Chapter 40 Cam
CAM
“Calm down, Shortcake. You will be fine. It’s just graduation.”
It was Harper’s graduation day, and she wanted to be anywhere but here.
I gave her a small pep talk before sending her inside to join her class.
It was a small ceremony that was held in her school’s auditorium.
There were fewer than two hundred people here since her class was made up of only twenty-five students.
It was probably the quickest graduation ceremony I had ever been to.
But this time was different. Sitting with my boyfriend, watching our girl cross the stage pulled at my heartstrings.
Before we knew it, Harper Rayne Rhodes was called, and she was accepting her diploma.
We were directed to hold our applause until the end, but of course, it was Tucker who broke that rule.
He placed two fingers in his mouth and let out a shrill whistle, grabbing her attention. As she walked back to her seat, she spotted us, waving like crazy and pointing at her diploma. We were close enough to see her mouth, “I did it!”
Because the graduates were called in alphabetical order, she was so far down the list that it wasn't long before we were back together.
“Here, stand next to Harper,” Tucker said, pushing us together in front of a red-bricked wall.
She looked at him, eyes narrowed in confusion. “What’s going on?”
He walked away from us, pulling his phone from his back pocket. “What did you think we were going to leave here without pictures, Sugar?”
I smiled at the kind gesture, but Harper was absolutely beaming. “Okay!” She was thrilled.
We never really took pictures besides the occasional selfie, so this was nice. She put her graduation cap back on her head. I wrapped an arm around her waist as she held up her diploma.
After we took a few pictures in different poses, I gently placed a finger under her chin, turning and lifting her head to face mine.
God, she looked so happy like this. I removed her cap before placing a quick kiss on her full lips.
I rested my forehead against hers, searching for what I wanted to say.
“I love you, Harper. I am so fucking proud of you, baby. You did it.” Tears welled in her eyes as I spoke.
“You have changed my definition of love. Thank you for being you and helping me find myself.”
She lifted herself up on her toes to kiss me.
“I love you, Cameron. I love that when I look at you, I feel at home. Everything about this is so right. I was made to be with you. With both of you.” She glanced over at Tucker and waved him over.
There were still quite a few people here in the large lobby taking pictures and chatting, but it felt like it was just the three of us.
Tucker pressed a kiss to both of our heads and handed me his phone.
“Your turn to play camera man, loverboy.” So, I did as I was told and took pictures of the two of them for a bit.
Once Harper was tired of being photographed, we headed into the cold and back to my car.
“Do you want to tell her or should I?” I asked Tucker with a smile on my face.
“Or should we just show her?” He suggested. I honestly was so into the mustache look on him. My handsome cowboy. God, how did I ever get so lucky with these two?
“Hi, I am sitting right here? What the fuck are you guys talking about?” Harper’s tone was sassier than normal. Good. I knew this surprise would be worth working her up.
Tucker looked over at me from the passenger seat, placing a hand on my thigh and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Let’s just show her. How does that sound, Sugar?”
She rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. “Obviously, sounds great.” The smile that crept onto her face as she went back to looking out of the window showed she was anything but.
Winter in Sawyers Cove was so beautiful.
Christmas lights on businesses and houses always went up in mid-November, so by the time December rolled around, every place was lit up.
The way the snow was falling made it look like we were inside a fairytale snow globe.
I couldn’t wait until Harper saw what we did to her house.
A perk of her having a job and recently rehearsing for graduation was that Tuck and I could come over and do what we needed.
The drive from the ceremony back to Harper's house was about twenty-five minutes in good weather, but in this, it took an extra fifteen.
Tucker and Harper were great at making the time pass, though.
Never a dull moment with these two. Today's argument was on how early a Christmas tree should be put up.
“Well, if it were up to me, I think it should stay up forever. Just redecorate it for every holiday.”
“Harper, that's insane. It’s called a Christmas tree for a reason.” Tucker argued.
“I don’t care if it was called a “December only” tree. If it makes people happy, who cares what they do with it!” Her voice was rising. I loved it when they did this because neither of them was angry, just passionate.
“Fine. I’ll give this one to you because you are right. It isn’t hurting anyone, so why not?” I’m surprised he gave in so quickly, but she made a good point.
As we pulled into Harp’s driveway, she let out a small gasp. “You guys didn’t.” The car barely stopped before she swung open the door.
“Let me put it in park first!” Knowing my luck, I would’ve run over her foot or something. I turned off the car, and we followed her out.
“Like it, Sugar?” Tuck asked, wrapping an arm around her waist. I walked around to her other side, ignoring the cold snow melting into my shoes.
“It’s fucking Christmas candy land. My house is candy land themed. Where do you guys find pink Christmas lights? When did you find the time for this?” Her voice sounded like she were holding back tears.
Her house was decorated in pastel colors.
A lot of what we bought was handmade. She ended up with handmade massive suckers, light-up candy canes that started where the driveway met the walkway and went up to the porch.
There was a massive pink blow-up Christmas tree in the center of her yard and an archway full of garland and fake massive pieces of candy that we would have to walk through to get inside.
“Harp, this isn’t all of it. Come on, trouble, it’s cold out here.” I said, grabbing her hand and dragging her inside. The way she looked at her house was how a kid in a candy store would look. She was in heaven, and it was adorable.
We kicked off our shoes when we got in and helped each other out of our coats.
Harper finally took off her graduation gown, revealing the prettiest white dress.
It was form-fitted, showing off her perfect figure, and stopped right above the knee.
The top plunged low between her breasts and was held up by the tiniest straps on her shoulders.
I got a glimpse of her before she put on the graduation gown, but I was more focused on easing her nerves than checking her out.
But now? Fuck, I could barely look away.
“You look so beautiful, Harper,” I said softly, stepping forward to kiss her cheek.
“And we are so proud of you,” Tucker added, placing a kiss on her temple.
She immediately started crying. “I love you guys so much. Thank you for doing this.”
“It’s not over yet, love. C'mon," Tucker took her hand, leading her to the stairs at the back of the house. I never understood why the stairs were so far from the front door, but I kind of liked it.
They walked hand in hand, Tucker a few steps ahead of her, and I trailing behind. She was absolutely not ready for what she was going to see. There was a light switch at the bottom of the stairs that turned on the light that was placed in the hallway upstairs, but he purposely kept it off.
“Are you ready?” Tuck asked, already leading us up the dark stairs.
“Not even a little bit.” You could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke.
When they got to the top of the staircase, he told her to turn on the lights, and slowly she did just that.
“Did… did you guys paint?” She looked around, taking in the freshly painted walls. We wanted to keep things light, so we went with a soft cream color. It was Tucker's idea to hang pictures on the walls as well.
Tears streamed down her face as a hand flew over her mouth. She walked from picture to picture, staring, almost like she were reliving the memories from each. We made sure to include some of her and Wren, her and her brother, us, and even an old childhood one of when her parents were together.
She stared at that one the longest, resting a shaky hand on the frame.
In the photo, Harper was around four while Reed was around eight or nine.
She sat on her stepmom’s lap, holding a pink stuffed duck.
Her hair was in two little curly pigtails, and her Christmas pajamas were green and decorated with presents that matched her brother’s outfit.
Reed sat between his mom and stepdad, holding a toy car above his head, smiling so big his eyes seemed closed.
And there was her dad, smiling at the family he loved instead of the camera.
Tucker and I stood there behind her, waiting for her to be ready to see what was next. She was trembling, but I knew she just needed a minute. Eventually, her hand fell from the picture frame as she wiped tears from her eyes. She let out a loud breath, turning to us, looking absolutely wrecked.
She smiled at us and softly said, “Thank you, guys.” Before we moved towards her, wrapping her in a hug together.
I was the first to pull away, allowing Tucker to resume leading her to her room.
Tuck twisted the doorknob to our right, letting the door swing open. He walked into the dark room, waiting again for Harper to turn on the light. December in Michigan meant it was dark by five in the evening, and now it was closer to seven.
She turned on the light, looked around, and burst into tears.
Harper sank to her knees and cried into her hands.
Tucker and I shared a glance. This wasn’t the reaction we expected.
I immediately dropped to my knees next to her, rubbing her back.
I looked back at Tuck, who had a smile plastered on his face.
I waved my hand around in the air in a silent plea for help.
He continued to smile while shaking his head.
He sank to one knee in front of her, uncovering her hands from her face.
“Hey. Look at me, Harp.” She shook her head, tilting her head to the ground, sobs still wracking her body.
As I continued to rub her back, willing her to calm, he gently took her face between his hands, tilting her face to look at him.
After drying a few tears, he spoke to her, and I don’t think I have ever heard him be so serious yet so loving. “Harper Rayne. Look at me, baby.”
She looked up at him, face still in his hands.
“Atta girl,” he whispered, voice unsteady as he cupped her trembling jaw.
“You deserve this. More than you know. I know what this place has been for you. How you’ve been pushing it down, pretending it doesn’t ache every time you think about him.
I just… We couldn’t watch you carry that anymore.
” He looked around the room—the walls that held echoes of a man she barely could remember—and he swallowed hard.
He drew her forehead to his.
“I know walking into this house feels like opening a wound. I know you never got the closure you deserved. And I know you’ve been trying to lock all of it away just to survive.” His voice broke. He pulled away from her, his gaze meeting her tear-filled one.
“So, Cameron and I stepped in. We built your furniture; we found pieces that made the room feel like the one at Cam’s because Wren told me that’s the only other place you ever really felt like yourself.
And we brought this house, this room, back to life…
not for his memory, but for you.” He swiped his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping away the last of her tears before standing to his feet.
“We wanted to give you somewhere safe enough to feel everything you’ve been running from.
A place where grief doesn’t swallow you—where it can finally let you go.
” As Harper watched him stand, he stuck out a hand, helping her up, and once she was up, he held out the same hand for me.
Her eyes danced around the room. She looked from the fairy lights that twinkled where the now sage walls met the white ceiling to the new dark gray laminate on the floor.
When you walked through the door straight ahead, to the left was the door to her bathroom.
Along that same wall sat her new black wooden dresser, shelves that held new plants, and the knick-knacks that were able to be saved after the storm.
Across from the dresser sat her new bed and bed frame.
It was black with gold accents on the storage drawers at the bottom.
The headboard had a soft white light, a shelf, and could charge devices.
The opposite half of the room was turned into a small reading nook since it was something she was passionate about when Tucker and I weren't distracting her.
She was walking around silently, admiring everything in her finished room.
“Thank you, guys, so much.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, almost as if she spoke any louder, she would break.
“We love you, Shortcake. I hope you realize we will do anything to make you feel that love.” My voice came out a little shaky, but I needed her to know.
Tears filled her eyes again, “And I love you both.” She took a deep breath and looked at me, and then at Tucker.
“Would you guys like to move in with me?” Her voice cracked when she spoke, a smile creeping onto her face.
“I know it would be a lot for you, Cam, and it’s so soon, but…
I had to put the option out there. The house wouldn't feel complete without you guys and Chaplin here.”
My eyes widened at her request. Holy shit? Moving in together? Selling my first house to move in with the woman I loved? The response was the easiest one I had ever given. “Absolutely.”
Her eyes lit up. “Wait. Seriously?”
“Yeah, for me, home is wherever you two are. I’ll rent out the house or sell it, but I want to be here.” I blinked away the tears stinging my eyes.
“I agree. Plus, Chaplin would love it here, and I know I will too. I can be completely moved in before Christmas, Sugar.”
We were all smiling, teary-eyed, but so thrilled. Shit was moving fast, but we all knew what we wanted. I think it helped that I have known Harper for ages, and we have known Tucker for a bit, too. I am so fucking lucky the universe led us all together.