Page 7 of The Wrong One

“What?” Lily asked.

“I’m rich.” Cam laughed and bounced just enough to knock Lily to the floor of the castle. “I can buy a new castle. Five castles.”

Ramsey walked over to the grill to turn the hot dogs, seemingly relieved to have the problem solved for the time being. Patrick stood beside me, drinking his White Claw and glaring. “What an asshole.”

“Excuse me?”

“Who brags about having enough money to run out and buy a new castle?” he scoffed. “It’s a dick thing to say.”

“I’m sure he was only joking.”

We watched a few of the other kids climb in. Cam played with all of them. He tossed them around and pretended to be hurt when one of the little girls pushed him. He fell flat on his back with his arms spread wide. The girls squealed and ran to one corner before he came back to life with a loud growl. All of the kids screamed and tried to run.

“What an idiot,” Patrick said. “Seriously, that guy is making a fool of himself. Who is he trying to impress? The kids? Me? You?”

“I don’t think he’s trying to impress anyone,” I said. “That’s just how he is. He loves Lily. She needs to be cheered up.”

“Buy her a fucking pony,” Patrick scoffed. “He’s rich, right?”

I looked up at Patrick, trying to understand why he was so angry. He seemed pretty pissed at a man he didn’t know. A man who was just doing what he could to make a little girl’s day better. I chalked it up to jealousy. He was acting like a jealous man. Patrick wasn’t exactly poor, but he aspired to be wealthy. He missed the commandment about coveting. He coveted everything.

While Patrick complained about everything, I watched Cam with the kids. He was born to be a daddy. He was so good with kids. The woman who managed to snare his heart was going to be a very lucky woman. It was impossible not to feel a little squeeze of the ovaries watching a handsome man make a little girl smile while saving the day.

“Girl, what have you been eating?” I heard Cam say.

I turned around and watched him put Lily down. He rubbed his back and groaned. “You’re getting way too big.”

“That’s what Aunt Izzy said.” Lily laughed.

Cam’s gaze met mine. I stared into his warm brown eyes. I couldn’t look away. He was the one to look down at Lily. “I guess it’s true then,” he said. “You’re going to be graduating high school tomorrow and going off to college.”

I don’t think so,” Ramsey said. “She’s already growing up too fast.”

“I want to get married in a princess gown,” Lily declared.

“You can’t get married until you’re fifty,” Ramsey said.

Cam and I both laughed, while Lily put her hands on her hips and scowled at her father. The little girl was a spitting image of her mother when she did that. She looked like Ramsey, but sometimes, her facial expressions were all her mama. I saw the look on Ramsey’s face and knew he saw it.

“Go wash up,” he said and turned back to the stove.

“I’ll go with you,” I said to Lily.

We walked to the small bathroom near the kitchen. “How is dance going?” I asked her.

“I like it,” she said. “I’m learning a solo. Dad hired a lady to do the choreography.”

“He did?”

“The lady at the dance studio gave me a silly dance,” Lily declared. “I’m not a baby.”

“You are definitely not a baby.” I smiled.

“Dad said I can take hip-hop next year,” she announced.

“I thought you wanted to be a ballerina,” I quipped.

“I do,” she said as she dried her hands. “But I like hip-hop too.”

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