she could trust what she was saying. Regardless, the woman did have scissors poised over her head. “Now, what are we doing today?”
“I’m so sorry.” Christy had been apologizing ever since they’d left the salon. “I tried to switch with you, I did.”
“It’s no big deal.” Cam touched her now much shorter hair and tried her best to smile. “I needed a trim.”
“You did not need that.” Amber shook her head with disgust. “Totally unprofessional.”
It had been unprofessional, but Cam couldn’t dwell o
n it. She had no idea how much Stephanie knew about her, or her past relationship with Evan, or more importantly, her current relationship with him. And she didn’t want to get into it. But it had become clear quite quickly that the stylist didn’t like her, nor was she going to listen to what Cam did or did not want done to her hair.
“Honestly,” Cam said again. “It’s fine. And it’s no one’s fault. It’s just hair.”
“Well, I think it looks cute.” Drew smiled, ever the optimist. “A shaggy bob is a good look for you.”
“It is cute.” Cam shrugged. It really was just hair and if it hadn’t been for everything else that had happened lately, she probably wouldn’t be upset at all. As it was, she wasn’t going to let her friends see that she was upset. Besides, it wasn’t the worst thing that could happen.
No. That happened a moment later as she was waiting outside Daisy’s while the others went inside to order more coffees.
“Mrs. Anderson?”
Cam hadn’t seen Evan’s mom in years, not since that day she’d gone looking for him. The day she’d told her how Evan hadn’t loved her. But she couldn’t mistake the bright-red hair, now streaked with more gray than there’d been all those years ago, but still unmistakable.
The older woman turned around. The smile fell from her face the moment she saw Cam.
“It’s me,” Cam said, as if she didn’t already know. “Cam Riley.” She took a few steps toward Evan’s mom, who clutched her purse to her chest and took a step back. “How are you?”
Despite the memories of the last time they’d seen each other, Cam couldn’t forget all of the good times either. Lorraine had welcomed her into her home and treated her like a daughter simply because she loved her son.
Lorraine shook her head. “I heard you were in town.”
“I meant to come and see you.” It was a lie and they both knew it.
“It’s been a long time.”
Cam nodded, no longer sure what she should say. She shuffled from foot to foot. “Lorraine, I was meaning to ask you—”
“I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“But you don’t know what I was going to—”