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“Sure, boss,” Kyle assured him with a competent nod. “You put on extra staff to help with the after-holiday crowd, remember? Everything’s going fine.”
Lately, things had been going anything other than fine for him, and Cam couldn’t quite believe the change was for real. “What’s the word on the cooler?”
“Just a worn-out doohickey that had to be replaced. Fred didn’t even charge you,” the kid added with a grin. “Said to call it a late Christmas present.”
The cavalier attitude rubbed Cam the wrong way, and he came close to ordering Kyle to pay the repairman, anyway. Then he thought again, reminding himself that he was in Oaks Crossing, not Minneapolis. Against all modern odds, Oaks Crossing was still the kind of place where neighbors helped each other out when they could. While he certainly owed Fred some kind of favor in return, Cam decided that trying to force the generous man to accept payment for his services would come across as rude. So, despite the fact that it bugged him, he opted to leave the situation as it currently stood.
“All right,” he finally said, taking a last look around the orderly kitchen. “I’ll be next door a while longer. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Will do.”
Baffled by the strange twists and turns his day had taken so far, Cam left the restaurant and grabbed the last of Erin’s boxes from the bed of his truck. He hauled it upstairs and found her in the small living room, listening to a local country station and pulling together anything labeled Parker.
“What’re you doing?” Cam asked as he set the box marked Kitchen Stuff on the breakfast bar. While he was at it, he discreetly bumped the volume knob on the small stereo so the music dropped to a more acceptable murmur. Erin gave him a knowing look but didn’t say anything, so he counted that as a victory.
“Parker’s hanging out with Abby at the farm today, and Mom’s going to bring him by in—” she checked the oversize watch on her wrist “—an hour. I want his room to be ready when he gets here.”
The gesture got his attention, and he went closer to get a better look at the rugged piece of jewelry. Nothing fancy, it was obviously designed for a man, with bold numbers inside a cloudy crystal that had seen better days. And then it hit him: it hadn’t always been hers. “Is that your dad’s watch?”
“Yeah.” She tilted it toward her with a sad smile. “I used to like wearing it when I was a little girl, so he left it to me. I’ve worn it ever since.”
“That’s nice.” While he appreciated her down-to-earth tribute, Cam couldn’t help wishing that he and his father had shared the kind of relationship that made him want to do something similar. The truth was, David Stewart had left his son with nothing but icy hatred for the man who’d abandoned his wife and children because their life together hadn’t turned out the way he’d planned.
Eager to embrace something more positive, Cam shouldered a box full of bedding and headed down the hallway. After a few moments’ hesitation, he heard Erin sigh and start dragging another carton down behind him.
When he turned into the smaller bedroom, she called out, “No, the other one.”
“That’s the master,” he argued, turning to face her. “It’s got two windows and a much bigger closet. Plus, it faces Main Street with a view of the park instead of the brick wall from the building next door.”
“I want Parker to have the brighter space,” she insisted in a don’t-argue-with-me tone. So, being a relatively intelligent man, Cam changed direction and hung a left.
As he carried the heavier pieces back for her, he couldn’t help being awed by her selflessness. “Most women I know wouldn’t have given up the walk-in closet, much less the pretty view outside, for anyone.”
Erin shrugged. “I guess I’m not like the other women you’ve known.”
Got that right, he nearly said before he stopped himself. The comment had a good chance of being taken the wrong way, and he didn’t want to say anything that might suggest he was more impressed with his new tenant than he should be.
The pieces of Parker’s twin bed were leaning against the wall, and when Cam started assembling the frame, he noticed the parts didn’t quite fit but had been rigged to work as a set.
“What’s up with this?” he asked, motioning to the glued-and-screwed posts.
“When Parker came to live with me, I didn’t have a bed for him. The boys were tough on theirs, but Josh took them apart and scrounged enough pieces to make one good set.”
“That’s debatable,” Cam commented with a scowl. Looking around the room and then at the enormous pile of things she intended to cram in here, he added, “This kid has a ton of stuff. Where are you gonna put everything?”
“I’ll figure it out,” she assured him, determination flaring in her eyes. “Contrary to what men like to believe, some women are perfectly capable of managing all kinds of things on their own.”
Translation: I counted on a man once, and he let me down. While Cam’s failed marriage helped him understand where she was coming from, the unexpected bite of her Irish temper set him back a step, and he raised his hands in a calming gesture. “Trust me, I’m not one of those guys. If I was ever stupid enough to have that attitude, Mom and Natalie would’ve set me straight years ago. Can I make a suggestion?”
Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, but she gave him a tentative nod.
“Let’s start the new year out with a clean slate.” Offering his hand, he said, “I’m Cam Stewart. Welcome to the building.”
After a moment, she laughed and followed along. “Erin Kinley. Nice to meet you.”
“So, I hear you’ve got a bunch of stuff to fit into this oversize closet of a bedroom,” he went on, continuing the charade. “I can see you’ve got things under control up here, but would you be interested in some free help to boss around?”
“That would be great, if you’re not too busy.”
“Never too busy to lend a hand to a new neighbor,” he assured her with a grin. “As a matter of fact, I’ve got a couple of old counter stools over at the café that’d work for your breakfast bar. Would you like me to bring ’em up here for you?”
She rewarded him with a pixie grin that told him he’d finally struck the right chord with her. “Sure. Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
As he trotted down the stairs, Cam congratulated himself on devising a way for Erin and him to set their less-than-friendly past to rest for good. It might seem goofy to someone else, but he acknowledged that his solution had done more than clear the air.
It had made a very serious woman smile. To his mind, there was nothing better than that.
By the time he found those stools buried under a pile of old furniture in the back corner of the basement storeroom, he’d nearly given up. They were dusty and laced with cobwebs, but after a quick hosing and drying, the sturdy chairs were ready to go. Just in time, too, because as he was delivering them to Erin, he spotted Maggie Kinley’s familiar old SUV turning onto Main Street. He hurried upstairs, set the stools in place and was on his way out when he heard, “Where are you going?”
Turning, he found Erin standing outside Parker’s room holding a pillow in one hand and some kind of outdoorsy pillowcase in the other. “I figured this is a family thing.”
“You’ve been helping me all day long,” she argued with a smile. “I think you deserve to see Parker’s face when he finds out what we’ve been up to in here.”
Something about the way she said “we” touched a part of him that he didn’t often bother with. It was the shadowy, distant corner of his heart that still believed—however faintly—that his own company wasn’t really enough for him, no matter how many times he insisted it was. Since there wasn’t time for him to gracefully leave, he decided to let that part of him answer, just this once. “I’d like that, too. Thanks for thinking of it.”
She gave him the kind of smile he’d never seen all those years he’d been tormenting her. Shy and sweet, it had a warm quality to it that made him smile back.
Footsteps on the stairs broke that brief, unexpected connection, and Cam retreated down the hallway with a vague comment about checking the drains in the bathroom. When it occurred to him that he meant to leave so Erin would have the spotlight, he was puzzled. It wasn’t like him to give ground to anyone, and why he’d suddenly do it now was beyond him.
Maybe there was still a hint of Christmas spirit in the air, he mused before grinning at his own foolishness. Then again, it was as good an explanation as any.
* * *
“You mean, we’re going to live here?” Parker asked, blue eyes shining with an emotion Erin couldn’t quite identify. It could sometimes be hard to tell what he was feeling, since he seemed reluctant to get excited about things. Even at Christmas, he’d held back from tearing open his gifts the way Abby had, as if he was scared to let anyone know how he felt about his presents.
Her mother had come and gone, so it was up to Erin to put him at ease. “You remember we talked last month about moving into town when the judge retired, right?”
He nodded, and Erin forged ahead with a chipper attitude that was as much for her benefit as his. She recognized that she was taking a huge risk, starting a new business in a less-than-robust economy. If Pampered Paws failed, she didn’t have a Plan B, and that kind of situation had always made her nervous. Now it was even more worrisome, because she had someone else relying on her. “Well, living over the pet store will make it easier for me to get it up and running quickly. Plus, you’ll be closer to the town park where you and Abby like to play.”
“Can I still go out to the farm?”
The anxiety in his soft voice just about broke her heart, and she realized that he’d assumed that in gaining one thing, he’d have to give up another that meant a lot to him. Countless times in the several months she’d been his foster mom, she’d silently cursed the people responsible for making this sweet, intelligent boy so fearful of losing what he loved.
Forcing a bright smile, she ruffled his hair. “Anytime you want. The horses and all the critters at the rescue center would miss you if you didn’t go see them. Not to mention, Grammy would forget how to make oatmeal cookies if you weren’t around to help her.”
“No, she wouldn’t,” he replied with a shy smile. “Grammy knows how to make everything.”
That tiny burst of confidence in her mother made Erin want to cheer. More than anything, Parker needed to have adults in his life that he could trust without question. That Mom had earned her way into his heart through baking didn’t surprise Erin in the least. Between her own children and a small army of local kids, Mom had been doing it for as long as Erin could remember.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She heard footsteps coming out of the bathroom, and in the hallway she saw Cam holding a faucet handle that had apparently broken loose. At his questioning look, she smiled and waved him in. “Parker, this is an old friend of the family, Cam Stewart. He was at Drew and Bekah’s wedding, but he left before I could introduce you to him. He owns the Oaks Café.”
“Actually, my mom does,” Cam corrected her, addressing his comment to Parker as he offered his free hand. “It’s good to meet you, Parker.”
“Nice to meet you, too, sir,” the boy responded quietly, avoiding eye contact while they shook hands. He was that way when he encountered anyone outside the family, and Erin reminded herself that while it was concerning, she had to be patient with him.
Cam, however, seemed to have other ideas. Setting the fixture on an unopened box, he hunkered down so he was on a level with the shy boy. An awkward silence settled over them, and Erin opened her mouth to fill the void. Catching her eye, Cam stalled her with a slight shake of his head.
Focusing back on Parker, she noticed that he seemed to be waiting for something. Erin couldn’t begin to grasp what was going on, but instinct told her that it was important, so she kept quiet and watched the two of them.
After what felt like forever, Parker lifted his chin and gazed thoughtfully at Cam, assessing this new adult to determine whether or not he could be trusted. For his part, Cam didn’t say a word, just kept staring back as if he intended to do it the rest of the day if that’s what it took for Parker to be comfortable around him. And then, just when she was beginning to think it was all pointless, the most amazing thing happened.
“Is that your old truck out front?” Parker asked.
“Yeah, it is. It’s a fifty-six Ford pickup my granddad and I restored when I was in high school.”
“It’s real nice. You did a good job.”
Cam grinned at him. “Thanks.”
“Does it have three gears or four?”
Standing, Cam fished his keys out of his jeans pocket and dangled them in front of Parker. “Why don’t you come check it out for yourself?”
The kid who never spoke more than a sentence or two to a new acquaintance flashed a questioning look at Erin. “Can I?”
A surge of joy threatened to pop out of her mouth, and she swallowed to keep it in check. “Sure. You boys have fun.”
Clearly delighted, Parker all but ran from the apartment and started pounding down the stairs before Cam even stood up.
Because she could no longer contain her excitement, she beamed up at him. “I’m not sure what you did, but thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything, but you’re welcome.”
“Modesty from Cam Stewart?” she teased with a smirk. “That’s a first.”
That got her a decidedly sour look. “Don’t give me a hard time. I’m trying to be agreeable.”
“Amazing. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he grumbled on his way out. “Don’t rub it in.”
Laughing, she closed the door behind him and sneaked over to the front window, standing out of sight to get a view of the male-bonding scene unfolding on the curb outside. Cam motioned to Parker, then said something that prompted the boy to open the driver’s door and climb into the cab of the vintage blue pickup. He grasped the steering wheel like a race car driver, sawing the wheel back and forth while a laughing Cam got in beside him. Boys and their toys, she thought with a smile. You had to love it.
Satisfied that her son was in good hands, she turned up the volume on the stereo and got back to work.
* * *
Leaving Erin and Parker to get settled in their new apartment, Cam headed for his mother’s house. Since her second stroke, he and Natalie had split the days, her checking on Mom in the morning, while Cam stopped by in the afternoon and then spent the night after closing the restaurant. A home-care nurse covered the hours in between so their mother was never alone.
Although the cost of such expert care was high, they’d both agreed that it was the best thing for her. Because Natalie had a family of her own, Cam had been covering the majority of the bills himself. It was draining his savings account at an alarming rate, but until all of her doctors declared her out of danger, he was committed to doing it. He recognized that he wasn’t able to control everything, but if anything happened to her that he could have stopped, he’d never forgive himself.
As he drove through town, he allowed himself a self-pitying sigh. His life in Minnesota had been just what he’d always wanted. Following his divorce, he’d embraced his second chance at bachelorhood with gusto, working hard every day, even taking building design classes a couple of nights a week to expand his professional options for when he got too old to meet the physical demands of hands-on construction work.
Being responsible to—and for—no one but himself was a great way to live, and he’d decided that he just wasn’t cut out for anything more.
His preference for an uncomplicated existence had made it tough for him to come dragging back to Oaks Crossing, but he couldn’t keep enjoying himself when his mother and sister needed him. That was his father’s way, Cam thought with a grimace in the rearview mirror. When in doubt, he always chose the opposite of what that selfish weasel had done. No matter how hard it was, he’d never allow himself to drop low enough to follow in that traitor’s footsteps.
As Cam turned onto Cherry Street, he had to wait for a young mother pushing a stroller while she called to a toddler lagging a few yards behind her. This was the oldest part of town, filled with graceful homes built for raising large families. Christmas lights still hung from windows and outdoor trees, and walkways led to front porches with wreaths on the front doors and garlands hanging from the railings.
When was the proper time to take those down, anyway? Cam wondered as he continued down the street. Natalie and her husband, Alex, had helped decorate their mother’s house at the beginning of December, but she hadn’t mentioned when the stuff should come down. Whatever his sister’s answer on that one, Cam suspected he’d be doing that job by himself. Putting everything up was fun, and there were always plenty of hands willing to pitch in. Packing it away, not so much.
As he turned into the driveway, he noticed an unfamiliar sedan with Michigan plates parked next to the nurse’s red hatchback. The driver was standing beside the car, staring at the house as if he was trying to decide whether or not he was in the right place. When Cam’s truck door slammed shut, the stranger turned, clearly startled by the sound.
In a single breath, Cam’s temper spiked to eight on the Richter scale.
“What do you think you’re doing here?” he spat out, striding over to block the man’s way up the front steps.
“Hello, Cameron,” his father replied with a deferential nod. “I wasn’t sure you’d remember me.”
Only his mother used his full name anymore, and hearing it from someone he despised only fanned his anger. “You walked out on a family who needed you. That’s not something I could forget.”
“I know, and I don’t blame you for hating me.”
Cam swallowed a rush of curses that would have made a seasoned sailor blush. “What are you doing here?”
“I heard about Bridget’s stroke.”
“Which one?”
To his satisfaction, his father paled. “There’s been more than one?”
“Two, actually. How did you find out?”
“Your aunt Connie emailed me just before Christmas,” he explained, bowing his head in something that looked like shame. When he lifted it, he fixed a pleading look on Cam. “I had no idea things were so bad, or I would have come sooner.”
“There wasn’t much point in that,” Cam snarled, folding his arms defiantly. “I’d just have run you off then instead of now.”
“We never divorced, so she’s still my wife,” his father pointed out, showing a bit of backbone. “I have a right to see her.”
Not a chance, Cam wanted to growl. Instead, he kept his cool and said, “This is Douglas property, and Granddad left it to Mom, not you. You have a right to leave before I call the sheriff.”
“That’s not fair.”
In response, Cam pulled the cell phone from the front pocket of his jeans and started punching numbers.
“All right, you win.” Holding up his hands, their unwelcome visitor backed toward his car. “I’m making a circuit of the area and will be coming back through here the first week in January. After that, I’ll be staying at the B and B outside of town, and I’m not going anywhere until I see my wife.”
“Looking for a job?”
“Actually,” his father retorted, taking out a business card and holding it out to him, “these days, I’m the owner.”
Natural curiosity prodded Cam to take the card, which read David Stewart, Management Consultant. Scottish pride kept him in his obstinate stance, glaring unmercifully at the man who seemed to think he could just stroll back into their lives as if he belonged there.
“You remind me of your Grandpa Douglas, God rest him,” his father lamented, shaking his head. “He was stubborn and unforgiving, too.”
“He was a great man, and he was there for us every day until he died. He’d never even consider bailing on his family.”
“Grudges are a heavy burden to haul around with you, son.”
“Don’t ever call me that,” Cam snarled. “As far as I’m concerned, I lost my father years ago.”
Before he could do something that would land him in jail, he forced himself to turn away and stalk up the porch steps. Behind him, he heard a heavy sigh and a car door closing. Once the sound of the engine began to fade, he glanced back to see the car slowly making its way toward Main Street.
Wonderful, he thought as he opened the front door to go inside. And he’d thought the day had started badly.
“Hello, Cam.” His mother’s nurse greeted him from the kitchen doorway. “How are you today?”
He wasn’t sure how to answer that, so he sidestepped the question. “Wondering when it’s appropriate to take down Christmas decorations.”
The cheerful woman laughed. “When your mother says it’s okay.”
“Makes sense.” Glancing toward the living room, he quietly asked, “How’s she doing today?”
“I’ve never had the joy of caring for a patient with such a marvelous attitude.”
Translation: the same. Cam fought off a dejected sigh and forced a smile. “That’s nice to hear. Is she awake?”
“And waiting for dinner with you. The café sent over a delicious-smelling chicken and dumplings meal for the two of you, and it’s keeping warm in the oven. You look beat,” she added in a concerned tone. “Is there anything I can do before I go?”
“No, thanks. I’ve got it from here.”
She gave him a doubtful look but thankfully didn’t press him for details. After the infuriating run-in with his father, he wasn’t exactly in the mood to be sociable.
“Well, all right. Call me if you need anything.”
“Thanks.”
After walking her out, he took a moment to regain his usual calm before talking to Mom. Resting a hand on the antique door, he looked down at the faded floral rug that had been in the entryway since long before he’d been born. Old and solid like the oak trees that surrounded it, the house had been built by one of the founders of the town and owned by his descendants ever since.
Mom’s current condition might be the end of that run, Cam mused with a frown. If he couldn’t figure out a way to pull the family business out of the ever-deepening hole that he’d found it in, selling the homestead could be their only way out of debt. He hated to think of that happening on his watch, but modern finances didn’t always mesh with keeping a family’s history intact. Much as it pained him, he had to be practical.
Explaining it to Mom would be another thing altogether. For now, he put that out of his mind and plastered a nonchalant grin on his face before sauntering into the living room like he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Hey there,” he said smoothly, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “How’s my favorite girl?”
Eyes that used to be a clear blue had a cloudy tinge to them, and it took her a few seconds to focus on him. When she did, the unaffected left side of her face crinkled with what now passed for her smile. “Better.”
Because her speech was so limited, these days she kept her end of conversations short. It killed him to see his formerly bubbly mother reduced to this, but he held out hope that her ongoing therapy would unlock whatever ability she still had and make the most of it.
Reaching for something positive, he landed on the only thing all day that had made him smile. “Erin Kinley’s gonna rent the old general store building from us. She and I signed the papers with Natalie this morning.”
Her smile deepened a little at the news. “That’s good. Living there?”
“Yeah, with her foster son, Parker. Have you met him?” She shook her head, but her expression brightened slightly, prompting him to go on. “He’s had a tough time, but he seems like a great kid. Really liked my truck.”
“Heard some things,” she said in a halting voice, clearly hunting for the right words. “Poor boy.”
With the precarious state her own health was in, that she could feel sympathy for someone else’s problems made Cam feel ashamed for pitying his own situation. “She’s opening a pet store, aiming to have it ready to go before spring. I offered to design and build the fixtures she needs, so that oughta help move things along.”