by Susan Sands
He’d just blown the attempt at simply making Cammie understand the depths of his regret at allowing himself to ruin both their lives for his gullibility, guilt, and overwhelming sense of responsibility. Able now to admit that he’d been no match for Deb’s freight train-like combination of selfish and crazy was freeing. Except here he was standing glassy-eyed and love-struck once again.
Before Cammie had come back, he was simply a father trying to pick up the pieces for his child, not in the least concerned for the tamped-down part of himself that might wake up someday and experience something akin to emotional connection with another.
But now this wallop from the blue had him floundering in ways he’d never expected. At first he’d wanted her to understand why he’d done what he’d done. Maybe if she could forgive him, he could forgive himself. Now he wanted another chance with her. But she was in love with someone else and planned to marry him.
*
Maeve arrived early in the morning to cover Ben’s shift at the hospital well-stocked to pass the time, it appeared.
“Did you bring a lamp, too?” He snickered, leaning in as she continued to unpack her bottomless tote bag of goodies. Spying the deck of playing cards, he couldn’t resist. “I see you brought along the cards. You practicing for our next round, sister?”
“You wanna piece of me, little brother?” Her cobalt eyes sparkled. She really did have the prettiest eyes of them all. Not another of the siblings could claim them. Nor could their parents for that matter.
“Alright, you blue-eyed demon, give me your best shot!” The lifelong battle for bragging rights continued. Hearts was a cutthroat game best played with at least four of them, but two would do in a pinch. Too bad the others weren’t around.
Ben was so involved in grinding his eldest sister to dust that he almost missed hearing the women ooh-ing and aah-ing over a huge bouquet of flowers at the nurse’s station nearby. He glanced over just as one of the nurses waved the card toward them excitedly.
“These are for your mother. A handsome hottie just dropped them off and left.”
Handsome hottie? He hadn’t seen anyone come by. Wait, maybe he saw the flowers arrive, but that wasn’t unusual in a hospital, so it hadn’t caused him to look up.
“Wow. Who do think they’re from, Ben? Should we read the card?” Maeve sniffed a lily.
“Let’s take them down to Mom’s room and let her read it,” Ben said, not liking the hottie idea at all. He hefted the huge bouquet, careful not to upset the arrangement.
“Mom?” Maeve called softly as they entered the room in case she was still sleeping, seeing how early in the morning it was.
“Yes, dear? Come in, I’m awake.”
“Someone dropped these flowers off for you. Thought you might want to have a look at the card,” Ben said. Then, “How are you feeling?”
“Oooh, they’re beautiful. Who are they from? Let me see the card, Maeve.” Mom was a sucker for a fragrant bouquet.
Ben set the arrangement down on the hospital tray and Maeve handed their mother the card. “You two look like a couple of geese with your necks stretched out, craning to have a peek.”
Immediately relaxing in posture, both tried to appear a bit less concerned with the sender’s identity. Ben plopped down on the vacant bed on the other side of the room, while Maeve refilled her mother’s water glass.
Ben kept his eyes peeled on his mother’s face, wondering, still, who the hottie might be. Maureen’s complexion seemed to lose color, and her fingers shook as she read the note. Her expression was not one of delight. “Mom, are you alright? Should I get a nurse?”
She closed her eyes, took a deep shaky breath, and smiled weakly, “No, Ben, I’m okay. Just—just a little surprised is all.”
“You don’t look happy surprised, Momma. Who sent the flowers?”
“Just an old friend, sweetheart.” She sounded tired.
“The nurses referred to him as a hottie,” Ben drawled.
“I can’t imagine anyone his age falling into that category by today’s standards.” But her eyes drifted toward the ceiling as she clutched the small card with its envelope in her pale fingers.
“Should we sit with you for awhile? We hoped you were getting some rest.”
“I would like to be alone for a bit, if you don’t mind.” She smiled in her loving way, but her eyes held unshed tears.
“Mom, I’m worried. Is there something wrong?” Maeve asked.
“No. I would like to collect my thoughts, is all. You can check on me later.”
They both kissed her cheek and promised to be within shouting distance if she needed them. Ben’s eye twitched, as it did when something wasn’t right. He’d never seen his mother react so oddly and with such melancholy—certainly not to someone besides their father. Something about the sender of the flowers had really gotten to her. Mothers weren’t supposed to have mysterious hotties in their pasts.
Once they were back out in the waiting area, Maeve turned on Ben, “What on God’s green earth was that all about?”
“I don’t have a clue. Mom’s not the secretive type. I mean, she never has been as far as I’ve known.” Ben observed people for a living, everyday. His mother’s reaction to that card was fairly intense.
“She’s—Mom. Of course she doesn’t have secrets. Maybe secret recipes or a secret stash of chocolate somewhere, but a secret hottie? No freaking way.
“We’ll ask her later what that was all about, but until then, let’s not allow our imaginations to run amok, okay?”
*
Maureen sat wide-eyed in her hospital bed clutching the small card in her shaking fingers. She might be in a hospital bed, but she wasn’t hallucinating. This was plain crazy. How dared he show up here, of all places? And why now? It had been, what—forty years? Had it really? His clear, laughing blue eyes reflected in her mind every time she was in the company of her lovely eldest daughter, Maeve.
Maureen had lived and loved an entire lifetime with another man, the only other person in the world who’d borne her secret and stood by her side through it all. The very idea that he’d reappeared bearing gifts at this point was near laughable, but not funny in the least. She couldn’t take the chance of his finding out her secret. It had died with Justin Laroux, her husband and father named on the birth certificates of all five of her children.
From what she knew, he’d only dropped the flowers and taken off. Hopefully, then scooted right out of town. But still, with the trouble he’d taken to track her down, it didn’t seem likely. Maybe he was dying and wished to make amends. She’d lived long enough and experienced loss deeply to understand that motivation. She’d meant less to him than something or someone else had, obviously, or leaving her wouldn’t have been an option forty years ago, no matter the circumstances.
How could his return even affect her emotions after all this time? It was fear, pure and simple; it had to be. If her children were to discover the buried lies and secrets, she would appear a phony. How could her hypocrisy not negatively impact and cause them to question everything they’d always believed true in their own lives?
Fortunately her fever was down, but her release from the hospital wouldn’t be for several more days. There was no way to anticipate his next move. Sitting around within four walls and waiting for the antibiotics to slowly kill the infection might send her over the edge. And then, she still had several weeks of recovery from the initial surgery to contend with. Maybe she should head to Lake Burton with one of her daughters once the doctor okayed it—if he would. Then, she could rehab quietly at the cabin and hide out until he moseyed on out of town.
Hopefully Ben and Maeve would honor her request for privacy and leave well enough alone. Realizing it was likely too much to ask, she hid the small card with its unmistakable message inside her bible somewhere near a verse about the evils of fornication. Ben wouldn’t have a clue where to find it there. Maeve wouldn’t go digging without permission, being a typical rule-following first ch
ild.
Mothers shouldn’t have pasts; certainly not deep, dark, secret ones. When a stranger rolled into Ministry, nearly everyone in town raised their brows to speculate on their identity and connection to the local residents. She’d already been connected to him by the flowers, with the nurses bearing witness. It wouldn’t be long before word spread regarding the mysterious hottie.
Luckily, the events in question transpired two counties over and so long ago that witnesses would be very difficult to unearth—really most would be six feet under by now. But his was the next move since she was trapped here and powerless.
Maybe not so powerless. She had a laptop, didn’t she? She’d have Ben bring it over and she would do what she’d not allowed herself to all these years—she’d Google his lying ass and find out where he’d been all these years. Funny that she hadn’t thought to do it before now. Of course, before now, she’d been perfectly content to let the sleeping dogs lie.
Maureen figured she’d better be prepared just in case he did show up again. Best to know what kind of man he’d become, how he’d made his living, if there was a wife and other children; that sort of thing.
Once she’d married Justin and given birth to Maeve, Maureen had forged ahead with life, never regretting. Evangeline House and her family filled her with joy and purpose. She’d been a good wife and mother, run a successful business, and never looked back. What had been the point? Howard had disappeared into thin air as far as she knew.
But sometimes late at night, while lying next to the most wonderful man to grace the planet, she’d missed something. More like she’d ached feverishly and burned for him, the bastard. Imagining his crooked smile in her mind’s eye for a split second, or hearing his laughter in a crowd only to fall back in time for a sliver of a moment—to another life, one never truly lived.
He’d given no explanation as to why he hadn’t shown up at the altar on their wedding day. Obviously he wasn’t dead, since she received a note in his handwriting on that day simply stating, “Sorry I couldn’t go through with it. You’ll always be my heart.” Today’s note had been an echo of that very same one so many years ago.
So she’d certainly recognized Cammie’s emotions where Grey was concerned. More than she’d been able to let on or outwardly empathize with her daughter. But then she couldn’t have allowed or encouraged her to trust him completely. She’d never have forgiven herself if Grey had done to Cammie what had been done to her. It was different now. Now, Maureen believed Grey was different.
Maureen had hired Cammie’s lost love to fix her beloved home weeks ago, not realizing at the time Cammie would be coming back, or even that she would be undergoing this blasted surgery. But Maureen also had to admit her part in keeping Grey’s presence unknown to Cammie when encouraging her to come home.
Maureen understood her daughter’s feelings toward Grey—recognized how she’d gone out of her way to avoid him these past years. But something about bringing the two face-to-face again before Cammie married seemed the right thing to do. Perhaps not having her own second chance factored into the decision. Maureen hadn’t discussed hiring Grey with her other children until after the fact.
Chapter Seven
‡
Ben and Maeve showed up just as Cammie was working her way through the spices in the kitchen. She’d taken them all out and was throwing away all the old ones, making lists to restock and alphabetizing them.
Their grave expressions put her instantly on alert. “What’s wrong? Has Mom taken a bad turn?” She set down the crystallized ginger in her hand.
Ben’s serious expression lightened, “No, Cam, they’re talking about releasing her today or tomorrow. But we’ve just had a very weird experience over at the hospital.”
“That’s not unusual, given the locale.” Cammie was dead serious.
“No joke, it was very strange.” He and Maeve filled her in on the mystery man and the bouquet.
Cammie frowned, “That is odd. I’ve never known her to request privacy from her family to brood about something—or someone. Especially a man we don’t know.”
“We wanted to ask more questions, but she wasn’t in the mood to answer.”
“Did you see the card?” Cammie asked Maeve.
“No. She held it tight it in her hands the whole time. I don’t think she was of a mind to share.” Maeve said.
“I don’t like it. The entire incident smacks of secrets. And secrets aren’t good for anybody,” Ben said.
“Brother dear, if we found out all your secrets, do you think anybody would ever speak to you again?” Maeve arched an eyebrow toward Ben.
“Oh, don’t act all prissy over there. We all know you used to smoke weed out by the lake from time to time after church on Sundays when you were a teenager.” Ben accused.
“Shut up,” Maeve snapped.
“Well, so much for discussing this like mature adults,” Cammie spoke softly, hoping not to draw fire.
“I could go and clean her room,” Maeve suggested, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling innocently.
“No snooping,” Cammie insisted.
“I guess we wait it out and ask her more about him when she gets home,” Ben said.
“Has the doctor said for certain when she would be released?” Cammie asked, continuing to put things away in the kitchen.
“We should know later today,” Maeve said.
“Seems like she’s been in there a long time,” Cammie hung the dish towel on the hook beside the sink and untied the apron she’d donned earlier. “Would the two of you like coffee?”
“About a gallon would be great,” Ben said.
Grey picked that moment to enter the kitchen, all sexy in his tool belt and jeans. They stared at him as if he had two heads.
“Oh, hey. Am I interrupting?” He stopped a few feet inside the door.
Maeve smiled at him. “No, you’re fine. Just in time for coffee; right, Cammie?”
“Yeah, sure.” Cammie wasn’t really prepared yet this morning to see Grey. After yesterday’s emotional weirdness at the hospital, she hadn’t really known what to say to him. Maybe it was better this way, with her sister and brother here to run interference between them.
*
Grey had known he’d see her today at some point, Maeve and Ben’s arrival had ensured she wouldn’t bolt upstairs. After yesterday’s jolting realization, he couldn’t stay away. Besides his promise to handle the house problems, just knowing that Cammie could leave any time now that her mom’s condition was improving made it seem that much more urgent that he—what? Do something. Maybe it was time to test her real feelings. He’d been getting vibes that her words weren’t exactly coinciding with her body language.
He wasn’t playing around here. She was still the woman he’d fallen for as a young man, and despite everything that had gone down, Cammie Laroux wasn’t leaving here without a fight from Grey. If she went, it would be because she was truly in love with someone else and wanted to go. Right now, she didn’t have a job calling her back, so it was now or never for them.
Ben took the steaming mug and stood. “I’ve got to get to the office. I’ll let you know if I get any new information about Mom’s discharge. We’ll talk later, girls. Harrison.”
“Later,” Grey raised a hand.
Maeve also made to leave. “I’ve got a hair appointment, Cam, but I’ll be back in a couple of hours. Call me on my cell or text if you need anything. Thanks for the coffee. Bye, Grey.”
“Bye, Maeve.” He smiled and waved.
Within thirty seconds they were alone in the kitchen, the old clock ticking loudly.
The house repairs were slow but coming along, so he figured he could pop in for a question just to get on her nerves, couldn’t he? That had been the plan.
“How’s your mom this morning?” Cammie was obviously in the middle of a project that had to do with all the hundred or so spices in the house. As always, she had a system going, and as usual, she was precise and efficient, but p
aid no mind to her appearance or what was happening around her.
She looked up, like she’d forgotten he was in the room. Right. Her hair was falling out of a once carefully-crafted ponytail. It was no longer centered with tendrils of the honeyed highlights drifting around her gorgeous face. She’d opted for jeans today, which meant she hadn’t any planned meetings with clients.
“Mom is coming home from the hospital today or tomorrow. I’m planning to make her favorite cake before she gets here, but I need to organize the spices first.
“That’s great. So glad she’s on the mend.” He grinned at her. “So, are there any plans for your boyfriend to visit while you’re here?” He asked, curious why the guy hadn’t met her family yet and why he hadn’t bothered to come while she was here.
She shot him a curious glance. “I’m not sure, why?”
“Just wondered. I’m sure your family is dying to meet him.”
She made a face. “Oh, they are; you bet they are. I’m not sure how that will go. He’s awesome, but not exactly Alabama awesome, if you get my drift. More like New York City awesome.”
“Does that suit you?”
“Jason suits me just fine. In fact, he suits me perfectly. I’m not sure why you’re concerned about this.”
“I just want you to be happy, Cammie. You deserve it. It just surprises me that you’d end up with a city slicker is all.”
“Oh, and you think I should’ve stuck around here and ended up with what, a farmer or a handyman?”
“Ouch!”
“No, wait, I didn’t even get that kind of choice in the matter, did I? I left town because my boyfriend got my best friend pregnant and married her after she had a miscarriage.” Cammie’s voice was getting shrill. But she wasn’t finished. “Oh, wait, then the two of you named your child together the same name you and I had picked out for our own child someday.”
