by Shar Dimick
“She sure is…Lucky, lucky, that she is. Me on the other hand, not so much.”
Luke let the subject die and introduced Cam to his two buddies, Sam and Greg, just as the band started playing a cover of Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long.” Matt left the drinks on the table. Cam picked up one of the shots, tipped his head back and drank it in one swallow, wincing as he felt the liquid flow down his throat and burn its way to his stomach. Greg and Sam joined Cam and downed their shots too. Cam gestured to Luke to take the last shot, but Luke shook his head “no.” So, Cam downed it as well. Greg racked the balls and Sam broke them. Luke handed Cam a pool stick. Cam lined it up behind the cue ball and gently tapped it. The ball moved a few inches missing its target.
“Yep,” Cam laughed at himself, “I still suck at this game.” He poured himself a beer and waited for his next turn.
“Good thing we aren’t playing for money then,” Luke joked.
“What?”
“It’s a good thing we aren’t playing for money,” Luke repeated raising his voice over the pulsing music.
“Very true.”
“So do you live around here or are you just visiting?” Greg asked.
“Visiting. My family used to come here every summer. It’s been awhile since I’ve been back. My parents still have a house on Lake of the Pines, though. What about you?”
“I’m a local, just like Luke and Sam here. We all went to the same high school. We’ve been friends forever.”
“Are you with the search and rescue team as well?” Cam watched Sam line up the cue ball and knock the last ball in.
“Nah, that’s Luke’s gig. I run a small construction business and Sammy is a computer geek. He just finished programming some 3-D reality video game.”
Cam finished off his beer and set his empty glass on the table. He briefly thought about pouring another, but his head was already spinning.
“You guys want to go again?” Sam asked.
Luke looked at his watch. It was almost ten-thirty. “Sorry to be the party-pooper, but I have to be at work by seven tomorrow.”
“What about you guys?” Sam asked gesturing toward Greg and Cam.
Greg finished off the last swallow in his glass. “Afraid, I’m out too. I told my wife I’d be home before midnight this time. It was nice meeting you Cam.” Greg shook Cam’s hand and headed out the door.
“Well that just leave you and me,” Sam said turning to Cam.
“I’m afraid that’s not much of a game for you. I’m bad when I’m sober.”
“Okay, I guess it’s an early night,” Sam answered. He finished racking the balls and put the pool sticks in the rack on the back wall. “See you around. Luke, same time next Tuesday?”
“As always.”
Sam wandered off to talk to the band members who were taking a break. Cam held the pitcher over an unused glass. “One more before you call it a night?” he asked Luke.
“Sorry. I really can’t. I only have one when I’m driving. I really do need to get going.”
“No problem.” Cam’s head was starting to throb. Sleep began to sound like a good plan. “I think I’m going to take off too. It was good seeing you again.”
“You too.” Luke slapped Cam on the back.
Cam made his way through the crowd to the counter. He settled up his tab with Matt and headed out the door into the fresh air. He stumbled a bit and realized he was drunker than he first thought. He tried to remember how many beers he’d drunk, but he lost count after the fifth one. He shouldn’t have done the shots. That’s what had put him over. Having only eaten a handful of peanuts since lunch, it was no wonder he felt a tad dizzy and off balance. It’s going to be a long walk home, he thought. He leaned against the boardwalk railing and stared out into the darkness. He felt like he might throw up. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d drunk that much liquor. Filling his lungs with air, he slowly let it out until the nausea passed. He knew he’d probably feel better if he did vomit, but he preferred not to do it in public. Slumping onto a bench, he put his head between his knees.
He felt a hand on his arm and looked up to see three Luke’s staring down on him.
“Are you doing okay? You don’t look so good.”
“As soon as everything stops spinning around I’ll be fine.”
“Can I give you a ride home?”
“Nah you don’t have to. I’d hate to throw up in your car. I’m only a mile up the road that way.” Cam pointed to the right. “Or is it that way?” He turned in the opposite direction.
“Come on buddy. Let’s get you home.” Luke hauled Cam up off the bench and put his arm around his waist to help him to the car. Cam gave Luke his address and five minutes later Cam was home. He noticed his father’s car was the only one in the drive. Roger and Eric must’ve finally gone home. Leave it to his father to stay behind when Cam wanted to be alone.
“Do you need help getting inside?”
“No, I can make it from here. Thanks for the ride. I really appreciate it,” Cam answered as he half fell out of the car.
“No problem.” Luke waited until Cam made it inside before he backed out of the driveway. He’s going to have one hell of a headache in the morning. Luke chuckled to himself as he drove off into the night.
Cam went straight to the kitchen for a large glass of water and a couple of aspirins. He’d only drunk half the water when his stomach revolted and went into reverse. He dashed toward the bathroom and retched.
“Cam?” Max called from the living room, “Are you okay in there?”
“Just a second…” Cam called as he retched a second time. He rested his head on the rim of the toilet, reached over and blindly flushed it. A few minutes later he stood and splashed some water on his face. He opened the medicine cabinet and rooted around until he found a packet of Alka Seltzer. It’d expired the month before, but he didn’t care. He made his way back to the kitchen, refilled his water glass and dropped in the two white tablets. He watched as the water fizzed and popped. Once the tablets dissolved he drank it down in one long gulp. He rested against the counter and wondered what possessed him to drink so much. Then he remembered, Liv…
“Cam? Are you sick?” Max came into the kitchen. Before Cam could answer, Max caught a whiff of Cam’s alcohol stench. “Good God Cam, you’re drunk!”
“And you’re a genius, Dad.” Cam stalked into the living room.
Max followed his son. “This isn’t like you. What’s going on?”
“Did the guys leave?” Cam changed the subject as he sank into the plush recliner and untied his shoes.
“Yeah, they only had a week’s vacation. I thought I’d stay a little longer though. I took another week off. We don’t ever get to spend much time together these days.” Max sat down on the couch across from Cam.
“That’s true, but really Dad, don’t stay on my account. I won’t be much company anyway. I’m not in the mood for cards and fishing.”
“Well, we don’t have to play cards or fish. We could golf or do whatever it is you do these days.” Max was trying hard to finally connect with his youngest son.
“Can we talk about this in the morning? I really need to get some sleep.” Cam stood to leave the room.
“Wait, Cam, I’m worried about you. Can we just talk a minute?”
“Not tonight.” A moment later Max heard Cam’s bedroom door click shut. He’d let Cam work out whatever was going on between him and Liv his way for now, but he wasn’t about to let his son fall into a drunken depression without a fight.
Cam dropped into the rumpled covers of his bed. The clock on the dresser read 12:17 AM. He pulled the covers up over his head and closed his eyes. It was after eleven the next morning when Cam opened them again. His head throbbed and his body ached. He certainly wasn’t ready to get up and face the day no matter what the clock said. He rolled over on his back and studied the small crack that spidered its way from the light fixture towards the wall. The air conditioning kicked on and Cam wat
ched as a wispy cobweb clinging to the edge of the circular vent directly above him danced on the cool stream of air. He added dusting to the list of “to do” tasks growing in his head and groaned. At least focusing on the mundane helped keep his mind off the pain of losing Liv that threatened to pull him under.
The sun streamed through the slits of his blinds revealing a stream of dust particles floating in the air arching toward the green 70’s style shag carpeting. He reached above his head, stretching his finger to reach the strings and pull them shut. He rolled over on his side and squeezed his eyes shut willing himself to go back to sleep. Opening his eyes, he noticed he’d forgotten to close his closet door. At least his closet was organized, Cam mused as he admired his rack of neatly hung shirts and jeans. He had one section for shirts and another for pants. While he had the urge to color sort his closet as well, he resisted. Even he thought that would be over the top. His family always teased him about his alphabetically ordered books, CDs and DVDs, so he didn’t need to give them any more ammunition. But, he liked his closet orderly as he did his life. Unfortunately, his life wasn’t going in the order he wanted.
“Hey, are you in there?” Max knocked on the bedroom door. He didn’t wait for Cam to answer and barged in. “Get out of bed!”
Cam groaned and put his pillow over his head.
“I mean it, son. I said get out of bed.”
“Just leave me alone.”
“Do you love her?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You heard me! I asked, ‘Do you love her?’”
“Yes, I love her! I’ve always loved her. I never stopped!”
“Then what’re you doing here? In bed?”
“She left Dad!”
“And you’re just going to let her leave?”
“I don’t have a choice!” Cam’s anger exploded.
“Don’t give me that load of crap! Go after her. Tell her how you feel. You’ve been moping around here for days. That drunken episode last night was the last straw. I’m sick of seeing your sorry ass around here. Now get up and do something about it!” Max pulled the covers off the bed.
Stunned, Cam had no response for his father. He’s right. For the first time in my life, Cam thought, my Dad is right.
Chapter Fourteen
Liv sat with her netbook open on her lap in the middle of the dark green sofa that took up the majority of her small living room. The television provided low background noise, but Liv didn’t hear it as her fingers flew over the keyboard. Sara wandered into the room with Brit at her feet.
“What’re you working on Mom?” Sara stood to look over her mother’s shoulder. She’d gotten her cast taken off her leg earlier that week. In another month or so she’d have to have surgery again to remove the pins and metal plate.
“I’m just finishing up a story about the beautiful Princess Sara. In this adventure she gets lost in the forest.”
“Cool Mom! I can’t wait to read it.” Sara plopped down on the braided oval rug in the middle of the room.
“I thought maybe you could draw the pictures for me.”
“That would be awesome. But, I’d need to get some new colored pencils or maybe paints.”
“Okay, we’ll see about that. I think there’s a whole bin of them somewhere in that room of yours.”
“But, Mom, I need new ones.” She pulled Brit’s rope toy out from under the entertainment center. Brit growled and barked as she played tug-of-war with Sara. Liv saved her document and shut down the computer. She leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes for a moment. She concentrated on her own breathing and the sounds around her. She relaxed her body and savored the feeling. Her mind wandered back to Cam again. He consumed her thoughts more each day. She wondered what he was doing and if he were thinking of her.
“What’s wrong Mom? You look sad.”
“Do I? I was just thinking...”
“About Cam? I know you like him.”
“You’re right, I do Hon. I like him a lot.”
“I think he likes you more than a lot. I saw him kiss you on the boat when he thought I wasn’t looking.” Sara giggled and puckered her lips to make a kissing sound.
Liv smiled at Sara. “I like him more than a lot too, Sara, but sometimes that’s not enough.”
“Why not? If you like him, which you just said you did. And you miss him, which I know you do. Then you should just call him and tell him.”
Why not? Liv thought. She’s right. “You’re pretty smart for an eight-year-old girl. You know that?” Liv brought her daughter into her embrace.
“I’m almost nine you know. My birthday is next month. Maybe you could get me the new pencils and paints as an early birthday present.”
“Nice try! It’s getting late. Your dad will be here any minute to pick you up. Are you ready to go?”
“Do I have to go? Can’t I just stay with you?”
“Your dad is looking forward to spending time with you. I know you’re going to have a great time. Besides, he mentioned going to see your Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds.”
“Cool!” Sara headed for the stairs to pack her bag. Her face lit up at the prospect of seeing her grandparents.
Liv laughed and hummed to herself, giddy with excitement now that she’d made the decision to contact Cam. She found her purse sitting on the kitchen table and began to search for her cell phone. She dumped the contents onto the table--wallet, checkbook, hairbrush, a pack of gum, lipstick, credit card, three pens, a handful of loose change and a couple of unpaid bills, but no cell phone. As she returned each item to her purse, throwing out old receipts and wrappers as she went, she saw Cam’s note sticking out from between two bills. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to throw it away and every now and then she took it out to re-read. She opened the worn paper, his handwriting now familiar, and read over the note that she’d memorized once more. You know where to find me when you’re ready. I’ll be waiting. She prayed he’d meant the words he’d written to her more than a month ago and she hadn’t waited too long to reach out to him. If only she could find her cell phone, she could tell him she loved him and wanted to be with him. She checked under the couch and in the cushions, on the bathroom counter and her desk, but the phone still eluded her.
“Sara! Have you seen my cell?”
“It’s up here Mom. I was playing Angry Birds on it.”
Liv sighed and tucked her hair behind her ears. Sara appeared at the top of the stairs with her overnight bag on her shoulder and Boo Boo bear and the purple hippo in her arms.
“Here you go, Mom.” Sara handed Liv her phone when she got to the bottom of the stairs.
“Thank you. Next time, please ask me before you take my phone out of my purse.”
“Okay. I’m sorry, Mom.” Sara hugged her mother and Liv rested her chin on the top of her daughter’s head.
“I love you, Sweetie.”
“I love you back, Mom.”
The doorbell rang, breaking the moment.
“And that will be your Dad. Have a good time this weekend. I’ll miss you.” Liv kissed her daughter on the forehead and went to answer the door. Ron looked relaxed in a pair of tan pants, a navy polo and brown loafers. Liv almost didn’t recognize him without his usual shirt and tie uniform.
“Hello, Ron. Sara’s just about ready to go. Come on in.”
Ron stepped just inside the door and awkwardly stood waiting for Sara.
“I told her you’re going to see your parents this weekend. She’s really excited to go.”
“That’s good. I think the plan is for the four of us to go to the zoo.”
Sara squealed at the word ‘zoo.’
“Really Daddy, you’re coming too?”
“Sure am kiddo, I wouldn’t miss seeing the monkeys and meerkats for the world.” Ron tousled Sara’s hair as he took her bag and held the door open for her to go through.
“Those are my two favorite animals!” Sara exclaimed as they walked to the car togeth
er. Liv stood incredulous. She couldn’t believe the man leaving with her daughter was her ex-husband. He actually knew Sara’s favorite zoo animals. Ron turned back towards Liv as he opened the car door for Sara.
“You look good.”
“Thanks,” she replied unsure where he was going with the compliment.
“I’ll have Sara back after first service on Sunday, if that works for you.”
“Okay. That will be fine.” Church, she thought, since when does he go to church?
“Great. See you then. Have a nice weekend.” Ron slid into the driver’s seat, pulling the door closed behind him.
Liv waved goodbye to Sara. The girl was all smiles as she waved back to her mother. She rolled down the window and called out as they pulled away.
“Bye Mom! Love ya!”
“Love ya back!” Liv waved again.
Back inside Liv pondered Ron’s odd behavior. Where was the big confrontation? She wondered. Maybe Ron was actually changing. For Sara’s sake she hoped so. The little girl would be devastated if he was just putting on some twisted act to… Liv stopped herself. No, she thought, I’m going to believe his intentions are good. I know he loves Sara and would never hurt her.
Liv curled up on the sofa and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She scrolled through her old text messages until she found the one from Cam. She pressed the option to call the sender and waited for Cam to answer. She twisted her hair around her finger nervously and worried. Would he even want to talk to me after I left the way I did? The phone rang three times and on the fourth ring, she heard his voice.
“Hello…”
“It’s me, Liv.”
“You’ve reached Dr. Cameron Preston. I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you would please leave your name and number after the beep, I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. If this is an emergency, please dial 911 now.”
Voice mail. Disappointment spilled over Liv’s features and she ended the call without leaving a message. She set her phone on the end table next to her and traded it for her eBook reader. She flicked it on and began to read. The chiming of the doorbell startled her.
