“Wait,” Cameron said, moving past the man on his porch and trying to catch the truck driver’s attention. He hurried to the passenger’s side of the truck, where another man was peering out at him. Cameron knocked on the window. “This isn’t my delivery,” he called up.
The driver braked, and both men rolled down their windows. “This isn’t my delivery. The other guy is calling the store to find out what’s going on.”’
“Mr. Vance?” someone said behind him.
Cameron turned to see Robert.
“It appears that there’s been a mix-up.”
Cameron exhaled with relief. “Yes, that’s what I thought. What happened?”
“Your wife, Crystal Vance, ordered the furniture a couple of days ago,” Robert said, giving him a stern look. “We were supposed to deliver it in two weeks, so it’s with my apologies that we’re so early and caught you unawares.”
Cameron’s mouth fell open.
“If it’s not too much of a bother, we’d like to complete this delivery today, since we already have it loaded in the truck,” Robert continued. “We could store it in your garage if your house isn’t ready. Then we could come back later and move it inside. That would be an extra charge though.”
Cameron swallowed. “How was the invoice charged?”
Robert looked down at the invoice. “It says here that there was a $5,000 down payment charged to your American Express, and the rest of the payment will go through upon receipt of the merchandise.”
“She has my credit card?” Cameron felt his pockets. His wallet was in the house. “Hang on.” He sprinted back to the cabin and pounded up the stairs to the second level. In his bedroom, he located his wallet and opened it. His American Express card was gone.
Cameron sank onto his bed as numbness settled over him. Apparently Crystal had taken his credit card and gone shopping to replace all of the furniture in his cabin. The furniture was to be delivered in two weeks... When was she going to tell him?
Heat spread through his face and neck. She’d taken his credit card without asking. She might be his fiancée, but they weren’t married yet. Technically, this was stealing. And even if they had been married, weren’t things like replacing an entire cabin full of furniture something they should discuss in advance?
He closed his eyes and tried to calm his erratic breathing and racing heart. He’d never been so angry in his life. First, he had to get rid of the moving truck. Standing from his bed, he steeled his emotions and walked back down the stairs. Outside, the three men were standing at the rear of the truck. They’d opened the truck’s hatch, and Cameron caught a view of an entire load of furniture.
“There’s been a huge misunderstanding,” Cameron said in a clipped voice. “I will pay the delivery charge, but you need to return the furniture. It’s been ordered by mistake.”
Robert stared at Cameron as if he was speaking a different language. “Sir, we’d be happy to unload everything to your garage. It’s no trouble.”
“Call your manager back, please,” Cameron said. “I’ll explain what’s happened.”
Robert handed over his phone, and when the manager answered, Cameron used all his self-control to explain that the woman who made the purchase was not his wife and, more significantly, her name was not on his credit card.
The manager apologized profusely, but Cameron wasn’t interested in apologies from the wrong person.
“Sorry about all of this,” he said to Robert when he was off the phone. “You went through a lot of trouble, but I’m glad I caught it now.”
Robert instructed his men to close the hatch, and a few minutes later Cameron watched the truck disappear down the road.
He walked slowly back to the cabin. Without going inside, he shut the door and walked around to the backyard. He climbed the steps of the deck, then sat on the top step. The shade from the overhead awning kept the summer heat off Cameron, but he was still burning up inside. He scrubbed his hands through his hair, then propped his elbows on his knees.
This had all been a mistake. Crystal was a mistake. Taking his credit card and buying $35,000 worth of furniture wasn’t even the whole reason that he knew he could no longer marry her. She’d thought she could replace something he loved without even asking him. Did she even care that although the furniture in the cabin might be older, it was sentimental? This cabin had been his grandparents’. He had many fond memories of the original place. He had expanded it, upgraded it, but the furniture stayed. He wasn’t going to budge on that.
It was time to call Crystal.
No one answered the door at Jane’s first knock. This time, it was 11:00 in the morning, and Cameron should be awake. Unless he wasn’t here. But with the garage doors closed, Jane had no way of knowing if he was home. Crystal’s car wasn’t in sight either.
Jane looked at her phone to check her text messages again. Sure enough, there was Crystal’s request for all the bedding to be laundered at the cabin this morning. Jane had taken care of another client’s house this morning so that she didn’t run the risk of waking up Cameron Vance again. Maybe she was too late instead.
Jane knocked a second time, but still no answer. She stepped off the porch and made her way back to the car. She’d text Crystal and wait a few minutes to see if she replied. But before she did, she thought she heard the echo of music playing. Jane stopped and listened. Yep. Music was playing—from the backyard?
She walked around the cabin, picking her way along a narrow gravel path lined with various bushes. As she neared the yard, the music grew louder. She rounded the corner of the cabin, and at first she didn’t see anyone. Then she noticed a form on the hammock that stretched between two of the trees. Next to the hammock was a litter of beer bottles and what looked like Chinese take-out containers.
Jane took a couple of steps forward to see that Cameron was sound asleep in the hammock. She paused. He looked exhausted, even in his sleep. His phone was next to him, playing music, and obviously he’d fallen asleep to it.
She was about to turn away and leave him in peace when he opened his eyes. He blinked a couple of times.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Jane said, taking another step back. “No one answered the door when I knocked, and I heard the music coming from the backyard, so I came to see if anyone was home.”
Cameron just stared at her for a moment. His eyes were rimmed red, and there were dark circles beneath them.
“I can talk to Crystal about a better time to wash the bedding,” she said.
“No,” he said in a gruff voice. Then he cleared his throat. “You can do the bedding now.” He moved to a sitting position.
His hair was wild from sleeping on the hammock, and Jane would have laughed if he didn’t look so distressed.
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep out here,” he said, his voice still raspy. He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “One thing led to another, I guess.”
Jane followed his gaze to the deck. Her eyes widened at the sight of broken glass scattered across it. She quickly looked back at him, scanning for any injuries. “Are you all right?”
His brown eyes met hers. “Funny you should ask that.”
She waited, her breathing feeling shallow. Had he gotten drunk and smashed things?
“Crystal and I broke up last night. She might have thrown a few things at me.” He rubbed at his face and groaned. “I think I have a migraine.”
Jane stared at him. She wanted to ask him what happened. She could hardly believe it herself, and it looked like he’d taken the breakup pretty hard, by the looks of the beer bottles on the ground.
“I think you’re hung over,” she said. “Do you want me to get you some coffee?”
“Coffee would be great, but I’m not hung over.” He motioned to the ground. “I dumped most of those out so I wouldn’t be tempted to get obliterated.”
Jane didn’t know if she entirely believed him, because he swayed when he stood up from the hammock. She hurried to his side a
nd grasped his arm to steady him.
“Thanks,” he said in a quiet voice. “I’m all right—it’s just this horrible headache. I can’t get it to go away.”
“Come inside,” Jane said. “I’ll make you that coffee. And you should take some aspirin.”
Cameron picked up his phone and turned off the music, then slid it into his pocket. In a surprising move, he draped his arm over her shoulder, using her as support. So she walked with him to the deck. They lumbered up the steps, and as they bypassed the shattered glass Jane said, “I’ll sweep that up while you’re waiting for the coffee.”
“No,” Cameron said, his voice harsh again. “You’re not going to clean up Crystal’s mess. I’ll do it.”
Jane looked up at him, surprised at his vehemence, while trying not to focus on how it felt to have his arm draped over her. “It’s all right, really. You should get some rest.”
Cameron drew away from her completely. He looked more steady on his feet, but the pain in his eyes was still there. “I’ll be fine, eventually. But you’re not sweeping up the glass.”
“Okay,” Jane said. “I won’t sweep up the glass.”
Cameron looked relieved. He nodded and walked past her and opened the sliding glass door. Jane followed him inside. She’d grab a trash bag and clean up the food containers and bottles in the yard, but when she took a bag out of the pantry, Cameron held out his hand. “I’ll do the yard. You can start on the bedding. I should probably just send you home, since I won’t be needing cleaning services anymore. But it would be nice to have all the bedding done at once.”
“No problem,” Jane assured him, handing over the trash bag. She was glad he wasn’t sending her home right away. He wasn’t looking too great, and she wanted to keep an eye on him until he at least got some coffee in him.
Jane watched him walk outside, broom, dustpan, and trash bag in hand. She set the coffee maker on, then she went upstairs. She’d cleaned upstairs multiple times, but she always felt like she was intruding when she cleaned a client’s bedroom. Mostly she cleaned kitchens and bathrooms, then did floors, and other main parts of houses.
Cameron’s bedroom was decidedly masculine, but warm as well. The bedspread was a deep green, and the pillow shams were a quilted, green-and-white pattern—which Jane suspected were hand-stitched. She’d wash them on delicate. She stripped the bedding, dumped it all in the hallway, then went into the other two bedrooms. The bedding in each room was new—she could tell by the stiff feel of the fabric and the sterile scent. Jane was surprised that the beds had been made without laundering the new bedding first. Then Jane remembered Crystal saying something about how they’d been rushed to get ready for the engagement party.
Jane carried two of the sheet sets to the upstairs laundry room. There was a laundry downstairs as well, which would make everything go twice as fast. She dumped in the sheets, then the pillow cases. She’d wash the comforters in the bigger washer downstairs.
It was strange to think that Cameron and Crystal had called off their wedding. Jane hadn’t cared much for Crystal and her prima donna personality, though Jane hadn’t wished her this type of ill will. She was curious to know what had happened to break them up, but it was none of her business. Besides, after today, Jane would probably never see either of them again.
She carried the rest of the bedding downstairs. She stopped at the base of the steps when she saw Cameron sitting on one of the couches in the living room, his head in his hands. His cup of coffee was on the table in front of him, untouched, from what she could tell. Jane’s heart went out to him. Was he really that devastated over Crystal? Would he try to get back together?
She didn’t want to pry more than she already had, so she continued into the kitchen and the second laundry room that was situated between the kitchen and the mud room. She loaded the first comforter into the washer and selected the cycle, then added a detergent pod. With about thirty minutes to wait until she had to change over the laundry, she decided she could at least clean up the kitchen.
She soon found there wasn’t much to clean up, so she started to disinfect the sink and counters. No sound came from the living room, where she could see Cameron still sitting on the couch. Should she talk to him? See if there was anything he needed? When another five minutes passed, and he still hadn’t moved, Jane wiped her hands off and grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator. Then she searched the cupboards and found some Advil.
Jane carried it into the living room and sat next to Cameron, leaving a good amount of space between them. She hoped she wasn’t being too presumptuous, but it was hard to ignore this man’s pain.
He lifted his head as she sat down on the couch.
“Hey,” she said. “Here’s some water and Advil.”
He took both from her wordlessly.
She felt gratified when he drank half the water bottle before setting it down next to the coffee.
He leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes, slowly exhaling.
Jane felt frozen in place. She didn’t know if she should ask him how he was doing. Or if she should leave him alone.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Cameron asked, his eyes still closed.
Jane swallowed. “Not currently.” Thoughts of Daniel floated through her mind. They’d been broken up for almost a year, and Jane had been so focused on her dad and her cleaning company that she hadn’t really dated since Daniel.
“Have you been married?”
“No.”
Cameron cracked an eye open, then closed it again. “So, that last boyfriend you had... did you ever take his credit card without asking and buy a houseful of furniture?”
“What?” Jane said. “I... no. Who would do that?”
Cameron opened his eyes again, his gaze piercing.
“Crystal?”
He nodded.
Jane exhaled. “Wow.”
“Yeah. Wow.” Cameron pulled out his phone from his pocket. “I took a picture of the invoices that came with the furniture.” He turned the phone to face Jane. “Crystal was going to surprise me, she said. Claimed it was my wedding gift. She wanted to replace every bit of furniture in this cabin.”
She peered at the list—everything from couches, to tables, to rugs. Then Cameron slid to the next picture, and Jane’s mouth fell open when she saw the $35,000 price tag. “You must have a really high limit on your credit card.”
Cameron stared at her. Then he started to chuckle. “Yeah, I do, in fact. I would have definitely noticed a $35,000 charge though.”
“Plus, the furniture—I mean that would have been noticeable too.” Jane waved a hand. “You would have noticed if you came downstairs and didn’t have this comfy leather couch to sit on.”
“Do you think it’s comfortable?” he asked.
Sitting this close to him, she noticed that he’d tamed his hair. It wasn’t necessarily brushed, but it wasn’t sticking up as it had been before.
“I do.” She ran a hand over the soft leather. “It’s broken in and has personality.”
Cameron’s gaze seemed to deepen. “I think so too,” he said in a quiet voice. “Do you know my grandfather built this cabin? Well, the original part. The renovations expanded the kitchen, added a second level, and combined the living room and bedroom into one large area.”
“But you kept the furniture?”
“Yep,” Cameron said, his expression brightening. “I refinished the kitchen table myself.”
Jane raised her eyebrows at this and leaned forward to get a view of the table from her position. “That’s impressive.”
Cameron shook his head. “It took me about as long to do one table as it took the construction crew to do an entire renovation.”
“Well, you have a busy job,” she said.
“Yeah, that reminds me, I should get to work,” Cameron said. “Maybe after a long shower—I need to wake up.”
Jane nodded. “Do you want fresh coffee?”
“No, the water was great.”
Cameron looked like he was about to say no. Then he said, “Sure. That would be great.”
“Okay, then,” Jane said, moving to her feet. “I’ll get started.”
“I’ll get that shower in,” Cameron said.
Jane walked to the kitchen, feeling Cameron’s gaze on her. It made her feel self-conscious, but she was happy that he seemed to be pulling things together. He’d actually laughed, and she decided that was a good thing.
Twenty minutes later, Cameron came into the kitchen. Jane had gotten more creative than she’d intended. She’d scrambled eggs and heated some pre-cooked bacon she found in the fridge. She added grated cheese and chives to the eggs, hoping he’d like them. She’d also found enough fruit to put together a smoothie.
“This looks great. Are you a chef too?” Cameron said.
“Not exactly,” Jane said with a laugh. As he settled at the island, she tried not to ogle him. He wore a button-down shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, and khaki pants. He was still barefoot, and his hair was a bit damp from the shower. And even from her position on the other side of the island, she could smell his freshly showered scent.
Crystal was a fool.
Jane refocused on scrubbing the frying pan. Then she rinsed it off and started to dry it. Cameron seemed to have a pretty healthy appetite after all.
When he caught her watching him, she felt her face heat.
“Do you want some?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m not hungry,” Jane said, although she was starting to get hungry—for lunch. “I go home to eat lunch with my dad.”
Cameron looked surprised at this. “Every day?”
“Yeah,” Jane said, wondering why she was telling him all of this. “I moved here a couple of years ago after his wife died—my stepmom—and I found out his diabetes was pretty severe. I eat with him most meals to ensure that he eats healthy. He can be a bit... stubborn.”
Cameron nodded. “I definitely understand stubborn.”’
Where I Belong Page 3