Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
After leaving Cadee, Huck had the strong desire to just keep right on driving.
He didn’t know where he wanted to go. Just anywhere that might erase the image of Cadee’s disappointed eyes.
But deep down he knew there was no such place.
Deep down, he knew those eyes and her disappointment would follow him forever.
Which was why he didn’t keep driving. Instead, he went to the one place that had always given him solace.
The treeboat.
He knew it would bring back memories of last night. But he needed those memories now. Memories of her loving words and hot, sweet caresses. Loving words and hot, sweet caresses he might never hear or feel again.
His heart tightened with pain as he made his way to the treeboat. He had just reached the ladder when he heard his sister’s voice.
“What can I say, kid? Parents do stupid shit. Mine did more than most.”
“Like what?”
Huck was more than a little surprised to hear his son’s voice. What was Camden doing there? He started climbing the ladder to find out when Poppy’s heartbreaking reply stopped him.
“Like make you think they’ll be around forever and then be stupid enough to get killed in a car accident.”
“Your mama didn’t die in a car accident,” Camden said. “She died from smoking too much. My uncle Cal said.”
“And your uncle Cal was right. But I wasn’t talking about my mama. I was talking about my daddy.”
“Both your parents are dead?”
“They are. So instead of sitting here bellyaching about how your mama lied to you, you should be thankful you have a mama and a daddy.”
“And what if I don’t want Huck as my daddy?” Camden said, belligerently, and Huck almost fell off the ladder from the surprise and pain that punched him in the chest.
Camden knew. He knew Huck was his father and he didn’t want him. He pressed his forehead against the rope ladder and tried to breathe as Poppy continued.
“Sorry, kid, but it doesn’t work that way.
You don’t get to choose who your parents are.
If you did, I would have swapped out mine a long time ago.
You just get what you get, and you don’t throw a fit.
And from what I heard, Cadee is a pretty damn good mama.
And Huck . . . well, I don’t know what I would have done without Huck as my brother.
Or Dawson and Jaxon, for that matter. They watched out for me and loved me better than our parents ever did and I love them to pieces.
But if you tell them I said that I’ll deny it and then put spiders in your bed. ”
“I’m not afraid of spiders, but I’m not gonna tell them. Especially Huck because I’m never gonna talk to him again. He’s dumb and he’s stupid and I hate him.”
Huck felt like bawling his eyes out. Not only had he screwed things up with Cadee, but he’d also screwed them up with Camden. While he was feeling like the worst human in the world, Poppy went on.
“First of all, stupid and dumb mean the same things. And secondly, you don’t really hate Huck.
You’re just mad because he didn’t tell you he was your daddy.
The reason he didn’t tell you is because he’s worried about the townsfolk treating you badly because you’re one of us.
The Hennessy Hooligans. I’m sure it’s the same reason your mama lied to you.
She was trying to protect you from bad gossip. ”
“Well, I don’t need to be protected. I’m eight!”
“Eight. Wow, I didn’t realize you were so old. Probably because you’ve been sitting here sniveling like a little baby!”
“I have not!”
“Have too!”
“You’re mean!”
“You’re right! As your aunt—yep, that’s right, I’m your Auntie Poppy—I’m not ever going to tell you anything but the bold-faced truth.
So here it is. Listen up. The Miles kid who told you about your daddy sounds like an arrogant jackass.
Next time he gets all cocky with you, stop being a wussy and punch him right in the mouth.
If that doesn’t work, kick him in the balls.
Next, get over yourself, kid. You live on a big fancy ranch with a family who loves you and showers you with all kinds of attention.
Yeah, okay, so you didn’t have a daddy for the first eight years of your life.
Well, now you do. And not just any daddy, but a damn funny daddy who knows how to bring sunshine to even the darkest day.
A daddy who knows how to build tree houses and can charm the pants off any woman. ”
Huck cringed as Camden asked. “Why would you want to charm the pants off a girl?”
“We’ll discuss that when you’re older. My point is that you have nothing to be whining about, kid. So stop before I kick you out of my treeboat.”
Huck waited for Camden to reply. When he did it wasn’t at all what Huck expected. “But isn’t it my treeboat too? I mean I’m half Hennessy Hooligan. Right?”
“Hmm? Well, you do have a point. Of course, that won’t stop me from pushing you over the edge. You can ask your daddy about that. Hey, Huck! Tell Cam about the time I almost pushed you out of the treeboat.”
Huck finished climbing the ladder, wondering how his sister had known he was there. When he got to the top, he found her in the hammock and Camden sitting on the deck . . . glaring at him belligerently.
“Hey,” Huck said with a forced smile. “What are y’all doin’?”
Poppy rolled her eyes as if that was the stupidest thing he could have said while Camden continued to glare.
“Well, I wish I could say this has been fun.” Poppy pushed up from the hammock. “But it’s been about as fun as getting a cavity filled. So I’m going to tag out.” She glanced at Camden. “See you around, kid.”
He was too busy shooting eye-daggers at Huck to reply. Something that made Poppy laugh.
“Yep, he’s a Hennessy, alright.” She shoved Huck out of her way so she could get to the ladder.
“Have fun, Huckleberry.” Terrified about being left alone with an angry Camden, Huck grabbed her arm and sent her a pleading look.
She shook her head and spoke low enough that only he could hear.
“Oh, no. I did my aunting duty. Now it’s all up to you, Daddy.
” She gave him two quick slaps in the face. “Don’t fuck it up.”
That was exactly what Huck was terrified of doing.
Especially when, after Poppy disappeared over the edge, he turned to find Camden had gotten to his feet and was backing up as if he couldn’t stand to be near him. When he got too close to the edge, Huck couldn’t help yelling out a warning.
“Be careful!”
Camden’s face scrunched with anger. “You can’t tell me what to do! Even if you are my daddy!”
Huck held out his hands. “Look, Cam, I know you’re feeling a little shocked and angry right now, but could you please move away from the edge before I have a heart attack?”
“Only old people have heart attacks.”
“Not true. Young people have heart attacks too. Google it.”
Huck took it as a good sign that Camden didn’t hate him enough to want him dead when he moved away from the edge. But if the scowl on his face was any indication, he was still pissed.
“My mama told me you were a guy she met in college who just wasn’t ready to have kids. Did you go to college with my mama?”
“No, but I don’t want you to be mad at your mama. She only made up that story because, like Poppy said, she and your family worried about how the townsfolk would treat you if they knew you were my son.”
“Why?”
“Because the townsfolk haven’t ever forgiven us for the ornery things we did as kids. She didn’t want our bad reputation affecting you.”
“I wouldn’t have told anyone if she didn’t want me to. But she lied.” His lip stuck out. “So did you.”
“You’re right. We did. I guess we didn’t want the mistake we made harming you.”
“So you’re saying I was a mistake.”
“No!” Damn, he really was screwing this up. He took a deep breath and tried to regroup. Maybe he just needed to be as honest as Poppy had been. It seemed to work for her. “You aren’t a mistake, Cam. You’re perfect. Me and your mama having sex when we weren’t ready was the mistake.”
“Sex? Like kissing?”
Oh, shit. So much for being truthful.
“Umm . . . yes. Like kissing. We weren’t ready to . . . kiss.”
“Then why did you?”
It was a good question. “Because I couldn’t not kiss your mama when I love her so much. But because I was so young and insecure, after we . . . kissed, I got worried she didn’t love me like I love her. Instead of saying that, I ran off.”
Camden studied him for a long moment before he nodded. “Yeah, I did that once. I gave Sophie Hopkins a valentine that I made myself. Before she even opened her valentine bag, I got scared and told the teacher I had a stomachache, so she’d send me to the nurse’s office.”
Huck sat down on the deck and hooked his arms over his knees. “What did Sophie do when you came back to class? I bet she loved your valentine.”
Camden sat down, mimicking Huck’s position. “I don’t think so. The next day at recess, she chased me around with a mouthful of water and spit it at me.”
“Dang, that was harsh.”
Camden nodded. “But I still kinda like her.” He looked at Huck. “Do you like my mama?”
Huck nodded. “Yeah, I like your mama.” The rope ladder squeaked and he figured Poppy was eavesdropping like he had.
But he didn’t care. There were some truths he needed to get out.
“I liked your mama from the first time I laid eyes on her. I liked her big gap-toothed smile where she’d lost two of her front teeth.
I liked the cluster of freckles on her nose and cheeks and the way her ponytails swung when she walked.
I liked how she helped other kids find their names above their hooks, so they knew where to hang their backpacks.
And how she retied a girl’s hair ribbon into a perfect bow when it was hanging loose.
But mostly, I liked the expression on her face when she turned and saw me standing there .
. . like I was a surprise gift she wasn’t expecting. ”
He swallowed the lump in his throat before continuing.
“Up until that point, I hadn’t felt like anyone’s gift.
I had a daddy who was never around much and a mama who wasn’t good at making her kids feel special.
My two older brothers are tough and smart, and my little sister is cute and sassy.
I was just the middle kid who didn’t really feel like I had a place in the world.
But your mama made me feel like I had a place. She made me feel special.”
Camden nodded solemnly. “She’s good at that.”
“Yep, she sure is.”
“So you like her a lot.”
Smart kid. “I love her.”
Camden stared at him with confused eyes. “Then why did you leave?”
“Because I was scared. I didn’t think I was good enough for your mama.
I wasn’t just a hooligan as a kid. I made some bad choices as a teenager too.
Choices the townsfolk will never forgive me for if they find out.
I just thought your mama would be better off without me.
But if I had known about you, Cam, I never would have left. I promise you that.”
“Mama didn’t tell you?”
“She tried to, but like I said I was stupid and scared and didn’t think I was good enough for your mama.” He paused. “I still don’t.”
Camden’s face scrunched up in thought. “But if my mama thinks you’re good enough, then who cares what the townsfolk think.”
Before Huck could come up with an answer to that, the ladder squeaked again.
“Come on up, Pops!” he yelled. “We know you’re there eavesdropping.”
But it wasn’t Poppy’s head that popped up.
It was Cadee’s.