Chapter Twenty-Two Cameron
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cameron
Harper was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. We had a bouncy castle in the backyard, and she and the ten friends she invited spent most of the time in it, shrieking and laughing like there was no tomorrow.
We got two cakes. One was chocolate crunch, and the other was the blue-and-pink cotton candy cake she had wanted so badly, mostly because of the color.
Caleb and I were at the grill, flipping hot dogs and burgers nonstop to feed the kids and their parents, while Sloane and my mom moved around the house handling everything else that needed doing.
Caroline was away at a conference overseas, and her husband had accompanied her; however, their three teenage children came to the party. They helped me keep an eye on the younger ones.
Jace, Caroline’s oldest at sixteen, was a little overprotective with Harper, just like he was with his siblings. He watched her like a hawk, and every time she jumped too high, he looked like he was barely holding himself back from rushing over and carrying her away.
My eyes drifted to Sloane. I noticed she was talking more to people. She stayed in conversations longer, managing small talk and polite chatter in a way she hadn’t before.
I watched her with pride. She had come such a long way.
And every time our eyes met, she smiled. I smiled back without thinking, my chest tightening every single time.
She was so damn beautiful.
“Pay attention, Cameron!”
Caleb’s voice cut through my thoughts, and I turned to him, frowning. He was frowning back at me.
“Those two buns are burned.”
I looked down and gasped. They were already black.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
But I could still feel Caleb’s gaze burning into the side of my head.
“You look happy,” he said softly.
I nodded. “I am.”
“You’ve been moving back to Mom’s for a few months now. You’re not upset?”
“I’m not upset. Sad, yes, but only because I can’t see Sloane every day anymore, except for those brief moments I manage to squeeze in between surgeries.
And I only get limited time with Harper.
” I glanced at him and caught the concern in his eyes.
“But I know this is part of the process. I need to take this step to earn her trust. She needs to know I’ll still be there for her, even if I’m not there physically anymore. ”
“Yeah...” Caleb sighed. “She told me about Xander a few days ago.”
My head snapped toward him, surprise flickering across my face before I could hide it. I’d been trying not to hover too much at the hospital, giving her space because I knew she needed time on her own. I also knew she’d been spending more and more time with Caleb during lunch.
“She did?” I asked.
He nodded, running a hand through his hair. “God. How the hell did she get through that? It’s so much for anyone to carry.”
I stayed quiet for a moment, still trying to process it. She hadn’t told many people. For her to tell Caleb—that meant something. She trusted him. And I knew she had also told Mom.
She was learning to trust people other than me.
Caleb must have noticed something in my expression, because he added, “She’s learning to open up. To people she knows she can count on. Not just you.”
I nodded, but that wasn’t what was going through my head.
What I was thinking was that she was also learning how to live without me. And she was getting better at it every day.
“I know,” I said quietly. “It’s good for her.”
I turned back to the grill, my head bowed as I tried to focus on the food and keep my mind from drifting.
After a moment, I felt Caleb’s hand on the back of my neck, squeezing it gently.
“You’re fighting for her,” he said. “I admire that about you.”
He paused, then added, “Even though you fucked up. Badly. I mean, really badly. There was a time I didn’t think I could ever forgive you for it.”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know how to respond to that.
“But you’ve shown up,” he went on. “You’ve done everything you could for her. You still are. That counts for something.”
He gave my shoulder a quick pat before stepping back. “You finish this,” Caleb said, nodding toward the grill. “I’m going to get us beers.”
“Okay,” I mumbled, trying my best not to glance at Sloane again and focusing on the grill.
The day went on, joyful and loud. The kids were caught up in games Caroline’s teenagers had organized, and by now they were all drenched in sweat, some so soaked they needed a complete change of clothes.
Eventually, the parents herded them inside to get cleaned up and wash their hands before the meal.
Sloane went with them this time instead of my mom.
Another small but meaningful breakthrough.
Once everyone had finally settled down, scattered across the backyard and inside the house, Sloane walked over to me with a plate piled with two burgers and two hot dogs. In her other hand, she carried two bottles of water.
She sat beside me and held the plate out. I took one of the waters and a burger, nodding my thanks.
We began eating in silence, side by side, not saying a word at first. Then she said quietly,
“You’ve been watching me.”
“Yeah...” I admitted, my voice trailing off. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
She looked at me. “How are you?” she asked. “It’s been a while since we talked.”
It had.
She’d started going to the hospital and back on her own. And when I picked up or dropped off Harper, our conversations were brief, almost transactional.
She told me she needed to know if she could stand on her own. To find her own strength.
I tried to give her that space. I wanted to respect it.
I just hoped she didn’t think I’d given up.
“I’m good,” I said, smiling at her. “And I can see you’ve been doing great too, Sloane.”
“I am,” she replied, looking happy. “I never thought I’d feel like this, like some of the weight had finally lifted off my chest. It was hard at first, trying to talk to people again. But once I decided to let go and stop resisting it, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.”
I looked at her, a little stunned.
That was a conversation I never thought I would have with her.
She chuckled suddenly, and for a moment, I just stared in awe at how light she sounded.
“You look surprised,” she said, still smiling.
I nodded. “A good surprise,” I said. “But yeah... I am.”
“I think I’ve come a long way,” she said.
“You have,” I replied. “I’m proud of you.”
Her smile grew a little wider. “I know.”
We finished our burgers in silence after that, but it was a quiet kind of easy. Comfortable.
Then my mom called her inside to help with something.
I watched as she stood and walked away, my eyes following her until she disappeared into the house.
It was pretty late when I drove Sloane and Harper home after the party. The last guests didn’t leave until around three, and by then Harper had fallen asleep on the sofa, too tired even to move.
We waited until she woke up, got her into the shower, fed her dinner, and then headed home.
Harper held my hand, tugging me gently to follow her. I stepped into the living room with her and Sloane. She stopped, standing between us, looking back and forth between me and her mom, then back again.
“It’s my birthday,” she said softly. “I wanna sleep with both of you tonight.”
Sloane and I looked at each other, eyes wide. For a moment, neither of us said a word.
Then Harper added softly, her eyes pleading, “Please. I miss it a lot.”
God, my emotions overwhelmed me. I scooped her up and held her tight against my chest, burying my face in her temple.
My little girl.
This was all my fault.
I pulled away and glanced at Sloane, waiting for her reaction. She was just as emotional as I was, covering her mouth with her hand. Our eyes met, and she nodded slowly.
I looked at my daughter, her eyes full of hope and anticipation. I smiled back. “Okay,” I said, feeling the corners of my eyes sting.
Her smile bloomed instantly, wide and bright, and she shouted happily, “Yeah!”
Sloane and I chuckled softly, our laughter shaky from holding back tears.
After that, Harper couldn’t stop talking excitedly, telling us all about the day’s events and everything she’d done with her friends.
Sloane helped her change into her pajamas, then stood by while Harper brushed her teeth on her own, while I prepared the bed, rolling down the covers and arranging the pillows.
Just like we used to do.
When she was done, Harper ran to the bed, jumped onto it, and settled right in the middle.
Sloane and I lay down beside her, facing her, all of us under the same cover. I took her tiny hand in mine and gently rubbed the back of it with my finger while Sloane softly played with her hair.
Together, we watched her drift off to sleep.
I woke in the middle of the night with a dreadful feeling, like I’d just had a nightmare but couldn’t quite remember it.
I glanced over at my daughter. Harper was already sleeping soundly, and by the look of it, so was Sloane.
Suddenly, my throat felt dry. I decided to get some water.
Carefully, I slid off the bed and tiptoed out of the room.
In the kitchen, I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and took a few sips. As I closed the lid and shut the fridge door, I heard footsteps behind me.
I turned to find Sloane standing there.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, instantly on alert.
She shook her head. “No, nothing’s wrong,” she said softly. “I was just wondering where you went.”
“Oh.” I blinked at her. “I was thirsty. Just wanted some water.”
“Can’t sleep?”
“I did, but I woke up for some reason.”
She nodded, her eyes dropping to the bottle in my hand.
“Can I have some?” She pointed at the bottle.
“Sure.” I walked over and handed it to her. She opened the lid slowly and took a sip, then passed it back.
“Are you coming back to bed?”
“Of course,” I said, a little puzzled by her reaction. “I promised Harper.”
She nodded again.
Then we fell into silence, just standing there, looking at each other.
Being this close to her, I wanted so badly to hold her. To kiss her again after all this time. I missed her so much.
God, I wanted to kiss her.
Without realizing it, my eyes dropped to her lips, and hers to mine.
Still, neither of us spoke.
Then, before I could stop myself, I stepped closer and whispered, “I want to kiss you. Please let me kiss you.”
Her eyes stayed on my lips for a moment before slowly lifting to meet mine.
And then, to my surprise, she nodded.
A quiet gasp slipped from me, but I didn’t waste a second. I had to kiss her—had to—before everything inside me burned up.
The bottle slipped from my hand, hitting the floor with a dull thud as I pulled her into my arms. I leaned down and kissed her.
I kissed her with everything I had. Everything I felt for her poured into that moment, every emotion that had been building inside me. My love. My apologies. My promise to be better. To never let her carry anything on her own again.
I had been waiting to kiss her for what felt like forever, and now that I finally was, it felt like something inside me might shatter. I couldn’t contain it. The rush of emotion, the need, the sheer relief of having her this close again overwhelmed me.
The kiss deepened, urgent and aching. My hands moved over her like I was trying to hold on to something I thought I’d lost, afraid to let go.
And when she sighed, when she let out those soft, breathy sounds and kissed me back with the same fierce need, it only fueled the fire already roaring inside me.
We kissed for what felt like forever. Her arms slid around my neck, pulling me closer, and I tilted my head to deepen the kiss even more. I traced the curve of her back with one hand while the other tangled in her hair, holding her as if I could never get enough.
Then my lips found her neck, and my hands slid around her waist, lifting her up effortlessly. She wrapped her legs around me as I backed us up against the wall, her body pressed into mine, responding with the same urgency.
But then she stopped. Abruptly.
Both her hands pressed against my chest, and I felt a gentle push. She was pulling away.
I leaned back slightly, breathless. “Sloane?”
“I can’t,” she whispered, shaking her head. “I want to kiss you. God, I do. I’m dying to. But I can’t.”
I pulled back a little more, though my hands still held her arms, her palms resting lightly against my chest.
Then she gently untangled herself from me and set her feet back on the floor.
She looked up at me then, her eyes glassy.
“We need to talk about her,” she said softly. “Before anything happens with us. There’s so much I need to understand.”