Page 62 of SALT

"You can't fucking come here. There's no time…" More heavy breathing and spitting came through, and I grabbed the back of a chair. I felt it; something wasn't right. "Promise me, promise me you'll take care of my little girl," his voice cracked, and my heart splintered. My best friend wasn't in the kind of trouble we could fight our way out of, but I couldn't just let it happen.

"D, stop. I'm coming––"

"You can't. It will be too late. I'll be at the bottom of the Mississippi before you get to your car. Take care of her…" My knees hit the floor. This can't be real. I'm not listening to my best friend take his last breaths. "Promise me," he spit with heavy breaths.

"I promise… Of course I will." I tried to keep my voice strong for him. I didn't need him to hear my pain.

"I'm sorry, Everett. I'm so sorry, I wasn't…" The connection started to go in and out, and all I could think was that meant his car was sinking further down. "I need you to protect her. I shouldn't have kept this from you, but I couldn't…" He cut out again. I needed to hang up and call for help, but I didn't want to hang up. How could I hang up? My head was a mess. "You can't let her take my girl. You have to keep her…"

"Who, Damon? I don't understand. Who would take her?"

I never got the answer to that question. Those were the last words Damon ever spoke before his car hit the bottom of the river. The accident made the evening news. A semi-truck jackknifed in front of him, and his speed, coupled with the angle of his swerve, was enough to flip his car over the guard rail as they went over a bridge. To this day, I've never told anyone about that call. It has always been my cross to bear. He chose to call me. It was me he spent his last breaths on, and I've never taken that lightly.

"Cole, I couldn't tell her what I don't know. How am I keeping her safe, protecting her, when I don't know from whom or why? The anniversary of the accident is coming up. It didn't feel like the right time."

"I get that, but you must also realize there will never be a right time."

I clench my fists. "I'm aware, but I'd at least like to have answers… closure."

"You said Lauren mentioned Ramsey the night of the wedding. Maybe you should play a round of golf with the new police chief and see what he remembers."

"Already on it. We're having lunch on Wednesday."

The back door opens, and Lauren walks out with a tray of drinks. Maybe she wasn't inside snooping after all. The night she slept over, I didn't catch her poking around either. I got zero sleep that night as I stayed up worrying about Cameron and watching the security cameras to figure out Lauren's angle.

"After I used the restroom, I took the liberty of making everyone a fresh drink." She hands me an orange drink with a lemon peel on top. "Don't worry, I know you like cognac. They're Remy Martin sidecars." After passing one to Colton, she takes her seat in the chair on the other side of me before asking, "So, Colton, is there a lucky lady waiting for you back in Boston?"

"Nope, I've never seen a reason to tie myself to someone else's drama or give them half of what's mine simply because they warm my bed."

"Wow, I can't tell if you're jaded or cynical."

"Maybe a little of both. Being a lawyer, I see firsthand the shitty nature of humanity." She nods in agreement as she sips her drink but doesn't comment. Leaving me to question her take. "How about you? You're older than me and still single."

Leave it to Colton to read my thoughts.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you you're never to comment on a woman's age?"

"Oh, I wasn't… I mean," he tries to back pedal, and she waves her hand.

"I'm just messing with you. Life experiences have a way of hardening us. Sometimes, we're aware; other times, we wake up forty-six, well past our prime. Mr. Right already warmed our bed more than once, and now he's married to someone else."

"See, that's my point though. You spent all those years doing you. The time when most people are focused on finding the one, settling down, and starting a family, you weren't, and that's because there's more than one way to live this thing called life. We don't have to do it a certain way just because that's the way it's always been done. Society has a way of making women feel like they are not real women if they don't get married and bear children. I don't ascribe to that."

She settles into her chair and sips her drink, her eyes forward on the pool. Technically, she has nowhere else to focus her stare, but I can't help but surmise it's more than just a blank stare. It's fixed on a certain person.

"My spinster advice is this: the world has a way of breaking everyone. There are worse fates than having someone by your side who can help pick up the pieces. As for children, if you have a choice in it…" her eyes flick over to mine, "find your person." Her mouth opens like she has more to say, but then she says nothing.

Colton gives a sideways glance. He tried, but if she is indeed who we believe her to be, she wouldn't easily walk into that trap. When I return my focus to the pool, Cameron is gone. That's when I spot her behind the bar. I don't like the way I left things upstairs. She deserves better than what I can give her, but Cole was right when he said I forfeited my ability to walk away. Now I'm left with figuring out how to be what she needs or showing her that I'm not, but the way her eyes woundedly flick up to mine, I physically can't choose the latter. I don't bother excusing myself. I don't need to explain where I'm going or why.

When I reach the swim-up bar from behind, she doesn't acknowledge my presence. "I thought we were on the same page when we parted upstairs." I didn't nearly say enough, but I also didn't have time on my side.

"I wouldn't say we're on the same page, more like different chapters," she mutters as she tosses a can into the trash.

"What would you have me do right now, Cameron? How can I make this better?"

"Kiss me," she says right before she turns to me like it's just that easy. My eyes soften as my body stiffens. She knows I can't do that, not the way she wants anyway.

"Grab me a beer." Her hand finds her hip, and she looks at me like I've lost my mind, asking her to fetch me a beer after she asked for a kiss. "You asked for a kiss, didn't you?" She furrows her brow but drops to a squatting position all the same, to grab me a beer from the fridge beneath the bar, and when she does, I make my move, crouching beside her before pulling her face to mine. "Different chapters, same book…" My eyes drop to her mouth. "It's a start, right?" I watch her lips say yes before I gently take them in mine. Gentle is the last thing I want to be. I want to crush my mouth to hers, feel her body pressed against mine and feel the peacefulness that holding her in my arms brings, but I don't because I know I won't be able to let go. I pull back and run my thumb over her lip. "Are you sore?"

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