Chapter 27

twenty-seven

Cam clenched his jaw as he hammered another finishing nail into a long-ass piece of baseboard. He'd been at it for hours , single-handedly tackling the perimeter of all twelve hundred square feet on his hands and knees. Using his nail gun certainly would have been easier, but pounding nails into the walls felt really damn good.

His head whipped up when someone turned down the ear-splitting music he'd flipped on when he walked onto the building site early this morning. "Who's fucking with my tunes?"

Billy winced. "Sorry, boss."

Seconds later, Nine Inch Nails played loud and gritty—a perfect match to his dark mood.

It had been a long time since he'd felt so nasty. His emotions were all over the place. In the two days since he and Brady had returned from Connecticut, he'd been a mess.

It worried him that Brady was still quiet despite their long weekend away—that every morning, his son still asked to watch the video Fi had made.

He missed Fiona just as much as Brady did, finding himself regularly teetering between anger and despair that their relationship was simply done. She'd left without saying a word —without letting him try to fix things. And why the hell did Ally have to come back?

He slammed the next nail into the stud, using enough force to send it home with one swing. Grabbing another, he glanced over his shoulder when he caught a whiff of perfume, spotting Melody's red hair as she smiled and kissed Ezra.

Cam immediately gained his feet, turning down the music as he headed across the room.

Melody's shoulders stiffened in her pretty summer dress as their gazes met. "Cam."

He tossed her a nod, noting that she didn't appear any happier to see him than Stella had been last week. "Have you talked to Fi?"

She nodded. "I have."

"How is she?"

Melody shrugged. "She's working a lot."

"She didn't have to leave. Maybe you can tell her that since she won't talk to me."

"Cam," Ezra said, resting a firm hand on his shoulder. "Back off."

Melody shook her head. "It's fine because this entire situation is just sad." She looked at Ezra. "I know we said we were going to stay out of this, but I can't." Then she gave Cam her attention again. "Ally came back, and you pushed Fi away."

Cam took a step back, shocked as hell that Melody would think that. "That's bullshit."

She crossed her arms as color started to rise in her cheeks. "You certainly didn't ask her to stay."

"Why would I? Fi and I agreed to keep things simple. She never said she wanted anything different. Fi's life is in Seattle. I understand that."

Melody huffed out a breath. "Clearly, you don't understand anything . She left to make things easier for you and Brady. For you and Ally."

Cam huffed out his own laugh as he shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "Yeah, well, you can tell her that didn't work."

Melody narrowed her eyes as she shook her head, clearly still short on patience. "Fiona can't have children."

He frowned now because, apparently, he was clueless. "I know that. What does that have to do with anything?"

"She knows you've always wanted a big family. She also knows she most likely can't give that to you."

"I don't give a shit about that."

Melody shrugged as she held his gaze.

Then he raked his fingers through his hair when understanding finally dawned—when the anger left his body, and he felt a new wave of devastation that Fiona could ever think he wouldn't want her because she couldn't give him more babies. "I need to go."

He ignored Ezra calling his name as he walked out to his truck and got behind the wheel. Glancing at the dashboard clock, he turned over the engine and headed home.

Cam pulled up in front of the house, more than a little relieved that his mother's car was parked in the driveway. When she'd offered to pick Brady up earlier this afternoon, he'd been all for it. The last thing he wanted was to slap a smile on his face and pretend that all was fine when he stopped by the YMCA.

Getting out of the truck, he went inside, frowning as he took off his boots in the quiet. "Mom? Brady?"

Mom walked down the hall, dressed casually in capri jeans and a pretty tank shirt, sending him a small smile. The concern radiating in her bold green eyes was apparent. "Brady's upstairs."

His frown stayed in place. "Is everything okay?"

She sighed as she stopped before him. "You tell me, Cam."

He shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it."

Mom blocked his path when he moved to take a step around her. "Talk about it, anyway."

Exhaling a long sigh, he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Everything's a mess. Ally's back. Fi's gone. Brady's sad?—"

"And so are you."

Clenching his jaw, he shook his head as he sat down on the entryway bench, scrubbing his hands over his face. "I don't know what to do ."

She sat next to him. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to talk to her. I want to tell her that I don't give two fucks that she might not be able to have kids. I feel like I can't breathe without her."

Mom nodded as she rested her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry this is so hard for you. I hate seeing you so upset."

He shrugged as he sighed again. "It feels just as bad as it did when she left the first time, but it's worse because Brady's caught up in it."

Mom nodded again. "We should probably… I need to show you something."

His frown reappeared because he didn't like the way she said that. "What?"

"Come on," she said, gaining her feet, hooking her arm through his as they walked to the dining room table.

He immediately zeroed in on the picture Brady had drawn: two figures with short brown hair and green eyes that had sad faces while they stood next to blue waves that he knew were the lake.

"Craig pulled me aside when I picked Brady up," Mom said. "He and Dana are concerned. Brady's quieter than usual. When they saw the picture he drew today, they felt compelled to speak up."

Cam nodded, never feeling like a bigger failure. His little boy was sad . He was letting Brady down. "I'll go talk to him."

Mom stopped him with her hand on his wrist before he could turn. "After you give your mother a hug."

He wrapped her up, returning her embrace, holding on to her strength and support.

"Fix this, Cam. Because you can." Mom eased away, holding his gaze. "I have no doubt that Fiona loves you as much as you love her. She loves your son. Don't let her get away this time."

He nodded.

"I'm going to head out."

"Thanks, Mom. For picking Brady up. For listening. For being the best."

She winked as she smiled. "Anytime, sweetheart."

Shaking his head as his mother headed for the door, he restlessly scratched at his jaw as he made his way upstairs. He stopped in Brady's doorway, watching his son building a block tower while Bob lay by his side. "Hey, buddy."

Brady looked up, sending him a smile. "Hi."

He walked to where Brady played, sitting down cross-legged next to him on the floor. "How was your day?"

Brady picked up another rectangular red block. "Good. You can play with me."

"How about we talk about a couple of things before we build blocks together."

Brady put down the block. "Okay."

"Grammy showed me the drawing you made at camp today. The boy in the picture looks pretty sad."

Brady nodded as he stared at his half-built tower. "Yeah."

"Why is the boy so sad?"

Brady's little chin started to quiver as his eyes grew teary. "Because he misses his best friend who lives in Seattle."

Cam's heart broke all over again as he scooped Brady into his lap, hugging him tight. "I'm sorry you're so sad, buddy."

Brady sniffled as he hugged him back. "You're sad, too."

He nodded, knowing he'd been a fool to think Brady hadn't noticed. "Yeah, I am." He kissed Brady's forehead. "But I think I know how we can both feel better."

Brady snuggled against him. "How?"

"We can pack some clothes into a suitcase and fly on a plane to Seattle."

Brady blinked as he looked at him. "We can go see Fiona at the Space Needle?"

He nodded. "If you want to."

Brady beamed as he nodded enthusiastically. "I want to!"

Cam chuckled as he hugged Brady again, thrilled to see the happy light back in his little boy's eyes. "I know the plan was to build blocks together, but if we want to go to Seattle, I need to buy us plane tickets and put clothes in our suitcase."

Brady scrambled off his lap. "I'll get my clothes. I need underwear and socks."

Cam grinned as he stood. "Yes, you do. If you count out five pairs of each, that would be a super big help."

Brady ran over to his drawers. "Okay."

Cam grabbed Brady's Seattle book, finding Fi's business card tucked among the pages. Because he would need that. "I'll go see about our flights."

Brady smiled. "Okay."

Heading toward his bedroom, he immediately began searching on his phone for the first available flight to Seattle. He had things to take care of here in Maple Ridge before they could leave, but it was time to lay it all on the line. It was time to fix the mess he'd made.