CHAPTER 11 #2
Dolly squeezed my hand tight enough that my bones cracked, successfully turning all thoughts chaste. Like, how was this tiny woman so strong?
“Oh, how wonderful! It’s about time you found a keeper, Camden.
I tell you, wait! Deli will be pleased as plums you’re here.
” She then turned, still holding onto my hand, and chimed, “Deli! Deli, get out here!” before turning back to us.
“You know, Victor dear, this one here hardly ever dated. And after not hearing from him for so long, I was beginning to wonder if he was going to live on as an old spinster, but here he is with you.”
“What are you hollering across the diner for?” Another woman’s voice called out from somewhere in the kitchens, equally as loud as Dolly’s had been. “You’ll interrupt our lovely customers’ breakfasts with your yammering.”
The woman that stepped out appeared to be the same age as Dolly, but her gray hair was long, pulled back into low braid at her neck.
Her features were sharp but not unkind, her smile lines just as deep as Dolly’s.
She was tall and slender and wore simple jeans with a white button up blouse.
I expected another warm, heart-felt embrace for Cam, but he actually shuffled slightly behind me from where my hand was still clasped within the other woman’s.
“Camden James Hawkins.” She prowled toward us, and that was when I noticed the large wooden spoon in her hand. “You don’t show your face for a whole year and just waltz on in here without even coming back to say hello?”
She wielded the spoon high, preparing to strike. Threat detected, I stood my ground in front of Cam using me as a human shield against the irate old woman. But then Dolly stepped in to our rescue.
“Deli darling, it’s Camden!”
The other woman, Delia, halted and gave her wife an incredulous look. “Yes. I see that.”
“Well then, put down that mighty weapon of yours and hug him for goodness’ sake. Can’t you see he’s anxious to be home after so long?”
Delia, seeming to remember exactly why Camden moved out of town, softened. Her gaze grew sympathetic, shadowed with sadness.
“Aaaand,” Dolly dragged out the word, “he’s brought his lovely boyfriend here especially to meet us.”
That word made my stomach somersault again, fluttering with happy little butterflies. If... if Cam had already introduced me as his boyfriend, then it was okay to do the same, right?
“Uh, hi. I’m Victor Grimsley, Cam’s boyfriend. It’s very nice to meet both of you.”
Both of the women “awed” and, after shaking Delia’s hand as well, she proceeded to pull Cam into a long hug. With our introductions out of the way, we sat back down in our booth right as our food arrived. Cam took up the spot next to me as Dolly and Delia settled across us.
“So, Camden, tell us what you’ve been doing with yourself since we saw you last,” Delia said as we began eating.
And that was how I learned many new things about Cam. I absorbed it all like a dry sponge, starved for any bit of knowledge about him, even with what I had just learned.
After the tragic deaths of his family, Cam moved to a small town a short ways outside of Briarwood.
He hadn’t gone back to bartending and instead found a job as a motorcycle mechanic at a shop.
Like wow, hot. While living there, he occasionally took baking lessons at a local bakery and even donated time at the small library they had there.
He said he particularly loved the reading classes they held every Sunday and helping teach the kids that could make it.
He had found a small apartment in town, but he’d been wondering if he should move back to Briarwood to try starting fresh. Even with the painful memories, it was still home to him.
When his memory got a little foggy, his eyes would grow distant, but the women didn’t seem to notice as they chatted on and on.
All the while, Cam held my hand beneath the table. The fingers laced around mine never loosened their grip. When we were finished eating, the two women went back to work, only allowing us to leave upon promises – okay, they sounded more like threats – that Cam and I would come back to visit often.
It was only then that it hit me, that coming here had likely been a bad idea.
That anyone from Cam’s past seeing him could risk us being discovered.
Risk Cam being taken away from me. But the two women clearly hadn’t heard of Cam’s death, seeing as neither had been all too shocked to see him here alive and well.
Merely ecstatic to see him. Plus, the tender joy on Cam’s face as they talked was entirely worth the risk.
He'd needed this.
As we stood on the sidewalk outside of the diner, Cam lifted his gaze toward the gray, cloudy sky.
A brisk gust of wind blew through, sending Cam’s dark hair fluttering wildly over his head.
God, he was so beautiful. Inside and out.
Every part of him was something so precious and special that I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
His shoulders rose and fell in a deep breath as he took in the fall air. I did too, taking the cool scent and earthiness of fallen leaves deep into my lungs.
When he turned to me, those blue eyes of his had never been clearer.
They took my breath away. Suddenly, I had the urge to say something to him.
Anything. Everything. That I was so fucking happy he’d called me his boyfriend.
That he’d allowed me to learn so much about him by meeting the women he considered his only remaining family.
That I was so grateful to have found him, but that I was...
so sorry about what had happened to him.
“Cam, I-” I started, but was then smothered by a pair of strong, big arms.
My face was smooshed into Cam’s chest as he crushed me to him.
My arms immediately wrapped low around his waist to pull us even closer, until there was no space between us.
I felt his cheek rub over my head then heard him inhale deeply as he breathed me in.
I did the same, loving how he smelled like my soap, my fabric softener, like mine.
“Thank you,” he whispered into my ear.
His warm breath made me shiver, but his words filled me with warmth.
We stood there like that for long moments, not caring in the slightest of the passerby who gawked and openly stared at us. I only burrowed deeper into him and he hummed in approval, the sound vibrating through my chest.
“So,” I began, tone playful, “boyfriend, huh?”
I pulled back just enough to see the pink staining his cheeks. I knew it wasn’t from the cold.
I could see the apologies getting ready to spill from his lips, so I lunged up to plant my mouth firmly against his, preemptively silencing them. I pulled back just as quickly, leaving him blinking down at me in a daze.
“Do you remember how to get to your old place?” I asked him and he cocked his head in confusion. “Satan, you’re so adorable.” I went to my toes to loop my arms around his neck and smacked another kiss against his cheek.
“I do...” he began hesitantly, brow quirked. “Why?”
“I bet we’re not too late. Want to go get your stuff?”
***
Seeing as Cam was legally deceased, wiping police records of the accident was well beyond my means, it was only a matter of time before his landlord found out. I didn’t know how that process worked, but I didn’t much care as long as we recovered anything that was important to Cam.
We’d had to stop back at my house to grab the keys that had been among his belongings when I’d brought him home. I had asked Alice about the rest of his possessions from his accident, but his phone and other items had been damaged beyond repair. I already had plans to get him a new one soon.
The drive was nice, mainly peaceful two-lane roads until we entered the quaint town.
If I had to guess, it was probably half the size of Briarwood, and that was saying something.
His old apartment was an end unit in a long motel-style building.
When we stood outside of the plain yellowed door, I held my breath as he tried the key, worried his landlord had found out about Cam’s death and already changed out the locks and gotten a new tenant.
I released that breath when the lock unclicked, and we stepped inside.
I was concerned about getting caught by the neighbors, but Cam said he’d never spoken to or met any of them. So, he wasn’t concerned about being seen or recognized.
I took in the small space as the door shut behind us. And... yeah, small was an understatement. Even some of the motel rooms I had stayed in for a time when I was homeless were bigger than this space.
The main area was the small living room with its simple sofa, coffee table, and a small kitchenette.
One door sat along the right wall which probably led to the bathroom or bedroom.
There wasn’t much for things in here, just a few wilted plants and a dog-eared novel on the low table.
A couple dishes sat in the sink and an empty pizza box was resting on the counter. But that was it.
Cam was watching me, posture tense and expression somewhat nervous. He rubbed the back of his neck.
“It’s not much. Your home is... much more comfortable.”
I rubbed Cam’s arm soothingly. “It’s cute. Well, let’s gather up your things, shall we?”
He gave me a relieved smile when that was that, body visibly relaxing. I didn’t even think he’d realized the tension he was carrying in those broad shoulders.
We made quick work of packing the several bags I’d brought with us.
It broke my heart that he really didn’t have much.
Some clothes, a few books, his bathroom items...
He did have some baking stuff and a few recipe books which I’d packed up with care, and a lot of plants.
But those were a little worse for wear, most having not survived the nearly two weeks without water.
“’Wanna take these?” I asked him holding up a wilted fern in one hand and a browned leafy one in the other.