Page 74 of Call It Home

“Hi!” she said, coming easily into my outstretched arms.

I didn’t care who saw. I needed to kiss her. With a little moan, she melted easily into it.

“That’s quite the greeting,” she whispered, a little breathlessly.

“You’re not supposed to look prettier than the bride,” I teased.

“That’s just you and your tunnel vision.”

“No, it’s my version of the truth.” I held out my arm. “If you plan to dance or stay for the party, I suggest we go now because I’m not sure how long I can last without taking you away and messing up that nice hairdo and fancy makeup.”

Her eyes darkened into dark swirls of blue, and her lips parted with a little gasp. “I have to wait until Reid and Bristol leave,” she said with a husky breath, “but then, by all means, sweep me away.”

* * *

Despite staying fairly late into the evening before Reid and Bristol left, and then staying up even later while I kept my word about spoiling Cam’s hair, I woke up early. It was part of a habit I’d developed early—last kid to breakfast in a foster home full of kids doesn’t always eat.

Cam’s breathing was still slow and deep as I watched her where she lay curled up at my side.

For a few hours yesterday, I’d allowed myself to believe in the fantasy that I could have what Reid and Zach both had. It hadn’t been a hard step to envision it was Cam coming down an aisle toward me, to imagine a life we could have together.

That’s all it was—a fantasy. But one that I was growing to see more and more.

Carefully, I slipped out of the bed, stepping over her bridesmaid dress that had been recklessly dropped on the floor. Socks, shoes, and underwear were scattered all along the floor of her bedroom due to our impatience to reach her bed, where I made love to her into the early hours of the morning.

In her fancy kitchen, I made a cup of coffee and pulled out my phone, staring at the recorded message Marti had left yesterday. Finally, I hit the number, knowing what I had to do.

Chapter29

Mac

Camand I were catching an early breakfast at Simply Ruth’s before I headed out to visit my brother. It might be a Saturday, but that didn’t stop plenty of other people from stopping in for breakfast, either. We couldn’t take more than a bite of the best pancakes I’d ever eaten without someone stopping by our table.

“It’s about damn time you won one of those contests. I think those judges are just plain blind or dumb. Probably both,” one older gentleman said.

“That damn Vivien has a stick up her ass, doesn’t she?” another said. That one made Cam smile the most.

“Cameron, I always knew you had a good eye,” one lady said. “I’m going to have to stop by your office sometime and set something up to see if you can bring my house out of the eighties into the modern world.”

There were more:

“I reckon your granddaddy would be proud of you.”

“Y’all just make the cutest couple. You work so well together.”

“Can’t wait to see what happens next week. Bet you can’t either.”

I leaned forward after that one. “They know this is all in the past, right?” I asked Cam in a low tone.

She grinned playfully. “There’s real time and then there’s Sterling Mill time.”

The whole breakfast went that way, and when I went to pay for our meal, Ruth’s granddaughter herself came out and told me our meal was on the house. “Congratulations on your win last night,” she said, causing Cam to wink at me.

“Sterling Mill time?” I asked, laughing as we left the diner. I caught her hand in mine as we walked down the sidewalk toward her car. “When I get back—”

“Yoo-hoo. Cameron Allen and Mackenzie Caldwell,” a familiar voice called. “Am I glad to see you both.”

“Oh, God,” Cam groaned. “Quick. Can you act like you’re having a heart attack or something? Wait, maybe I can faint instead. Less drama. Get ready to catch me.”

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