Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
CAMILLE
D avey whimpers slightly where he sleeps along my side in the hospital bed, adjusting his position to snuggle closer, clinging to me the same way he has been for days.
And I can’t blame him for wanting to stay close after what he’s been through.
I adjust the blanket around him and press a kiss to his disheveled hair Pops never bothered to brush before he brought him back to the hospital from the hotel this morning.
“Is he okay?”
Dalton’s concerned question comes from my left, barely a whisper, like he’s worried about waking him even though Davey has managed to nap here with the hustle and bustle of the hospital surrounding him with no problem.
I glance over to where Dalton sits in the same chair he has occupied for the past two days, never leaving my side since we got here.
Hope sleeps on his bare chest, the plaid shirt spread open to allow skin-to-skin contact. One large hand cradles her head while the other rests across her back, as if she might fall if he doesn’t cling to her so tightly.
“He’s fine.” I smile at him. “And so is she. You can relax a little.”
After the emotional upheaval of the fire and Hope’s early delivery, then finally managing to get to the hospital once the snow stopped, I would have thought learning that both Hope and I were both one hundred percent healthy would have allowed Dalton some space to finally breathe again.
But he’s still tense.
Worry constantly creasing his brow.
Sometimes, I have to remind myself of how young he is, how inexperienced he is when it comes to things like babies. But he’s a natural with both Davey and Hope, if he can just get over the constant hovering.
He leans back farther in the chair, watching me thread my fingers through Davey’s hair. “I know what you’re thinking, you know.”
I smirk at him. “I doubt that.”
“You’re thinking that I worry too much.”
Well, damn.
He sure called me out on that easily.
“Okay. Maybe you’re right…”
Dalton grins, gently gliding his hand across Hope’s back. “Is it wrong for me to worry about you and them?”
I shake my head. “No, but you can’t let it consume you.”
He nods slowly, considering the parenting advice. “Right…but it’s a little hard not to when we’ve got mobsters setting fires and doing God only knows what else to try to get us to concede, or worse.”
An icy chill as cold as the wind on Davey’s birthday returns to my blood at the reminder of what we still face when we return to the mountain.
If what we left is even there when we get back after spending two days at the hospital in Saranac Lake…
Anything could be happening up there.
That uncertainty has been weighing on Dalton and Pops, but I’ve been trying to have faith. Something that’s been hard for me the last six months.
Dalton shifts, adjusting his hold on Hope so he can slide his hand on top of mine on the bed, intertwining our fingers. He brings them up and kisses my palm, an unspoken apology for saying it like that and rattling me in the light brush of his lips. “What do you want to do when we get back up there?”
Besides never leave again?
“What do you mean?”
The past few days have been filled with a lot of sleeping. Almost hourly breastfeeding sessions. Changing diapers and teaching Dalton how to do the same. And trying to keep Davey occupied and content in a single small hospital room without any of the comforts of home, save for his teddy bear and blanket.
We haven’t even begun to discuss what will happen when we go back.
Maybe because we’re both afraid to have the conversation.
The way Dalton watches me now, it’s apparent that he’s worried whatever he’s about to say will upset me. “When you get released from here, it might not be safe for all of you to come home, not after what happened with the barn.”
Of course.
I should have known that was where he was going with this.
“Don’t.” The word comes out louder and sharper than I intend, and I glance down at Davey to ensure I haven’t woken him before refocusing on Dalton. “Don’t try to make that decision for me. I know what the risks are, and that mountain is my home as much as it is yours. I don’t want to leave it.”
He squeezes my hand again, an appreciative smile pulling at his lips. “That’s what I figured, but it still begs the question…”
“What question is that?”
There have been so many over the last few days.
Over the last several weeks.
And the months we’ve known each other.
Some that I still don’t have the answers for and some that are crystal clear.
“Where do you want to live when we go back?” Tension crinkles the corners of his mouth. “Your place or at the big house with Pops and me? I go where you go.”
God, he’s so sweet…
Any woman would be lucky to have a man like Dalton willing to give up so much for her, but that isn’t what I want.
I don’t want him sacrificing for me—not when he already has in so many ways.
“You can’t leave your home. And you can’t leave Pops alone.”
Dalton snorts a laugh, releasing my hand to settle back in the chair, readjusting Hope on his chest. “He’s a grown-ass man. He’ll be fine, at least for a while. And when he’s not, we’ll deal with it then.”
I peek down at Davey, then back over to Dalton and my daughter.
It isn’t that I haven’t thought about this at least a few times over the last few months with as many hours as we spend at their place and them at ours. Early on, it was a very simple decision—I didn’t want to leave the homestead or the life Dave and I had built there, the life we had created for Davey.
But now, a different answer seems just as simple.
“We’re going to stay with you at your place.”
His eyebrows rise.
“You seem surprised.”
“I am. We just spent six months fixing your homestead, ensuring you and Davey could stay there. I know how important it is to you, and I’m more than willing—”
“No.” I shake my head, trying not to let myself get worked up and have Dalton think it’s because I’m not confident in my answer. “I’m not going to let you uproot your life and mess with Pops’, making you split your time between helping there and at my place, especially because…”
I can’t believe I’m going to say this.
My chest tightens with the words.
“It doesn’t feel like my place anymore.”
Silence fills the room as Dalton stares at me, apparently stunned speechless by my confession.
He waits for me to continue, and when the tears start to fall down my cheeks, I try to wipe them away, even though there’s no hiding them from him.
“When I was there with Dave, it felt like home. Like it was where I was supposed to be. But after he died, before you showed up, I spent those weeks, those months, fighting so hard to keep it going, to keep the dream we had alive for my sake and for Davey’s. And…” I bite my lip, glancing down at Davey. “And I think that was a mistake because we’re never going to have that life, not without him. Over the last six months, our lives have changed so much. You and Pops and everything you’ve done for us…” I let out a little sob. “It’s just showing me where my real home is, and it’s wherever you are. And that needs to be on your homestead with Pops. Rent out my place to someone else looking to build their dream. I have mine on the James property, if that’s what you want.”
Dalton swallows thickly, shifting forward to the edge of the chair slowly and carefully with Hope in his hold. “Of course , that’s what I want, Camille. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life than to have you, Davey, and Hope with me permanently. But I don’t want you to feel like you have to do this, like we can’t figure something out.”
“I don’t.” I manage to say that without sounding like I’m on the verge of another emotional breakdown. “I promise. This is what I want.”
His lips twitch. “And I know how determined you can be to get what you want.”
I return his growing smile. “I can be.”
His joy and any humor fade quickly, a seriousness settling over his face again. “But it isn’t safe to go back there right now. I think you three should stay down here until Pops and I can get something figured out, a way to handle all this more strategically.”
“Trying to send us away again… How well did that work last time?”
He releases a shaky breath. “I know.”
The last time, he ended up bending me over the table in the tack room and fucking me senseless, then demanding I stay instead.
“Last time, I was selfish, and look what it almost cost us.”
His gaze drifts down to Davey at my side, then down to Hope, both sleeping so peacefully, oblivious to all the drama that surrounded both of them only a few short days ago.
“I am coming back up the mountain with you, Dalton.” I say it with as much finality as I can inject into the statement so he understands there is no room for argument. “I can handle a gun, and I am sure you and Pops will be more than willing to help me get even better with it. We’re safest when we’re all together, watching each other’s backs.”
He looks ready to argue, but a knock at the door draws both of our attention toward it and away from the impending fight Dalton seems to want to have.
The door swings open, and Pops steps in from the hallway, scanning over both of us and the sleeping children. “I hope I’m not interrupting, but we need to talk.”
* * *
DALTON
The tone of Pops’ voice immediately makes me tense, and Hope shifts where she sleeps against my chest. I rub my hand over her back until she resettles, her tiny hand pressed against my skin.
Camille reaches for Davey beside her, drawing him closer as Pops enters, followed by a man in an expensive-looking dark suit and equally impressive tie.
Shit, this can’t be good.
The entire time we’ve been down here, Pops has been making calls—something I haven’t seen him do in years since he refuses to use a SAT phone up at the cabin. And, of course, true to form, he wouldn’t tell me a damn thing about what he was doing.
He just keeps insisting he has been “taking care of things” where the fire was concerned.
It’s not like we could report it to Sheriff Wilson and expect anything to come of that investigation, considering his connection to the person who likely perpetrated the crime in the first place.
But I can’t simply take Pops at his word anymore without some sort of satisfactory explanation and plan .
I am not going back up there with my family until I know we can be safe—no matter what Camille says…
Her determination to stick with me and be at my side no matter what gives me faith in our future, even when everything else looks so uncertain, but I’m not about to risk her life or the lives of Davey and Hope just to have her with me when we could be walking into literally anything.
“Camille. Dalton.” Pops nods at both of us. “This is Gary Beller, an old friend from James Creek.”
I narrow my eyes at him.
He looks to be at least two decades younger than Pops, maybe in his fifties, with graying hair and a stern expression that tells me this isn’t a personal visit.
Pops continues, resting his shoulder against the wall near the door. “He’s the attorney I told you I’ve been speaking to.”
Oh.
I shift upright in the chair, my interest in the visitor instantly piqued.
Beller offers us a tight smile. “Sorry we’re meeting under these circumstances. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back to the mountain.” His gaze moves to mine. “It was your parents’ funeral. I knew them both well, and I’m sorry to hear about what’s happened up there lately.” He releases a sigh, glancing toward Pops before offering a smile that seems more genuine this time. “But I come bearing good news.”
A flicker of hope lights in my chest, below where the baby named after that unreliable emotion sleeps. “What kind of news?”
Pops crosses his arms over his chest, watching Beller with a look that tells me the old man has been privy to whatever information we’re about to receive for a while.
“Your grandfather and I have been speaking for about a year regarding a certain man who showed up in town, asking around about purchasing your land on the mountain…”
A fucking year?
So, Pops wasn’t full of shit when he said he was taking care of things even when it felt like nothing was happening and we had nothing to show for his efforts.
“Unfortunately, I know Attorney Gallo all too well…and his clients. And Marciano Ermilio is not a man you want to fuck with unless you’re me.”
Camille leans forward, her eyes narrowed on him. “Who the hell are you?”
All the secrets Pops has been keeping seem about to unravel, and this man appears to be at the center of them.
Beller squares his shoulders slightly, then smiles. “I’m the Attorney General for the State of New York.”
I jerk my gaze to Pops, who just gives me a smug smirk.
“And as of”—Beller glances at his watch—“an hour ago, Ermilio and eight members of his organized crime family—were arrested under the New York State Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, charged with multiple felonies that, hopefully, are going to keep them in prison for a very long time.”
My mouth gapes, and I glance at Camille, who seems to be having the same reaction. “You’re serious.”
He nods and steps farther into the room. “When Pops contacted me saying that Attorney Gallo showed up and was making threats to force the sale of the land, he had no way of knowing we had already initiated an investigation that had been going on for years regarding him and his representation of the Ermilio family. He isn’t just a mob lawyer. He’s an active participant in many of their schemes, this one included.
“Whether they planned to use the land as their own sort of secret hideout, or the plan was to try to sell it at a massive profit to some resort builder—which seems to make sense, given what Pops saw at the lake that day—they needed to get rid of you. The arson is what pushed us to act immediately and finally gave us the final nail for the coffin. The cameras you placed caught a known member of his crew entering your homestead and leaving around the time the fire started. They won’t be able to get out of this one.”
Stunned silence fills the room, the only sounds the soft beeping of the machines monitoring Camille’s vitals and occasional little snore from Davey as he shifts and clings to her.
All of this has been happening under our noses.
For a year.
And Pops never let on.
He never clued me in on the fact that he had been in contact with this man or that there was a legal case being built against the very people who were threatening us.
Beller shifts his gaze between Camille and me. “This is a violent crew, willing to do whatever they have to get what they want. I’m sorry you were pulled into it, but rest assured, I’m going to do everything in my power to keep them locked behind bars for as long as possible.”
Camille clears her throat. “And what about the rest of his organization? Aren’t they going to be a little pissed off and potentially come after the people who caused all this—which is us ?”
Everyone looks at her.
She asked exactly what I was thinking, voiced precisely the same fear starting to grow in my own head.
“I’ve already discussed this with Pops.” He glances back at him, where he still leans against the wall. “Additional security measures are going to be installed on the mountain. Dozens of trail cameras and motion sensors, all hooked up to the state-of-the-art system in your cabin. You’ll be able to monitor the property far better than what’s possible now. We’ve cut the head off the snake, but I can’t guarantee someone won’t slither around and try the same thing again. At least you’ll know they’re coming. And if you need help, you know who to call.”
Camille nods slowly, then allows her gaze to shift to me, and I know what she’s going to ask. “What about my husband. Did Gallo or Ermilio have anything to with—”
She can’t get the rest out, and if the baby wasn’t fast asleep on me right now, I would climb from this chair and tug her into my arms.
Beller offers a sympathetic look. “As far as we know, your husband’s death was an accident, like everyone thought. Of course, we’ll always keep our ears open for any information to the contrary.”
But we may never really know.
The final part goes unspoken, but it’s the very truth I’ve feared since Camille first had that dream—that we will have to live with never being one hundred percent certain.
Pops pushes off the wall and slaps Beller on the shoulder. “Thanks again. I’ll be in touch…”
I’m speechless as Beller slips out of the room, closing the door behind him and sealing us in with the old man who apparently never forgot how to keep secrets, even when he wasn’t fully in his right mind.
Pops turns to us and raises a brow. “You don’t have to look so surprised. I know you thought I was a stupid old man who didn’t know what he was doing or saying for a long time there—”
“Pops, I never thought that. You were sick and—”
He holds up a hand. “And I wouldn’t be back to my normal self if it wasn’t for both of you. So, if I haven’t said it, thank you for pushing me, for jabbing me with those damn needles.” An amused look gets tossed at Camille, who laughs. “We’re going to have to stay vigilant, but when I told you I wasn’t going to let anything happen to the mountain and wasn’t going to let it be taken from us, I was serious. It’s your legacy, your birthright. It’s all going to be yours soon, kid.” Affectionate eyes roam over Davey and Hope. “And one day, it will be theirs.”
No…
The way he’s talking, it’s like he is expecting to keel over at any moment, and I refuse to even consider that possibility after what’s happened.
“Not soon.” I shake my head. “You’re not going anywhere, old man.”
“But I will be eventually .” He releases a long sigh, moving to the end of the bed. “It’s time I bring you in on the business and teach you everything you need to know to keep it running.”
I’ve waited years for him to say those words, for him to open up and invite me in fully. And hearing them now, it’s like a giant weight being lifted off my shoulders.
He throws a thumb toward the door. “I’m going to head back to the hotel, take a shower, and have a long nap like these two here.” A finger swings between Davey and Hope. “I hear they’re discharging you tomorrow.”
Camille nods. “Yes. We should all be able to leave in the morning.”
“Good.” A smile brightens his face more than I’ve seen it for months. Finally having all this be over has taken its toll on him as well. “It’ll be nice having everyone together on the mountain again without always having to be looking over our shoulder.”
He slips out the door without another word, pulling it closed behind him.
Davey shifts in Camille’s arms and pops his head up, blinking sleepy eyes. “Did Pops leave?”
I guess he heard some of that conversation.
Camille pushes his hair back from his face. “Yeah, Bub.”
He releases his grip on his blanket to rub his eyes, then looks over at me and Hope. “She’s still sleeping.”
Camille offers him a kind smile. “Babies sleep a lot, Davey. Even more than you. And when they’re not asleep, they’re usually pretty hungry. For the first couple of months, that’s all they really do—eat and sleep. But when she gets older, you’re going to have a great playmate.”
That draws his mouth into the happiest grin, and he slides off the bed and makes his way over to me.
I move over as far as I can on the chair to give him room to climb up, and he snuggles against my side, resting his cheek on the side of my chest not currently occupied by his baby sister.
He touches Hope’s dark hair with his tiny fingers, then leans in and kisses her softly on the forehead.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to seeing how beautiful they are together or the sheer love he holds in his gaze for her.
“Let her sleep, okay?”
Davey nods and snuggles against me again, a peaceful quiet settling over everyone in the room.
And for the first time since I met them, it feels like it might last.
Camille slides down in the bed on her side, resting her head on the pillow facing us, and releases a contented sigh. Her blue gaze stays locked on mine, and the longer we stare at each other, the harder the question knocks at my brain.
The thing I’ve been wanting to ask her since I first realized I had feelings for the beautiful widow Bower.
“Did you ever think we’d end up here after we made that bargain?”
The corners of her lips twitch up. “No.” She shakes her head. “Definitely not. But I’m glad we did. It would have been a much different outcome if I had pulled that trigger.”