by Cindi Madsen
Having this conversation in front of all the quilting ladies would be a disaster, too, each of them throwing their opinions into the mix and adding to the mess of thoughts already swirling through her head. Not to mention Patsy Higgins would be here any second, and then there’d be no chance of any of it being kept private.
So she was keeping her lips zipped until she had the chance to talk to Cam—she wanted him to hear it from her, not through the town grapevine. She shot Grandma the sternest look she could summon and said, “Later.”
“Okay, but I can’t help remembering two other people who gave up their dreams for small-town life and how it didn’t turn out so well in the long run. I’d hate for you to make the same mistake and stay, only for you two to end up resenting each other like your parents did.”
The words stung, and as they sank in, they also dug at the part of her that worried about ending up like that. Would she resent Cam if she stayed? Would he later resent her for pushing him to make such a big decision so quickly, when he was still processing having a daughter as well as all he had on his plate with Mountain Ridge?
Man, where am I even going to start when I do finally get the chance to talk to him?
Their relationship had shifted during their camping adventure, but they still hadn’t had a serious talk about where exactly they stood and what they both wanted in the long run. She didn’t want him to feel like she was giving him an ultimatum and that he’d have no choice but to be with her or to be without Zoey.
She thought back to growing up in a house where the word “mistake” was thrown around often, and how both of her parents talked about feeling trapped. The last thing she wanted was for Cam to feel trapped, but at the same time, she couldn’t give up the amazing opportunity to work at an architecture firm, the way she’d always dreamed of doing, if he wasn’t willing to give her more of a commitment.
If Cam committed, she knew he’d stick by it, but she didn’t want to be just a commitment. She wanted him to want to be with her.
Since she couldn’t do anything about that now, she focused on making tiny stiches and tried to enjoy the light conversation. Every once in a while, Grandma would glance at her, and it was clear she still wanted all the answers, but Emma needed some before she could give any to her.
When Zoey tired of her coloring book and tried to climb on Emma’s lap, making it harder to sew, one of Vera Mae’s granddaughters came over, asked Zoey if she wanted to play with them, and then took her hand and led her over to where she and her sister were playing with dolls. Zoey was in heaven playing with the seven- and nine-year-old girls.
Right as Emma was about to excuse herself and Zoey, Amy Case came in, wearing the colorful scrubs she wore for her job at the hospital. “Sorry I’m late, ladies. Work was crazy today.” She grabbed a cookie and an empty chair and sat next to the quilt. “Rod Brantley nearly chopped off his toe. That’s the most excitement we’ve seen in a while.”
“Is he still at the hospital?” Emma asked.
“He left a bit ago. I had to stay and finish up my charts that I didn’t get to while I was helping out the doctor.”
“He’s okay, then?”
“Yeah, a few of the bones in the top of his foot are broken. They put him in a cast and discharged him. He’ll need a month or so to recover, but then he’ll be okay.”
“We better get a sign-up going,” Doris said. “His family will need meals.”
“On it,” Patsy Higgins said, pulling a fat, worn notebook from her purse. “Sheena’s been staying with him most nights, too, along with Oliver. So meals for three people.”
Emma’s heart swelled as they all sprang into motion, making plans to help Rod Brantley, regardless of the fact that he’d never had the best reputation and ignored most of the town’s events.
Maybe people here gossiped and loved to interfere and force people to participate in picnic basket auctions, town meetings, and quilting night, but there was caring and love behind most of their gestures.
Suddenly the thought of walking down crowded sidewalks where people simply passed each other by seemed sad. Of people breaking limbs or having babies and not immediately receiving casseroles and flowers. She glanced at Zoey and thought about how she didn’t think twice about letting her play with other kids or wander around the park, because she knew the people here, and it was a safe place to live.
If she moved away, she’d also miss Grandma Bev like crazy, even if they did occasionally drive each other mad.
An overwhelming wave of sorrow and gratefulness hit her, and she worried if she didn’t leave, she’d burst into tears. Then she’d have a lot of explaining to do, and no one in this room would take no for an answer.
Emma quickly tied off her thread and scooted her chair back. “Thank you, ladies, for tonight, but I think that I better get Zoey home before she reaches the hungry-and-tired meltdown phase. I’ll see you all later.”
Grandma reached out and caught her hand. “You and I need to have a serious conversation sometime.”
“I know.” Emma leaned down, hugged her grandma, and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Then she gathered Zoey’s stuff and headed home.
A box of mac and cheese for Zoey later, Emma paced the kitchen, her mind spinning. She’d read through the contract twice now, and while common sense—and math—said she should take the job, something still held her back.
Namely, someone.
Because she could weigh all the pros and cons she’d thought of since the job offer—including all the lovely things she’d realized she’d miss about Hope Springs during quilting night—and none of them took as much space as Cam.
Earlier I told myself I’d need more commitment from him to even consider turning down the job, but I think I’d even take a slim chance of us working out, which just shows how far gone I am for the guy.
Zoey came running in and demanded her sippy cup be refilled, and Emma looked at her little girl, wondering which would truly be the best decision for her. Financial stability was definitely a bonus, but they’d made it okay here.
If she pretended her bills would stop stacking up, raising a kid would somehow get cheaper, and that she would have another big job around the corner to keep her income steady, she was sure they could keep making it. The odds of more big jobs weren’t great, but maybe the little ones would be enough to keep them afloat.
On autopilot, she poured milk into the pink-and-purple sippy cup.
There was no question Zoey needed her daddy, and Emma was starting to feel like she did, too.
For a second, she entertained the thought of managing a way to keep hold of both the job and Cam. Would a two-hour drive back and forth make or break us?
Probably. It would definitely suck.
Then again, opportunities that paid so well didn’t come along every day. Maybe she could just sign on for the Park City job and see how she liked working for Precision Commercial Design and how hard it was to balance the project while maintaining a long-distance relationship. It was only a year.
Which didn’t sound long when she put it like that. But when she thought about breaking it out into months and weeks and two-hour trips—that were really four including the drive back—it seemed like a freaking eternity.
Emma secured the lid on Zoey’s cup and handed it back to her daughter, who muttered a polite “tanks” before running into the other room.
Emma glanced at the contract again. Then she looked at her open laptop, the website for the fancy town houses she and Zoey could call home still displayed. She lifted her phone and looked at the screen, hoping Cam would have answered her last text asking for an update.
But there weren’t any new texts or missed phone calls.
She thought about how she’d offered to go with Cam earlier and how he’d told her no. How he hadn’t answered her last two texts. She wanted to help him however she could, but she worried those were signs he wasn’t thinking about her as a permanent fixture in his life, not the same way she was thinkin
g about him.
Which made her question everything all over again.
“I don’t know what to do,” she said to the stack of dirty dishes. They, of course, were completely unhelpful. She eyed the clock. She wanted to discuss everything with Cam, but there were a few points in the contract with confusing wording, and Pete would be having dinner in twenty minutes.
I owe it to myself to at least make sure I’ve got all the details before I talk to Cam, much less make a decision.
With that thought in mind, she picked up the phone and called Madison. She hated to leave Zoey with a babysitter again, since she’d just left her over the weekend, but she’d only be gone an hour or two at most. Plus, having more information when she talked to Cam would be better than having to say, “I don’t know,” to every question he’d ask.
She also knew that once they talked, she was going to have to lay it all out, including exactly how she felt about him, because what he said in return would obviously factor into her decision. Maybe it was faster than she’d planned, but life had a way of throwing wrenches into plans—she knew that better than anyone.
As she made arrangements with the babysitter, she eyed the papers again. There was a certain sense of irony in the fact that the type of job she’d always wanted had suddenly become the one thing that might get in the way of the family she’d dreamed of having.
Chapter Twenty-Four
As Cam walked up the sidewalk to Emma’s, he scrubbed a hand over his face and tried to pull himself together. Big surprise, Sheena wasn’t very good at the sight of blood and had nearly passed out twice. Cam had seen his fair share, so he’d helped change Dad’s soaked bandages and applied fresh ones to the gruesome wound, while Heath tried to keep Sheena and Oliver calm and occupied.
Every time he’d gone to call Emma and give her an update, another person would knock on the door, or Sheena would have another meltdown, and it felt like he and Heath had put out one fire only for two more to pop up. The entire afternoon had gone by in a hectic blur, and now all he wanted was a quiet night with Emma.
He glanced at the time—Zoey would probably still be up for a little while, too. After their little girl was asleep, though, he planned on taking Emma into her bedroom, where he could kiss and hold her the way his body craved, and ask if he could stay the night. Forget all the rules and taking it slow. He didn’t want slow anymore. He wanted his family.
Only when he knocked on the door, Emma wasn’t the one who answered. A teenage girl with braces had Zoey in her arms.
“Daddy!” Zoey launched herself at him, and he caught her. She put her hands on both of his cheeks and gave him a big, smacking kiss.
He bounced her higher in his arms and stepped farther inside the house. “Is Emma here?”
“Oh, no she’s not. I’m watching Zoey so she could go meet someone. At the Triple S, I think.”
The skin on Cam’s neck prickled, the blood in his veins immediately pumping hotter. Then he told himself it was probably just Quinn and Sadie, and he needed to calm down.
“I’m Madison, by the way,” the babysitter said. “Cam Brantley, right? My little brother is in Oliver’s class.”
Cam extended his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Need milk,” Zoey said, pointing at her sippy cup on the floor.
“I can get it,” the babysitter said.
“It’s okay. I got it.” Cam lowered Zoey so she was upside down and dangling over her cup. She squealed and grabbed the cup, giggling when he swung her back up. Hugging her tight, he kissed her cheek. Already the stress of the day was fading—if Dad didn’t have to fight everything so damn hard, it would’ve been much easier. Finally Cam had asked a nurse to slip him something. She’d looked horrified by it, but whatever pain meds she’d given him had calmed him down enough for the doctor to cast the foot he claimed was “just fine.”
As soon as Zoey had her refilled sippy cup, she ran to show it off to Madison. Cam noticed the messy kitchen and thought he’d pay the babysitter and tell her she could go home, then he’d tidy up and watch Zoey until Emma arrived.
But the document next to the pot of mostly eaten mac and cheese caught his eye. When he lifted it, he bumped the open laptop and it came to life. As he started to read down the page, his lungs tightened. Then he glanced at the screen and noticed the town houses Emma had obviously been looking into were in Salt Lake City.
Where she was apparently going to be working.
What the hell? She’s moving, and she didn’t even think to tell me? Anger rose, quickly taking over his body. How could she do this? She hadn’t told him about his daughter for two years, and now, after they’d lived in the same town for six whole weeks, she was going to take her away?
Over his dead body.
He strode into the living room, and in an effort to not scare the babysitter or his daughter, he forced a tight smile onto his lips. “I’m going to go find Emma. You’ll be okay with Zoey for a little while longer?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got her.”
Cam told his daughter good-bye, promised he’d see her soon, and then he got in his truck and headed toward the Triple S.
He charged inside the restaurant, a man on a mission. And when he saw that not only was Emma there, but she was having an intimate dinner with Pete, he released the hold on his anger, not bothering to fight it back anymore.
…
Emma glanced up from her untouched fries to see Cam heading toward her, and while her heart first skipped a beat at simply seeing him, the second beat it missed was because of how angry he looked.
“What the hell, Emma?” He slammed his fist down on the table, making the plates and, in turn, her, jump. “You’re going to move to Salt Lake City without even telling me? Just like you didn’t bother telling me about Zoey in the first place.” He shook his head, disgust clear on his features. “And I thought you were different.”
It felt like her internal organs were shrinking in on themselves, and she couldn’t help but notice the way everyone in the place was now staring at them. Seth Jr. looked ready to leap over the bar and play bouncer, and she wanted to tell everyone to stay back—she honestly worried about anyone who dared to take on Cam right now.
Unfortunately, she was the one who needed to. “Cam, please calm down.”
“Oh, I don’t think I’ll be calm this time. Last time I was calm, and apparently you’ve taken that as a sign that you can jerk me around.”
Pete was hunched over, flinching with every word.
“Hey, what did I say about Brantleys and the Triple S not mixing last time you came in,” Trevor, one of the bartenders, said as he wrapped his hand around Cam’s arm. “Let’s just fast-forward to where you’re permanently kicked out like your dad.”
Cam spun, fist cocked, and Emma shot to her feet and grabbed his arm. “Cam. Stop.”
He glanced at her, and while his stony expression didn’t change, he did lower his fist. Emma took advantage and tugged him toward the door of the Triple S. For years she’d been the quiet girl who walked the line, and with everyone staring, she missed the anonymity. Missed being the boring one.
As soon as she managed to get Cam outside, she opened her mouth to explain, but he cut her off. “You told me nothing was going on with Pete.”
“Nothing is,” she said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “I mean, except the job offer, which—”
“I don’t need this. I came to get away. All I wanted was to run the lodge and get away from everything.” His hard footsteps as he paced the wooden walkway in front of the Triple S punctuated his words. “Now I’m here in town causing a scene, on the verge of getting banned from the bar for life, and for what?”
Hurt rose up and settled deep in Emma’s chest. “Well, things didn’t turn out like you expected, did they?”
“No. This wasn’t what I wanted at all.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “You think I expected all of this?”
“Too bad for you I came home
, right? Or you could’ve kept lying to everyone.”
She moved into his pathway and crossed her arms. “So much for you saying that you forgive me. And I told you that I didn’t need your help. You chose to get involved.”
“Hey, we all make mistakes. Or do you just want to be forgiven for yours, but when it comes to other people, you expect them to be perfect?” He raked both hands through his hair then shook his head, resentment and rage practically wafting off him.
Swallowing didn’t dislodge the lump in her throat, so she forced herself to talk through it. “I barely got the job offer today. I tried to talk to you about it, but then your dad got hurt, so I didn’t have the chance. After reading over the contract a couple of times, I still had some questions, so I came to talk to Pete so I’d have all the facts before you and I talked about it.”
He just kept shaking his head, muttering about how he should’ve known better.
“This is a great job, the kind of job I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember, and I could provide a better life for Zoey. I have to think about that, Cam.”
“And what I could provide for Zoey wouldn’t be enough?” he snapped.
“I’m not saying that! She needs you. Of course I want you to still be in her life.”
“Oh, I will be.” He leveled her with a cold glare, none of the affection that he’d shown her the past few weeks, and she swore she could feel her heart crack, the jagged pieces cutting deep before it split in two.
“Is that really what you think of me? That I’ll try to take Zoey away if you don’t play nice?”
“You kept her from me for two years, Emma. Toe the line, you make all the decisions, and you don’t need me—I got the message loud and clear.”
“So that’s what the past month and a half has been about? Toeing the line so you can see your daughter?”
He didn’t even look at her, more like through her. “I need to get back to the lodge. Back to the life I’ve worked for, so I don’t lose my temper here and undo all the hard work Heath’s done to restore the Brantley reputation.”