Chapter 24

twenty-four

Cam glanced at his dashboard clock as he drove downtown in the busy morning traffic. He had just over thirty minutes until his meeting with Darius, which couldn't come soon enough. His lifelong friend had done him a major solid by squeezing him into his packed Monday schedule.

Rubbing at the tension in the back of his neck, he steamed out a breath, exhausted after a long night of little sleep and plenty of worrying. The weight of the world suddenly sat squarely on his shoulders, and it felt incredibly heavy, but he needed to stay strong for his son.

Gripping the wheel tighter as he accelerated through a yellow light, he found himself consumed by a new low-grade fear for Brady. He'd worked so hard to raise a happy, healthy little boy. Now, the emotional security he'd created for his five-year-old felt like it was in peril.

Ally's return was something he'd never expected. Introducing Brady to his biological mother would take plenty of delicate navigation. But he should have paid more attention to the degree of Brady's attachment to Fi.

He knew his son adored her. He knew the feeling was mutual, but Brady wanting Fiona to be his mom wasn't something he saw coming. Yet he should have.

He and Fi had regularly talked about her eventual return to Seattle, but if he'd been more focused, he would have realized that books and maps weren't enough of an explanation for Brady's current level of understanding.

It made him sick to know that he'd ignored the most important rule he'd created for himself as a single father. He was crazy in love with Fiona, but allowing Brady to become confused by how much time the three of them were spending together was unacceptable.

Brady had been crushed when he didn't get to share his surprise picture with Fiona yesterday—when Cam had told his son that Fi wouldn't be able to come over after all.

Telling Fi that they needed to take a step back was one of the hardest things he'd ever done, especially when the time they had left together was so short. He'd yearned for her last night. He craved to be with her right now, but moving forward with Fi felt impossible when his life was off the rails.

Mostly, he had no idea what to do about much of anything at this point, but making sure Brady weathered the current storm unscathed was paramount. Dropping his son off at day camp and watching him laugh and play with his friends had been a good start to fixing the mess he'd made.

Cam turned right on Fifth Street, spotting the truck Fi was borrowing parked in its original spot in front of the Bennet & Sons building. Everything was falling apart, but seeing her was exactly what he needed.

Pulling into a parking space, he hurried to the door, frowning when he realized it was locked and all of the lights were off. Letting himself inside, he walked through the quiet common area. "Fi?"

He stopped in the doorway of her temporary office, noting that the whiteboard had been wiped clean and the desk had been pulled back to its original spot.

"Fi," he called again, hurrying to his office as a sinking feeling suddenly consumed him.

Stepping into the room, he zeroed in on his desk, where the truck keys sat next to a zip drive and a piece of paper. Snatching up the note, he recognized Fi's pretty handwriting.

Summer always seems to end too soon. Be happy, Cam.

—Fi

"Shit," he whispered, forcing himself to sit in his chair and shove the stick in the zip drive when he wanted to go find Fi. He double-clicked on the file named Brady , and Fi's gorgeous face popped up.

Cam recognized her bedroom at Stella's place in the background. He also noted her puffy eyes and pink-tipped nose as she smiled brightly.

"Hi, buddy! I wanted to leave you this message because it's time for me to get back to Seattle. Someone called my business card to let me know they need my help with a big party."

She paused as she swallowed. Then she swallowed again, struggling to keep her composure and her voice upbeat.

"I had the very best time being your best friend this summer. Have so much fun at big kid school. You're going to do great, Brady."

"Bye, buddy," she said as she smiled and waved, then kissed her hand, showing him her palm before she ended the video.

"No," Cam said as he rushed to his feet, booking it to the door and his truck, quickly getting behind the wheel.

He reversed with a squeal of tires, heading toward Stella's place with his foot heavy on the gas, well aware that Fiona hadn't told his son that she would see him at Thanksgiving or Christmas. Because Fi would never promise Brady something she didn't plan to deliver.

Two miles rolled into three before he turned onto Ivy Spring Street, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the house. He was slightly relieved that Stella's Camry was parked in the driveway.

Getting out, he jogged up the steps as Stella opened the door, looking less than pleased as she stood dressed for the day in a pair of denim capris and a T-shirt.

"Cam."

"Tell me she's still here."

Stella shook her head. "She thought it was probably time to get back to her life. She flew out on a red-eye last night."

Raking his hand through his hair, he steamed out a breath, absorbing the proverbial punch to the stomach as he stared at the porch.

"It's funny how life has a way of coming full circle."

He looked up, catching Stella's drift easily enough. Ally was back, and Fiona was gone.

Stella reached for something, handing him an adorable blue multi-dinosaur backpack and a box of Legos. "Fiona bought these for Brady. She thought sharing them might make your situation worse, but I'll let you decide."

"I didn't mean for her to leave."

Stella shrugged. "Maybe it's for the best this time."

He shook his head. "No, it's not."

Her shoulders moved again. "There's only ever been one man who's managed to make my daughter as happy as he has sad. Go on home to your son, Cameron." With that, Stella closed the door.

Walking back to his truck, he got in, staring at the monogrammed backpack Fi had been excited to give Brady. How the hell was he supposed to tell his son that she was gone? Brady was going to be heartbroken. He was heartbroken.

" Fuck !" he yelled, slamming his hand against the steering wheel. This wasn't at all what he'd wanted or meant when he told Fi they needed to take a couple of steps back.

Picking up his phone, he dialed her number, listening to it ring.

"This is Fiona Willis. Leave me a message, and I'll call you back."

"Fi," he said, relieved that she hadn't blocked him this time. "Please call me back. Please talk to me. Please don't let this be the way things end."

Then he hung up, clenching his jaw as he rested his head against the seat, struggling not to lose his shit. Because he knew in his gut that Fi wouldn't return his call. He also knew she wouldn't be coming back to Maple Ridge.

Suddenly, the alarm on his phone went off, reminding him that he had a meeting with Darius. With little choice, he lifted his head and turned over the engine. Things were about as bad as they got, but Brady's needs still came first.

Fiona leaned against the pillows piled high against her headboard, staring out at the skyline as the sun cast the city in a soft shade of pink. She needed to get up. Her VIP was expecting her for an early breakfast meeting, yet she couldn't make herself move.

It was safe to say she was exhausted after her late-night, cross-country flight. Jet lag was not a new feeling, but she could do without the heart-crushing melancholy that kept her wiping at her damp cheeks.

Closing her eyes, she shook her head, exhaling an unsteady breath, missing Cam and Brady. It was still sinking in that yesterday's happy impromptu breakfast had been their last—that it would be a long, long time before they saw each other again, if they ever did. But leaving had been the right thing to do. Their goodbye had been inevitable. Ally's surprise return only expedited a painful process.

"You just need to go to work," she reassured herself as she sat up, wiping away more tears. Because getting lost in her job always helped. But she worried because she tried that yesterday on the Boston-bound bus and again on her flight, only to find herself horribly distracted, which was something she never let happen.

Sinking back against her pillows, she sighed. Everything about leaving Vermont felt different this time—even more dreadful, if that was possible.

As she sat in the quiet of her pretty room, she was terribly afraid that her Seattle safe haven wouldn't be enough to help her move forward when she'd left her heart in Maple Ridge.

She startled when her phone began to ring on the bedside table. Picking it up, she stared at Cam's name on her screen, hovering her thumb over her phone's prompt to swipe right to answer.

It was so tempting to do just that and listen to the voice she craved to hear. But what good would that do any of them?

Her life was here. Brady's and Cam's were in Vermont. Soon, Brady would start school and create a bond with his mother. He would be busy with his family and friends and hopefully the summer she had come to town would become a happy memory. Cam would get back to his life and everything would be as it had always been meant. Because some stories didn't get a happily ever after. Her parents certainly hadn't.

Turning her phone over, she set it down, waiting for the silence again. Covering her face with her hands, she gave in to her sobs.

Cam got out of his truck at the YMCA, searching among the group of twenty or so kids for the one who belonged to him. His gaze stopped on the small wading pool on the outskirts of the playground, where Brady used a pretend fishing pole to fish for plastic toys with Owen and Davis.

It did his heart good when Brady laughed as he pulled a magnetized purple dolphin from the water.

"I got one!" Looking up, Brady dropped the pole when their eyes met. "Dad!" Brady yelled, running across the grass.

Cam grinned as Brady plowed into him, hugging his legs. "Hey, buddy."

"I've been fishing. But just the pretend kind."

"I see that." He tossed a nod to Craig and Dana, the camp counselors who looked after Brady five days a week. "I'm going to take this kiddo home with me."

Craig nodded as he smiled. "We'll see you tomorrow, Brady."

"Okay. Bye." Brady took Cam's hand, pulling him as they started toward the truck. "Let's hurry. We have to go home so Fiona can come over. I need to give her my picture."

Steaming out a breath, Cam clenched his jaw. It hadn't even been five minutes, and Brady was already asking for Fi. "How about we go home and talk about a couple of things."

Brady sighed as his shoulders slumped. "Okay."

Getting in their seats, Cam waited to hear Brady's seat belt click as he buckled his own. Turning over the engine, they headed toward the house in the early afternoon traffic.

Brady rolled down his window halfway. "Fiona can come over after we talk?"

Cam scratched at his jaw. "Why don't you tell me about your day? And the air conditioner's on, bud."

Brady rolled the window back up. "This morning, a nature guy brought in tadpoles for us to look at."

"That must have been cool," Cam said as he took the turn for the quieter back roads, stalling for more time on their already short drive home.

Brady smiled as he nodded enthusiastically. "The tadpoles live in the pond, but the guy brought them in a white bucket."

Cam nodded. "Bringing them in the bucket was probably easier than bringing the whole pond."

" Dad ," Brady said as he laughed.

Cam chuckled, thrilled that Brady was still young enough to think his dad jokes were funny.

"We got to touch one," Brady continued. "But we had to be gentle since it's a baby frog."

"That makes sense."

"Yup. The tadpole was slimy. But he was still cute."

"A little slime never hurt anyone."

"Nope. And I fished for pretend fish, and I saw Dominic eating his boogers when we were playing outside."

Cam's shoulders relaxed a little as their conversation continued. Never in his life had he been more excited to talk about snot. "That's pretty gross."

Brady nodded. "I told him that you told me that boogers are like dirt in your nose. Dominic said that isn't true."

Cam looked in the rearview mirror, noting the mutiny in Brady's eyes as his son crossed his arms. "I guess not everyone's a believer."

Brady crossed his arms tighter. " I believe you, Dad."

Cam struggled not to grin as he took the turn for Little Lake Road. "I appreciate it, buddy. But I wouldn't be surprised if Dominic goes on eating his nose dirt."

"Eew!"

Cam shrugged. "I completely agree, but some people like nose dirt."

"Gross!" Brady yelled louder.

"Absolutely." Then he turned down their long driveway, and the moment's reprieve from his worries vanished as he stopped in front of the house. "Let's get a snack and chat for a while."

Brady unbuckled his seat belt. "Okay."

Ten minutes later, he and Brady sat at the kitchen island, eating grapes and gluten-free crackers with cheese despite the dread sitting heavy in his stomach. "I'm glad you had a good day today."

Brady nodded as he chewed a grape. "It's hot. We can swim after our talk."

"Definitely." But he sighed, hoping Brady would still want to after he said what he needed to say. "Brady, Fiona had to go back to Seattle."

Brady frowned as he picked up another grape. "Why?"

"Because she needs to work on a big party."

Brady set the piece of fruit back on the plate. "The governor's daughter's wedding?"

Cam nodded because it wasn't entirely a lie. "But she left you something." Pulling his laptop closer, he double-clicked on the Brady file in the zip drive.

Fi's face filled the screen, and Brady gasped as he grinned. "It's Fiona!"

Cam watched Brady as Fi's message played, searching for any telltale signs of sadness or stress.

"Bye, Fiona," Brady said, kissing his hand like she did. Then he looked at Cam. "Fiona will come back at Thanksgiving?"

How did he tell his little boy with hopeful eyes that Fi most likely wouldn't be coming back at all? "Fiona left you another surprise. It's in your room."

"A surprise ?" Brady got down from his stool, taking off at a run.

"Let's check it out," Cam said, following Brady upstairs, eager to make Fiona's sudden departure as positive an experience as he could.

Brady stopped in his doorway, grinning as he stared at the backpack on his bed. "It has dinosaurs on it!"

Cam nodded. "It's pretty cool."

Brady gasped as he moved farther into his room, picking up the box of Legos. "It's a Lego Creator set! This one has the T-Rex!"

Cam nodded as his heart broke all over again. Fiona had certainly had a beat on what Brady liked. Because she'd cared enough to find out. "I think there might be a couple of things in the backpack."

Brady set the box down to unzip the bag, unwrapping several children's books about first-day jitters and other adventures about going to school. "I like these!"

"Good," Cam said, moving to sit on Brady's bed. "We can read a couple of them tonight."

"Okay." Reaching in again, Brady grabbed more wrapped items, discovering three awesome dinosaur T-shirts, personalized dinosaur pencils, and a cool dinosaur soup thermos for his lunch box.

Brady laughed as he beamed at Cam. "I have lots of neat stuff for big kid school."

Cam nodded. "You're definitely all set for kindergarten."

Brady's smile faded as he looked at his stuff again. "I want to make my Legos with Fiona."

Cam swallowed, hating the hell out of this entire situation. "I can make them with you."

Brady nodded. "But how can I give Fiona my picture? How can I ask her to be my mom?"

Cam exhaled a quiet breath, ready to talk about what he hadn't been last night. "I didn't know you wanted Fiona to be your mom."

Brady nodded again. "I do."

"Moms are pretty special. Being a mom or dad is an important job."

"Yup," he said with another nod. "Fiona gives me nice hugs. And she reads books to me and cooks good food that's gluten-free. Owen's and Davis' moms do that stuff, too, so Fiona can be my mom."

"I can see your logic there."

Brady nodded. "But Fiona's even better 'cause she says I make her heart happy. And she swims with me like a dolphin in the lake and lets me help her shop for parties. And I get to help her blow up balloons and look at her house in the sky on the computer."

"That's a lot of cool stuff."

Brady's shoulders sagged as his head bobbed again. "Maybe we can make a video on your phone, and she can come over like when I had her surprise that I picked out with Grammy."

Cam wrapped his arm around Brady's shoulders, realizing that Brady still didn't quite get it. It was tempting to call Fiona again. He desperately craved to do something to make anything about this situation even remotely better, but instinct told him to wait a few days until things were a little less raw. The last thing he wanted was for Fi to block him. "It's a long way back to Vermont, bud."

"That's why she flies on an airplane to come here."

"She does, but she can't right now." He hugged Brady closer, giving comfort as he took it. "Are you up for a swim or for building your new Legos?"

Brady shook his head. "I'm going to make Fiona a new picture that we can bring to Ms. Stella because Ms. Stella is Fiona's mom. The words will say come back to Vermont."

Cam stared at the ceiling as Brady took off down the hall, having no idea how to make any of this easier for his son. At this point, he didn't know how to make any of this okay for either of them.