Cam
He dropped his bag on the shop floor, sank into one of the office chairs, and tried to make sense of the day’s events. He needed to get his head straight before he saw his parents.
A knock sounded on the office door.
Dad.
If hearts could sink and lift at the same time, his was trying to do it.
“You’re home.” His dad gave him an expectant look. “How’d it go?”
He shook his head, didn’t bother to sugarcoat it. “Not great.” He surprised himself when Teagan’s version of events came out of his mouth. The public version anyway. “There was a problem with my erg and my time was scratched.”
“Mmm…” His dad pulled up another chair. “Listen. I wanted to talk to you. I got a notice from the bank an hour ago.”
Cam braced himself. This was it.
“It said a deposit of forty-eight thousand dollars went into the account. Do you know where it came from?”
“It was from a repair I did.” When he’d thought this explanation up earlier, it had sounded believable enough. Out loud? Not so much.
“Son, if we had a forty-eight-thousand-dollar repair, I’d know about it. Cam… what have you done?”
A whole lot of things he wasn’t proud about.
“Are you going to get in trouble for this?” his dad pressed.
“No. It’s nothing like that. The money’s for the family. We can save the shop.”
“That’s not your job. You don’t have to save anything.”
“But I want to!”
“No, Cam!” His father shook his head. “I’m your father. That’s my job.”
Cam saw it now. The mistake he’d made when he’d blown up at Teagan. He’d hidden his shame in a mask of frustration and anger when all she’d been trying to do was help.
“Dad, I learned everything I know about how to take care of a family from you. That’s why I did it.” If his dad told him to return it today, he’d do it, but only if it meant the two of them would be good again. “Was I wrong?”
“No, son.” His dad’s frustration had ebbed away. And the shame. Cam could see he understood now that he’d done this out of love. “Cam, it’s just… I never wanted this to be your burden.”
“Is the money enough?”
“It’s enough, Cam. It’s enough.” He stood, gestured to Cam to do the same.
He pulled him into a tight hug. The kind where you could feel the other person’s heartbeat.
His dad’s was steady and true. Just as it had always been.
When he released him, his dad was smiling, but all business. “And, son? Never do that again.”
It was too late to head out on the water, but after talking with his dad, Cam still felt restless so he did some work.
Tinkering with a car that had a mystery knock or malfunction was his way of calming his mind.
He puzzled over the fault, figured it out, realigned this part or that, ensuring every element of the vehicle worked in harmony…
like a rowing team. Only made of metal, not attitude. So, no high-drama shouting matches.
As he lifted the car’s hood, he thought about everything that had happened today.
His dad’s shop had been on the line. The only way he’d had to fix it would have destroyed his Olympic dream.
Teagan had stepped in to fix it, the way he had with his dad.
He needed to apologize, find a way to thank her for what she did.
She’d risked her future for his, the same way he’d risked his for his dad.
They were both idiots. Idiots with big hearts and the best of intentions. But Teagan had come to his rescue in an emergency. It’s who she was. Someone who saw possibility where others only saw insurmountable brick walls. And it was time to let her know how he really felt about her.