A Missing Heart(87)

She places the truck in park, and now I’m really wondering what’s going on. “Is this our new house?” Ever asks from the back seat.

Cammy turns around to smile at Ever but doesn’t answer her.

“Cameron,” I say sternly, making sure to emphasize the use of her full name.

She hops out of the truck and dives into the back seat to pull Gavin from his car seat. “Come on, Ever,” she says.

I slowly step out of the truck, keeping my speed down like the doc told me to do, even though I’m on edge trying to figure out what’s going on right now. I open the back door, letting Ever out and she wraps her arm around me. “Well?” Ever asks.

“Welcome home,” Cammy says. A burst of emotions explodes through my chest, as nothing has ever felt so right. I’ve never felt so damn lucky in my entire life. I pick up my pace and step up onto the farmer’s porch, looking back at Cammy once more for approval before I open the front door to what I’m still silently praying isn’t someone else’s house. “Go ahead,” she says.

As the opening door reveals the interior, I find a furnished house, half with my stuff, half with new things. The floors and walls have all been redone, and Hunter and Dad are standing smack in the middle of the living area, off to the right. “You shittin’ me?”

“Welcome home, son,” Dad says.

“Well, now you can take over some of the family dinners and Sunday breakfasts,” Hunter says. “You have no more excuses.”

“Can we afford this place?” I ask Cammy, knowing I make a good salary, but it hasn’t ever seemed like enough to afford a place this big.

“The place was trashed inside,” Dad says. “We got you a deal that’ll make your mortgage cheaper than your last house.”

“This was the big job we had, AJ. The one we were supposed to start last week.”

“Holy—”

Ever runs past me and up the stairs. “Which is my room?”

Gavin follows her, trudging up the stairs on all fours. “I want a room too!”

“There are five bedrooms, so hopefully they can work it out,” Cammy laughs.

“I don’t even know what to say,” I tell everyone.

Cammy takes my hand and leads me through the large, open-concept first floor and out the rear French doors that lead outside into the backyard—my backyard.

We take the few steps down off of the wrap-around farmer’s porch into the overgrown yard, covered in meadow grass and weeds. Cammy continues pulling me forward, leading me up to the one and only large oak tree in the middle of the yard and yanks at the wooden swing dangling from the branch. “You’re unreal,” I tell her.

“It’s what you always wanted,” she tells me, resting her head on my shoulder.

I wrap my arms around her, pull her into me, and kiss her with everything I’m feeling in my heart right now. I don’t care that my whole family might be watching from the window. My arms lock around her, and I wish I could pull her closer, but we’re as close as possible.

“That’s true, this house is a dream come true, but, Cam, you are all I ever wanted,” I say, brushing a loose lock of hair off her face. “You must love me an awful lot, going through the trouble to make my dreams come true—”

“I have always loved you this much,” she says. “I want to be with you in those dreams of yours. That’s been my only dream.”

A warm breeze blows Cammy’s hair into my face, bringing in the scent of lavender—definitely lavender. I’m sure now. The sensation forces a warmth through every inch of my body, making me see the full picture of the path we have both traveled down. “You know,” I sigh. “There was always something missing, from the moment you left me.”

“What do you mean?” she asks.

“You took half of my heart with you, and Ever took the other half. I was left for thirteen years with nothing but a missing heart.”

“And now?” She asks.

“You’re both back, and so is my heart.”





EPILOGUE





THREE YEARS LATER


"WE'RE GOING OUT for dinner tonight,” I tell Cammy. “Your parents are watching the kids.” Cammy walks into the kitchen where I’m concocting some breakfast she’ll surely pretend to love before adding a handful of salt.

“My parents offered to watch the kids tonight?” she questions. “Really?”

“Yeah, I asked, and they love me, what else would you expect?” Not sure that would have been the case when we were seventeen, but they were pretty happy when Ever came back into our lives. I’m almost positive they were relieved to find out I had been the father all along. Kissing ass has its benefits at age seventeen and thirty. In any case, Cammy noticed a change in her parents almost immediately when she told them Ever came to find us. They must have had a lot of guilt, and I’m guessing some of that will never go away, but in any case, everything worked out the way it was supposed to. I’m sure of that now.

“I’m just glad they’re back here in Connecticut now too. I guess Dad must be getting real bored with his retirement if he offered to watch three kids, though.”

“Actually, Ever is going to her friend’s for a sleepover,” I laugh.