Chapter 25
CAMERON
It was early but Cameron hadn’t been able to sleep.
He peered into the window of the Candy Apple Café and saw a light glowing from the direction of the kitchen, guessed his grandma would be in there baking ready for the day.
He only hoped he wouldn’t bump into Izzi.
He knew she had a later shift today, and there had been no lights on in the cabin when he’d left the house – so he assumed she must be sleeping, clearly unbothered by their argument after he’d discovered her with Sophie or by how thoroughly she’d been exposed.
He found his grandmother kneading dough when he entered the kitchen and took in a deep breath, absorbing the delicious scents, trying to find comfort in its familiarity.
After everything that had happened with Izzi, he had an ache in his chest he couldn’t seem to shake.
The oddest sense that he’d made a mistake.
Only he wasn’t going to listen to it. He was done trusting his gut.
Maud must have sensed him staring because she suddenly looked up and her face lit before it fell. ‘What’s up, lad?’ she asked, searching around his feet. ‘Is it Cupcake?’
‘He’s back at the house, but I can’t leave him for long, he needs a walk.’
She frowned. ‘Isn’t Izzi at home?’ she asked, checking the clock. ‘I know she’s due here soon, perhaps you could ask her to bring him when she comes?’
Cameron shook his head slowly and watched his grandma’s face pale.
‘What happened with Izzi?’ she asked quietly.
He let out a long sigh.
Maud rubbed her hands together and swiped them on her apron.
‘Give me a minute. It’s early and I think this conversation might require something sweet.
The bread’s almost ready to go into the oven.
Why don’t you go into the café, start the hot drinks while I finish it off?
’ She pulled a face. ‘If you can figure out the machine. Choose us something to eat from the counter too please. I’ll be along in a minute.
’ She gave him a long look before shaking her head.
Cameron was still trying to work out how to use the hot drinks machine when his grandma joined him a few minutes later.
She swept him out of the way before finishing their drinks without a word.
Then they were sitting opposite each other on comfy pink chairs and Cameron was staring out of the window as a glimmer of orange light appeared over the shops on the other side of the road.
It signalled a new morning was coming, a new beginning coloured by heartache and betrayal.
He studied the light and let out a sad sigh.
‘You’d better tell me everything,’ his grandma said gently, pushing a fresh croissant towards him as if food could help solve the problem. Cameron wasn’t hungry, but he bit into it anyway, because it was easier than talking. Perhaps it was easier than feeling too.
‘I’m guessing you’ve fallen out with the lass?’ she asked.
Cameron jerked his chin. His gran had always been good at reading him; usually he liked it, but today it was inconvenient. He swallowed and the food stuck in his throat. He had to cough to clear it.
‘I found out Sophie and Izzi are related. They were in my kitchen searching through my paperwork when I got back from Lockton. It means they must have been working together.’ He hissed the words, feeling the weight of them and his shoulders tightened.
He should have known, should never have let his guard down.
He knew he shouldn’t trust anyone, should never allow people to get too close. It was always going to come to this.
‘Is that so?’ his grandma asked. She didn’t sound surprised, more unhappy.
‘You knew?’ he gasped. Surely she wouldn’t give a job to one of the people directly responsible for her business being in trouble?
‘No, lad.’ She shook her head, her mouth pinching. ‘I will say I saw some similarities between them in their looks. I thought about mentioning it but—’
‘Why didn’t you?’ he asked. ‘It would have saved us both a lot of heartache.’ He picked up his drink and wrapped his hands around the mug, seeking comfort because he needed it.
‘Because it’s obvious Izzi is nothing like Sophie and I was worried you’d decide she was,’ she explained, shaking her head before her eyes narrowed. ‘What did Izzi say when you found them?’
‘That they’d only just met,’ he said as his stomach hollowed.
‘That Sophie was going to draw her a family tree and that’s the only reason they were both searching through my paperwork, which is a ridiculous excuse.
’ He rolled his eyes, blocking out the memory of her face.
How shocked she’d been when he’d confronted them.
‘I can’t trust her,’ he muttered. ‘And you can’t either.
She and Sophie are responsible for all your troubles. ’
‘What troubles?’ she asked sharply.
He let out a long breath. ‘I know the café’s in debt,’ he said heavily. ‘I’ve seen the bills and you went to see your accountant and you never see her this time of year.’
His grandma swallowed. ‘That’s not your problem, lad. I’ll find a way through and none of it is Izzi’s fault. If anything, having her here has helped. Cake orders have doubled since she arrived.’
He shook his head. ‘Of course it is. They’re working together – probably trying to figure out how to cheat even more money from you,’ he said stubbornly.
‘Ah.’ Maud nodded. ‘So, did you check your accounts, search the house? She’s been staying with you for a few weeks, has anything gone missing?’
‘Not yet. She’s obviously been playing the long game,’ he grumbled.
His grandma nodded, her blue eyes swiping across his face. ‘So you caught them together and decided that means Izzi must be a con woman. That she’s after my money too?’
‘Well yes,’ he said. ‘I mean she lied and told me they’d only just met. That Sophie’s name was Lorraine and—’
‘You didn’t believe her?’ his grandma sighed.
‘Of course not!’ There was something about the way she was looking at him that made Cameron reconsider what he’d seen.
He hadn’t let Izzi get a word in edgeways – he’d told her what he thought and asked her to leave. He’d been furious, too furious to look beyond his own feelings. What if she’d been telling the truth?
She’d told him a relative had written to her. What if Sophie had been lying to her all along? She’d taken him in – his grandma too so she was certainly capable of it.
‘I see…’ His grandma picked up her hot chocolate and sipped as Cameron’s mind flew to that moment in the kitchen, to Izzi’s expression when he’d arrived. It had always been so easy to read her face. She’d been surprised, but he hadn’t seen guilt. Not a hint of it.
‘You know, I wonder if this has more to do with your experiences with your mam and Sophie than Izzi,’ she said quietly.
‘My mom has nothing to do with this.’ Cameron glared at his mug.
He couldn’t let himself get sucked in. To even consider the idea that Izzi might have been telling the truth.
‘Izzi lied,’ he insisted. ‘She must have been talking to Sophie all along, telling her things about me, figuring out ways to get her hands on my money. Yours too,’ he blurted.
But even as he said the words, he knew they didn’t ring true.
He knew Sophie was a liar – hadn’t she even tried to paint him as the bad guy when they were in the kitchen? It had been clever, deflecting attention like that, not allowing Izzi to really consider what he was saying.
‘Lad, the only thing that girl has ever done is work herself into the ground. I’ve never had a better employee.
She bakes like an angel, cleans up after herself.
The till has always balanced. All the time she’s been cooking for you at home, testing recipes, making your meals, she’s refused to accept ingredients when offered.
She won’t even take sugar or flour from my shelves.
I told Erin to set up a tab for her in the corner shop, but she told me Izzi insisted on paying her way.
That doesn’t sound like a woman intent on swindling me. ’
The news was a surprise, but Cameron wasn’t ready to trust it.
‘Maybe she was just trying to build trust,’ he said roughly.
‘Sophie didn’t steal from us at first. She made herself at home, turned us into friends.
’ He swallowed. He’d fallen for her. ‘It was a long game and Izzi’s been playing the same one. ’
‘Is that right?’ His grandma’s eyes flashed.
‘Lad, you lost trust in people a long time ago. When your mam left. She broke your heart and you put up with whatever scraps she offered – gave her whatever she asked for – because you wanted her love. You still do.’ She shook her head.
‘I told your da to let her go a long time ago, but love can be blind.’
It certainly could.
‘I know she keeps in touch and asks for money, but I haven’t said a word,’ his grandma continued, shaking her head. ‘I blame myself.’
‘You’ve got nothing to feel bad about—’ he said, flushing and she held up a palm.
‘I should have told you to make a clean break. I should have said it was time to stop hanging onto something that didn’t exist. That it was past time for you to face the feelings you have about her, about how she uses you and makes you feel.
’ She swallowed and Cameron did too. His chest felt tight and he couldn’t tell if it was because they were talking about his mom, Sophie or Izzi.
Everything seemed to be merging together.
So many feelings swirled around his chest – feelings he’d spent years trying to ignore.
‘We never really talked about your mam,’ she said gently. ‘I think I found it easier not to and I thought it would be better for you. Now I wonder…’ Her eyes narrowed.
‘Wonder what?’ Cameron asked.
‘How you were ever going to learn to trust someone. How you were ever going to move on. You have a mother who takes from you and never gives back. Then you got a partner – someone you cared for – who you trusted and who stole from you. You’ve been hurt, lied to, no wonder you don’t want to trust anyone new… ’
‘I did trust Izzi,’ he said quietly, although he couldn’t help thinking about the time he’d listened at the door in Flora’s gemstone shop, how he’d checked her phone and found out it was her birthday. How he’d never quite been able to give up on the idea that she was lying to him.
‘Did you really?’ she asked. His grandma watched his face, studying the play of emotions with a sympathetic look.
‘Perhaps talk to Izzi again and this time listen. Ask yourself if you don’t believe her because of what she’s done, or because of how others have treated you in the past?
Because actions speak louder than memories, lad.
Don’t lose someone important because you’re too afraid to love. ’
‘That’s not—’ he started, but his grandma shook her head.
‘Just think about it, lad. That’s all I’m asking.’ Her eyes flashed. ‘And for goodness’ sake, stop sending money to your mam. Say no and see if she’s still there for you. It’s the only way you’ll find out how she really feels.’
The pub was heaving and filled with laughter when Cameron arrived that evening.
He’d picked Cupcake up from his house after his conversation with his grandma and had headed straight to work.
He’d somehow managed to avoid bumping into Izzi in between because the cabin had been dark when he’d returned, suggesting she’d either slept in, or had already left for work.
But he was fine with that. He wasn’t ready to see her yet, he was too confused.
His grandma’s words were swimming around his mind, making him wonder if perhaps she was right.
Only he wasn’t sure he could trust himself to accept it.
‘You made it!’ Scott leaped up from where he was sitting at the other side of the bustling pub and pointed to a full pint on the round table.
‘I got you a beer just in case,’ he said, retaking the leather admiral chair next to Lachlan before shoving a piece of paper under Cameron’s nose as he slumped into the seat opposite.
‘We’ve only just got the picture round, so you can take a look at that first.’ He glanced towards the door. ‘No Izzi?’
Cameron avoided his eyes and shook his head. ‘This is a men only quiz team,’ he said sharply.
‘Only because none of us has a woman in our lives. But I sense trouble in paradise,’ Scott said. ‘Believe me I’ve encountered it often enough to know what it looks like. Have you upset our beautiful baker?’ he asked, the humour usually colouring his tone suddenly absent.
‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ Cameron snapped as he tried to focus on the pictures in front of him. He picked up his pint and sipped, but the drink tasted bitter and wrong. Everything was wrong at the moment.
He glanced up and saw his friends glance meaningfully at each other. ‘So, what happened?’ Scott asked.
‘Sophie is Izzi’s cousin,’ Cameron said tonelessly, trying not to communicate the full depth of his hurt. He swallowed. ‘I found out last night. They were in my kitchen going through my paperwork.’
Lachlan nodded. ‘Aye, I went into the café to see if I could buy some of those treacle cakes this afternoon and your grandma mentioned something about it.’ He paused.
‘Izzi was working in the kitchen so I didn’t see her, but Maud said you’d made some assumptions and she hoped you’d rethink. ’ He gave Cameron a long look.
‘Rethink what?’ Cameron asked, irritated. Was everyone in this village on Izzi’s side?
‘In my mother’s words, he means don’t tar everyone with the same brush,’ Scott said.
‘Says the man who won’t hire the women who keep coming to interview in his hotel because they all look like his ex-fiancée,’ Cameron snapped back. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long breath. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’m not angry with you and that was unfair.’
‘You’re forgiven.’ Scott shrugged and took a sip of his pint. ‘Especially since you might have a point.’ His forehead bunched. ‘Not that I’m going to hire any of them. I might concede that I’ve been behaving like an eejit, but it’s not an excuse for you to behave like an eejit too.’
Someone shouted the first quiz question from behind the bar and Cameron closed his eyes. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m in the right mood for this,’ he said.
‘That’s okay, Flora’s around somewhere. We’ll see if her magic tea leaves can help with the answers,’ Scott joked. ‘Seriously, I hope you sort things out with Izzi,’ he said meaningfully. ‘Go home and get some sleep. You might find after a good night that things will look different.’
Cameron nodded as he stood, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to believe that.
Izzi had hurt him, badly, Sophie too, and his mom was an old wound, one he knew he had to deal with.
He wasn’t sure he was ready to forgive any of them.
Although a part of him couldn’t help wondering if that meant he was about to lose the best thing that had ever come into his life…