Chapter 37
Ellie
“There’s my Ellie belly!”
I chuckle at hearing her call me her favorite nickname from when I was a kid. My mom hugs me tight and sways back and forth. This is how she always hugs me when I haven’t seen her in a while.
When she finally lets me go, she cups my face in her hands. Her bright eyes scan my face. “You look so good, sweetheart. So happy and vibrant.”
“Thanks, Mom. So do you. I love your tan.”
She beams and runs a hand through her shoulder-length, sandy blonde hair. “Really? I’ve been trying to be really good about using enough sunscreen.”
“A little sun is good for you,” I say. “You and Dad have been doing a lot of hiking on your road trip, then?”
“So much hiking,” Dad says as he hops out of their RV and steps over to me. He pulls me into a bear hug and kisses the top of my head. “It’s so good to see you, honey.”
“You too, Dad.”
I turn around and see Camden standing a couple of feet away, watching with a shy smile on his face.
“You guys remember Camden, right?” I say.
“How could I forget?” Mom walks over and hugs him. He lets out an “oof!”
“Take it easy on him, Mom. Your hugs have been known to cut off circulation.”
She finally lets him go and waves a hand at me. “I can’t help it. I’m just so excited to see you again, Camden. It’s been more than a decade. Look at you! Such a handsome young man you’ve grown up to be.”
His cheeks flush. “You’re sweet, Mrs. Michaelson. Thanks.”
She gently pats his arm. “Oh, don’t you dare call me Mrs. Michaelson,” Mom says good-naturedly. “You call me Marilyn. Or Mom.”
Camden nods once, smiling at her. “You got it, Marilyn.”
He goes to shake Dad’s hand. “Mr. Michaelson. It’s good to see you again, sir.”
Dad shakes his hand, chuckling. “Please, call me John. Or Dad.”
Mom grabs Camden’s hand and leads him to the picnic table next to their RV. We’re meeting them at a park on the north side of Shawnigan Lake, near a bunch of forest trails.
“I hope you kids are hungry. John grilled up his specialty: chili burgers.”
Dad points at me. “With gluten-free buns, of course.”
“Sounds yummy, Dad.”
“Yeah, sounds amazing. My two favorite foods combined into one,” Camden says.
Dad flashes a thumbs-up at him, then steps over to the portable grill he has set up next to the picnic table a dozen feet away.
“Can I help you with anything?” Camden asks.
“If you could flip the burgers while I finish up the chili, that would be great. It’s been simmering all morning.”
While Dad and Camden finish cooking, I help Mom set the table.
She leans closer to me. “So, sweetheart. How’s married life?”
I can’t help the massive grin that splits my face. “Amazing.”
Mom lets out a soft squeal and pulls me into another hug. “I’m so happy for you. And to think that you married your childhood best friend. That’s so darn precious.”
“Everyone keeps telling us how cute it is.”
“Well, it’s true.” She grabs a few bottles of water out of the cooler nearby and sets them on the table. She turns to me, a wistful smile on her face. “You really do look good, sweetheart. You have so much color in your face. Your eyes are brighter too. You look so healthy.”
“I feel healthy.”
“You feeling okay on those new meds? I know it takes a toll on you sometimes when your insurance changes and they put you on a different prescription.”
“Yeah, I’m feeling really good. I haven’t had to change them these past few months, thanks to Camden. I’m on his insurance now and can afford to stay on the same meds.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so happy to hear that. Hockey players get good insurance, then?”
“Yeah. Really good.”
She grabs a small envelope from the pocket of her jeans and hands it to me.
“What’s this?” I ask.
“Wedding gift from your dad and me. We wanted to get you and Camden a little something to kickstart your life together as newlyweds,” she says. “It’s nowhere near enough to pay off your medical debt, but we thought you could put this toward the total amount. Any little bit helps.”
“Oh…” My chest tightens at how thoughtful this is. I shake my head. “I don’t need this.”
She blinks at me, confused.
“Camden paid off all my medical debt after we got married,” I say.
Mom’s eyes go watery. “Oh my goodness. What a kind young man.”
Warmth swoops through me. “He really is. And because he paid it off, I’ve been able to quit all those extra jobs I’ve been working. I can focus on that pet sitting business I always wanted to start.”
Mom beams at me, then she glances over at Camden helping Dad at the grill.
She shakes her head, her smile wobbly as she looks at me. Then she hugs me once more. “Sweetheart, that’s wonderful.”
I grin so hard, my cheeks ache. “I feel so lucky.”
When she lets me go, I hand the envelope of money back to her. “You and Dad should keep this and buy something for yourselves. Or save it for when you take another trip together.”
Her brow lifts, her expression turning hopeful. “Or maybe we can save it to pay for something when you and Camden have a proper wedding and can invite everyone to attend?”
A small pang of guilt lands right at the center of my chest. She’s so excited and happy because she thinks we’re married for real…and she’s going to be heartbroken when it all ends.
That ache in my chest deepens. Who am I kidding? I will be too.
I shake my head and hope my smile looks unbothered. “Mom, you and Dad deserve to keep this money. After all that you’ve done for me, all the money you spent on me when I was sick as a kid, all the things you missed out on because you were taking care of me…”
A lump lodges in my throat just thinking about it all. All the extra shifts they worked to pay for my medicine and trips to the ER. All the hours spent on the phone fighting with insurance companies. All the money they could have spent on themselves, they spent on me.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Mom cups my face in her hands. “You think you were a burden on us?”
I sniffle. “Yeah. I mean, look at how much you guys did for me.”
“You’re our daughter, Ellie. Our baby. We’d do anything in the world for you.”
“Yeah, but, Mom, all that money you spent on me. It should have gone to you guys. If you didn’t have to take care of me when I was sick all the time as a kid, you would have had so much more. You wouldn’t have gone into debt…”
She shakes her head, cutting me off. “Ellie, sweetheart. Will you stop focusing on that? Your father and I don’t think about it that way. At all.”
I blink at her. “You’re not even a little upset that my medicine and treatments cost so much?”
“Of course we’re upset, but not at you. We were upset at insurance companies because of how difficult they made it for you to get the care you needed.
At the hospitals that refused to treat you properly.
” She pauses. “But we were never upset with you. Ever. You’re our daughter, and we did whatever we needed to do to take care of you.
Because we love you. And anything in the world is worth doing for your child. ”
Emotion tightens my chest and throat hearing her say that.
She hugs me again. “All these years, did you think we were secretly upset with you?”
I shake my head and hold her tight. “No. I just felt guilty because of how much you’ve done for me.
” I sniffle. “That’s why I didn’t make a big deal about you guys coming to the wedding.
I didn’t want you to have to put your vacation on hold to accommodate me.
You missed out on so many vacations because of me already. ”
“Oh, Ellie. We would have happily dropped everything to see you get married.”
That guilt from earlier gnaws deeper. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
“It’s okay. I’m just thrilled to see how happy you are. That’s all that matters.”
When we break our hug, we both dab at our eyes. I catch Camden giving me a concerned look, but I smile at him.
Dad just chuckles. “That’s how most of the conversations go in this family. Crying and hugging and laughing. We’re an emotional bunch.”
Mom and I chuckle. After a second, so does Camden.
We all sit down at the table to eat. Dad grabs a bottle of sparkling wine from the cooler and pops it open, then pours it into plastic cups for us.
Mom raises her cup. “A toast to our daughter and new son-in-law. Camden, welcome to the family.”
Camden smiles as we all tap our glasses, then dig into lunch. We visit for the next couple of hours.
Dad checks the time. “We’d better hit the road if we want to make it to the other side of the island before dark.”
We follow them to a gas station so we can all fuel up. When Camden discreetly pays for their gas and refuses to take money from Dad, that warm and fuzzy feeling swoops through me once more.
Camden shakes his head at my Dad’s protests. “You came all the way over here to meet us and cooked lunch for us. This is my way of saying thank you.”
Dad pulls him into a hug. “Take care of my little girl,” he says.
“Dad,” I groan.
Camden just smiles and nods at my dad. “Promise I will.”
We all hug and say goodbye, then drive back to the rental at Shawnigan Lake.
“Thanks for being such a good sport about meeting my parents,” I say.
He smiles at the road ahead as he drives. “Your parents are awesome. And really strong huggers. I forgot just how powerful your mom is. She’s half my size, but has the strength of a bear.”
I laugh, then notice a message on my phone. It’s a text in the group chat that I’m part of with the ladies.
Bella: We’re checking out downtown Victoria tonight! Who’s in?
All the ladies text that they’re down for it, so I do too.
Ingrid: Are the guys coming too?
Bella: They’re doing a Scotch tasting Braden organized, but they’ll meet up with us later.
I turn to Camden. “Looks like we’re all going out on the town tonight.”
He grins. “Sounds like a blast.”