Chapter Fifty Seven
Hunter
Three days after I landed, I was boarding another plane. But this time, I wasn’t running. I was going home to deal with the mess I’d made.
When I walked through that door, I would do so with an open heart and a plan to show Camille and the kids that I was all in. Ready to face the hard parts, to show up, to love deeper. Determined to be there, not just in body but in spirit, building new memories that might one day heal the old ones.
Therapy helped me peel back the guilt, but it didn’t erase the truth that I’d left her standing in that living room, and then I’d buried her in weeks of silence. If I wanted a shot at fixing it, a text wasn’t going to cut it.
So I showed up.
She was just stepping out of the clinic, hair pulled back, bag slung over her shoulder, her whole body carrying the weight of exhaustion. My chest squeezed at the sight of her.
“Camille,” I called softly.
She froze, eyes widening when she saw me by the truck. The guarded look in her face told me I was the last person she expected, or wanted, to see here.
“I need to talk to you,” I said, stepping closer.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. “I can’t. I’ve got to pick up the kids.”
“I already asked your mom,” I said quickly. “She’s got them for the evening.”
Her brow furrowed, surprise flickering across her face. “You… you talked to my mom?”
I nodded, heart pounding. “I told her I screwed up and that I wanted to fix it. She said she’d keep them for as long as we needed.”
For a moment, she just stood there, staring at me, the wall between us almost visible.
Something flickered in her eyes, a mixture of hesitation, hope, and the hurt I had inflicted not so long ago.
Doubt tugged at the edges of her expression, betraying the struggle within her.
??I shoved my hands into my pockets, fighting the urge to reach for her.
“Please, Camille. Just let me take you somewhere. Just talk to me. If, after tonight, you still don’t want this, I’ll back off.
But give me the chance to say the things I should’ve said weeks ago. ”
Her silence stretched, leaving my pulse drumming in my ears.
But I didn’t move.
This time, I just waited.