Chapter 38 Cam
Chapter 38
Cam
When I heard a knock on my front door, I found Gus standing in the porch light.
“Riley realized she didn’t have her blanket in her bag for her sleepover with the soccer team.”
“Oh, shoot. It’s in the laundry. It should be almost dry.” She probably could’ve survived without it if she was just staying at Gus’s, but when she went to sleepovers, she liked to have a piece of home with her.
“Do you want to come in while I grab it?”
“Sure,” he said. “How’s your night going?”
“I was just getting some work done.” When I shut the door behind him, I noticed his truck was still running. “Is Teddy out there? Does she want to come in?”
“She’s okay,” Gus said. “Speaking of work, I actually wanted to talk to you about something.” Gus and I walked back toward the kitchen, and he sat at the table with me.
“I swear I’m almost done with the nonprofit forms,” I said. “And I’ll file them for you, so you don’t have to worry about it. Do you want some water or anything?”
Gus shook his head. “I’m not worried about it,” he said. “But thank you.”
“Oh. Then what’s up?”
“Rebel Blue is big, you know. We’ve got a lot going on—normal cattle ranch shit, Baby Blue, and getting the sanctuary off the ground.” I nodded. “My dad has gotten really good at the legal part of things for the cattle ranch during his lifetime. He knows what to look for in contracts and can decipher most things. Me? Not so much.”
“You know I’m always happy to look at things for you.”
“I know. And I was wondering if you would want to do that in a more official capacity.”
I tilted my head in confusion. “You want me to be your lawyer?” I asked.
“I want you to be Rebel Blue’s lawyer,” he said. “I trust you, Cam. I don’t have the same knowledge and experience as my dad, and someday, it’s going to fall to me. I want to set Rebel Blue up for success before that happens.”
“And your dad?”
“He’s all for it.” Gus smiled a little. “He loves it when I delegate.”
“This is, um…wow.” I shook my head. This seemed too good to be true.
“I don’t know what you make at your firm, and I don’t know if I can match it, but I’ll come as close as I can.”
“I’d do it for free,” I said honestly. “Maybe I could do both?” My phone buzzed on the table, and I looked down. Dusty was on his way home.
Gus looked down, too, and I watched him clock the name on the screen.
“Just think about it. I know you could and would. But I want your full time and full attention, and I don’t think you should be trying to do two jobs. I know what happens when you spread yourself too thin. Especially when you seem to have a lot going on.” He tilted his chin toward my phone. “So the two of you are in it, then?”
I sighed. “Honestly, Gus, I don’t know if either of us have ever been out.”
“And you’re happy?”
“Yeah,” I said honestly. I tried to pinpoint it—the moment that my old feelings for Dusty became new, or the moment that I stopped pushing him away and started pulling him closer, but I really couldn’t. For the second time in my life, I fell into Dusty—I let him sweep me away, and I had no regrets about it.
“When the wedding didn’t work out, I felt like my life had been turned upside down—like all of the pieces of it that I’d picked out so carefully were just shaken up and thrown in the air, left to fall where they may. But now…I think they were all falling together.
“I have this beautiful house to raise our daughter in. I have our family. I have a life that’s mine, and I have somebody who…cares about me. Deeply.”
“Cares about you deeply?” Gus asked. His smile was poking through. “I’m not sure, but I think there’s a word for that.”
“I know,” I said. “And we’re there.” Permanent.
“You deserve that—to be happy—and you deserve a partner, Cam. A real one. Someone who can support you and get you gas and help you with Riley, and can love her the same way we do.
“I didn’t realize how much I needed and wanted something like that until Teddy, and I just…I’m really happy for you if you’ve found it, too. I know I can be a bit of an ass, but I guess what I’m saying is that you have my approval—even though you don’t need it. I just know how much it meant to me when you gave me yours.”
“Gus…” My voice was a little shaky. “That was a hell of a speech.”
Gus laughed. “Yeah, I practiced it a few times. Teddy gave me some notes.”
“I’m sure she did.”
“But, really. Cam, Dusty is a good man. He’s a hard worker. He’s loyal and kind, and he’s been looking at you the same way for fifteen years—like he would do anything for you. I know that if he got the chance, he would extend that to our daughter, too.” Gus reached out and grabbed my hand. “I can’t even imagine what he felt when he found out you were pregnant. It probably almost killed him, but he shows up for our daughter anyway.” Tears pricked at the back of my eyes. “He was ready to throw down for her at the soccer game.”
I laughed at that. “Yeah, you two made proper fools out of yourselves.” But then I took a deep breath. “This means a lot to me, Gus. Thank you,” I said. Who knew that when I got knocked up, I would get a damn good friend out of it, too?
“Dusty Tucker is a good man,” Gus said again. “And you’re one of the best people I’ve ever known. It sounds silly now, but I’m grateful for the night that brought us together because getting to spend my life parenting Riley alongside you and Teddy…and Dusty…is going to be one of my greatest accomplishments.”
I threw my arms around Gus’s neck, and he wrapped an arm around me. “Did Teddy help you with that part, too?”
Gus laughed. “That part was all me. And it’s all true.”
I squeezed him a little tighter before pulling back. The buzzer to the dryer went off.
“I’ll get it,” Gus said as he stood from the table. “Let me know about the job, okay?”
“I will,” I said. “Thank you.”