Page 35 of Until I Find You

I sip the coffee and let it cool on my tongue before swishing it around and swallowing.

Camilla’s staring at me.

“What?”

She shrugs. “Just trying to see how the master does it.”

I roll my eyes.

“What do you think?”

I shrug. “I like it just fine.”

“Doesn’t sound like you’re sold.”

“Let me take a few more sips before I make my final verdict.”

Camilla takes a sip, a tiny one, and places her cup down. “So, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

All the possibilities of what she could want to talk to me about, and my mind is going one place.

Come on, little one. Tell me you want my body just as desperately as I want yours.

“You need to come up with a name. For your coffee company,” she says with a charming smile.

It’s like a bucket of cold water poured right over my head. “Oh. That.”

“Don’t sound so bummed about it.” Camilla crosses her arms over her chest. “That’s supposed to be the fun part.”

I gulp down the coffee. “Is that what people say?”

“I’d think if you wanted to start a company you’d have some ideas for names.”

I shake my head. “I’ve never really thought about it.”

How could I? I haven’t really thought about the shop as a realistic endeavor until Seth cornered me in my father’s kitchen.

She pretends to be exasperated as she shakes her head, but the hint of a smile is there. “My god, what would you do without me, Jack?”

I let out a sigh of annoyance. With myself. Because the jab still hits home. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“No, that’s not–”

“No, listen. You’ve been keeping this all together since…well, since the beginning. If you hadn’t held my feet to the fire, we probably wouldn’t have even made it this far.” I place my coffee down and look out at the lush Hawaiian landscape. I have not spent as much time here as I’d like to in my life, but I do feel connected to the land. It’s in my blood.

I breathe. An inhale. An exhale.

I wouldn’t have come here if Camilla hadn’t been Camilla.

“Thank you,” I say, clear and unfettered, for the first time in a long time not trying to hide my voice.

Our eyes meet over the cups of coffee.

Camilla smiles. The tiredness clear on her face. It’s as if she’s lifting the mask she’s had on since we landed here. Since she walked into my apartment. I’m seeing her.

And she’s more beautiful than ever. However, I think that every single day I see her.

“You’re welcome, Jack.” As she lifts her cup to her mouth, she adds, “But also thank you for being dumb enough to let an assistant graduate to business partner in under a week.”

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