Chapter 2 #4
“I am,” she confirmed. “When this house came up for sale, I took a chance and bought it. I needed the space since I was living in a one-bedroom apartment, which was fine for just me. However, when I took on the kids, changes had to be made.” She shrugged and added, “I didn’t really have time or space to figure out what I was doing.
This place was a godsend because it was cheap enough to give me a chance. ”
He looked over at her and nodded. “It was for sale for a long time, then they took it off the market. I was surprised to see you moving in. … At one point I wondered whether I should buy it as an investment or a second property, but I’m just so busy that it wasn’t really an issue.”
She smiled and nodded. “I’m grateful that you didn’t because it became a home for three people who really needed one. … I wasn’t sure I would qualify for a loan, but finally the bank came through.”
“Good for you,” he replied. “Sometimes good things happen to good people.”
She laughed. “And sometimes they don’t.”
He winced at that. “I can see you’ve spent way-too-much time on the backside of that.”
“True enough,” she admitted. “I mean, watching my friend slowly die over the last few years was absolutely brutal. I can only hope that we’ve turned the corner, but I do have quite a few years to get through with the kids yet.”
“That whole thing couldn’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t,” she confirmed, giving him a sideways look. “Even though I knew I needed to do it, it just really wasn’t easy getting there. To be honest, I’m ashamed to say that I considered not taking the twins. I wasn’t sure I could handle full-time motherhood.”
When he didn’t reply right away, she went on.
“But I also knew that she had nobody to take them, which was upsetting her so much,” she added. “So, it was me or nobody.”
“And still, a lot of people wouldn’t have done it,” he noted. “So cut yourself some slack and realize that you’re doing everything you can. Kids being kids, they probably won’t appreciate any of it for years,” he pointed out, with a laugh, “but, at some point, they’ll understand.”
“Right now I just need them to settle into school again and hopefully some sense of normality,” she stated. “It’s been a hard run for them.”
“Absolutely,” he agreed. “My heart really goes out to them. It’s not easy losing a parent and in this case, they only had the one … and facing this level of upheaval.”
“No, it isn’t, but”—she shrugged—“I’m just hopeful we can all get through it.”
“You will,” he said. “You absolutely will.”
“How long have you lived there?” she asked, after a moment.
He shrugged. “Years.”
“Really?” she asked. “Did you know the original owners?”
He couldn’t say a whole lot about that subject because there wasn’t much to share.
“I originally met the older couple once or twice, but that was when I first moved in, many years ago now. And they were in their nineties back then. I met their son a few times in the last ten years, and he was getting on in years too. He never lived here, I don’t think.
The house has been empty for a very long time. ”
“Has it?” she asked. “Because it’s really clean, and I’m quite amazed at just how preserved it looks.”
“Yeah, it was a very unique family,” he said, with a laugh. “Old-fashioned in many ways.”
She smiled, nodded. “Nothing wrong with that.”
“There isn’t,” he agreed, grinning. “Nothing at all.” He pulled up in front of her office and pointed. “Here you go.”
“Oh gosh, thank you so much.” She was effusive with her appreciation.
“I’ll check in with you later,” he added. She pulled out her phone, and they quickly exchanged numbers. “When I hear back from the tire shop, I’ll let you know.”
She nodded and bolted for the door of the dental office, and he realized just how dependent she was on that job. Of course she was. She’d taken on two kids and now a mortgage and probably didn’t have a clue how much any of it would cost.
And what the costs were today versus what they would be in another few years would be very, very different. He drove to the tire shop around the corner and dropped off her tire for repair.
As soon as that was done, he headed into work. When he stepped inside, his partner, Joey, smirked at him. “Did I see you drive past with a woman in the front seat?” he asked, followed by a mocking laugh, probing in the most Joey kind of way possible.
Camden rolled his eyes and replied, “Yes, you did.” Joey looked so stunned that Camden explained, “My neighbor just moved in and went outside on her first day back to work after the move to find a flat tire.” He shrugged.
“So, I gave her a lift to the dental clinic around the corner, which is where she works, and then I dropped off her tire next door.”
Joey stared at him. “You’re not really the good Samaritan type.”
Camden frowned at him. “I didn’t exactly become a cop to be an asshole.”
“No, but you made it there anyway,” Joey declared, grinning.
With that joke playing through his mind, Camden rolled his eyes at his buddy and headed to his desk.