And was that the only reason he was trying? Was he only doing what he thought he had to do to keep me, or was it what he wanted, too? Would it all stop if I stayed, if I came home to him? Would we slip back into that numb existence Reese had found me in just over two months ago?
I couldn’t be sure, but I tried with everything I had to let what he’d given me be enough. And for the first time in years, as I fell asleep in my husband’s arms that night, I tucked my thoughts away, and I felt at peace.
For the first time in years, he felt like home.
CHAPTER EIGHT
* * *
Cameron
There were two things I was constantly aware of when it came to time.
One was that I didn’t have much of it. That one had been something I’d recognized early and easily. Two months wasn’t long — no one would dispute that. But the second reality that I had learned later was that time was also fragile.
My weekend with Charlie had been everything I’d wanted it to be — maybe even more. She’d come back to me, opened up, let me in, and I’d crawled into her like a shelter from the darkest storm. Bringing her back to Garrick had the exact effect I wanted. It reminded her of a time when it was just us, when we fell in love, and I knew that — at least for the weekend — she was mine. All mine. Only mine.
But time had passed.
Now, it was Wednesday. We unpacked our bags late Sunday night, crawled into bed together, and fell asleep with content smiles on our faces. But on Monday morning, she came back here — to Westchester.
To him.
And ever since then, I’d felt her pulling away again.
The heels of my dress shoes clicked through the vacant halls as I made my way to Charlie’s classroom. It had been so long since I’d been there, but I still knew the way. I used to surprise her all the time — for lunch, for holidays, for no reason at all, flowers in hand.
But just like with watching her get ready, I’d stopped coming to Westchester somewhere along the way.
And now, it was his territory, and I felt like the first soldier crossing over enemy lines.
Tomorrow, she would get on a plane and fly down to Florida to spend an entire weekend with Reese. It killed me, literally I felt my heart threaten to stop beating any time I let myself really think about it. But it was happening, and I couldn’t control that.
I needed to find something I could control.
My anxiety had festered like an infected wound since Monday, my hands itching for something to do to make her stay with me. I knew she had to go to the conference tomorrow, but how could I stay in her mind, in her heart, when she was away with him?
In a strange way, the universe had given me something last night. When I got home from work, Charlie told me her check engine light had come on. So, I let her take my car to school and I took hers into the shop. It was so small, so easy, but it was something I could do for Charlie. It was something I could take off her plate and put on mine. It was a way to show her my love.
And there was another way I’d show her, too — a plan I was putting into action for while she was away. When she came back to me Sunday night, it wouldn’t be just me she would come home to.
But that plan had to be shelved until she left.
For now, I used the energy from the weekend to keep her with me for as long as I could.
The halls filled with kids on their way to the lunchroom as I walked through the school. They filtered out slowly at first, a few classrooms dismissing early, and then the halls were crawling with little eyes and voices. I watched them all pass with a smile on my face, and when I recognized one of them, that smile split my face in half.
“Mr. Pierce!”
Jeremiah flung himself out of line and into my arms, which earned him a stern reprimanding from Robin, Charlie’s aide. When she saw it was me, she paused, holding the line in place for just a moment as a small smile found her lips, too.
“Hey buddy,” I said, bending to my knee to catch him. I managed to move the flowers I’d brought Charlie out of the way before he could crush them, and I squeezed him in a hug before he pulled away again. “How have you been?”
“Good,” he said quickly, his eyes still bright and round. “Mom said you guys are starting on our house soon!”
“We are. Are you going to come and help us start building on groundbreaking day?”
Jeremiah nodded. “Uh-huh. Mom said she’s gonna get me my own shovel!”
I chuckled, ruffling the hair on his head.
And for just a flash, I felt my unborn son like it was him staring back at me through Jeremiah’s eyes.
“Well alright,” I said. “Can’t wait to see it. I bet you’re going to be a big help to us.”
“I will be! You can count on me, Mr. Pierce!”
He was still bouncing a little when Robin coaxed him back in line, and I waved her a thank you as the line began to file away again.
The halls grew quieter as I closed in on Charlie’s classroom, and when I rounded the corner and saw her through the open doorway, I couldn’t help but stop and smile.
This was Charlie in her element.
I wished I could have caught her in time to watch her with the kids, the same way I had the first time I’d surprised her at work. But even now, watching her tidy up the classroom while she hummed softly to herself, I could feel the joy radiating off her.
Her smile was genuine as she swept through the classroom, and I watched greedily, soaking up what that smile did to me, in turn. To some, they’d look at her and say she was “just a Kindergarten teacher.” But for Charlie, there was no better job in the world. There was no better time to teach children, to help them form habits, to comfort them as they transitioned from home life to school life. This was her calling, it was what she was made to do.
School made her happy. Teaching made her happy. And, more than anything, those kids made her happy.
I was reminded again that one day, she would be the best mother the world had ever seen.
I hoped I’d be there to witness it first-hand.
Charlie caught a glimpse of me when she was stacking up workbooks, and at first, her mouth seemed to flatten at having a visitor. But when she did a double-take, she paused, her brows pinching together.
And then her smile lit up the room.
“Cam?” She shook her head, abandoning the workbooks she’d stacked up on her desk. “What are you doing here?”
“Surprising you. Did it work?”
I handed her the flowers, and she laughed, inhaling their scent with eyes closed before they fluttered open and found mine again.
“I’m very surprised,” she said, placing the vase of flowers on her desk. She fiddled with a few of the stems before turning to me again, slowly trailing her hands up my arms to hook behind my neck. “Thank you.”
I kissed her. Because there was nothing else to do in that moment. When she looked at me like that, when her eyes lit up for me and not for him, I had to find a way to seal that snapshot of time in her mind.
“I can’t remember the last time you came to Westchester,” she said, her big eyes searching mine. “I mean, other than the concert. I guess what I mean is I can’t remember the last time you came here, to this wing.”
“To your room,” I finished for her.
She smiled, nodding. “Yeah.”
“Well, I took your car into the shop. They’re going to take a look and get back to me. But they gave me a rental until then, and I already took off work, so I figured I’d surprise you for lunch. Can you sneak away to go off campus? If not, we can just go to the café.”
Charlie shifted.
“Um, maybe I could run down and grab something for us, and then we could eat here.”
“In your classroom?”
She nodded, her eyes skirting to the open door behind me.
And that’s when I realized.
She was supposed to have lunch with him.
I swallowed, heat creeping up my neck. �
��Okay. Should I wait here?”
But before she could answer, there was a knock on the frame of her door, and I turned to find Reese gaping at us just as Charlie pulled back.
She cleared her throat. “Hey, Reese. Cam surprised me for lunch,” she said quickly. “I know we were supposed to go over plans for the conference, but I figured we could talk more on that in the morning?”
Reese was still staring at me, like he couldn’t believe I was in my own wife’s classroom. It was like I didn’t belong, and I guessed that, in a way, for him, I didn’t. This was where he’d had Charlie alone. It was where he’d gotten her to open up to him.
In his eyes, I wasn’t supposed to be here.
I smirked.
Reese narrowed his eyes at that, stepping into the classroom with his hands slipping easily inside the pockets of his slacks. “Hey, Cameron, nice to see you,” he said, a fake smile finding his lips.
“Likewise,” I managed.
Reese evaluated me, his jaw tense. “Those flowers from you?”
I didn’t answer. We both knew they were, and I wasn’t dealing into whatever game he was trying to play.
He sniffed. “They’re nice. I didn’t realize you liked lilies, Charlie.”
At that, I glanced at the flowers, and then at Charlie.
She didn’t like lilies. She liked daisies.
How could I forget that?
Charlie ignored the dig, her arms folding over her chest. “We’re going to go off campus to eat. Can you let Robin know I’ll be a little late getting back? She knows the rest of the plans for the day.”
Reese swallowed at that. “Sure. Is seven still okay for me to pick you up tomorrow, then?”
I frowned, finding Charlie. “I was going to take you to the airport on my way to work.”
She cringed. “Well, I just knew that would make you late for work. Reese offered to pick me up, since it’s on his way, and we’re both going to the same place.”
“Oh,” I said, as calmly as I could manage. “I guess that makes sense. I don’t mind being late for work, though. If you want me to take you.”
“It’s really no problem,” Reese said, and my fists clenched at my sides.
“I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to my wife.”
“Oh, sorry. I guess I just didn’t realize what that looked like, since it’s such a rare occurrence.”
I blew out a breath through my nose, taking a large step toward him, but he only laughed as Charlie pressed her hands into my chest.
“Come on. Let’s go get lunch.” She turned to Reese then, and she looked even more pissed than I was. “Maybe you should use this time to call Blake. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you.”
Reese’s smile fell at that, and I saw the look in his eyes, one I knew all too well. He pleaded with Charlie for something in that moment — but for what, I wasn’t sure. Forgiveness? Understanding? Either way, Charlie didn’t seem keen to give it to him. She grabbed her purse from the hook behind her desk chair, leading the way out of her classroom.
“See you tomorrow,” she called behind us, but she didn’t turn, didn’t so much as glance at Reese again before we were out of her room and down the hall.
We were both silent as we walked to the rental car, and once we were inside it, Charlie buckled up and let out a long breath.
I followed her lead, strapping on my seatbelt, but then I paused with my hands on the wheel.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to take you tomorrow?”
“It’s on his way, Cam,” she said. “And we’re both going there. No sense in going out of your way.”
“I don’t mind.”
“I know. But it’s fine, I can just ride with him.”
My stomach turned. I knew they’d be together all weekend, so in the grand scheme of things, a car ride didn’t make much of a difference. Still, I hated it.
I started the car, but still didn’t put it in reverse.
“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “About the lilies. I know you like daisies, I don’t know why I didn’t—”
“Cam,” Charlie said quickly, leaning over in her seat until her hand could reach my leg. She squeezed, making me look at her. “Don’t. I love them. Truly. They were such a wonderful surprise.” She smiled. “And you delivering them in person was icing on the cake.”
I let out a sigh, nodding, though I was still upset with myself.
“Thank you,” she said, leaning over and pressing a kiss to my lips.
My left hand wandered from the steering wheel then, framing her face and holding her mouth to mine. I kissed her as long as she let me, and when she finally pulled back, she clicked on the seat warmers and stared out the front windshield.
“We need to hurry back, okay? I sprung this on Robin, and I don’t want to leave her alone for too long.”
And once again, I was reminded that time was my biggest enemy of all.
CHAPTER NINE
* * *
Reese
I hadn’t slept in days.
It was the day of the conference, and I was supposed to be a representative of our school. I was supposed to be on my A game, the best of the best, and I looked like I got jumped in an alley last night. My eyes were heavy and lined in purple, my hair a mess no matter how I tried to style it.
I should have gotten rest. I should have been more prepared for today.
But how could I sleep knowing I had to wait to get Charlie alone, knowing she was going home to Cameron every night…
Knowing something had changed.
As if the weekend hadn’t been bad enough with Charlie being on some sort of trip with Cameron, it had been even worse once she’d returned. Because she was different that Friday afternoon she left school than she was Monday morning when she returned.
Before she left, it had been like she was dreading the trip. I knew she would stay with me, if she could, if she hadn’t promised him she would go with him wherever it was he asked her to go. But when she came back, I knew it was as a different woman. Her eyes were lighter, her smile wide, her laugh spritely and easy.
Something had happened. Cameron had made a move. And I knew I wouldn’t have a chance to make mine until the conference.
So, I’d waited, three long days, just trying to bide my time until today. I’d somehow managed to talk her into having lunch with me yesterday, to go over the conference, and that little nibble of cheese was all I had.
And he stole it away.
Seeing him at Westchester, in a place that belonged to me and Charlie, it was like watching a concert where the lead band had stolen all my songs and claimed them as their own.
That was our place. Cameron already got to have Charlie every night at home, and now he had crossed over into my territory, into the one place where I had her without him. But as much as it ticked me off, it also reassured me that though he was trying, he still didn’t know Charlie like I did.
She’d only told me once what her favorite flower was — sixteen years ago, on her fourteenth birthday, when I’d given her a notebook with daisies on it.
I’d never forgotten, and he had.
It didn’t seem like a big deal at first glance. It was just flowers, just one small detail. But that’s the way I loved Charlie — completely, with every fiber of my being. I loved her with every memory in my heart, with every song in my soul, and maybe Cameron had loved her that same way once before.
But where his love had faded, mine hadn’t — not even when I’d never really had her as my own.
That was what I held onto as I tried and failed to sleep, knowing I would see her today, knowing I would finally get her alone.
Blake handed me my bag after I shrugged on a light coat, and she sighed when I opened the front door.
“I wish you didn’t have to go,” she said, running a hand through her long, messy hair before tucking her arms around her middle. “Not that I’m not ecstatic they chose you to attend in your first semester, but selfishly, I’ll miss yo
u.”
My throat thickened. “I’ll miss you, too. But I’ll be back Sunday.”
“Seems so far away.”
“You’ll blink and I’ll be here again,” I assured her, leaning in for a hug. She snuck up on her toes and pressed a kiss to my lips before I could stop her, but I broke it quickly.
“I should get going.”
“Hey,” she said, pulling my arm to stop me before I could make it through the door. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve seemed so… distant, lately.”
I swallowed. “I’m good. Just have a lot on my mind with the conference and all.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I get that. It’s a lot of pressure as a new teacher, I’m sure.” Then, her lips curved into a seductive smile, and she trailed her fingertips over my bicep. “Are you sure you don’t want me to help relieve a little of that pressure?”
My stomach rolled, Charlie’s face when I told her about me and Blake sleeping together just once flashing in front of my eyes. That pain she’d worn would haunt me forever, and I vowed to never be the one to put it there, again.
“I really have to get going, Blake.”
“It won’t take long. You know how quick we can be when we want to be.”
She licked her lips, and I peeled her off me, clearing my throat.
“Save that energy for when I get back, okay?” I said, praying I could just buy some time. I’d fake sick when I got back if I had to, but I knew one thing was for sure — I wouldn’t touch Blake again.
I wouldn’t betray Charlie.
“Have a good weekend,” I offered as I wiggled past her, jogging down the porch steps.
“You, too,” she said on a sigh.
I felt her eyes on me the entire walk to my car.
Once I was out of our neighborhood, I turned the radio off and ran through the words I would say to Charlie.
The last time I’d seen her, we’d fought. She wasn’t happy with me, and I couldn’t blame her. But the whole thing was just so… messy. It was complicated. Charlie of all people should understand that. I just needed to get her alone, talk to her without all the chaos surrounding us.
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