Page 22 of Their Stolen Kisses
I hated to think that Cameron could do that to me, but… he just loved Noah so much. Family clearly meant so much to him, and I couldn’t really fault him for that - wasn’t it true for me, too? His son would take precedence over some curvy girl from the office who had a crush on him.
Besides, I had terrible luck with men in my life. Why should this one be any different?
Thankfully, I didn’t have time for a good cry right now. Noah might have been a fairly quiet kid, but he was still a preschooler, and sometimes preschoolers did things like spill their glasses of milk all over the table and the floor.
“Oopsies!” I announced cheerfully, making it clear that I wasn’t angry at all. Noah drank out of regular cups just fine most of the time, only using sippy cups in the car or in bed at night for water. “Let’s get a towel!” With Noah’s willing help, we soon had the mess mopped up. Luckily, Cameron’s house had only wood floors with area rugs. Cleaning milk out of the carpet wouldn’t have been nearly so easy.
Noah occupied all my attention for the next few hours. Keeping a preschooler entertained was no joke, especially when it was freezing outside and we didn’t really have time to bundle up and go somewhere before Cameron returned. I was so occupied with Noah that I even forgot to dread the sound of a knock at the door until that knock came.
“That’s your dad!” I told Noah, trying to sound excited. “Let’s go- ”
“Daddy!” Noah ran to the door and fumbled with the stiff deadbolt lock. Even in my state of nervousness, I had to smile at his enthusiasm. I turned the locks and let Noah open the heavy wooden door by himself. “Daddy!” He flung himself into Cameron’s arms. Clearly, Cameron had expected this because he had set everything down on the porch.
“Hey, Buddy!” As Noah spouted a constant stream of things his father had missed him do, I snuck past them and helped Cameron carry his bags inside.
“I hope you had a safe trip?” I asked when I could get a word in edgewise.
Cameron turned to me, and his whole face was alight with happiness, none of it faked for his son. “We won the case! Noah’s going to stay right here in Chicago. Johanna has six weeks of visitation a year, but knowing her… she won’t put in the effort.”
So, he wasn’t getting back together with his ex-wife. Why had I ever been worried about that? Oh, the antics of the overactive mind…
I still had plenty of reasons to worry, though. And the sudden seriousness that flooded Cameron’s face told me those fears were still perfectly relevant. “I did a lot of thinking while I was gone,” he started, releasing Noah’s hand as the boy dashed off to find a toy.
“Yeah, I know court is pretty nerve-wracking. I really need to go, though.” Whatever Cameron was about to say, whichever of the reasons I could imagine he would use to tell me that we couldn’t have this relationship - I didn’t want to hear it right now.
I’d played a little too fast and loose with my heart. I’d let a billionaire into it, for goodness’ sake, and one with baggage that Iknewabout from the beginning. Before he could say anything belittling or demeaning, I needed to just get out of here. “My- my mother’s waiting for me. To visit her. You know, at the nursing home.” I inched toward the door, glad I’d left my purse hanging on the coatrack there.
“Do you have five minutes? Just to talk?” Cameron stepped toward me beseechingly.
“I’m late, sorry. Can you give me my payment at the office?” By now, I was halfway out of the still open door, tugging my coat onto my shoulders.
Distress clouded his face, but he just nodded. “Okay. See you at work, then.”
I hadn’t been planning to visit my mother today at all, but now I knew I couldn’t go anywhere else. When I got to Blue Pines, I checked my phone.
I hope your mother’s okay. Can you give me a call when you have a minute? I really want to talk to you.
Wow. I was a bad person. I didn’t even kiss Noah goodbye.
“You’re not a bad person.” My mom handed me a cup of hot green tea as I poured out my fears to her, and I drank the scent and heat into my nostrils, seeking some sort of comfort. “Noah’s probably so excited that his dad’s back that he won’t even think about it.”
“Yes, he will,” I corrected her miserably. “He’s sensitive about that kind of thing. Maybe because his mother left him.”
“This Johanna lady sounds like something special in a bad way,” my mom mused. “Any woman who can just leave a young child behind has to be.”
“I don’t know.” The tea was too hot to drink, but I tried anyway and just managed to scald my tongue, bringing tears to my eyes. I hoped the tears were from the tea, anyway.
“But let’s talk about Cameron. What did he say?”
“Just that the court case went in his favor. And… well, not much else. He just got all serious, and I knew what he was going to say.”
“What?”
I clutched the tea tightly. “That we can’t go on… have a relationship. He’s my boss. I’m just some flabby secretary who doesn’t know the first thing about relationships.”
A long moment went by, mother and daughter staring into each other’s eyes. My mother broke the silence, talking slowly and a little hesitantly. “It hasn’t been easy for me to open up to Eli. Not after your father. But I have - or I’m starting to. Do you think I don’t ever feel anything bad about myself, Diana? That maybe something is wrong with me, or I can’t possibly have a healthy relationship?”
I just stared in silence, taken aback. Somehow, it had never occurred to me to realize that it might not be just me that my father’s horrible words and actions had affected.
