When We Left

by Elena Aitken

  “Thank you,” she said as soon as they were outside in the small alley behind the building. “I can’t even imagine how much work this all was, and you didn’t have to…well, it’s really…thank you.”

  “I’d do anything for you, Cam.” He took her hands and held them tight. “Anything. I hope you know that.”

  She nodded, because of course she knew that. In some way, she’d always known it. Even during all their years apart, she’d known that Evan would always be there for her. And even with everything that had happened between them recently, she knew.

  “I need you to know something, Cam.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “No.” He stopped her. “It’s not. I never should have asked you about Morgan. That was wrong.” Cam’s heart ached. “I know she’s not mine, no matter how much I wish she was.”

  “What?” She looked up sharply. “You do?”

  “Oh my God, Cam.” His smile was sad. “Of course I wish she was mine. She’s fantastic. And it was supposed to be me,” he said. “It was always supposed to be me and you. I think I wanted her to be mine so badly because that would mean that…well, I don’t know what it would have meant. But I’m sorry that I, even for a minute, let myself think that you could have kept something like that from me.”

  “You know I wouldn’t have.”

  He nodded. “I know. I wish the last sixteen years hadn’t—”

  “Don’t.” She put her finger to his lips. “Don’t wish it all away. It happened and I’m not sorry about that. I’m really not. Because if I hadn’t met Ryan, I wouldn’t have Morgan. I wouldn’t be standing here right now. And if you hadn’t left to join the army, you wouldn’t be Officer Anderson right now.” She smiled. “And you wouldn’t be going back to school so you can make a difference for kids.” She couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sadness at the thought of Evan leaving. After all they’d been through, it was almost unbearable to think that they still weren’t going to be together. But it was the right thing. Despite the underlying sadness, Cam smiled and said, “This all happened the way it was supposed to.”

  “Well, maybe not quite the way it was supposed to.” He took her hand and led her to an old bench against the brick wall. Evan never let go of her hand while he explained how his mother had confessed to the way she’d treated Cam all those years ago, and then again more recently. “Her heart was in the right place.” He chuckled. “At least I think so. Regardless, she never should have gotten involved. I’m sorry.”

  He brushed away a stray tear on her cheek that she didn’t even know was there.

  “So what now?” Cam said after a moment. “Where do we go now?”

  “We do everything we can to live our dreams.”

  She almost laughed. He made it all sound so simple, but Cam knew it was anything but. “This is all amazing, Evan.” She gestured to the makeshift gallery behind them. “But it’s not real life. We both know that.”

  “No,” he said. “I don’t know that. Why can’t it be real life, Cam? Those people in there? They love your photos. Christy has a list of people who want to buy them, Cam. You can sell them.”

  The idea of making money from her photographs was so crazy and completely overwhelming, but at the same time, it was exhilarating. “But how much money can a few pictures make?”

  “And portrait sessions, Cam.” Evan was getting excited now. He sat up straight. “You can charge for photo sessions, too. It’s a real thing, Cam. Think about it.”

  She did. And she had a lot more thinking to do, but maybe Evan was right. Maybe she could actually make a living doing what she loved. It was a lot to take in. But there was more, too.

  “What about you?” She looked down at her hands. No matter what had happened between them, or what could happen in the future, Evan had done everything he could to make her dream come true. There was no way she would ever stand in the way of his. “When do you leave?”

  His face shifted, and he nodded solemnly. “In a few days.”

  A few days.

  Her heart sank and she bit her bottom lip to keep from crying. She couldn’t let him see how much it hurt to know that he was going to leave again. Even if it was something he needed to do, it still broke her heart all the same. “So soon?” she asked. “I didn’t realize classes started in the summer.”

  “They don’t.”

  Her head shot up, her eyes full of questions as she searched his face for answers.

  “But I need to register for my classes and pick up my books and course materials. Since I’m going to be doing everything by correspondence, I need to get a jump on things.”

  He kept talking about classes and registration, but she wasn’t listening. She was still trying to process one of the things he’d said. “Wait.” She finally interrupted him. “What did you say about correspondence? What does that mean?”

  Evan’s grin told her everything she needed to know. Still, she needed him to say it.

  “Evan…what’s going on? Are you going to school?”

  “Yes and no.” Cam held her breath. “There was a correspondence option,” he explained. “For mature students who are working and want to continue working in a related field while taking classes.”

  “What does that mean?” She didn’t dare to hope it meant that Evan might be staying in Timber Creek. Could it be that after all these years, they could finally be together?

  “It means that I’ll be taking most of my classes from right here in Timber Creek.” Cam clamped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. “It also means it’ll take me a bit longer to finish my degree, but I’ll be able to keep working and even integrate what I’m learning into town here. Which means that I should be able to start working with kids right away, maybe even set up a program to help youth at risk.”

  She couldn’t contain herself anymore. Cam wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. Evan unwrapped her arms and took her face in his hands. “Mostly what it means, Cam, is that I get to be with you. You and Morgan. If you’ll have me, that is.”

  In response, she crushed her lips to his and kissed him hard.

  “Is that a yes?” He laughed.

  “No,” Cam said as seriously as she could. “It’s an abso-freakin-lutely.” She kissed him again, and this time she wasn’t ever going to stop.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Cam packed the last of the books into the box on the table and taped the box shut. They didn’t have a lot of things to move from their space over Junky’s Auto Shop, but what they did have was all packed up and almost loaded into the back of Evan’s truck. After only a month of officially dating, Evan had asked Cam and Morgan if they’d be willing to move out of their far too cozy apartment and into his house with him.

  Morgan had jumped at the opportunity for more space and more privacy. The fact that Evan lived closer to her friends hadn’t hurt either. The decision had been a little harder for Cam. Not because she didn’t want to live with Evan. More than anything, she did. They spent all their time together anyway, and it didn’t make sense for her to keep the little apartment. Not to mention, it would be nice to have an actual bedroom again and all the privacy that came with that. But it was bittersweet, too.

  Cam had come to love their home over the garage. There was still nothing special about it, except of course for the very reason it was special. It had been the first place Cam and Morgan had called home together. Just the two of them. She knew she was being sentimental, but the apartment over Junky’s represented their fresh start and their coming together as mother and daughter.

  She wiped a tear from her cheek and laughed at herself as she carried the box down to Evan’s waiting truck.

  “Is that everything?” Evan took the box from her and loaded it with the others.

  She nodded as another wave of emotion hit her.

  “Hey.” He pulled her into his arms. “It’s okay.”

  “It’s silly.”

  “It’s not.” He stroked her hair. Cam was grat
eful that he didn’t make her feel self-conscious for the sudden display of emotion. “This was your first place together. I get it. You’re allowed to feel whatever you need to feel.”

  She lifted her head and stood on her toes to kiss him. “Thank you. I don’t want you to think I’m not excited about living with you.”

  “I don’t think that for a second.” He held open the door of his truck for her before joining her in the front seat. “Maybe you’ll feel a little better when you see the surprise I have for you at the house.”

  “Surprise? What is it?”

  “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.” He laughed and Cam rolled her eyes with a shake of her head. She took one last look out the window and then fixed her eyes forward on their future.

  It wasn’t until after they’d unloaded all the boxes into the house that Evan finally took her hand and led her out to the backyard. “It’s time for your surprise. Are you ready?”

  With the busyness of the day, she’d forgotten all about it, and told him so. Evan pretended to be offended, but he smiled and led her through the yard toward the shed in the back corner by the driveway. “I’ve been working on this for weeks,” he said. “I hope you like it but we can make changes if it’s not everything you need.”

  Confused, Cam opened the door of the shed and stepped inside. Where she’d expected to see shelves of pots and cans of paint, there were clean walls painted a light gray. A desk sat in one corner, with a large interchangeable backdrop set up on the other side of the room.

  It was a studio.

  It was her studio.

  “I know we’ll still need to put in some shelves for your things, and maybe over here we can—”

  “It’s perfect.” She silenced him with a kiss. “I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

  “Baby, I’d do anything for you.”

  Cam glowed with happiness. The last month had felt like a dream, only better because she knew she wasn’t going to wake up.

  “Do you think you’ll be able to book enough jobs now so you can finally quit waitressing?”

  Cam shook her head and wandered around the small space. It was perfect and there was no doubt she’d be able to book more work now that she could offer an indoor option as well as the outdoor sessions she’d been doing. But she was still hesitant to let go of her shifts at the End of the Road. It wasn’t that Cam loved her job, she didn’t really at all, but she wasn’t bringing in quite enough yet with her photography. “Soon,” she said. “One thing at a time, okay?”

  Evan came up behind her and put his arms around her. “Okay.” He kissed the top of her head. “Now, what do you say we go get you unpacked in our house?”

  She liked the sound of that. A lot.

  “What do you have in this one?” Trent carried the box into Morgan’s new room and made a show of putting it down on the stack. “I think you have bricks in there.”

  “Not bricks.” She laughed. “Books. Well, photo albums really.”

  “Photo albums?” Trent collapsed into her desk chair. “Like, old-school photo albums?”

  Morgan nodded. When she was a kid, she’d loved all the pictures her mom took. So much so that she’d beg her to print them all out so she could put them in albums and flip through them. “Mostly just family pictures, holidays and things like that.” Maybe she could put together a little photo album for her new baby brother or sister? It was still going to be a few months until the baby was born, and she’d mostly gotten used to the idea of not being the only child in her dad’s life, in fact, it surprised her that Morgan was actually looking forward to having a sibling. Her dad had really stepped up when it came to parenting, and while they still weren’t as close as they could be. It was better. She shrugged, returning her attention to Trent. “Maybe I’m a little old-fashioned, but I like looking at them in front of me instead of a computer screen.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “It does?”

  “Sure.” He spun in the chair and grinned. “It’s just like I prefer real books to those e-book things.”

  “Right?” Morgan turned around so Trent wouldn’t see her goofy smile. She couldn’t help it. Just being around Trent made her stomach curl up in knots and made her want to squeal, and she was so not the squealing type.

  “Hey,” Trent said. “Do you have any more boxes to bring in? I’ll get them for you before I have to go.”

  Morgan felt the disappointment all the way to her toes. “You have to go?”

  He nodded. “I have to work. First shift at Hill’s Hardware store later today.” He flipped his hair back off his face. “My dad was super pissed about the whole party at the lake and more or less told me to get a job or else. It took a few weeks, but I finally convinced George Hill to give me a job. I think it’s my dad’s idea of keeping me out of trouble.”

  “But you’re not trouble.” She took a step toward him. “I mean, it’s not like any of what happened was your fault.”

  “I know, but you know parents…”

  Morgan nodded.

  “Besides, I think I could use the extra money anyway,” Trent said. “I was kind of hoping that maybe you’d be my date for the year end formal?”

  “Of course.” She didn’t even bother to hide her excitement. Morgan’s smile stretched her face. “I’d love to be your date.”

  He stood up so they were only inches apart. Close enough to…

  “What’s this about a real date?”

  Both Morgan and Trent took two huge steps backward at the sound of Evan’s voice. Morgan spun around and clutched her hands together in front of her.

  “Do we need to make some rules about having boys in your bedroom?”

  She was positive that her face was flaming red, but if Trent noticed, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “I should get going anyway,” he said to her. “I’ll call you later, Morgan. Bye, Officer Anderson.”

  Evan nodded and let the boy past. When Trent was gone, Morgan put her hands on her hips and stared at Evan. “Are you seriously going to make him call you Officer Anderson? He’s my…well, I guess he’s my boyfriend.”

  “Then yes.” Evan laughed. “I’m definitely going to make him call me Officer Anderson.”

  Morgan threw up her hands with a groan and started to unpack a box.

  “Are you getting settled in okay? Your room all right?”

  Her room was awesome. It was twice the size as the one in the apartment and she had her own bathroom. Evan’s house wasn’t huge, but compared to what they’d been living in, it felt massive. Most importantly, it felt like a home.

  “It’s great,” she said. “Thanks, Evan.”

  He nodded and took another step inside. “I just really want you to…well, it’s important that you…” He laughed. “This is not coming out right.”

  “It’s okay.” She looked over her shoulder and pulled a stack of books out of a box. “I get it.”

  “Are you okay with all of this?” he asked. “I know it happened kind of fast.”

  To people of the outside looking in, it might have seemed that things between her mom and Evan had moved quickly, but for Morgan, it was natural. Anyone could see that they were meant to be together. There was no point in pretending anything else. “It’s fine, Evan. Honestly.” She picked up an old teddy bear and sat on the bed, facing him. “Are you okay? Because you look a little stressed.”

  Evan laughed. “I’m not stressed. Not at all. But I did want to ask you something. It’s kind of important.”

  Morgan crossed her legs up underneath her and settled in because she had a feeling she knew what he wanted to say to her.

  “I know that the last few months have been kind of crazy for you,” he started. “It’s been a bit of a transition.”

  “You could say that.”

  “And I know I’m not your dad.” He twisted his hands together. “You have a dad, and I never want to come in between that. You know that, right?”r />
  She nodded, no longer sure of what he was going to say.

  Evan swallowed hard and shifted into the seat Trent had recently vacated. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, all I want for you and me is to be…”

  “Friends?”

  Evan laughed. The tense mood diffused. “Of course friends, but also…I hope that I can be maybe a sort of…”

  “Stepdad?”

  “Well, yes, but…I’m probably not explaining it properly, but I want to be there for you, Morgan. Whatever you need, okay? You can count on me.”

  Evan was always so self-assured and confident; seeing this different, nervous version of him was kind of strange for Morgan. But also, it was funny. And sweet. Because she wasn’t stupid—she knew exactly what Evan was trying to say. She crossed the room and stood in front of him. “You know what?”

  “What’s that?”

  “I already know I can count on you for anything.”

  He stood and pulled her into a hug. Morgan hadn’t really thought about how strange it might be for her mom to date, and maybe that’s because it was Evan she was dating and it wasn’t strange. In fact, she felt lucky more than anything that her mom hadn’t chosen some idiot, but instead had found a guy who not only accepted Morgan as part of the deal, but also really liked her.

  “Now,” she said when the hug was over. “When are you going to put a ring on it and ask my mom to marry you?”

  Put a ring on it.

  For the next three days, Evan couldn’t get Morgan’s question out of his mind. Of course he wanted to marry Cam, but maybe things were happening too fast. After all, there was no need to rush. He planned to be with her forever—he could wait.

  Even if he didn’t want to.

  Fortunately, after some initial tension, his mother and Cam had gotten past the history between them, and although Evan knew their relationship might never be a close one, at least it wasn’t going to be awkward. Despite her misguided attempts to help Evan, he knew his mother’s heart had always been in the right place and it was a relief to him that they’d all been able to move forward and let the past go.