Finally Found

by Nicole Andrews Moore

  Haley sighed. “I suppose.” She looked at Sam. “So, have you already planned this shindig or do I get any say in it?” Yet as she spoke, she was positively glowing.

  Looking relieved, Sam asked, “So…New Year’s Eve?”

  “Well, you made the guys in the art department go to far too much trouble for me to say ‘no’ now, right?” She smiled warmly. “Yeah. New Year’s Eve. We’re already living together. Why not?” She laughed.

  “Well, I propose a toast!” Adam said loudly over the sound of all the cheering.

  “Please, you just want an excuse to drink,” Sam said with a smirk.

  “I already have an excuse to drink. I’m spending the holiday with you, the bane of my existence. Forget the champagne; I’m going for the liquor cabinet.” He started to stand when Sam finally raised his glass.

  The tree lighting was scheduled for 7pm. After dinner had finally ended and dessert was served, Abby started fussing. “Oh, it’s time for her nap,” Ellen remarked as she prepared to head to the guest bedroom.

  “A nap sounds like heaven right now. I’ve got to go sleep through all this digesting my body is doing. I’m exhausted,” Adam agreed.

  Soon, everyone but Cammie was in bed taking a much needed nap. Of course she was running on pure adrenaline at the moment. It was her first Thanksgiving with Adam and his family. She told herself that this only mattered because they had so many connections. It had nothing to do with impressing Adam or anyone else for that matter. This was purely about winning over some potential clients. That’s why she dug deep and started making sugar cookies. Only, just like she accomplished everything else in her life, she went above and beyond. By the time Adam came out stretching and looking for some leftovers before they headed out to the tree lighting, he found Cammie hard at work in the kitchen.

  “Don’t you ever sleep?” He asked as he peered over her shoulder to see what she was making. She had created a make shift icing bag from a large storage bag.

  There were heart shaped cookies with Sam and Haley’s monogram in them. There were square cookies decorated to look like Tiffany & Co. boxes. There were tiered wedding cake cookies and ring shaped cookies.

  “How did you do all this?” He studied her work, completely incredulous. Then before she could object, he walked around the island to where she stood and wrapped her in his arms. “Sam and Haley are going to die.” Then he walked over to the fridge, opened it, and realized how much work she had put into making this an amazing holiday. He watched her, working once more as though his hug hadn’t affected her at all. She was focused, but not at all worn out.

  Standing upright to survey her work, she smiled at her accomplishments. “I hope they love it. I really do.” She turned and smiled at him.

  “You know what?” The idea suddenly occurred to him. He was kicking himself. He should have thought of this earlier. He should have already talked to Sam and Haley. Of course, now that they had tried her food he stood a better chance of winning that argument. “You should cater Sam and Haley’s wedding. Really. And if word gets out at the cocktail party that you are…holy hell. You will have more business than you know what to do with.”

  She looked at him skeptically. “You think so? I mean…I’m pretty much an unproven stud. Why would they want me when they could have someone tried and true?”

  “They may surprise you. You’ll see.” He smiled at her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder while he glanced about the room.

  She laughed. “What are you looking for?”

  “Didn’t you promise me hot chocolate and S’mores for the Christmas Tree lighting?” He frowned at her.

  “That’s hours from now. Don’t worry.” She walked out of the kitchen.

  “Hey, where are you going?” He asked.

  “I’m just going to lie down for an hour. Do me a favor and wake me up an hour before you want to leave.” Having said that, she walked from the room and headed to bed.

  Cammie was asleep when Sam and Haley emerged from their room looking not so rested. Anyone else would have let it go, chalked it up to being happily and newly engaged, oh but for Adam, it was a chance to pick at his brother. “So, you two…looking like you’ve been going at it for a while. Oh, judging by Haley’s glow, you made her happy at least once.”

  Haley turned pink and chuckled. “Adam, stop it. You know Sam hates it when you do this.”

  “Haley, come on. You know that’s mostly why I do it!” He teased.

  “What can I do to get you stop, Adam? Let’s cut to the chase. You are always especially annoying when you want something. So, what is it this time? Car keys, wallet and phone? Consider it done. They are yours once more. Want Kiki fired and moved out of your place? I took care of that before we left the city. What more could you possible want?” He frowned at his brother.

  “Well, since you brought it up…hire Cammie to cater your wedding.” He leaned on the island and grabbed one of the cookies. He maintained eye contact as he took a bite of the cookie. “Damn. This tastes even better than it looks. And they look amazing.” He took another big bite. “You should try these. That would help you make your decision.” He chewed before talking with his mouth full once more. “Or have you already chosen a caterer, too. Doesn’t Haley get any say in this wedding?”

  His brother bristled. “Of course she does. I just don’t know if we should leave such an important day up to someone with so little experience.”

  Haley looked up at him. “Sam, you gave me a chance. I didn’t have any experience and you put me in charge of an entire ad campaign all by myself. You weren’t even around to help me.”

  “I knew you could do it. I had faith in you. I always believed in you.” He frowned down at her while stroking her curls.

  “As strongly as Adam has argued this, I am guessing he believes in Cammie.” She stepped closer to Sam, wrapped her arms around his waist and dropped her head on his chest. “It’s just a wedding. What could possibly go so horribly wrong?”

  “Seriously?” He scowled at her. “Let me tell you what I’ve seen, having been to my share of society weddings. She could make too little food, the food could be inedible, the cake could be dry, or not make it in traveling. She could prepare something badly and all our guests could get food poisoning…” he prepared to go on, but Adam interrupted.

  “When did you ever get food poisoning at a wedding? That’s ridiculous. You have to be making that up.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Nope. The VanGuard-Wagner wedding almost three years ago.” He reached over and grabbed a cookie.

  “Well, that wedding never should have happened. The very relationship was an unmitigated disaster. The food poisoning was just the cherry on top.” He laughed. “They met at a funeral. Who finds love in a funeral home?”

  “Sam,” Haley interrupted. “We could at least interview her. We could give her a chance to prove herself. She has done an amazing job with Thanksgiving and tomorrow she’s in charge of the cocktail party.” She smiled at him and hugged him. “Just give her a chance.”

  Shaking his head, Sam smiled down at her. “I hope I don’t come to regret this.” He looked over at Adam. “Let’s see how tomorrow goes. I won’t rule it out.”

  When he went in to wake her up half an hour later, he was still smiling. Cammie was asleep on the bottom bunk, and it was all he could do to resist joining her. Though he had purposely never spent the night with a woman, he would make an exception for her. He knelt beside the bed and studied her. Her hair was drawn back in a pony tail. Reaching over, he wrapped the mass of blond waves in his hand and felt it. He gave a gentle tug. She moved her head slightly, barely stirred. Finally he leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Sam is going to interview you. You are going to end up catering the wedding.”

  Her amazing eyelashes fluttered as she struggled to wake up. Rubbing a finger along her lip, he smiled as her tongue darted out to taste him. “Wake up, doll.” He murmured. “Wake up and get ready for the tree lighti
ng.”

  “I’m catering the wedding?” She asked in a sleepy voice. Then she rolled towards him and her eyes flew open. A second later she shot up to a sitting position. “You spoke to your brother without me? Why couldn’t you let me do that? Now it looks like I’m too shy to speak for myself. Thanks for that.”

  Sighing Adam looked her over. “I should have known that I could never do anything to please you. My apologies.” Frowning, he stood and left the room.

  Cammie sat there a moment. Why did she always do that? He was being perfectly nice. He had never been anything but nice to her. Okay, maybe he had been a little flirty, but certainly not disrespectful, and the bustier was bound to give him the wrong idea.

  She stood up and stretched. She was just about over her anger when she noticed a piece of paper sticking partway out of the top drawer. She vaguely remembered seeing him shove it in there earlier. Oh, the inner conflict. On the one hand, if he wanted her to look at it, he would have shown it to her. On the other hand, if he hadn’t wanted her to see it, he should have hidden it better. She pulled open the drawer to peek.

  It was a list of names. Girl names. He was writing down all the women he had slept with. Her initial reaction was pure fury at the arrogance of that man to keep a running list of conquests. Then, she realized that the paper looked really fresh, not ten years old as it should have been. She calmed down, slightly. Then she looked once more…and realized that she wasn’t on it. She studied it even more closely. Neither was her sister.

  Well, at least he didn’t look at her as a conquest, just lumping her in with everyone else. On the other hand…he had slept with so many women that he had to make a list to keep track and her sister was apparently completely forgettable. She heard footsteps in the hall. He was coming back. She shut the door and tried to look like she hadn’t been caught snooping.

  Adam opened the door just enough to stick his head in. “I just wanted to warn you. I’m not sure what your intentions were for the cookies, but everyone is awake out in the kitchen and eating them. On the bright side, they are getting rave reviews. And you may get hired for wedding favors at the very least…” He winked at her and waited for a response.

  She smiled. “Cookies are for eating. I’m glad everyone is enjoying them. I’ll be right out.”

  The door closed and she sighed. Yeah, I’ll be right out just as soon as I can wipe this guilty look off my face. Bright side…the cookies were a hit. Soon enough, her catering company would be, too.

  There was something magical about the tree lighting. That had to be it. The excitement was absolutely contagious. Adam had watched as Sam and Haley had immediately held hands as they started to make their way through the swarm of people. He saw how Ellen and Ryan had smiled at each other as they walked together pushing Abby in her stroller. Maybe Cammie had noticed, too. All of a sudden, he felt her arm loop through his. Then he felt her face press against his arm. It was nice. It was new and different. It was an intimacy he had never previously experienced. It was the kind of thing he had thumbed his nose to in the past, but now everything was different. He was different.

  It slipped out. Just when he had decided to stop trying with her, he looked down, saw her face upturned, like she was waiting for a reaction, and he said softly, “This is nice.” To his surprise, he was rewarded with a smile.

  “Yeah, I think so, too. I’m glad we’re here.” She squeezed closer to him for a split second then smirked. “So are some of these people going to be at the house tomorrow night?

  Looking down at her he sighed. “Were you just being nice for appearances?” He had to know.

  “Of course not. I just started thinking that before I decided to get too comfortable, I should consider our reputations. I am working on building one and you probably don’t want yours ruined by having people thinking you’re screwing the help.” She pulled away the minute she spoke.

  Adam sensed what she was thinking. It was probably something having to do with her sister…the sister he didn’t remember, the sister he supposedly slept with. He struggled with that because he had been advised by his father to never sleep with the help because of the very reasons Cammie had just mentioned. Yet, in her mind and possibly in reality he had clearly broken the one of the few rules he thought he’d never break. The other biggie was to keep it wrapped. Though he had done that religiously with every other girl, he never had with Cammie. Clearly he was going to hell. He looked skyward.

  “Look,” she said, quickly changing the subject. “There’s everyone!”

  So they headed over to join the rest of the group. As chilly as it was, no one objected when Cammie pulled out the huge travel mugs of hot chocolate. When she shared that she also had S’mores ingredients, Haley commented.

  “Honestly, girl,” she said with a smile, “you need to stop setting the bar so high. You are making the rest of us look bad.”

  “Ha!” Ellen retorted. “Maybe the way to your man’s heart is through his stomach, but Ryan assured me long ago that the way to his was through his penis.” She smirked while her husband laughed heartily and squeezed her close.

  “Well, this is who I am. This is what I do,” Cammie replied without apology.

  Adam simply beamed. How refreshing. How different from what he was used to. How real. How perfect.

  When they made it back to the house that night, Abby was ready to sleep for the night and the adults were ready for some quiet time in front of the fireplace. They were all snuggled together on the loveseats and in chairs while sipping a nice Moscato. It was getting later. The other couples had already headed to bed although not necessarily to sleep and talk of the cocktail party being held there the next day had begun.

  “How do you think we should set up?” Adam asked Cammie.

  “Well, my suggestion would be that since people always seem to want to hang out on the sides of the rooms that we either give them a reason to come to the center of the room, like chaffing dishes and food, or we set the food all around the outsides and force them to be in the center more. It’s all about what you want to do.” She proceeded to tap on her front teeth.

  “Is there anything you need from me?” Adam asked; genuinely interested in helping.

  “Nah, I should have it covered, other than that, I just may need help with tables.” She smiled at him, but he could tell her mind was elsewhere.

  “What are you thinking?” He asked seriously. “You seem lost in thought. I really wanted to enjoy some time with you, since we’ve had some issues…pretty much since we’ve started talking at my birthday.” He chuckled, realizing how crazy all of that sounded.

  She smiled up at him from her reclined position on the loveseat. “Then we probably should stop talking.”

  His face grew serious. What was she suggesting?

  “Ready for bed?” She asked as she stood.

  Shaking his head, he responded, “I’m really not tired yet.”

  Already, she had started making her way toward the hall. “Who said anything about being tired? I’m pretty sure I can help you get tired.”

  Suddenly a smile spread across his face. He wanted to question it. He wanted to know why she wanted him tonight, but hadn’t the other night. He wanted to understand so that if it was something he did or said he could keep…doing and saying it. Only he was afraid to talk. His words always seemed to get in the way. The last time she had shown up in his room, he had been certain that they were going to stay in that bed together all night. He would have bet money on it. Then, sure enough, he opened his big mouth and asked for a trust he obviously didn’t deserve and then the moment was lost. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

  That’s why he followed her dutifully down the hall. That’s why he took every cue she gave him. He went in his own door. He watched for the light to come on in the jack and jill bath. He waited until she opened the door and gestured for him to come through, to come to her. She had changed into sleep pants and a tight shirt. He could see her nipples through it, poking s
traight out.

  That’s when he broke down. He opened his mouth. “This bed is bigger,” he said, gesturing to Sam’s old queen size bed.

  “Who said anything about a bed?” She asked, smiling almost wickedly.

  His eyes grew wide. Cammie was constantly full of surprises. She helped him strip. It was just as well. He was shaking and fumbling, since he was so excited. Finally, she just pushed his hands out the way and did everything. The sweater was pushed over his head. She was so thorough that she even managed to get the shirt underneath to come off at the same time without even getting tangled up on his head. Damn, she was a pro. He wanted to ask her number. It just popped into his mind. She was so…experienced. So adept at what she was doing…he really wanted to know. A quick vision of that conversation played out in his mind and he managed to resist before he was left to handle his own business.