Page 4 of Sunny Skies Ahead
Not knowing where exactly that response had come from, I made to put my phone away, but his reply came quicker than I’d expected.
Kameron Miller
I’ll happily take one if you’re offering
My heart stuttered strangely.
Abbie and I had widened our social circle to encompass the three men. Lucas and I had immediately bonded over our shared love of country music. Kameron and I had fallen intostep as friends too, but he distracted me in a way I wasn’t used to. The two of us hadn’t really talked to each other at length, at least without Abbie or Connor present, but there was a natural kinship there that unnerved me.
When Kameron conversed with someone, he gave them his full attention. He actively listened, and somehow always knew the right thing to say. Every time I talked to him in person, it felt like I could stay there all day, telling him about my life.
Which is why I actively tried to avoid having lengthy conversations with him. I kept my past close for many reasons.
Kameron, of all people, could understand why.
“What do you think about white daisies instead of baby’s breath?”
Abbie’s question pulled me from my thoughts.
“Sorry, I’m going to need you to repeat whatever you just said.”
Abbie did so, but there was a twinkle in her eyes that told me she had her suspicions. Not that they mattered.
Because the one thing I hadn’t told anyone, not even Abbie, is that I made a promise to myself after my divorce.
A promise I wouldn’t break, and certainly not for a man who had his own baggage to handle.
Needless to say, there would be no more relationships for me.
Chapter two
Kameron
As I stood at the top of the farmhouse stairs at Winding Road Farm, watching my two best friends attempt to maneuver a couch down the narrow, rickety stairs, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Lift it up, Morales,” Connor barked.
“I’m the one with my back to the stairs. I can’t lift it any higher,” came the muffled reply from Lucas, who was taking each stair carefully.
“If I may—”
“You may not,” they both said, and I held my hands up in mock surrender. After Lucas let out another string of curses, I took my leave from my makeshift observation deck and headed into Connor’s now empty bedroom, taking in the barren space.
It was strange to see this place so devoid of Connor’s personality. For the last year, it had been the three of us, figuring out how to make this farming and non-profit business endeavor work. Connor and Lucas had taken my dream and run with it.
The people you spend time with on active duty are the people you become closest to. I was lucky that I scooped uptwo of the most confident Marines I’d worked with and had them work for me as civilians.
I crossed my arms over my chest and heaved out a long sigh.
As much as I’d been a rock for Connor to lean on in these last few years, he’d been one for me, too. It was going to be weird not having him here full time.
A loud thud followed another string of Lucas’s colorful curses, signaling that they had successfully put the couch in the living room. I descended the stairs quickly, jumping down to the first floor once I’d reached the last step.
Lucas was now laid out on said couch, and Connor returned from the kitchen with two bottled waters, handing one to Lucas.
“Who puts a couch in their bedroom,” Lucas muttered after a long swig. “And how did you two get it up there in the first place?”
Connor and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.
