I forgive you, Dad. I’m sorry you were so unhappy.
A huge weight of anger and resentment lifted from his shoulders. Cam sucked in a breath at the sensation of lightness.
He deserved to be happy with the woman he loved. Maybe he’d stumble and fall and turn to drinking again. But maybe he wouldn’t. There were no guarantees in life. Or in love.
He turned away from Tessa’s door and hurried to the kitchen, knowing what he had to do.
Cam pulled out his cell phone and hit his brother’s number. Ethan answered immediately. “Hey. What’s going on?”
“Can you and Harper look after Tessa tomorrow? I’m driving to Chicago.”
Ethan laughed. “We would be happy to, buddy. Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
To convince Scarlet he wanted a forever with her, he’d need all the luck he could get.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Scarlet fought against the cold November wind howling down her street. If she’d been smart, she would have taken her car to the grocery store instead of walking the ten blocks. If she’d been even smarter, she would have ordered in pizza.
But she’d been too restless to stay cooped up in her apartment any longer. During the work week, she managed her restlessness by taking on extra projects and staying so busy she had no time to brood. The weekends were different. She had too much time to think and to wonder how Cameron and Tessa were doing. Their happiness was always on her mind, and she wondered if they missed her, even half as much as she missed them.
She’d needed this walk, even though the wind was biting cold and her two bags of groceries were getting heavier by the minute.
A block from her building, she noticed a truck parked in front that looked like Cameron’s. Her heart lifted in joy before she told herself there were probably hundreds of trucks like his in the city. She had to stop seeing his face in the crowds, seeing reminders of him everywhere she looked. She had to stop thinking about him, dreaming of being in his arms again. If she didn’t stop loving him, she’d lose her mind.
But when the truck door opened and Cameron stepped out onto the sidewalk, she stopped walking, incapable of putting one foot in front of the other. Her lungs threatened to explode as she stood on the sidewalk staring at him. She reminded herself to breathe.
He walked toward her. “Can I carry your groceries for you?”
She hadn’t spoken to him in two weeks and his first words to her were about groceries?
“Why are you in Chicago? Is Tessa sick? Is she all right?”
“Tessa is fine.” He took the bags from her cramped fingers. “She’s barely mentioned her mother since she got home. She seems very happy to be back in Minnesota.”
Scarlet let out a relieved breath. “Good. I’m glad she’s happy.” If Tessa was okay, why was Cameron here?
He cleared his throat. “I have a message from Harper and Maggie. They thought it should be delivered in person.”
Sudden panic swirled in her gut. “Is Harper all right? Maggie? What’s happened?”
“Everyone’s fine, Scarlet, honestly.”
Her heart fell. So, he was here on an errand from her sisters, not because he wanted to see her. Why did they think this message needed to be delivered in person? And why by Cameron? They knew how hard seeing him was for her.
He nodded toward her building. “Do you think we can go inside? It’s cold out here.”
“Yes, of course.”
She fished her keys from her purse. If he was coming all the way from Solace Lake with a message from her sisters, she could at least let him deliver it in the warmth of her apartment.
Scarlet opened her door and turned on the lights. Cameron followed her inside with the grocery bags, and she pointed to her kitchen. “You can put them on the counter. Would you like some tea?”
“Sure.”
She filled her kettle with water and set it on the stove to boil. As she was pulling cups from the cupboard, her hands shook. He unnerved her, making her tiny apartment seem even smaller with his large presence. And she didn’t yet know what he came all the way to Chicago to say to her. It must be important.
He emptied the bags and put the milk and other perishables in the fridge.
“Where does this go?” he asked, holding up a can of chicken noodle soup.
“You can leave it on the counter. I was going to have that for supper. What about you? Are you hungry?”
“Starved,” he said. “I didn’t stop to eat.”
It was almost an eight-hour drive from Solace Lake to Chicago. Maybe he’d been in such a hurry to see her he hadn’t stopped to eat.
She pushed the wishful thinking from her mind. “We can go out and get something. There’s a great little Italian place a few blocks from here.”
He shook his head and smiled. “I’d rather stay here. If it’s okay with you.”
“Of course.” His smile appeared nervous and she wondered at the reason. She hid her anxiousness with a smile of her own. “Luckily for you, I recently laid in a few supplies.”
While the soup heated, Scarlet filled her teapot with hot water and loose tea and set it aside to steep. She found a can of tuna in the back of her cupboard and made them each a sandwich. For dessert, she set the cookies she’d purchased on a plate. It didn’t seem like much.
“I always said Maggie got the cooking gene in the family. Are you sure you don’t want to go out?”
He set his hand on her arm. “It’s fine, Scarlet. Really.”
It was the first time he’d touched her since he arrived. His warm fingers burned a hole through her thick sweater. A trail of fire ran straight to the apex of her thighs, as if he’d touched her in her most sensitive spot, the way he’d done so many times before.
She stepped back, afraid if she let herself bask in his warmth she’d do something to embarrass herself, like jump into his arms. Turning away, she busied herself filling two bowls with the soup and bringing them to the table.
“Everything’s ready. Why don’t you sit down?”
They ate in silence. Scarlet nibbled at her sandwich, her stomach too tied up in knots. Cameron obviously didn’t have the same problem. He wolfed down his food and then reached for a couple of cookies. Scarlet poured tea for them both, using a strainer to catch the loose leaves.
Cameron swallowed a bit of cookie and sipped his hot tea. “You’re not eating.”
“I’m fine.” Time to end this charade so he could leave. “What message did Harper and Maggie send you to deliver?”
He set down his cup. “It’s about your mother’s letters. They said they weren’t only letters from her teenage boyfriend. It looks like their relationship resumed about three years before her death. They were having an affair.”
Scarlet sat back in her chair, shocked, though not sure why. She’d known all along her mother was having an affair. “They’re sure?”
His eyes were steady and calm. “Yes.”
He told her what Harper and Maggie had told him about the letters. “I’m sorry, Scarlet. There’s more,” Cameron said.
“More?” She sucked in a breath and turned her face away, tears burning behind her eyes. She couldn’t take much more.
“I told them,” he said. “I told them about what you saw and heard on the day your parents died. They don’t blame you, sweetheart. They want you to know you had nothing to do with their deaths. Nothing.”
She clapped her hand over her mouth to stop her sob but tears spilled over onto her cheeks. She shook her head. “You shouldn’t have. You shouldn’t have. You promised.”
Cameron came around the table to kneel beside her. He caught her hand and placed a kiss in the palm. “I had to, sweetheart. I couldn’t let you suffer anymore. All these secrets that the two of us have been carrying around inside for so long, they’re killing us. We both have to let them go. We can’t let the past have power over us anymore.”
Scarlet wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. “What do you mean?”
>
“You need to forgive yourself for the role you believe you played in your parents’ death, and I…” He stopped and took a deep breath before lifting his gaze once more to look into her eyes. “I had to forgive myself for being a drunk. I was so afraid of hurting you that I walked away, but I realize now there are no guarantees in life. We have to love each other and hope our relationship weathers all the storms.”
He got to his feet and pulled her up with him. “I love you, Scarlet. I want to spend my life weathering those storms with you. I promise you right here, right now, I’ll never leave you again. I’ll never push you away. I’ll always stand beside you.”
She was thrilled to hear him say he loved her. But they needed so much more than love.
They needed trust.
“Cameron,” she whispered. “I love you, and I’ve dreamed of having you say those words back to me. I know you think you mean what you say right now, but how can I be sure? Before, when things got rough, you turned away from me. I can’t do that anymore. It’s too hard.”
He cupped her face with his big hands. “I won’t go anywhere, Scarlet. I’m not scared to love you anymore. I believe in you, in us. Yes, I was afraid of hurting you, but I was more afraid of being hurt again, rejected. All this time I told myself I was doing the right thing, the noble thing by leaving you. I was saving you from living with a drunk. But what I was really doing was saving myself. I was leaving you before you had a chance to leave me. But I’m not scared anymore. I need you, and I want to be the man you need me to be.”
She looked into his dark eyes and knew he’d stand by her no matter what life threw at them. In that moment, she knew she could always trust him. She gave him a tremulous smile. “Can you say it again?”
“I love you.”
She wound her arms around his neck. “Maybe once more.”
He grinned and the beauty of his smile made her heart sing. She vowed to make him smile every day for the rest of their lives.
“I love you, Scarlet.”
She’d never get tired of hearing him say those words. And she’d never get tired of saying them back to him.
“I love you, too, Cameron.”
EPILOGUE
Scarlet finished tying Tessa’s new skates and then steadied her as Cameron fastened the strap of the hockey helmet under her chin.
“Let’s go, Daddy!” she said impatiently.
“Hang on a second. Let’s wait for Scarlet.” He flashed a smile at her. “Even if she is a slowpoke.”
“Slowpoke? I can skate rings around you, Hainstock.” She gave them both an indulgent smile. “You two go on ahead. I’ll catch up as soon as I get my skates on.”
“Okay, sweetheart.”
Cameron led Tessa to the chair he’d brought out to the large patch of ice on the lake that he and Ethan had cleared of snow. Tessa pushed the chair around the ice, encouraged by her father’s praise.
“Scarlet, look! I’m skating!” Tessa called.
“You’re doing great!”
Scarlet smiled fondly at Cameron and Tessa. Her family.
Sometimes it was hard to believe how much her life had changed in such a short time. In a week, she and Cameron would be married in a simple ceremony at the lodge. Tessa would become her stepdaughter. Happiness made her heart swell with joy.
Still, despite her joy, questions about the past nagged at her. Who was the man her mother had loved as a teenager and continued to love as a married woman? Had she really been planning to run away with him?
She tightened the laces on one skate and pulled on the other. Somehow, she had to find the answers to those questions or they’d never leave her and her sisters in peace.
But how could she uncover the truth after so many years when almost everyone involved was dead? She closed her eyes and sent a silent prayer heavenward.
Mom, Daddy, please help us find the truth so we can have peace.
Harper and Maggie joined her on the bench and set their skates beside them. Harper unlaced her boots. “I haven’t skated since we were kids. I hope I remember how.”
“If you have trouble staying on your feet, maybe Tessa will let you borrow her chair,” Maggie teased.
“Smart ass.” Harper paused and looked out at the frozen lake. “It’s going to sound a little crazy, but I feel like Mom and Daddy are nearby when we’re out on the lake.”
Scarlet smiled at her sister. “I think that’s a nice sentiment.” If Harper was comforted by the belief, she was happy for her.
Maggie finished lacing her skates and got to her feet, doing a little spin on the ice in front of them. She stuck the pick of her skate into the ice to bring herself to a stop.
“Still got it,” she said with a grin. “Thank you, Grandma, for all the figure skating lessons.”
She skated off, did a couple of little jumps, then skated backwards towards them, her skates criss-crossing in perfect precision.
“Show off!” Scarlet shouted. Maggie made a little bow and laughed.
“Are you guys ready?”
“Give me a minute,” Harper said.
“Scarlet!” Tessa took a few tentative steps without leaning on the chair. “Look at me! I’m skating!”
“You are! You’re skating all by yourself, Tessa,” Scarlet called. A minute later, Tessa lost her balance and fell on her bottom. With a helping hand from Cameron, she pushed herself to her feet once more and took a few more steps. Scarlet’s heart filled with love.
“Isn’t she adorable?”
“She is. And you’re going to be a wonderful mother,” Harper said. “Now, help me up. I may need to lean on you a bit.”
Scarlet and Maggie got her to her feet and Harper took a few tentative steps. “I think it’s coming back to me, but don’t let go.”
Scarlet gripped her waist. “We’ve got you, sweetie.”
They each took one of her hands and slowly made their way around the perimeter of the ice surface. As the sun lowered in the western sky, Scarlet gazed out over the frozen surface of the lake and in the distance, she saw a flash of yellow. When she looked more closely, she saw a yellow canoe drift across the ice. Two people were inside the canoe, their paddles moving in perfect synchronization. The fading sunlight glinted off a woman’s red hair. Scarlet blinked, and when she looked again, they were gone.
She gasped. It happened so quickly, she couldn’t be sure it had been real.
Of course it wasn’t real.
“Scarlet? Something wrong?” Harper asked.
“No, no. Everything’s fine.” She couldn’t stop herself from looking one last time, but there was nothing in the distance except the frozen lake topped with frothy drifts of snow.
“You’re sure?” Harper had always had a knack for reading her. As much as she trusted her and Maggie, she wasn’t ready to share what she’d seen, whatever it was. She made herself smile.
“I’m sure.”
Ethan approached and came to a quick stop in front of them, his skates sending up a small shower of ice. “Can I take my wife off your hands, ladies?”
“You are welcome to her. Good luck!” Maggie said with a laugh.
“Hey!” Harper laughed, too, then happily skated off with Ethan, who held her securely.
“I’m going to do some spins,” Maggie said. “You okay, Scarlet?”
“I’m fine. I’ll catch up with Cameron and Tessa.”
With a wave, Maggie skated off. Scarlet hurried in the opposite direction, reaching for Cameron’s outstretched hand. He brought her gloved hand to his mouth for a kiss. “I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too. To the moon and back.”
Cameron grinned at her. “To the moon and back. Come on. Let’s take Tessa for a spin.”
“Let’s go all the way around the rink one more time before it gets too dark. Think you can keep up, Tessa?”
“Yes!”
They skated on and Scarlet listened to Tessa’s excited chatter with half an ear. Maybe what she’d seen had simpl
y been a trick of the light. It was possible she’d so wanted a glimpse of her parents that her mind conjured them up for her. Or maybe it was something more.
Scarlet glanced over her shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of the canoe and its passengers once more. There was no one there, but she could feel their presence. A feeling of warm happiness swirled in her chest and radiated through her body.
Mom, Daddy, I love you.
“Are you two ready to go inside now?” Cameron asked.
“I’m ready,” Tessa said. “Can we have hot chocolate?”
Scarlet smiled. “Absolutely. With whipped cream, too. Let’s go home.”
Cameron leaned over for a brief kiss. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than at home with my two favorite girls.”
Scarlet smiled back at him, her heart overflowing with love. “Nowhere else at all.”
The End
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Next in the Love at Solace Lake series…
Truth and Solace
PROLOGUE
Margaret Catherine Lindquist stepped off the school bus in front of the old fishing lodge and trudged up the stairs to the front porch. She hoped Grandma hadn’t noticed the arrival of the bus because she couldn’t bear one of her interrogations. Not today.
She made it to her room undetected. After quietly closing the door and locking it, she leaned her forehead against the solid wood and allowed the tears she’d been holding back to fall. Staggering to her bed, she curled into a fetal position and clutched Mr. Jingles, the Teddy Bear she’d owned for every one of her fourteen years.
Secrets and Solace Page 27
