Chapter Sixteen
“You’re freaking kidding me!”
Pulling alongside the curb in one of Dallas’ trendy neighborhoods, Cameron turned to his sister and shook his head. “Nope. They really want him to do an interview with his parents.”
Natalie huffed as she reached for the door handle. “Well, I hope he told them to go to hell. What a bunch of assholes.”
Following her out of the car, Cameron grinned at her indignation. He loved how protective she was of Asher, but in this case, she had the wrong idea.
Oh, Cameron had been completely against it as first. He’d had quite a few colorful words for Talon, and a whole list of reasons why it was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard. Then, he’d had to pick his jaw up off the floor when Asher had calmly agreed to do it.
They’d spent the entire weekend discussing the pros and cons. Cameron had literally made a detailed PowerPoint presentation, which had sent Asher into hysterics. During the week, he’d tried to bring it up casually in conversation, but Asher had just kissed him and told him not to worry .
In the end, he’d had to accept that it wasn’t his choice to make. He still didn’t like it, still didn’t want Asher anywhere near the abusive trash he called parents, but he’d finally let it drop.
“Asher’s going to do it,” he said, joining her on the sidewalk in front of a pet bakery.
“What?” She spun around so quickly her hair whipped into her face. She spat a few times and shoved the locks back roughly. “Are you serious?”
“I know.” He fought back a grimace, not wanting her to know how worried he actually was. “It’s the best opportunity to get his side of the story out there, though. And well—” He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and shrugged. “—he thinks it might be a chance to get some closure.”
Natalie chewed her bottom lip, and a shallow valley formed between her narrowed eyes. “I still don’t like it.”
Cameron didn’t like it, either. There were so many things that could go wrong.
Asher could freeze up while they were filming.
He could lose his temper on national television and call his parents a couple of abusive, bigoted, manipulative bottom feeders.
He’d be justified, of course, but that probably wasn’t the message he wanted to send.
“It’s his choice.”
He felt like he’d been saying that a lot lately, but it didn’t get any easier. All he could really do at that point was support Asher and be there for him if shit fell apart .
Natalie sighed. “I guess. Is that why he’s not here?”
“I’m sure he’d rather be here than where he is right now.” Falling into step beside her, he chuckled. “He’s with Talon. They’re going over possible questions that might come up in the interview, and Talon’s coaching him on how to give good answers without being too detailed.”
Since his sister had never met Talon Andrews, she really couldn’t appreciate the full extent of Asher’s current misery. Cameron, however, would be surprised if they both made it out of that conference room alive.
“When is the interview?”
“Monday.”
“Damn, they don’t waste any time, do they?”
It meant Asher had less than seventy-two hours to ready himself for the ordeal. Even if they had a month, he wasn’t sure anything could fully prepare Asher for the confrontation with his parents. On a positive note, that also meant that Cameron didn’t have long to obsess over it, either.
Natalie issued another quiet sigh, and she dropped her head as she rubbed the back of her neck.
She looked a little paler than usual, and the shadows around her eyes spoke to a restless night.
Cameron figured it was to be expected, but he hated that he couldn’t do anything to ease some of the burden.
“How are you feeling? ”
“I’m okay.” She dropped her hand and smiled up at him. “Just a headache. Probably from caffeine withdrawals.” Leaning sideways, she bumped against his shoulder. “God, I miss coffee.”
“You can have a little, can’t you?”
He thought he’d read that somewhere, but he’d have to check. Actually, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to swing by the bookstore on his way home and pick up a few books on pregnancy, parenting, and other general baby stuff.
“Maybe. I don’t know. I’m going to ask the doctor when I see him next week.” She shrugged helplessly. “It’s just really overwhelming. I don’t know anything about babies, Cameron. What if I screw this up?”
Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “You won’t screw it up. You’re going to be awesome at this whole parenting gig.” He smiled when she giggled. “Whatever you don’t know, you’ll learn, and you won’t have to do it alone.”
“I hate to break it to you, but you don’t know anything about babies, either.”
“True, but our mother did raise two of them, and we’re not dead. I figure she must have done something right.”
This seemed to calm her more than anything else, and when she pulled away from him, it was with a smile. “Thanks, Cameron. You’re a pretty good big brother, you know that? ”
Under different circumstances, he would have brushed off her compliment or responded with something glib and sarcastic. It was clear from her tone that she was being sincere, and she deserved the same in return.
“I’m here for you, Nat, whatever you need. We’ll figure this out together, okay?”
“You’re right. I’m just scared.”
It was understandable. It wasn’t even his baby, and he was nervous as hell about the coming months. “Do you need me to come with you to your appointment next week?”
She shook her head as they started walking again. “Thanks, but mom said she wants to go. I might try to bribe you into going to Lamaze classes with me, though.”
She wouldn’t need to bribe him, and they both knew it. In an effort to keep the mood light, though, he said, “I take payment in the form of coffee and chocolate.”
“Don’t mention coffee.” She groaned dramatically and shoved at his arm. “Asshole.”
Ducking his head, Cameron grinned at her sheepishly. “Sorry.”
While he knew things weren’t going to be easy for his sister, he was looking forward to meeting his new niece or nephew.
That was going to be the most loved, most spoiled baby on the planet.
Their dad had cried when Natalie had finally told him she was pregnant.
Since then, he hadn’t stopped talking about teaching his grandson to fish and camp and tie boat knots.
He was, after all, sure it was going to be a boy.
Their mother had bought hundreds of dollars’ worth of baby clothes over the weekend, but at least they’d all been gender-neutral. Even Asher had broached the subject of baby furniture, wondering if Natalie would object to him outfitting the nursery.
It really was far too early in the pregnancy to be thinking about any of those things, let alone actually paying money for them, but Cameron had kept his opinion to himself. Despite his own reservations, he didn’t want to dampen their excitement.
“Oh, hey, do I need to bring anything tomorrow night?”
Cameron shook his head. “No, I think we’ve got it covered, but thanks.”
When Asher had first brought up the idea of a party, Cameron had been hesitant.
There was so much going on, and with the interview looming ahead of them, he really thought they needed to remain focused on getting Asher prepared.
Asher had argued that the excuses Cameron had given were exactly the reasons inviting their closest friends over for a night of fun was a great idea.
He’d been so damn excited about the idea Cameron hadn’t been able to tell him no. As the week wore on, and the stress mounted, he finally had to concede that Asher was probably right. A night to let loose and forget their problems was exactly what they needed.
“I think that’s it up there.” Bouncing a little on her toes, Natalie pointed to a small, brick-faced storefront three buildings down from where they stood. “Oh, it’s cute!”
That was one word for it, but not the one Cameron would have chosen. Dilapidated. Rundown. An absolute shithole. Those were all much more accurate descriptions.
Years of grime coated the bricks, turning many of them nearly black.
The large display window wasn’t much better.
The glass was so caked in dirt he couldn’t even see his reflection in it as he neared the building.
The awning hung at an angle, one corner dipping dangerously toward the sidewalk as if it might come tumbling down at any moment.
Vulgar graffiti had been spray-painted across the sheet of plywood that covered the door, and a suspicious red splatter stained the concrete near the corner.
The place looked abandoned, as if it hadn’t been occupied by anything more than rats and cockroaches in years, maybe decades.
It was such an eyesore next to the other beautifully maintained shops on the street he wondered why someone hadn’t torn it down and built something more suitable in its place.
“Natalie, no, not this place. ”
“It’s not that bad.” She moved closer to the windows, rising up on her tiptoes to peer through the glass. “It just needs a good cleaning, a little paint—”
“A bulldozer,” Cameron muttered. “Maybe a match.”
Natalie flipped him off over her shoulder but didn’t say anything else.
With the lease up on her current place at the end of the year, he understood she didn’t have a lot of time to find a new location for her store.
She could do a lot better than this, though.
Sure, it was a good location, and her shop would be a perfect addition to the neighborhood.
Express Yourself, with its eclectic mix of home décor and furnishings, would fit right in among the coffee houses, vegan bakeries, and New Age shops.
None of that would matter if the building literally collapsed on top of her, though.