“Is it the same bakery that makes the strudel Harriet had for us when we were up at Bergen Mountain back in March?” Cadence asked.
“I believe it is. But I didn’t come over to talk pastries,” Jasper answered, pinning her with that Bergen steel-blue gaze.
“Oh! Is everything all right?”
Jasper had loosened up quite a bit since he and Elle had gotten together, but he was still the intense alpha CEO when he wanted to be.
“It’s more than okay. I’ve had the Mountain Education Department share the changes and tweaks you’ve made along with the different teaching techniques Cam’s introduced to the other Bergen Adventure Summer Camps in the metro area, and we’re seeing great results. Increased time spent on the activities with less time spent corralling children and transitioning from activity to activity. Behavioral concerns have dipped, and parent surveys report a satisfaction bump up from seventy-five to ninety percent.”
“Full stop!” Elle said, raising her hands. “Mr. Hollow Bunny, where are we?”
Jasper’s CEO demeanor dissolved. “Is this a trick question?”
Elle exchanged a look with her husband. “No.”
“We’re at Bren and Abby’s party,” he answered slowly.
“Right! Party. Not boardroom. And you were just about to ask me to dance, right?” she said, grinning up at the oldest Bergen brother.
Jasper nodded with a sweet, barely-there blush to his cheeks. “Cadence, would it be all right if we talked next week?” He glanced at Elle. “During business hours. I’ve got something I’d like to discuss with you, but right now, I’m going to dance with my wife.”
“That works for me,” she answered as Jasper took Elle’s hand and led her to the dance floor.
“My brothers are really happy,” Cam said, standing just close enough that his arm grazed hers.
She glanced over at Abby, and found her friend smiling ear to ear on Brennen’s lap, fork in hand and feeding him a bite of cake. Then out of the corner of her eye, she caught Jasper reach down and press his hand to Elle’s pregnant belly.
“They’ve each found their person,” she said and swayed to the music.
“You’re right, they have,” he replied, then took her hand. “Cadence?”
“Yes.”
“I have a question for you.”
“What is it?” she asked as her pulse kicked up.
“Do you think the most beautiful woman here would dance with me?”
She released a slow breath. What was she expecting? A proposal? A declaration of devotion?
She glanced around. “Where is she? I’ll go ask her for you.”
His expression grew serious. “You know I mean you. Of course, it’s you. You’re smart, gorgeous, and kind and—”
“And I didn’t think you danced?” she said, needing to stop him—and more than that—needing to stop herself from thinking this was more than just a summer fling.
“What do you think I did for all those years by myself in a cabin tucked away in the Swiss Alps?”
She tried to keep a straight face but couldn’t hold back a giggle.
Camden raised an eyebrow. “I see where your mind went, you naughty girl.”
She laced her fingers with his. “Are you telling me instead of doing…that, you were ballroom dancing?”
“And basket weaving, crocheting, and ice sculpting,” he answered with the sweetest smile, and the whole world just stopped.
What was she going to do when he left?
She was so sure of what her life was supposed to look like after Aaron’s death—so sure of her priorities. But now, she couldn’t imagine a night falling asleep alone in bed. She’d grown used to his arms wrapped around her and the rise and fall of his chest, slow and steady, pressed against her as he held her close as she murmured sweetest dreams to the man who occupied hers.
And then there was her son.
She’d heard Bodhi tell Cam he’d always keep a piece of him in his heart. She saw them do the secret I love you handshake.
What would they do when Cam’s place turned back into Glenna’s unit?
“Hey?” he said and ran his hand down her arm. “Where did you go?”
She blinked back tears. This was not the night for crying. That night would come soon enough.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I’d love to dance.”
“Good, because I wasn’t going to take no for an answer,” he said then led her to the dance floor and pulled her in close.
“Cadence, I…” he began but trailed off.
“What is it?”
“After the party, I’d like to take you somewhere. I have something important I need to tell you.”
She stilled. “Are you not staying for the entire summer? Are you going back to Switzerland early?”
That had to be it.
“It’s not that simple,” he answered, then glanced at his watch.
His father’s Patek Philippe watch.
She took in a sharp breath. Was it all too much for him? Had whatever that had driven him away after his parents’ death become too much to bear?
Everything seemed perfect. No, more than perfect. Life felt right—as if by finding each other, they’d found a path to something real—even if it was only temporary.
“It’s very simple, Cam. You’re either staying, or you’re leaving.”
He’d gone pale and his throat constricted as he swallowed hard. “It’s complicated. That’s why I wanted some time alone with you.”
She parted her lips to speak but got cut off as the crisp sound of a champagne flute being tapped with a knife cut through the night air, and the music stopped.
“Good evening, everyone,” Brennen said, addressing the crowd from the elevated stage next to the quartet with Abby by his side. “Abby and I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for coming to our joint bachelor and bachelorette party.”
“And a special thanks to our hosts, Harriet and Ray Bergen. This night couldn’t be more perfect,” Abby added as Harriet and Ray raised their glasses to them.
“Welcome to the family, darling,” Harriet added.
Abby wiped a tear from her cheek. “And a special thanks to my bridesmaids, Elle Reynolds-Bergen and Cadence Lowry. The three of us made the lovely garland,” Abby added with a teary chuckle. “But these women are much more to me than bridesmaids. Elle is family and so are you Cadence. You were my first friend in Denver, and I will never forget your kindness.”
Cadence smiled up at her friend and did her best to rein in her emotions. Yes, she was over the moon for Abby and Brennen, but they had forever. She thought she had the summer, but Cam’s expression seemed to say that might be over.
“And I wanted to say a few words about my groomsmen who also happen to be my brothers,” Brennen continued. “Jas, you have always been the dependable one. The consummate older brother. You’ve always looked out for me—even when I was at my worst. I’m so grateful and so honored to have you as my best man.”
Jasper wrapped his arm around Elle and nodded to his brother.
“And Cam,” Brennen said, turning to face his younger brother. “I’m so glad you’re here. It wouldn’t be complete without you because you’re the Bergen brother who found the beauty in everything—especially nature. You were always happier outside as a kid. Hiking, biking, climbing, skiing—if it was something that could keep you outdoors, you were there, taking it all in and helping everyone around you see the beauty in it. And do you remember what you called yourself?”
Camden raised his hands. “Wait, Bren. Don’t…” but Brennen kept going.
“When Cam was little, he used to write the letters in his name backward. So, instead of Cam, C, A, M, he became Mac, M, A, C. And because he loved the mountains, my mom and dad used to call him Mountain Mac. You were only four or five. Do you remember, Cam?”
Mountain Mac was Camden?
Cadence glanced at Abby, whose jaw had dropped and then to Elle who looked jus
t as shocked.
“Cadence…” Cam began, but she shook her head and waved him off, and like a key sliding into a lock, each groove working itself perfectly into place, all the tiny missteps made sense.
His reaction to her bike.
The times he called her Daisy.
The slips when he’d acted like they’d met before. Because they had. Because he’d been the person on the other side of the screen all those nights.
And he hadn’t told her. He hadn’t said one single word. And that had to be because…
Because he didn’t want her to know.
She searched for the nearest exit then saw the gate leading from the backyard into the gardens.
“I need to go,” she whispered, then turned and started running.
Her breaths came fast as she navigated the dirt path, pushing leaves out of the way until she made it to the main walkway. The place was empty—which was strange for a Friday night. There were summer concerts and weddings here all the time. It wasn’t even nine o’clock—the time the gardens closed even without an evening event.
Maybe they’d closed early, and in that case, she was breaking in. Or was she, since she used the Bergen private entrance?
“Who cares!” she whispered through tears, walking down the path and deeper into the gardens as the pound of footsteps closed in behind her.
“Cadence, please, let me explain!” Camden called.
She shook her head, taking a page from his playbook.
“Cadence!” he bit out in a tight breath.
She stopped and turned to face him. “You mean Daisy? You mean Mountain Daisy?”
He scrubbed his hand down his face. “I didn’t want you to find out like this. I didn’t even remember how I’d come up with Mountain Mac until Bren started talking.”
She steadied herself. “When did you know?”
“Know what?”
She lifted her chin. “That I was Mountain Daisy. And how did you know where to find me? I never gave Mac any personal information other than that I lived in Colorado.”
He dropped his chin to his chest. “You sent a picture.”
“But I wasn’t in it. It was only…”
Only her handlebars with the Smith Lake trail in the background.
She gasped. “You’ve known I was Daisy from the first night, haven’t you?”
He nodded.
She took a step back, remembering. “And I even messaged Mac that night. You said, Mac said, whoever you are said that you had some personal stuff going on.”
“I didn’t lie. That was true.”
“You didn’t lie?” she shot back. “Don’t you see what this means? I haven’t lost just you, Cam. I’ve lost Mac, too.”
He moved toward her. “You haven’t lost me. I came to Denver to find you. I’m not here for Bren and Abby’s wedding. That was just…just a lucky coincidence. I came for you. I thought if I found you and you didn’t know me as Camden Bergen, the damned runaway Bergen heir, then maybe we could have a life together.”
She turned away, but he kept going.
“I know it sounds crazy, Cadence. But I knew from the picture you sent that you lived close to Baxter Park. So, I decided to come home and give myself the summer to find you. I planned on hanging around the park and looking for any bike with daisy stickers with the initials carved into your handlebars.”
“C and B,” she said softly.
He took another tentative step toward her. “I saw that in the photo, and the first thing I thought was that those were my initials. I thought it was a sign we were meant to be together. I hadn’t strayed twenty miles from my cabin in Switzerland in ten years, but after I saw the C and B, I booked a flight home.”
She brushed the tears away with the back of her hand. “So, your plan was to fly across the ocean to find Mountain Daisy and then try to make a life with her without disclosing who you were?”
He released a pained sigh. “I wanted to try to make a life with someone I cared for deeply without all the damn Bergen baggage.”
“But once you found me—once you knew it was me—why didn’t you say something? Did you decide I wasn’t enough? I wasn’t what you wanted?”
“You are everything I want,” he said, anguish lacing each word.
She pinned him with her gaze. “Then, what? Why spend these weeks with me and say nothing?”
“Because my whole plan went to shit thirty minutes after I landed in Denver. I didn’t even want my family to know I was back. But my cab driver figured out who I was and started snapping pictures of me and threatening to sell them. I couldn’t do that to my grandparents. I couldn’t let them find out I was back on some crap, quasi-celebrity website. And then, when I learned you were Mountain Daisy, it turns out one of your best friends is married to my oldest brother, and your other best friend is engaged to marry my other brother.”
She threw up her hands. “So, you don’t want me because I know your family?”
He ran his hands through his hair, pulling at the dark locks. “It’s not just that.”
She stared into his eyes and saw heartbreaking pain, and that’s when it hit her.
“Bodhi,” she said in a tight sob. “But I thought you…”
He closed the distance between them and cupped her face in his trembling hands. “I didn’t think I could do it, Cadence. I didn’t think I could trust myself to keep him safe,” he whispered.
She shook her head and stepped back. “I never asked you to keep him safe. I never insinuated that I wanted you to act like a father to him.”
“I know! I know! Just listen. I love Bodhi. I’d do anything for him. I was about to tell you I was Mountain Mac the morning after I got into town, but then Bodhi got dropped off, and I learned you had a son—”
Heat rose to her cheeks as anger edged out her shock. “And what? We seemed like too much of a responsibility? Too much of a burden?”
“Don’t you see?” He bit out on a pained breath. “I thought I was the burden. I didn’t trust myself. I could barely live with myself as it was. I don’t know what the hell I’d do if my actions hurt a child—especially Daisy’s child. Your child.”
“Why would your actions hurt Bodhi?”
The sounds of the city at night wrapped them in a blanket of white noise as he crossed his arms and stared up at the starry sky.
“Because I killed my parents and then I ran.”
15
Camden
Camden leaned over and braced his hands on his thighs. He’d never said it. He’d never spoken the words.
But there they were—nearly tangible. Once only the soundtrack in his mind. Now spoken, the echo of his admission was everywhere.
The night air grew heavy, and Cadence shook her head as if that would change what he’d just said. But no amount of denial could alter the events of the night his parents died.
He hadn’t planned on telling her this—on revealing the darkest part of himself. Especially tonight. Especially with what he’d hoped to accomplish.
Her heated expression transformed into one of confusion. “Your parents died in a car accident, Cam. Everyone knows that.”
He shook his head. There was no sense in holding back now.
“Everyone thinks they know what happened to Griffin and Hannah Bergen, but that’s only one part of the story. The cause of the accident—that’s what the public doesn’t know.”
She took a step toward him. “It was dark, and the roads were icy. It was an accident. It was all over the news, Cam.”
“It wasn’t an accident, Cadence.”
She reached out and squeezed his hand. “Then tell me what could be so bad that you left for a decade? What could make you think you were responsible for their deaths?”
He looked down at their hands and tightened his grip. “I was the one driving.”
She gasped. “How did you not get hurt?”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t driving the car my parents were in. I was driving the car that was
in front of them.”
“Another car?” she whispered.
This is what his family had kept from the public. This dark secret he’d carried all these years.
“It was after Brennen won big at the Winter X Games. Bren, Jas, and I were all in our Escalade. My mom and dad were following behind.”
She frowned. “I still don’t understand. How could you have had any control over your parents’ car?”
The muscles in his chest tightened as the memories of that night came rushing back. The screeching tires. The acrid smell of burning rubber. The warped guardrail and the lights shining up from his parents’ upturned sedan.
He shook his head, not sure where to start.
“You do not get to go bobblehead on me, Camden Bergen. Not now,” she said, leading him to a bench.
He sat next to her, swallowed past the lump in his throat, then dropped his chin to his chest. He’d thought about that night at least a million times—maybe more. It was never far from his thoughts. But he’d never spoken the words. He’d never told his story.
Cadence cupped his cheek and gently tilted his head.
“One, two, three. Eyes on me,” she whispered with a tender smile.
He held her gaze. She was the light that pulled him out of the darkness when he’d met her as Mountain Daisy months ago. And now as Cadence Lowry, she wouldn’t allow him to fall back into his self-imposed prison of emptiness and solitude.
He lifted her hand from his face and kissed her palm as a weight lifted. Whatever transpired after he spoke, whatever she thought or said—at least, she’d know everything. And until this moment, he hadn’t realized how much he needed her to know.
Whatever the risk, he had to confess.
He released a slow breath. “On the drive back to Bergen Mountain, Jas, Bren, and I were messing around, laughing and talking. All of us amped up with Bren’s win. The competition wasn’t at Bergen Mountain that year. It was over at a resort in Vail, and we decided not to spend the night there because we all wanted to get back to the cottage to celebrate. It wasn’t like I didn’t know the roads. I know the mountains like the back of my hand, but I wasn’t paying attention. One minute, the only thing cutting through the darkness were the car’s headlights. I looked away for a second—just a second. I don’t even remember what Bren said, but we were laughing. We were so damn happy, and then I glanced back at the road and saw it.”
Man Find (Bergen Brothers Book 3) Page 19
