Chapter Fourteen Jenna and Cam
Chapter Fourteen
Jenna and Cam
I’m h-here to see C-cameron M-munro,’ Jenna half said, half sobbed to the hospital receptionist. ‘He’s doing a John O’Groats to Land’s End challenge and he’s fallen off his bike.’
‘We know,’ the receptionist said kindly. ‘I’ll find out where he is.’
A tall man walked into reception and Jenna instantly recognised him as Cam’s driver, Lorenzo.
‘Hello! I’m Jenna from the Land’s End branch of End-to-End. I work – remotely – with Cam and I heard he had an accident.’
‘Ah. Jenna. He’s been asking for you.’
‘He has? So he can speak? How is he?’
‘You can come and see for yourself. Come on, we’re just waiting for the results of his scans.’
In no time, Lorenzo was pulling back the green curtains of a hospital bay and there was Cam in all his magnificent bruised and battered glory.
‘Cam!’
‘Jenna!’
‘Whathaveyoudone?’
‘Ididn’tknowyou’dcome.’
‘Sorrysorryyoufirstnoyou.’
‘I think I’ll leave you to it,’ smirked Lorenzo, closing the curtain behind him.
With a smile that melted her heart, Cam pointed at Jenna. ‘You first.’
‘I – I—’ am speechless, she thought, because here he was, finally.
After a whole year, she was finally in the same room as Cam.
Sure, she’d never expected their first meeting to take place in a hospital, with him sitting up on the bed, a massive bruise on his forehead, a cut across his cheek, grazes all over his chest and legs, a pad on his shin and scratches everywhere.
He looked thin, exhausted, wrecked, and yet her heart did a hundred somersaults.
He was even handsomer than she’d ever imagined he would be.
She wanted to fling her arms around him and then remembered that he was a colleague, a friend at best – and in a relationship with Iona . . .
‘I’m glad you’re OK,’ she said finally, sitting on the chair. ‘Are you OK?’
‘I didn’t think I was going to be,’ he said. ‘But nothing is broken and I don’t have a concussion. I fell asleep on the bike and the next thing I knew I was in a ditch. Luckily for me it was full of brambles, hence the impressive scratches.’
She heaved a huge sigh. ‘I – am relieved. I mean, it’s awful for you, but it could have been so much worse.’
‘Me too.’ He smiled and the room seemed to fill with sunshine. ‘Thank you for coming. I – can’t believe you’re here. It’s – like a miracle.’
‘I came the moment I heard. I – um – can’t think what to say. It’s so weird to see you in the flesh. I mean, in person.’
‘It is – surreal, and not quite the circumstances I had hoped . . .’
‘I um, bet your family are worried about you. Have you spoken to them?’ Jenna asked, not knowing if he was aware they were staying not that far away and might arrive at any minute.
‘Not yet. They’ve messaged. Obviously they’re worried but I played it down because I don’t want to worry them, especially Lachlan.’
‘Or Iona?’ Jenna prompted.
‘She’s made of tough stuff,’ Cam said wryly. ‘She won’t worry.’
‘Oh . . .’ It seemed a strange thing to say but he knew Iona best, so Jenna let it slip.
‘The main thing that bothers me is letting people down.’ His smile vanished. ‘I can’t do that. Not when I’ve come so far.’
‘Oh, you mustn’t worry!’ Jenna said, reaching out to touch his hand then withdrawing. ‘I’m sure the sponsors will still donate the money. No one will think you let them down.’
‘I’m not going to,’ he said. ‘Because I’m going to finish.’
‘You can’t . . . Look at you.’
‘There’s nothing major and anyway, I’m only fifteen miles away. I’ll have to return to the spot where I fell off but that’s fine. Nothing will stop me from crossing the finish line.’
‘You can’t – at least, not until you’ve had a couple of days’ rest.’
‘No way,’ said Cam, defiantly swinging his legs off the bed. ‘Everything’s in place for today. You, the support team, the media, it’s all planned to end today and that’s what I’m going to do.’ He grimaced. ‘Can you please find that bloody kilt?’
Jenna knew it was fruitless to try and stop him and that she shouldn’t, but she did know one thing. He wasn’t going to be alone.
One mile to go
‘Come on, Jenna, you can do it!’
Cam called back to her from his bike and let out a whoop. ‘This is the hardest bit! Once we’re up this hill, it’s downhill all the way to the finish! Come on!’
Riding Cam’s spare bike with the saddle set to the lowest, Jenna toiled her way up the long slope to Sennen, the village closest to Land’s End. She hadn’t been on a bike since she was a teenager and the fifteen miles from the scene of Cam’s accident were a hell of a challenge.
The sea was on three sides of them now, the peninsula narrowing towards the toe of the UK. Ahead of them, the sun was sinking lower towards the western horizon. There was nothing beyond it until America.
Cam waited for her by the Codfather fish and chip shop, where hundreds of locals and tourists had emerged from their cottages and caravans to cheer them on.
Jenna wobbled up to him, red in the face. ‘I can’t stop or I’ll fall off!’ she shouted, cycling past. ‘Got to keep going!’
The final mile was as flat as a pancake and, having found her second wind, Jenna was off like a Tour de France winner.
‘Wait!’ he called, catching her up until they rode side by side towards the finishing arch. ‘Let’s cross the line together!’
Together they heard the cheers, saw the faces of the people Cam loved. As their bikes came to a stop, he reached over to grasp her hand. And time seemed to stop.
Jenna would have fallen over the line and on to the signpost, had Kerry not caught the bike.
Her jellyfish legs made it impossible to stand, then Cam was suddenly beside her, holding her upright.
Immediately, they were mobbed by scores of familiar faces: her parents, her colleagues, her friends, Cam’s parents, his sister and Lachlan – and Sholto, on crutches, with his own parents.
They were hugged and congratulated and Cam disappeared under a dozen ecstatic people weeping for joy.
Carly and her crew were filming everything and someone pushed a mic in front of Jenna.
‘No, not me.’ Jenna waved them aside. ‘I haven’t done anything.’ She managed to limp away, fending off any interview attempts, leaving Cam to pose by the signpost.
‘Jenna,’ Kerry said, helping her to a bench. ‘What’s the matter? You just did an amazing thing.’
‘No. I did nothing. I’ve – I’ve. Oh, Kerry, I split up with Nate.’
Kerry’s face blanched. ‘Oh God, no. Oh my lovely, I am so sorry.’ She knelt in front of Jenna and took her hand.
‘It’s horrible and I am sorry to see you hurt, but in a way .
. . You’ve been together a long time, and I know you loved each other, but I’ve also been worried about you.
In fact, I’ve wondered for quite a while if you were truly happy. ’
Jenna choked back a sob, touched by Kerry’s kindness. ‘We – weren’t the people we thought we were, and definitely not suited enough to commit to a lifetime together.’ Jenna’s tears ran down her cheeks. ‘I – please, I need some time to myself, and I can’t let anyone see me like this.’
‘Of course,’ Kerry soothed. ‘I’ll say you needed the loo or something.’
Jenna tried to stand and groaned. Her bum was on fire. How had Cam done that for over a thousand miles?
The shouts and laughter and cheers were still ringing out as Jenna hobbled away to the cliffs that overlooked the sea.
She hadn’t noticed Iona in the crowd, or anyone who looked like Cam’s girlfriend.
Maybe it was better Iona hadn’t come. Now she’d realised how she felt, Jenna was going to have a hard time hiding her feelings for Cam as it was – even Lorenzo had guessed.
She’d just about got away with cycling with him as part of her professional role, claiming it was to get maximum publicity for End-to-End.
But she couldn’t hold it back any longer. She had to hide away from the prying eyes of the world – and, most of all, from Cam. In the background, the TV crew were interviewing Sholto and Cam’s family.
Reaching the clifftop, Jenna looked out to Longships Lighthouse, silhouetted against a sky on fire, in hues of coral, pink and red.
The gulls cried and Jenna let the tears fall unchecked.
Staring into the nothingness, she’d never felt more isolated in her life – yet in another way, she felt free.
The day had been a roller-coaster ride in so many ways: breaking up with Nate, meeting Cam for the first time and realising she’d been in love with him the whole time. It was enough to overwhelm anyone.
‘Jenna!’
Cam hobbled towards her.
‘Jenna. Are you OK?’
She found his arms around her, holding her tightly. ‘Don’t cry. You were amazing. I don’t think I would have finished – or even set off – without you.’
‘You would. You would,’ she stuttered out between sobs. ‘You did it for the charity, for Sholto.’
‘And for you.’
She swallowed, looking into his eyes. This was it, her chance to tell him the truth, because she couldn’t imagine him leaving again, them never having that chance. ‘I need to tell you something.’
‘Anything, you know you can tell me anything.’
‘Nate and I aren’t getting married. I mean, we broke up.’
His body stiffened and all Jenna could hear was the pounding of her own heart.
‘Sorry, this isn’t coming out right . . . Look, Cam, I know this seems crazy and we’ve only just met in person today, but I, I, I realised that I . . .’
Cam reached out and caressed her cheek, and before she could continue his lips were on hers, in a kiss that melted every ache and pain in a heartbeat.
He pulled away, resting his forehead against hers. ‘You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.’
‘Me too,’ Jenna sighed.
‘And in the interest of full disclosure, I might’ve pretended my best friend was my girlfriend . . .’
‘You what?’ Jenna felt the laughter bubble up inside her, joy flooding her system. Is this what it should feel like? Real, deep-rooted love?
Cam’s eyes were shining and as the sun touched the horizon, the sunset seemed to bloom into life all around them.
Falling in love had never quite felt like this: so sure, so real, so solid. This man was someone she’d only ever seen on screen and now he was here, with her. She realised that if he asked her to move, she would, because home was a feeling – a person – not a place.
Smiling up into his eyes, she kissed him, trying to pour everything she felt into that kiss, because saying ‘I love you’ was too much, too soon . . . even if it was true. Everything could wait, because they would have tomorrow, and the next day and the next.
‘It’s even more beautiful here than I’d imagined,’ Cam sighed, as she rested her head on his shoulder. ‘The perfect spot to end one journey and start another.’ His fingers threaded through hers. ‘I hope you realise that the nights can be very long in the far north . . .’
‘Oh, I’m sure we’ll find a way to fill them.’ She looked into his eyes, ready to take off into the sky with happiness, then nodded towards the signpost. ‘Shall we set off now?’