Cammie Healy (Mitchell/ Healy #8)

by Jennifer Foor

  “Yeah, pretty much. I’ve been rehearsing it in my head for days. Regardless how this goes, I’m optimistic we’ll get what we came for.”

  “Good. It’s time we get on with our lives, together finally.”

  I snickered. In Wes’ mind I was always meant to be his. Some might think it was creepy, but I found it beautiful. It made me feel like true love does exist. Maybe his teenage crush amounted to a lifetime of love. We were still exploring the depth, learning little quirks, and falling deeper by the second. “I love you, Wes. No matter what happens inside today I want you to know that. We’ll get through this.”

  “Cam, I’m not worried. I’m going to be a father to that baby no matter what the outcome. It’s you and me. Let’s get this done so we can go home.”

  He was right. I was stalling.

  I looked down at my little skirt and fluffed it. “This plan is making me nervous.”

  “You said you wanted to shock the shit out of him. Did you wear the nude colored panties?”

  “Yeah. I even bent over in the mirror to make sure it appeared like I wasn’t wearing any.”

  “I still can’t believe he made you do that.”

  “Live and learn, right?”

  “Yep. Okay, so like we talked about, I’ll be in the back of the room. If you need anything just raise your hand. If you need me to give him a southern beat down, say the word, babe.”

  I leaned forward and kissed Wes passionately, holding my hand up to his cheek. “My hero.”

  “Don’t say stuff like that. I might have to find a shady place and mount you like a wild animal.”

  “I know a few spots,” I teased while pulling away.

  We held hands as we walked across campus. I felt confident, like nothing could hurt me. This was the last step into reclaiming my life and getting back on track. It wasn’t how I expected my life to go, but I was grateful and in love. I was with a man I’d known my whole life; someone who was put on this earth to love me. How awesome is that?

  When we arrived at the classroom, I checked my phone for the time. It was still early, though I wanted to make sure I got the front seat I used to occupy. We entered the room and Wes reluctantly took a spot in the very back, kissing me quickly before I continued. “I love you, Cam. Always have, always will.”

  I smiled and kept moving, determined to get this over with.

  By the time I made it to the spot and got situated, I felt like I was covered in sweat. The room wasn’t hot. I was freaking out from being nervous. My heart was beating so fast I swore I could feel it in my head. The room was spinning and I was beginning to get dizzy as people started filling in the seats around me.

  Silently waiting, my hands folded across my lap, the sound of my peers conversing throughout the room behind me. I’d been sitting in the first row of this classroom for a while, ever since I’d sparked a more physical interest in my professor.

  I was such an idiot! His sickening charm blinded me. He’d screwed me over in more ways than one. I wanted his head on a stick. I wanted to cut off his balls and make a necklace for his crazy ass wife to wear around her neck. She could have him and his knapsack of lies. I’d been played for a fool, but instead of dwelling in a despicable past, I’d chosen to move forward; to keep pressing on, because there would be happiness at the end of my journey, just as soon as I took care of this last detail.

  The sound of the side entrance alerted me of his presence. Right away I felt my stomach knotting up, my throat feeling tight, and my fingers shaking beyond control.

  I could feel the air blowing between my legs since I was in a skirt. He’d expect my exposed pussy positioned for his viewing pleasure. James used to arrange for this to happen, and like his little toy I’d always abided to his wishes.

  Not anymore. I spread my legs just a bit more to make it appear like I was back for another round of professor/student extracurricular activities. In reality I was there to get his attention and then to end this forever. I needed closure. My child needed a good upbringing. He or she deserved a father who would love them unconditionally without regrets and ill feelings.

  He came in while reading something in his hand. I concentrated on what I wanted to say, blocking out the rest of the people around me.

  He looked up to greet the class, scanning the room once until his gaze locked on me. His eyes widened and I actually saw him stumbling for words. He peered out into the classroom again. “Forgive me for this late notice, but class has been cancelled today. Please read chapter eighty-one in your textbooks. There will be a test tomorrow.”

  I couldn’t believe it. He was a coward. He must have assumed right away I was up to no good.

  He waited until the room cleared out to walk toward me. I was surprised when he crouched down in front of me and reached for my hands. I pulled away while he spoke. “Cammie. I’ve been so worried.”

  “What? You’re kidding, right? Worried? You’re sick in the head.”

  “No. I mean that truly. You don’t understand. I was under my wife’s influence. She made me say those things to you. She knew about the baby. I don’t know how she found out. I suppose she hacked into my email, or cloned my phone. The messages you received weren’t from me, not even the texts.”

  I was shaking profusely. This wasn’t how I saw things going. “I asked you directly if you ever cared and you told me no.”

  “She was holding my phone. When you called she put it on speaker and made me say those things to you. She didn’t want me seeing you.”

  “You told me to have an abortion the moment you found out I was pregnant.”

  He looked down at his feet. “You’re right. I did. I said a lot of things that day I didn’t mean because I was panicking. I lied to you. There were other women, but none of them amounted to what we have.”

  “Had,” I reminded him. “I feel nothing but disgust for you. You destroyed me, James.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I let her control me. Come back and we’ll fix this. I’ve moved out. We’re getting a divorce.”

  Right away I began to panic. I knew Wes was in the back of the room trying to listen. His heart was probably breaking just imaging that I might forgive this man.

  I thought about both of them. James had been exciting. He’d taught me things about myself and opened my mind to a lot I would have never known existed. I’d done things I wasn’t proud of, and because of him I was struggling to move forward.

  Then there was Wes, my knight in shining armor. Our chemistry was something I couldn’t control. Almost immediately I fell in love with him. I worried it was because I was on the rebound. I pushed him away for that reason, only to discover there was no denying the bond we shared. We’d been inseparable. He was the man I knew I could spend my life with.

  “There is no us, James. I’m not here to make amends with you. I’m here to finalize some documents so I can move on with my life. I’m with someone.”

  “Already?” He seemed shocked.

  “He’s from home. I’ve known him my whole life. He’s good to me and I love him. I didn’t know what love was until he came back into my life. He’s showed me the difference. What you and I had was a mockery of lust. The only thing you’ve taught me is to steer clear of married men with hidden agendas.” I shoved the papers from the lawyer toward him. “I want you to sign these so I can move forward. I don’t want to see you again, James. I want you out of my life for good.”

  He glanced at the paperwork. “Parental rights? What is this?”

  “I want you to sign over your parental rights. This child is mine. You’ll never see it. You won’t come looking. Relinquish your rights so I can raise my baby in a loving home without the bullshit you bring to the table. You said it yourself. You have your kids. They’re grown. You never wanted this baby. Please, James, if you ever cared about me at all, sign the papers.”

  He shoved them back toward me. “No. I won’t do it.”

  I heard shuffling behind me and knew Wes was about to lose
his shit. I held up my hand, pointing one finger for him to give me a few more seconds. When James saw a stranger in the back he knew he was with me. “You brought your boyfriend here?”

  “I did. I asked him to come. I wanted him to see how much I hate you.”

  He stood and chuckled to himself. “I won’t sign. You can’t make me. I have a right to know that child.”

  I jumped up. “Oh, now you have a conscience? You make me sick, James.” I started walking toward Wes, who was very ready to get out of there. I knew he was the one to suffer through this. He wanted my baby to have his name and now it probably couldn’t happen. I wanted to cry but knew I’d wait until we were far away from James.

  Wes wrapped his arm around me once we were outside. “It’s still going to be okay.”

  I stopped walking and looked right at him. “No. It’s not, but I know how I can fix this.” I took his hand and led him across campus again, this time to the office of the assistant dean.

  I knocked twice before barging in without permission. She stood up when she saw it was me. “Miss Healy. I wasn’t made aware you’ve come back.”

  “I’m just tying up loose ends.”

  She crossed her arms like she was interested in hearing what that meant. “If you’ve come for James…”

  I cut her off. “I don’t want anything to do with that lying bastard. That’s the reason I’m here. I brought papers for him to sign and he refused. I want him to relinquish parental rights.”

  She cocked her brow and spoke in an annoyed tone. “Why would you come to me with this information?”

  “Because I know you have some kind of sick control over him.”

  “I’m afraid to break it to you, but James and I are no longer living together. He moved out because of you. He couldn’t get over the fact that I made him choose, so I forced him to leave.”

  This was horrible news. James had been telling the truth. For a millisecond I felt bad for him. Then I remembered he was the pig in this situation. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I kicked him out. I should have done it years ago. Now he’s pretending he’s done nothing wrong. Like typical James he’ll find some loophole to come out shining. Even my father can’t fire him now. I’m going to have to spend the rest of my life seeing his despicable face. I’m sorry I can’t help you convince him.”

  It only took me a second to figure out what I needed to do. “I think I have an idea. I’ll be a character witness on your behalf. You’re going to need more proof of the affairs, right? I’ll give a written and verbal account of the entire affair from start to finish, including dates and times. If the dean finds out the places he took me, and the resources he used to meet with me, James could be forced to resign.”

  “Why? Why would you want to help me? I threatened to take away your scholarship.”

  “That man tried to ruin my life. He manipulated me to sleep with him. I don’t want him near my child. If I threaten to take your side he’ll give us both what we want, because he knows he’ll lose everything if he doesn’t.”

  “You might be right. How do you want to play this, Miss Healy?”

  “Call him and tell him you have the dirt to nail him to the wall. Tell him I’ve given you a documented account of our affair and you’re giving it to your father this evening. Better yet, tell him I’m having dinner with his children to tell them about the affair and the baby.”

  She picked up the phone and dialed a number. The look on her face was scary. She knew she had the upper hand. Between the photos she’d had taken, the phone conversations and now my eye witness accounts, he was done for. He couldn’t talk his way out of it.

  When she hung up from the conversation she looked behind me to address Wes. “Who are you, young man?”

  “My name is Wesley Parrish. I’m here with Cammie.”

  She shuffled through some papers while she spoke. “It’s unfortunate you had to be involved with my husband, Cammie. Had I have known ahead of time, I could have stopped you. By the time I suspected it, you were already sleeping together.”

  I cringed just hearing her say it out loud. “I knew this would happen eventually. He’s slept around on me before, but never gotten a girl pregnant. Why he took you to a hospital so close to the campus is beyond me. People talk. I have a good relationship with the nurses there. People your age tend to find trouble. It’s my job to fix things. I never expected a call that my husband was there with a girl who’d gotten knocked up. What else I didn’t expect was for him to be talking about the child as if it were his own.”

  “They told you? That’s against the law.”

  “I got a message that my husband had brought in a female. They didn’t have to tell me when I was listening for myself. I’m surprised James never said anything. He knew I was there. He saw me and spoke to me. He told me he’d convince you to abort the child, while I threatened to tell our children what their father had done.”

  It all made sense. From the very moment we found out she’d been manipulating him. James was telling the truth about that.

  I felt sick. I didn’t want to be in the presence of this woman. She had every right to hate me, but I felt the same. Things could have been handled differently.

  “Are we done here?” Wes asked.

  I stood and faced him. “Yeah. Let’s get out of here.”

  “How do I get in touch with you?”

  “You don’t. My work is done here. James will sign the papers if he knows what’s good for him. I’m sorry it had to be like this, and the part I played in the destruction of your marriage. In my defense, he told me it was just for show. I never would have been with him otherwise.”

  When we left the office I power walked back to the car Wes had rented for us. I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there.

  It wasn’t until we arrived at the hotel near the airport when I was finally able to breath normally again.

  “Do you think this will work? I’ve got to tell you, Cam. I’m worried. We might have to deal with this asshole for the next eighteen years.”

  “I know. Just say a little prayer. This baby is ours. I know what his wife said, but I also know James could have told me the truth. If he truly loved me he could have snuck a message to me, or done everything in his power to protect me. He didn’t. He doesn’t want another child, and I don’t want him.”

  “Say it again, just so I can feel better.”

  “I don’t want him, because I’m in love with you. This is going to work out.”

  “No matter what, you’re stuck with me, Cam. You’re both stuck with me, whether the baby has my name or not.”

  I smiled and wrapped my arms around Wes. This was real love. This was what it felt like. It was unconditional. Through good and bad he’d stick by side. Whether his name was on the birth certificate, or I had to leave it blank and pray James never came around to lay claim, we’d make it work together.

  Epilogue

  She’d been resting for a while, after being in labor for eighteen hours straight. I didn’t know how she was able to manage having given birth to a eight pound stunning little girl. I’d been holding her since the family left.

  A light knock on the door sent me to my feet. I walked over and opened it, holding my finger up to my lips. “Shh.” When I noticed who it was I was in shock.

  Callie hadn’t spoken to either of us since she discovered we were together. We’d thought she’d come around, but she never had. The fact that she was standing in front of me was a breakthrough. She looked down at the baby and smiled. “Can I hold her?”

  I gently passed her over. “Here she is, Madison Olivia Parrish.” We’d gotten the paperwork from James two months after going to California. It was official, from this day forward she was all mine.

  “She’s adorable.” I watched Callie fall in love with her, just like everyone had the moment they set eyes on her. “She’s perfect.”

  “Cam is going to be happy you came. She asked about you earlier. She wanted you in
the room with us.”

  “I know. Mom and Cassie told me. I’m sorry. It didn’t feel right.”

  “I’m glad you’re here, Cal. You need to be a part of your nieces life.”

  When the door opened again I spotted her parents. They’d left only a little while before.

  Mr. Healy spoke in a whisper. “We got halfway down the road and I had to turn around. Grandpa missed this little one already.”

  They’d come around shortly after Cammie informed them she was going to be attending Duke. She’d started taking classes, but not a full schedule until the following semester when the baby was a bit older.

  Her parents had forgiven me, but they’d never treated me the same. I was hoping Maddy would change that. So far they’d been grateful. He’d even thanked me for taking such good care of his daughter.

  Callie finally gave her father the baby. Her mom stood by his side as they both admired the little bundle again.

  I followed Callie over to the bed where her sister slept. “She’s exhausted.” I told her.

  “I bet. Mom said it was rough.”

  “Every time she pushed, the baby would come out and then go back in. It sucked.”

  “Was she in a lot of pain?”

  “The most I’ve ever seen.”

  Cammie started to stir. Her eyes fluttered open, first to spot me and then her sister. She reached her hand over to touch Callie. “You came.”

  “Sorry I was late. She’s beautiful.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m ready to be an aunt now, Cam. I know you’re right where you’re supposed to be. I’m sorry for being a brat about the two of you.”

  “It’s fine,” Cammie managed.

  Her mom came over and sat the baby on her chest. Cammie leaned forward to kiss her. “Is it time to feed her again?” She asked me.

  I checked the clock. “No. She ate forty minutes ago.”

  Cammie smiled, as if she was glad she didn’t need to exasperate extra energy.

  The family stuck around for a while. They kept telling me I needed to rest, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of my girls.