Chapter 14 Cam
CAM
Straight to voicemail. Again.
“Natascha, call me back. Now.” I ended the call and threw my phone into the passenger seat, both hands back on the wheel before I could do something stupid like chuck it out the window.
Two hours. I was two hours away from my daughters who’d been dropped off at an empty house like a pair of packages left on a doorstep. Two hours of driving while my brain conjured up every nightmare scenario known to man.
They could have wandered off looking for me. Could have tried to go to a neighbor’s house and knocked on the wrong door. Could have been sitting on that porch while some creep drove by and saw two little girls alone, unprotected, vulnerable.
My foot pressed harder on the gas pedal.
The phone rang and I grabbed it so fast I nearly swerved into the next lane.
Not Natascha. Emily.
I answered, my heart hammering. “Everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine.” Her voice was steady, calm. “We’re making mac and cheese. Alice wanted the shapes kind, but you only had the regular, so we’re having a very serious discussion about whether dinosaurs or princesses would make better pasta shapes.”
The tension in my shoulders eased a fraction. “Dinosaurs. Obviously.”
“That’s what I said.” I could hear the smile in her voice. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know we’re good. The girls are good. You can stop breaking the speed limit.” There was wry amusement in her tone that actually made me feel calmer.
I blew out a breath. “Okay. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“I know. We’ll be here.”
She hung up and I set the phone down carefully, forcing myself to ease up on the gas. Getting pulled over wouldn’t help anyone. Getting in an accident definitely wouldn’t help anyone.
But fuck, I wanted to be there already. Wanted to see with my own eyes that they were safe. Wanted to stop imagining all the ways this could have gone so much worse.
I hit redial on Natascha’s number again. Voicemail again. I didn’t leave another message.
The highway stretched out ahead of me, endless and infuriating. Exit signs ticked by with agonizing slowness. Fifty-three. Fifty-four. Fifty-five.
My phone buzzed with a text from Emily:
Alice says to tell you that actually, unicorns would be the best pasta shape and we’re both wrong.
Despite everything, my mouth twitched. I typed back one-handed:
Noted.
Another buzz:
She’s very passionate about this.
Yeah. Yeah, she was. That was my Alice. Passionate about everything from pasta shapes to whether clouds were made of cotton candy. My funny, food-obsessed, completely perfect little girl who should have been safely inside her house, not sitting on a porch wondering when her dad was coming home.
Time stretched long and thick, scraping on my every nerve, until finally, I was turning onto my street, pulling into my drive. Home. My house was lit up like a beacon. Every window glowed warm and yellow. I had to swallow the sudden lump in my throat. Safe. They were inside and safe.
I killed the engine, sitting there for just a second to pull myself together. The girls didn’t need to see me like this. Didn’t need to know how scared I’d been, how furious I still was.
I climbed out of the truck and took the porch steps two at a time. The front door swung open before I could reach for the handle.
“Daddy!”
Alice hit me at full speed, arms wrapping around my waist. Audrey was right behind her, more controlled but no less enthusiastic. I dropped to my knees and pulled them both close, breathing them in. Shampoo and mac and cheese and that indefinable kid smell that meant absolutely everything.
“Hey, monsters.” My voice was rough. “You okay?”
“Yeah! Emily came and made us mac and cheese as a snack. I’ve never had it as a snack before!”
“Amazing, Al!”
“But she said only if we eat all our dinner,” Audrey added, still clinging to my shirt. “And she said maybe we could have ice cream after but only if you said yes.”
“Ice cream sounds good.” I looked up and there was Emily, standing in my hallway, her hair slightly mussed, wearing a tailored skirt and neat office blouse. She hadn’t even run home to get changed after work.
She looked so fucking perfect that all the air left my lungs.
I stood slowly, the girls still attached to my sides. “Thank you.” The words were completely inadequate. “I don’t know how to thank you enough.”
“You don’t have to.” She ran her fingers through hair. “I’m just glad I was home.”
“Still. You didn’t have to do all this.”
“Of course I did.” She said it like it was obvious, like there was never any question. “They’re good kids. We had fun. Didn’t we, girls?”
“Emily’s really good at making mac and cheese,” Alice said solemnly. “And she let us put extra cheese on top.”
“The controversial choice.” Emily’s smile was soft. “But I stand by it.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and my jaw tightened when I saw the name on the screen.
Natascha.
“I need to take this.” I looked at Emily, then the girls. “I’ll be right back.”
I didn’t wait for an answer, just headed straight through the kitchen and out the back door. The cool evening air hit my face as I answered the call.
“Where the hell have you been?”
“Cam, oh my god, I’m so sorry.” Natascha’s voice was breathy, slightly panicked. “I just saw your messages. I had my phone on silent for a meeting and I totally lost track of time and—”
“You dropped them off at an empty house.”
“I know, I know, I’m so sorry. I thought you’d be home in time. You’re usually home by 4.”
“I told you I had a job two hours away.” My free hand curled into a fist at my side. “And that my mom and dad couldn’t get them today. I told you not to drop them off until six.”
“I know, but I got invited to this brand awareness meeting and I figured it would be fine, that you weren’t far away. I just forgot about you getting back late. And hey, no harm no foul, right? They’re fine, aren’t they? Like, nothing happened?”
Nothing happened.
I closed my eyes, trying to count to ten. Made it to four. “They were sitting on the porch for god knows how long, Natascha. Alone. No key, no phone, no way to reach anyone.”
“I know that.” Her tone had shifted, defensive now. “You’re making this into a bigger deal than it is. Kids are resilient, Cam.”
“They’re seven and five.”
“And they’re smart. They knew to stay put and wait.” She sighed, like I was being unreasonable. “Look, I said I’m sorry. I made a mistake. It won’t happen again. But everyone’s fine, so can we just move past this?”
Everyone’s fine because Emily happened to come home when she did. Everyone’s fine because my neighbor was paying attention and cared enough to check on them. Everyone’s fine despite Natascha’s complete lack of judgment.
But I knew when it was time to admit defeat. “Yeah, sure, Nat. Everything’s fine.”
“It’s Natascha. I have to go now. Kiss the girls for me. Tell them I love them.”
She hung up before I could respond.
I stood there in my backyard, phone still pressed to my ear, listening to dead air.
The rage was still there, simmering hot under my skin.
But there was something else too. Something heavier.
Resignation, maybe. The knowledge that this was my reality now.
That I couldn’t control what Natascha did, couldn’t make her understand why this mattered, couldn’t change the fact that she’d always prioritize her platform over everything else.
I’d chosen her. I’d married her. These were the consequences.
I stared up at the sky for a long moment, dragging in air, hoping to cool the heat in my blood. The last thing I needed was to upset the girls after the day they’d had.
It took a few breaths, but finally feeling calm enough to deal with the girls, I shoved my phone back in my pocket and headed inside. The girls were at the kitchen table with Emily, who was wiping down the counter while they chattered at her.
They looked up when I walked in, and Alice’s face lit up. “Daddy! Can we have ice cream now?”
“After dinner, monster.”
“But we had mac and cheese!”
“That was a snack, remember?” Emily’s voice was gentle but firm. “A very good snack, but still a snack.”
Alice’s face fell but she didn’t argue. Just slumped dramatically in her chair like she’d been mortally wounded.
“I should probably get going.” Emily set the dish cloth on the counter. “Let you guys have your evening.”
“No!” Alice sat up straight. “You have to stay for dinner!”
“Yeah,” Audrey added. “You can’t leave yet.”
“I’ve already been here for hours, sweetie. Your dad probably wants some time with just you guys.”
“But we want you to stay.” Alice’s lip trembled slightly. “Please?”
Emily looked at me, her expression uncertain. Like she was waiting for me to give her an out, to thank her and send her on her way so we could get back to normal.
Normal. Like today had been anything close to normal.
“Stay.” The word came out a little rough. I cleared my throat. “I mean, if you want to. I was going to order pizza anyway. It’s the least I can do after everything you did today.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“Please.” I held her gaze across the kitchen and something passed between us. Something I wasn’t ready to name but could feel settling right under my heart. “Stay.”
She hesitated for another moment, then her shoulders dropped slightly and she smiled. “Okay. Sure. Pizza sounds good.”