Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
cameron
THE NEXT MORNING, HALFWAY through a video tutorial on how to change the code on Natalie’s lock, my phone buzzed on top of my desk. And I had to bite down on a smile when I realized it was from my favorite single mom herself.
SUNNY: I woke up and thought I wasn’t going to have any coffee ready, but you saved the day.
SUNNY: Again.
SUNNY: Thank you, seriously.
It was the least I could do after not catching the name error and putting extra stress on you.
I wouldn’t really mind making Natalie’s nighttime routine part of my nighttime routine. I’d happily show up at her place after her shifts just to make her tea, give her cat treats, and carry her to bed.
Maybe one day.
A guy could dream.
SUNNY: That wasn’t your fault.
SUNNY: This coffee is going to help me survive twenty-five fourth graders today.
SUNNY: Just kidding. I actually love to chaperone field trips, even if it is a lot sometimes.
I realized that Natalie texted like she talked, in animated spurts. Like she had to get the words out while she had the energy, and then she sort of died away again.
Do you chaperone a lot?
I told myself that this was pertinent information, that I wasn’t just trying to continue the conversation. And honestly, that wasn’t far from the truth. This was a factual anecdote to support her claim for full custody.
SUNNY: When I can. I try to attend a field trip once or twice a year.
How many do they go on every year?
SUNNY: Like three or four.
So you go on half of all the available field trips?
SUNNY: I guess so? About that.
I really needed this woman to give herself more credit for what she was able to do as a single mom. There were so many parents out there who never went on any field trips, her ex likely included.
Which one was your favorite?
Okay, fine, this one had nothing to do with my job.
SUNNY: The planetarium, hands down. You get to stargaze without the bugs? Absolute win. I love it there.
I chuckled to myself and clicked out of the tutorial, feeling confident that I could handle the lock now. Then I pulled up some files that I was actually supposed to be working on. For my job. Where I had other clients outside of the pretty single mom who was my friend’s sister.
Right.
I texted her back anyway.
I detect no lies.
I’m going to stop by later to change the code on your lock.
SUNNY: You know how to fix it?
I took a picture of it before leaving last night and found a YouTube video with directions for that model.
SUNNY: You’re making me feel silly for not doing that already. Haha I can take care of it, then. Just send me the video?
I can do it, Natalie. I already learned how.
I sent the message before it occurred to me that maybe she didn’t want me coming over to her house for a third time since this case had started.
Maybe she didn’t want to keep seeing my face when she didn’t have to.
We were already going to be spending enough time together preparing for her deposition.
I couldn’t blame her if that was already enough interaction with her lawyer.
I won’t bother you or Chloe. You won’t even know I’m there. I’ll just fix it and head out.
Fuck. No, that wasn’t any better. You won’t even know I’m there. What the hell was I doing? Now I sounded like I wanted an excuse to spy on her at her own home like a fucking stalker.
And yep, Natalie stopped responding after that. Of course. I ran a hand down my face, realizing I’d actually overstepped my boundary this time.
I stood, needing to run to the printer to grab a few things. Maybe I could go outside and touch some fucking grass while I was at it.
But as soon as I stepped into the hallway outside my office, I paused, hearing a very distinct, recognizable voice coming from behind Julian and Juniper’s door a few paces away. I walked over to it, saw that it was cracked open, and gave it a push.
Beau Bryant, who’d been chatting animatedly, hands flailing, stopped when he saw me enter. He shot me his characteristic shit-eating grin.
“Ignoring me for these two, huh?” I accused, leaning against the doorframe and crossing my arms over my chest. “What a great brother-in-law you are.”
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch, Cammy,” Beau laughed, perching on the edge of Julian’s desk, crossing his ankles with a relaxed lean.
“I was going to pop into your office after I chatted with Juni and Jules about some business.” He wiggled his black eyebrows as though that was supposed to be suggestive, when in reality, I was sure it had something to do with his real estate investments.
My brother-in-law worked for the massively successful company his mom built from the ground up after she emigrated from Tibet before he was born, but he played anything but a passive role in the organization.
He was the idea man, as I understood it, always seeking new opportunities.
Although why he needed Julian and Juniper’s help, I had no idea.
“Don’t you have a full legal team for that?”
Beau nodded. “Yeah, but I needed a Boston local’s perspective on something.”
“What are you planning in Boston?”
He smiled, a gleam in his gaze.
“And why did you ask them and not me?” I continued. “I’m hurt, bro.”
I wasn’t really hurt. I wasn’t sure I had the bandwidth to take on Beau’s needs at the moment, not with everything else going on.
And by everything else, I really just meant Natalie London.
“Oh, Collins told me I’m not allowed to ask you. Apparently, you’re too stressed.” He leaned forward, inspecting me. “It does look like you have a few more wrinkles since the last time I saw you.”
“Fuck you.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m not stressed.” I was a little stressed. “My sister is just a worrier.”
“I know.” Beau shrugged. “But she says you’ve got your hands full with a single mom situation?” He cocked his head to the side and then wiggled his fucking eyebrows again.
This was truly just not what I needed this morning.
Julian, who sat in his desk chair next to Beau, chuckled, and I shot him a quick glare. Meanwhile, Juniper made a curious humming noise, and I decided I needed to clear the air. I did not need these two thinking that I was going around talking to my sister about clients. Especially this client.
“I ran into Natalie when I was out to dinner with Collins,” I explained. “All I did was tell Collins that she was Noah’s sister and that she was one of my clients at the moment. That was all.”
“No, no,” Beau cut in with a breathless laugh, like he was trying to hold it in but couldn’t, and it just kept escaping him in little wheezes.
“Let me reenact Collins’ reenactment. Juniper, sit down across from me.
” Juniper obeyed with a shake of her head and a tiny smile, wheeling her own desk chair to the middle of the office and sitting in it.
“You’re Collins, and I’m this guy.” He jabbed his thumb at me.
“And you—” He pointed at Julian. “You’re Natalie. ”
“Beau,” I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. “We don’t have to—”
“Okay, so we’re eating dinner, catching up, you know.” He pretended to shovel food into his mouth while smiling at Juniper. “And then all of a sudden—bam.” After an overdramatic double take, he started staring at Julian.
And then kept staring at Julian.
Silently.
Without moving.
This was the reenactment. The entirety of it.
Goddamnit, Beau.
“Okay, knock it the fuck off,” I grumbled.
“We get it,” Julian laughed. “You can stop staring at me, man.”
“That is not what happened.” I really needed them to know that. “I did not just stare at her like a creep.”
“Okay.” Beau extended the word to have five more syllables than it needed.
“I’m going to kill Collins,” I muttered beneath my breath.
“Hey now, careful.” Beau stilled, raising a threatening—but not so threatening—brow. “That’s my fucking wife.”
My brother-in-law was simultaneously incredibly extra and undeniably chill…that is, until anyone said anything about Collins, my sister and the woman whose last name he’d taken when they got married.
Juniper changed the topic, playing peacemaker. “How long are you and Collins in Boston?”
Beau flashed me a slightly apologetic look—like he realized he pushed it too far—before turning to Juni. “We’re flying out in the morning. We’ll be back in a few weeks, though. For the party.”
“Party?”
“Engagement party. Noah’s proposing,” he said, lowering his voice as though someone might overhear.
Then he glanced at Julian, who looked at his shoes and smiled to himself.
It wasn’t a surprised reaction; he must have already known.
Juniper, too, who grinned more openly, clapping her hands together.
I grinned, too. Then my brain once again wandered to Natalie, wondering if she knew about it.
“I’m really happy for Gemma,” Julian admitted aloud, sounding a little rougher than normal.
Julian, choosing to openly share his emotions? What a fucking day it was.
I shook my head, imagining what kind of party that was going to be. Meanwhile, my phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out with the speed of someone who was just a little too desperate to hear back from one particular client.
Sure enough, it was her.
SUNNY: Chloe and I decided we’re going to order pizza and have root beer floats tonight for dinner because we deserve it if we make it through the entire zoo without getting eaten by lions. You’re welcome to join us if you’re stopping by to fix the lock.
ME: I happen to love root beer floats.
I was so fucking screwed.