Chapter 34
Camden
“You slept like a baby on the plane. I’m jealous.”
Ellie chuckles from the passenger seat of my car. “I’ve always been able to fall asleep easily on planes as long as I have earplugs and a neck pillow,” she says.
“It’s impressive that you could sleep that long without waking up. I’d pay good money for the ability to pass out that well on a plane,” I tease as I drive us home from the airport.
We just landed in Denver after flying back from Coach Porter and Abby’s wedding in France.
“That’s the one thing my body is good at. Sleeping,” she says. “Maybe it’s to make up for how terrible at handling everything else, like food allergies and migraines.”
I glance over at her. “How have you been feeling lately? Still good?”
She flashes a warm smile. “Yeah. Really good. Now that I’m working a less stressful schedule and I’m getting my meds every month without issue, I haven’t had a single migraine.”
I grin, happy that she’s healthy and feeling good after so many years of struggling.
I turn into my neighborhood and head for my street. When my driveway comes into view, I spot a small gray SUV parked in front.
“Whose car is that?” Ellie asks.
My stomach sinks. “Shit.”
She turns to me. “What’s wrong?”
“My mom’s here.” I huff out a heavy breath and pull into the driveway next to her, then kill the engine.
“Why’s it bad that your mom’s here?” Ellie asks. “She was really nice when I was a kid.”
“She’s gonna be pissed about not being invited to the wedding.”
Ellie frowns like she’s confused. “But I thought you talked to her about it?”
“Actually, I just left a message on her phone.”
Ellie’s mouth falls open. “Seriously?”
I nod, annoyed at myself that I didn’t see this coming. Of course my mom would travel all the way from Alaska to Denver to chew my ass out for not inviting her to my wedding once she found out.
“Camden, you shouldn’t have told her about us getting married in a voicemail,” Ellie says gently.
“I know. But she spent this summer in Alaska helping my aunt and uncle manage these off-grid cabins they own. They don’t have electricity or cell service. There was no way I could get a hold of her to explain.” I tug a hand through my hair and exhale sharply.
I unbuckle my seatbelt and turn to Ellie. “I’ll go in there by myself first and deal with her. She’s gonna be pretty pissed.”
Ellie shakes her head and grabs my hand. “We’ll go together. That’s part of being married, right? Dealing with the hard stuff as a team.”
I let a small smile slip at how sweet it is that she wants to support me.
“You sure?” I ask.
She nods once. “Positive.”
We step out of the car and head inside the front door.
“Mom?” I call out. I kick my shoes off and head inside.
When I walk into the kitchen, I see my mom at the stove cooking. When she turns around and sees me standing there with Ellie, I brace myself for her to go off on me.
But she just smiles and runs over to us.
“There’s my son and daughter-in-law!”
She pulls me into a hug, then smacks my shoulder.
I rub my arm. “Ouch.”
She wags her finger at me, her expression pinched. “That’s for telling me that you were married on a voicemail.” She sighs, her expression easing. She turns to Ellie.
“Ellie! My goodness, look at what a lovely young woman you’ve grown up to be.” She pulls her into a hug.
“It’s good to see you again, Mrs. Connors,” Ellie says when my mom lets go of her.
My mom waves a hand. “Oh, no more calling me Mrs. Connors. You call me Cece. Or better yet Mom,” she says excitedly.
Ellie smiles and says okay. I stand there and stare at my mom, stunned that she’s not angrier.
She looks between Ellie and me. “Are you two hungry? I made your favorite food from when you were kids. Mac and cheese.”
I hold up a hand. “Is that all?”
Mom just laughs. “Honey, you know I always cook enough to feed an army.”
I shake my head. “No, I mean…you’re not more upset about me getting married and not inviting you?”
She crosses her arms and aims a pointed look at me.
“Of course I’m disappointed, Camden. I had to find out that my only child ran off and got married through a voicemail.
But then, when you said you married Ellie, I was ecstatic.
Partly because my son managed to avoid marrying one of those puck bunnies who are willing to wed the first professional hockey player they see. ”
“God, Mom,” I say through an exasperated laugh. Ellie stifles a chuckle.
She ignores me and looks at Ellie. “When he said that you two reconnected and got married, I was so happy. You’re a sweetheart, Ellie. My son is lucky to have you.”
Ellie flashes a warm smile at my mom. “That means a lot, Cece. You have no idea.”
They hug again, then Mom leads her to the kitchen. I follow behind.
“You’re right on time. Just a few more minutes until the mac and cheese is ready, and we can all sit down to a proper meal and catch up.” Mom turns to Ellie. “And don’t worry, I remembered to use gluten-free pasta and non-dairy cheese, just like I made it when you were little.”
Ellie gives her a grateful smile.
Mom pulls a bottle of champagne. “I even picked up a bottle of the bubbly stuff to celebrate.”
I chuckle and shake my head, surprised and relieved that she’s taking this so well.
An hour later, we’re finishing up dinner at the dining table. Ellie is sitting next to my mom, showing her pictures of Coach Porter’s wedding in France and Sophie and Xander’s wedding in Napa.
Mom rests a hand on her chest when she looks at a photo of us all dressed up, standing outside the chateau.
“Just look at you two. So beautiful,” she says softly.
As I watch them chat and laugh, a warm feeling settles in my chest. I like seeing Ellie and my mom get along.
I’ve never had a serious girlfriend that I brought home to meet my parents. I didn’t know it could feel like this.
When Ellie shows my mom a photo of us at city hall the day we got married, my mom’s eyes practically light up. “Oh, Ellie. What a beautiful bride you are.”
“You’re so sweet, Cece. Thank you.”
She nudges my shoulder. “My son’s a lucky man to have such a gorgeous wife.”
I smile at Ellie, who’s blushing. “I definitely am.”
“You look so handsome in your suit, honey.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
She shakes her head as she looks at the photo, a warm smile on her face, then looks up at the two of us. “It’s so sweet to think that you two were childhood friends who ended up together.” She turns to Ellie. “You know, Cam had a big crush on you when you were kids.”
Ellie looks at me, a surprised smile on her face. “You did?”
“Yeah.” I rub the back of my neck, embarrassed that my mom revealed that.
“The way he looked at you gave it away. His heart was in his eyes,” Mom says. “He looks at you the same way now. Sweetest thing ever.”
Ellie’s smile softens as she looks at me. Her phone buzzes, and she looks at it. “Sorry, but I have to run over to the neighbor’s house. I’m looking after their cats while they’re gone.”
“Don’t apologize. That’s so nice of you to do that,” Mom says.
“Ellie runs her own pet sitting and dog walking business,” I say. “It’s really taking off. She’s so good with animals.”
Ellie stands up. “Thank you for dinner, Cece. It was delicious.”
“My pleasure. Anytime you want your mother-in-law to cook for you, you just call me.”
Ellie gives her a hug and walks out the front door. I clear the table and start loading the dishwasher.
“Thanks again for dinner, Mom.”
She starts to wipe down the stove, but I tell her I’ve got it.
“You did all the cooking. Let me clean up.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her leaning on the counter, looking at me.
I glance up at her. “What?”
Her expression turns thoughtful. “I’m happy that you and Ellie are married.” She’s quiet for a moment. “For the longest time, I thought that you’d never get married. You didn’t seem interested. And I felt guilty about that.”
I frown. “Why?”
She sighs. “Because of how things were with your dad and me. I figured watching our disaster of a marriage play out in front of you would make you never want to get married.” She’s quiet for a second.
“And all those times I complained about him to you. I’m sure that didn’t make the idea of marriage all that appealing. ”
I finish loading the dishwasher and dry my hands on a towel. “Mom, it’s okay.”
“It’s not okay, Camden. I’ve leaned on you emotionally when I shouldn’t have. I called you to complain about your dad more times than I care to remember. I shouldn’t have done that.”
I think about how conflicted I feel about that.
I wanted to be there to support my mom, but sometimes, it made me uncomfortable when she vented about him to me.
The last time she did it, I was out with my teammates to celebrate Madeline being on a podcast. I spent an hour on the phone consoling my mom after she and my dad had an argument about splitting up my baby photos.
When I got off the phone with her, everyone could tell my mood was down.
“I shouldn’t have complained to you so much,” Mom says. “I should have kept that as something I do with my friends, not my son.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and slumps forward, like she’s embarrassed. “I’m sorry, honey.”
I hug her. “I appreciate you saying that. I get it, though. Dad can be really insensitive. I’m sorry he’s upset you so many times.”
“I just wish that things hadn’t ended so badly with us,” Mom says. “I hate thinking about how our split affected you.”
“Seeing the way things ended with you and Dad was hard. It’s why I never got serious with anyone. I didn’t want to get hurt like that,” I say gently. I want to be honest, but I don’t want her to feel any more guilt than she already does.
Sadness flashes in her eyes. “I’m sorry, honey.”
I hug her. “You don’t need to keep apologizing, Mom.”
“As a parent, I tried to protect you from the ugliness in the world. And there I was giving you a front-row seat to just how awful a bad marriage can be.”
My chest aches hearing her say that, hearing her apologize for something that wasn’t her fault. Because even though the way she leaned on me emotionally was hard, it’s not her fault that they got divorced. That’s on my dad for cheating on her.
“Mom, it’s not your fault that your marriage ended. Dad was the one who cheated on you. He’s the reason things got that bad in the first place.”
Anger swoops through me. My dad has never apologized to me for what he did. I bet it’s never occurred to him that the way he behaved during his marriage to my mom had an effect on me.
“I just wish that I had handled it better,” she says. “I wish we hadn’t fought in front of you so much. I know that was awful for you to see us do that. If I could go back in time and change it, I would.”
“It was a difficult situation to navigate. I probably would have reacted the same way if I were in your shoes.”
She squeezes her arms around me, then leans back to look at me, softness in her expression. “I’m lucky to have a son like you. You’re so understanding. And I’m so glad that you didn’t let your parents make you jaded about love.”
I smile, despite the guilt gnawing at me. This marriage to Ellie isn’t real, and in less than a year, it’ll all be over. My mom is going to be heartbroken when we split.