A Missing Heart(46)

“Say what, kiddo?” I pull back with a questioning look.

“Cameron. You still love her, don’t you?”

“You pretty much saw us both in the same room for less than thirty seconds. What in the world would make you say something like that?”

“You watched her walk away. That’s what happens in the movies. The guy always watches the girl he loves walk away.” This conversation seems to have sparked some kind of thrill within her, and as much as I don’t want to squash it…

“I haven’t seen Cameron in almost thirteen years. I haven’t spoken to her at all. After you were born, we did what we promised each other we would do, and made ourselves successful in case we ever saw you again, so you could be proud of us. Unfortunately, that meant we had to go our own separate ways. But, yeah, we loved each other, a lot.”

“Must have been a lot, you know, for you to forget to use a condom,” she says, looking back at the TV.

I take the remote from her hand and shut the TV off. “Okay, I get it. You’re pissed. Your parents died. I’d lose my mind if that happened. But we never meant to hurt you. We wanted you to have the life you deserved, and I’m sorry it turned out the way it did, but I promise you if there’s anything I can do to fix whatever is broken, I will. Ever, I promise you.”

A shuddered breath breaks through her as Cameron reopens the door she had walked through ten minutes ago. “Everything okay?” I mouth.

She forces some pitiful fake smile and nods her head. “AJ, I know I pulled you away from work this morning. Am I keeping you?” Hunter can assume I’m dealing with something important after Cammy’s sudden reappearance.

“Did you tell my parents what—”

“Oh my gosh, no. That’s not my place.”

“I can tell them if you’d like,” Ever says, grinning. Ugh, that grin. It’s mine!

“Oh yeah? And how exactly would that go?” I play into her threat.

“Hey, Mr. And Mrs. Cole, yeah, your son knocked up this pretty lady here almost fourteen years ago, then bam, I appeared, and disappeared the very same day. My adoptive parents just bit the dust, and now I’m back. So what do you say, Grams and Gramps, have room for one more?” Holy mother of God, where did this kid come from? She sounds like I did at thirteen. Doesn’t fit her current appearance, which is on my list to discuss, but I never thought she would turn out to be just like me.

“Oh my goodness,” Cameron says. “You are just like AJ. And no, we’re not going to be doing that.” The three of us laugh, and it’s a moment I will store in the back of my head for the rest of my life.

“What are you plans, Cam?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure how long we’d be staying out here. I really had no clue how you might react, but seeing as this is going as I expected and hoped, I want to stay here until we have a plan and make decisions that are best for the three of us.”

“What about the ghost in the other room?”

A clearing of a throat abruptly sounds from the doorway near the TV. “Nice to meet you too,” the tall, not so dark, and…eh, says as he makes his way across the room.

“Couldn’t help myself. Sorry, man. Is that really your name, though?”

“I have some briefs to get through this afternoon, so I’m going to stay put. I’ll see you for dinner, Cameron,” he says. Got to love a man in slacks, a dress shirt, and paisley socks who works from a hotel room. Did they drive here dressed like this?

“When did you guys get into Connecticut?” I ask.

“This morning. We left after midnight last night. I wanted to make sure we were here for Ever’s birthday,” Cameron says, trying to hide a smile at the same time.

“You didn’t have time to change out of your work clothes last night?”

“What do you mean?” she asks.

I look at Ever and share a look. “Nothing, nothing at all.”

“So, how does lunch sound?” Cammy—Cameron asks Ever and me.

“Good,” Ever says quietly. Her mood went back to dark almost the second the ghost graced us with his appearance. I could be onto something here.

“You said you have some briefs to go through?” I ask Casper.

“Yes,” he answers simply.

“I was never really a briefs guy. I sort of prefer boxers, and I’m not very picky about them, but I can understand why it’s important to go through what you have and sort them out.” I know what kind of briefs he’s talking about; I just sort of want to be a dick right now.

Casper rolls his eyes and heads back through the open door. “Not such a friendly ghost,” I mutter.

“Screw you,” he says, slamming the door.

“Well, I think that went well,” I tell the girls.

Cammy’s eyes are bugging out of her head as she grabs my arms and pulls me toward the door. “Come on, Ever,” she says.

Ever stands from the couch, laughing softly as she joins us.

All of a sudden, I feel like I’m living a double life. I’ve heard stories about people like that and always wondered how it might have come about. Considering Tori has no clue that I had a daughter, and even less of a clue about Cammy, I am most definitely living a double life at this moment.