Chapter 10

ten

Fiona sat next to Ellie in the conference room at the Bennet & Sons office building in downtown Maple Ridge, scanning the notes Ellie had made for Grandpa Bennet's upcoming party. There wasn't much to read.

"Basically, I have the country club booked. And I want to use the new bakery over by our house for the cake. I know we need food and flowers—a photographer."

Ellie sighed as she slid her fingers through her shoulder-length hair. She'd dressed for a day with clients in white linen pants and a moss-green button-down shirt that enhanced the pretty color of her eyes. "I just haven't had the time to give this party the attention it needs. We're so busy these days with the business."

Dressed far more casually in a navy-blue V-neck cami top and frayed distressed shorts, Fiona set up a new folder on her laptop, treating Grandpa Bennet's party like she would any other event she managed. Being ultra-organized was one of the keys to her success. "We're actually in pretty good shape. You have your event space locked in, which is usually the most difficult element to secure. The rest should come together without much trouble."

"But we have two and a half weeks to pull this off."

Fiona nodded. "It's certainly tight, but I've had much less time to perform major miracles. This party only needs a small one."

Ellie laughed. "If you feel good about our timetable, so do I." She settled her hand on Fiona's arm, giving a gentle squeeze. "I really appreciate your help with this, Fi."

"I'm happy you asked. This is what I love to do." And she did. "Let's talk about the guest size, your budget, and what you're looking for regarding ideas for the overall event."

"Danny and I were talking this morning. I think the only way we'll make this thing work and keep everyone happy is to make this a Bennet & Sons' anniversary party and surprise Grandpa with a cake at some point during the evening."

Fiona nodded her approval. "That's an excellent idea."

"I want to keep things simple and classy but fun. Grandpa hates a fuss, but Danny and I want to do this for him. Seventy-five is a milestone. And fifty years in business is no small feat."

"Definitely."

"We're probably looking at about a hundred guests—maybe one hundred twenty. I'll email you the guest list at lunchtime."

Fiona nodded, adding the information to her spreadsheet. "Sounds good. I'll create an evite and send out invitations right away. The program I use has RSVP tracking, so I can stay on top of things."

"Perfect. Regarding the budget, it's whatever we need it to be."

Fiona continued adding to her notes. "That'll make things a lot easier. We should expect a premium at some of the vendors for the short notice." She picked up her tea and took a sip. "Are we talking about a sit-down meal, a buffet, or heavy hors d'oeuvres?"

Ellie winced. "I don't know. What do you think?"

"If you're worried about the fuss factor, heavy hors d'oeuvres may be the way to go. We could have tables with oysters and shrimp cocktail, a crudité, a fruit and cheese platter—maybe a nice baked brie. There's also the option of a carving station. Then go heavy on the passed items."

Ellie nodded, clearly relaxing by the second. "I love it."

Fiona typed everything in, making a note to contact the events manager at the country club immediately. "What about music?"

Ellie nibbled her lip as she shrugged. "Suggestions are welcome."

"You could get away with a deejay or a band. Neither option is wrong in this situation."

Ellie sighed. "I think a deejay. They'll probably be more eclectic. Grandpa and Danny like country. The rest of the boys don't."

Fiona grinned as she nodded, remembering the arguments about song choices when she would visit Cam on the build sites long ago. "The deejay sounds like the way to go."

Ellie glanced at her watch. "I have about five minutes before I have to head out to a consultation. Basically, I'm giving you carte blanche on this, Fi. Food, flowers, entertainment. And I'm more than happy to pay you for your time."

Fiona shook her head. "It's my honor to do this for you guys. You've been like family."

Ellie sighed as she touched Fiona's cheek. "I miss seeing your beautiful face around here, sweetie. At the house, too. Things have been a lot different since you left. Cam's different."

Fiona pressed her hand to Ellie's, grateful that Ellie's time crunch would prevent them from delving any further into this conversation. "I miss you, too."

"You'll have to swing by sometime. Danny's eager to give you a great big hug. That man's busier than ever."

She'd always loved Cam's parents. Ellie and Danny had treated her like one of their own. "Be sure to tell him hello until we get to that hug."

"I will." Ellie stood, gathering her iPad and the stack of files she'd brought with her. "The office next door is empty. Feel free to set up in there if you need a place to work for the next little while."

"I'll take you up on that." Because her childhood bedroom wasn't ideal for a large project.

"Kathleen works from home most of the time now unless we have something going on here at the office, so you'll want to program yourself a code to get in the building. And you know where the keys are if you need to borrow one of the trucks."

"Thank you."

Ellie glanced at her watch again. "I've got to go. But I'm serious about carte blanche—whatever you think will work will be perfect. Charge everything to the company. We should be on file at most places around here."

She saved her notes and closed her laptop. "Okay."

Ellie winked. "I'll see you, sweetie."

"Bye."

And then all was quiet as Ellie headed toward the parking lot.

Fiona stood, walking to the doorway, glancing around the pretty, renovated common space where she'd spent so much of her time. Her relationship with Cam began after she'd taken the job as Ellie's part-time summer assistant when Kathleen had been out on maternity leave with her newborn triplets.

For most of their young lives, she and Cam had gone to schools on opposite sides of town. But she'd certainly noticed him walking in the hallways at their massive regional high school, even before they'd had a class together.

At the time, she'd been so focused on her education and dreams she'd had little trouble ignoring Cameron Bennet's great personality and exceptional good looks until they started spending a significant amount of time together at the build sites and office.

Moving toward her temporary workspace, Fi flipped on the light, noting the whiteboard on the wall. "Perfect."

Eager to get to work, she picked up the black marker and started her first list. She paused when she heard the front door open.

"Take some deep breaths, buddy," Cam said.

Fiona put the marker back, certain that Brady was crying as she walked to the common area. Her heart broke a little as she looked from a harried Cam to Brady's red-rimmed eyes while he snuggled his head in the crook of Cam's neck. "Hi, buddy."

Brady sat up, sniffling. "I can't have gludeon anymore."

Fi frowned as she looked at Cam. It had been two days since their conversation at the park—since they'd seen each other. The current situation left no room for any residual awkwardness. But as she held Cam's gorgeous green-eyed gaze and noted how delicious he looked in a pair of work jeans and a fitted gray T-shirt, she understood her mother's point about their history and chemistry. Navigating a simple friendship with Cam would certainly be something new.

Cam set Brady down. "He can't have gluten."

Brady walked over to Fiona while tears poured down his cheeks. "I can't have cake or cookies or anything that tastes good to my tummy ever again. The doctor said so."

Fiona knelt at his level, hugging him. "That sounds really tough."

He nodded, returning her embrace, sniffling again. "And they took my blood out." He backed away to show her the bandage on his little arm.

"I'm sorry you've had a rough morning. But that's a pretty cool Band-Aid you have there."

Brady nodded again. "I picked it out."

"Iron Man is always a good choice. And I like the dinosaurs on your T-shirt."

"Yeah," he said, settling down a little as he focused on the T-Rexes she mentioned.

Cam walked closer. "Brady, why don't you grab a tissue in my office and wipe your nose? You can have one of the lollipops on my desk."

"Okay." Brady hurried off down the hall.

Fiona gained her feet. "So, no gluten, huh?"

Cam blew out a breath. "Not for a while, anyway. The pediatrician was at a food intolerance conference over the weekend. She thinks the rashes, headaches, and stomachaches might be from something he's eating. She wants us to ditch the gluten for now and see if it helps. They took his blood to test for celiac disease and to look for any nutrient deficiencies."

"How are you doing with that?" But she already had a pretty good idea as she watched him rub at the back of his neck. Cam was almost always easygoing, but she knew his tells.

He shook his head. "This morning, I popped a couple of Eggos into the toaster for Brady's breakfast. Now I don't know how to feed my kid."

She nodded her understanding. "My old roommate has celiac disease. I don't know if you remember Leo."

Cam nodded this time. "I remember Leo."

"We lived together until he got married last year, so I'm pretty well-versed in gluten-free living. We can ask him any questions you have."

"That would be great because I'm completely overwhelmed." He looked down at a list with the doctor's letterhead on it, flipping to where it continued on the back. "These are all the things he can't eat. I don't know where to start."

"How about we go shopping? Several of the grocery stores in the area are surprisingly nutritionally woke. I've seen lots of options when I've been out and about."

His cell phone started to ring. "I like the way you think, but hold that thought."

He pulled the phone from his back pocket and swore under his breath as he read the screen. "Hey, Billy, what's up?" He closed his eyes as he let his head hang. "How did the countertop not get delivered? Either of them? Okay. I'll head that way. Let's get on the phone and figure out what happened. Let's see if they can have them to us today. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Fiona winced as he hung up. "That doesn't sound good."

He raked his fingers through his hair. "This project has been a pain in my ass since day one."

"How about you deal with your countertops, and I'll take Brady shopping? I'll show him that being ‘gludeon-free' isn't the end of the world."

Cam scrubbed at his jaw. "I don't know how long I'll be."

She raised her brow. "It's a good thing I'm completely capable of taking care of a five-year-old."

He steamed out a breath as he nodded. "I appreciate it. Thank you, Fi." He reached into his wallet, handing her his credit card. "Grab whatever you think will work."

Brady came wandering out with a red lollipop in his hand and a mess around his mouth.

Fiona smiled. "That looks delicious."

Brady nodded. "It's a cherry one."

"Your dad has to go to work for a little while, and I'm going on a scavenger hunt."

Brady perked up. "A scavenger hunt?"

Fiona nodded. "At the grocery store. I'm searching for gluten-free food. My friend Leo can't have gluten either, and he eats all kinds of super yummy stuff like cake and cookies."

Brady blinked. "He does?"

She nodded again. "Do you want to come with me and be my helper?"

Brady jumped up and down. "Yeah!"

She laughed as Cam grinned and winked at her. "I owe you one."

She shook her head. "That's what friends are for. Let me grab my laptop, and we'll get your booster seat from the truck. Then it's game on."

Brady ran to the door. "Let's go on a scavenger hunt!"

Three and a half hours later, Cam pulled up in front of Fi's place. He paused with his hands on the steering wheel, taking a deep breath.

The day had pretty much been a shitfest. Between holding Brady down so they could take his blood at his tortuous doctor's appointment, to the abrupt dietary changes, and then the back-and-forth with the counter company, he was ready to put Brady in the boat and cruise around the lake for a while.

Getting out, he headed up the porch steps, smiling when he heard the commotion through the screen door. "Knock, knock," he called, letting himself inside.

"Dad!" Brady ran up to him, throwing his arms around Cam's legs. "Gluten-free is way cool!"

Cam scooped him up, relieved that Brady thought so. "That's great." He kissed his forehead. "Obviously, you're having fun with Fiona."

"Yeah! We had chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese. And we made cookies."

"I promise we had some carrot sticks and apple slices, too," she called from the kitchen.

Cam headed her way, eager for another glimpse at her long legs in her shorts and her sexy shoulders in her spaghetti-strap top. He'd almost been too frazzled to enjoy the view at the office. "It sounds like it's been a busy day around here."

Fiona turned with a navy-blue bandana tied in her hair, smiling as she held out a cookie to him.

"Thanks," he said as he took it.

"Try it, Dad. It's good . We talked to Leo on the computer. Felix was there, too, because they're married. Leo told us the special recipe since gluten makes him feel bad, too."

Cam bit into the warm cookie, not quite sure what to expect. It tasted like a delicious chocolate chip cookie. "These are good."

Fiona laughed. "You seem surprised."

He grinned. "I didn't know what I was going to be." Then he looked around at the half dozen paper grocery bags lined up along the back corner of the smaller kitchen. "Are those for us?"

Fiona laughed again. "Yeah, pretty much. There's some stuff in the freezer and fridge, too. And we made a stop at Target."

Brady settled his hands on Cam's cheeks so they looked at each other. "I picked out a toaster that's just for me. It has a smiley face on it. And we have lots of stickers for my chart."

Cam's brow furrowed. "Your chart?"

"I'll go get it." Brady wiggled his way out of Cam's arms. "Me and Ms. Stella decorated it. We've been sitting at the table in the backyard." Brady ran off.

Fiona walked over with Cam's credit card and several receipts. "Don't hate me when you get the bill."

"Never."

She smiled again. "We'll see. Gluten-free isn't synonymous with inexpensive."

He shrugged, loving that the bandana pushed her hair back from her face, accentuating her big brown eyes. "Luckily, that's the least of my problems."

Brady rushed back with a chart on a piece of white poster board with dozens of foods listed on the side in computer print. Brady and Stella's marker-colored doodles surrounded the border. "Look, Dad. Now we'll know what I like and don't like."

Brady hurried over to the Target bag. "See these emoji stickers? I'll use the happy ones if I like something and the mad or sad ones if I don't. That way, we know when we go shopping."

"And look at what me and Fi did." He pulled on Cam's hand, bringing him closer to the bags. "I picked out even more stickers, and we put them on all my food so I know what stuff will make my body happy and what stuff will make me feel bad."

Brady beamed as he held up a bag of bagels with a couple of stickers on it. "See the cool dinosaurs?"

Fiona hadn't missed a trick. She'd taken an experience that would have been a nightmare and made it fun. "I do. All of this is super awesome. We should gather our stuff so Fiona and Ms. Stella can have their house back."

Brady nodded. "I'll tell Ms. Stella I'm leaving. I got to write on her cast ." He ran off again.

Fi chuckled as she walked to where he stood. "I made you some lists so you'll know where to find all the foods Brady likes. Unfortunately, it's at three different stores."

Cam looked at the sheet, remembering how ultra-organized Fi had always been, appreciating it now more than ever. She'd added the store, the name and brand of the product, and what aisle it would be found in. "This is truly amazing."

She shrugged. "We had fun."

He snagged her hand before she could step away. "Thank you, Fi. For making this okay for Brady. For making this okay for me."

She nodded as their gazes held. "I'm glad I could help."

"It's safe to say you saved the day."

"I guess we're both superheroes."

He grinned as she did. Then he let her go. Because they were friends. "We'll get this stuff loaded up and get out of your way."