Page 136 of Already At Risk
“Always have time for you, Mom,” I promised.
“Oh, shush,” she muttered. “I know you’re busy. My busy boy.”
I pursed my lips, not liking how her default was to brush me off. “Not too busy to come home this weekend, though. Maybe go with you and Pops to the Summerfest Street Parade if he’s up for it?”
“Oh, Cam.” The dip in her tone made me frown. “You know we’d love to see you, but we don’t want to take you away from Boston. You have so much going on, and we’re fine. You know that, right? We’regoodhere.”
I wasn’t shocked she was doing this. In the past, I probably would have listened to her. Ihadlistened to her when she gavethis speech now and again because, yeah, life was busy, and I’d been putting all my eggs in one basket, thinking my career trajectory was the one way I could be as great as my dad, as successful as him.
“I know you’re okay, Mom,” I acknowledged. “But it’s been a while since I’ve been home, and I miss you all.”
“Oh.” Something about what I’d said made her perk up, but not necessarily in the way I’d been hoping. “Oh, well, you know we miss you, too.” A pause sat heavy between us. “Is everythingokay, Cam? Is work okay?”
“Work’s good,” I assured her. Busy as fuck, as usual. But that would never change. And I didn’t want to waste all the other good parts of life. “There are just…” I released a sigh, one filled with pent-up emotions. “There are other things I want to start prioritizing outside of work, I think.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Definitely.
“Does this mean you’refinallygoing to start dating?”
This time when my mom spoke, she sounded hopeful. And honestly, I needed that right now, when I still wanted to be hopeful, too.
“I…” I trailed off, unsure how to answer that, especially considering Natalie’s text that still sat on my phone, unanswered. “I’d like to, but we’ll see.”
There was only one person I was interested in dating. So if she wasn’talsointerested in it, then no, I probably wasn’t going to start dating.
“Hmm.” I couldhearthe wheels turning in my mom’s head. “You met someone at Mulligan’s not that long ago, right? Whatever happened to them?”
Shewouldhit the nail on the head.
“What was their name again?” she went on, musing more to herself than me. “I can’t remember.”
“Natalie,” I said with a laugh, pinching the bridge of my noseand tipping my head back as I let the truth wash over me. “And I think I’m in deep with her, Mom.”
I was heading out of the office later that day when Julian called after me, halting me in my tracks when I heard the tension in his voice.
“Cam, hold up.”
My friend’s blue eyes were extra vibrant when I turned around in the Gardner Law lobby, putting me on edge.
“What’s up?”
He did a quick look around us before he spoke, further stretching my nerves to their breaking point. “You’re going to meet with Korey Abrams’ lawyer, right?”
Answering with a nod, I looked at my watch to check the time. I had about twenty minutes to get to Wilson and Thomas, but it wasn’t far. It was my last meeting of the day, the one that I was least looking forward to, especially because I’d much rather go straight home and call Natalie, get to the bottom of whatever the fuck she wanted to end.
But earlier this week, Korey’s lawyer had reached out about meeting before the trial. They wanted to present some kind of custody agreement, and I suspected it was because they knew that sole physical custody was a leap they weren’t going to make happen in trial.
Korey might have some things on his side—a more consistent work schedule, a supposed partner to help with childcare, and proximity to grandparents with his move—but Chloe had roots here, in Boston. There was extended family here, too. Sure, maybe they weren’t retired, maybe they didn’t have the flexibility of Korey’s parents, but they were here. They’d proven to be a good support system, even if Natalie did need a lot of help. And Nataliehad more than proven herself. Korey and Keller knew this. She’d shown that she had always been the involved parent, that she’d always prioritized Chloe.
Natalie hadn’t been able to fit the meeting into her schedule this week—we hadn’t even been able to reschedule our meeting from the day she’d gotten called into the hospital—so she told me to go ahead without her, and I could fill her in on what they wanted later.
“I was talking to Gemma, and she said that Korey came to skating practice last night,” Julian continued, and I stood straighter, brows furrowing. I didn’t like the direction this was going one fucking bit.
“Asshole’s trying to make himself look better, huh?”
