A Missing Heart(72)

“You don’t want AJ going with you to Pennsylvania?” Dad asks, not caring that this isn’t his business. He’s never cared to keep out of my business, though, so this doesn’t come as a surprise.

Cammy seems uncomfortable as she sits down in the closest chair, crossing one leg over the other. “I’m going to have to do the adoption process myself right now. I never had AJ down as a birth parent because of the circumstances we were in, in addition to the fact that my dad was on a hunt for the boy who got me pregnant. It may complicate things if AJ comes.”

Why is this just coming out now? “What are you saying? Even after all is said and done and we win our—your rights back, she still won’t be considered my daughter?” She is my f*cking daughter. Jesus, look at her!

“Honestly, I don’t know how this is going to work,” Cammy says.

“Aren’t you an attorney?” I ask, knowing the anger in my voice isn’t hidden at the moment.

“Yes, but for real-estate, not adoption.” Didn’t even know there was a difference. “AJ, I want you to be her legal guardian too, but you’re married right now and not to me, so I don’t know what this process is going to be like. I don’t know how eager the court will be to give parental rights to a couple who aren’t even together. It may be easier if it’s just me at first.”

Ever looks lost in this conversation, and if it weren’t for her sitting here, I’d probably leave the house, needing to scream loudly enough to make the pain in my chest stop.

Olive stands up from one of the corner chairs and walks up to Ever. “Want to go see their garden outside? It’s pretty awesome.” Olive looks toward the kitchen. “Lana, let’s go outside with Ever!”

“Yeah, okay,” Ever says, following Olive out front with Lana in toe.

“We’re cousins now,” Olive says as the door closes behind them.

Silence fills the room, while we all stare at the door that just closed, all of us probably processing the innocent conversation Olive just shared with Ever.

“She’s right,” Mom says, interrupting the silence. “Cammy, that’s very smart to think that way.”

“Great,” I mutter. “What about a DNA test or something?”

“AJ, that’s part of it, and we’ll handle that when the time comes, but in the meantime, think about the complexity of this case,” Cammy says through a loud sigh, clearly getting aggravated.

“You want to get her back, and it’s probably simpler to do that without a custody hearing involved on top of it,” Hunter says. Custody? Right. I’m married to Tori, not Cammy.

Why is everyone against me?

“Why did you even show up here, then?” I ask Cammy. “To tease me?”

I know my words are probably knifing her in the heart, but for the life of me, I can’t understand why she’d come all the way out here to show me our daughter and then take her away days later. “I told you my reasons,” she retorts. “How could you question that, AJ?”

Cammy stands up and looks out the front window, probably for Ever. “It was very nice to see you all again,” she says sweetly. “I’m sure we’ll see you again soon.”

Cammy walks out of the house, leaving me here with three sets of eyes boring into me. “This isn’t all about you this time, AJ,” Dad says. “If I were you, I’d take this time to figure out your shit with Tori. Then I’d figure out your shit with Cammy, because I think we all saw the way you looked at her the other day when you found her in our family room. Maybe, if all things align, everything just might work out exactly the way you probably always wanted it to.”

It all sounds so easy, yet it feels like this is the end of the world.

Without another word left to say, I take Gavin from Hunter and leave the house, following after Cammy and Ever. “Please take us to the car rental shop,” Cammy says. “If you don’t want to, I’m sure Hunter or your Dad can take us.”

I close my eyes and rub my hand up the side of my cheek. “I’ll take you,” I grumble.

Halfway there, Cammy finally breaks the silence. “I came here to find you because I wanted to. Because I want you to be a part of your daughter’s life. I didn’t come here to destroy your life, your marriage, or your relationship with your family. Yet, that seems to be all I’ve done.”

“First, please don’t blame yourself for my marriage. I told you that had nothing to do with you. Second, you’re not doing much better right now,” I tell her. “Your fiancé is back in D.C., remember?”

“I don’t care,” she says. “He was cheating on me, AJ. He just thought I was dumb enough that he could pull the wool over my eyes.”

“You knew?” I ask her.

“Did you know? Because it sort of sounds like you do?” she replies.

“He said it in rage the other day but I didn’t want to use that as a secret weapon to make you fall for me. I didn’t want to manipulate you into being interested in me, and I also didn’t think it was my business.”

“AJ, you never cease to amaze me,” she says. I don’t know what she means by that, but it doesn’t feel good.

She may not care about Casper leaving her in the dust, but I can’t say I don’t care about all of the damage I caused this week. I care about forcing my wife into a hospital. I care that I should have ended things with Tori a year ago when I knew I was no good for her. “For your information, I care about everything that has happened this week, and I definitely know I don’t want to lose you two after just getting you back in my life.”