Whoa. No one saw the famous dough recipe. No one. It was no secret that his dad had been worried about Cam these past few months as he’d struggled through rehab and the fact that he could no longer play the sport he loved. Even though Cam always did his best to show that he was doing just fine.
But then his dad had worried about all of them. He’d raised them as a single father since their mom jumped ship when Cam was eight and Lucy was just a toddler. From what Cam could gather from his dad, she’d followed another guy out West somewhere and had never looked back. As the oldest, he’d driven all this from his mind as best he could and focused on helping his dad keep the family together.
He attributed the fact that he and his siblings were so close to his dad, who had taught them to value family above all else. Angelo was practical, no-nonsense, and loved them all down to the bone.
But his dad must really be concerned if he was offering the recipe.
And that touched Cam greatly. He liked—no, loved—the idea of using their family’s recipes from Italy in his restaurant one day. Of course, his investors had pitched his new restaurant as a sports bar, trying to take full advantage of his career. They hadn’t been interested in a mom-and-pop type of place with homemade recipes…so far.
“I’m speechless.” His dad hated it when they made a big deal of things, so he didn’t rush to hug him. “Thanks, Dad,” he said, a little flummoxed.
“Wow,” Lucy said, incredulous. “And I thought I was the favorite.”
“Hey, what about me?” Nick said, lowering his boot-clad feet to the floor with a clunk.
“No one’s my favorite unless the work gets done.” His dad shook a warning finger.
“I’m staying to get my work done, Pop,” Nick said, always the charmer.
“Good boy, Nicholas.” His father patted his brother on the shoulder. Then he turned to the other two. “So, get going on the fancy-schmancy lunch so you can get back to work.”
“You mean it about the dough recipe?” Cam asked, still a little stunned at the offer.
“Only if it’s an Italian restaurant,” his dad said. “By the way, I’m making ribs on Sunday with my famous sauce,” his dad added. “Come for dinner.”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Cam said.
“Definitely wouldn’t miss it.” Nick rubbed his rock-hard belly.
“Maybe you could bring Hadley,” Cam thought he heard his dad say as he headed for the back.
* * *
“So,” Cam said, once he and Lucy were seated on the oceanfront deck at Mussels with some Cokes. His knee was a little stiff and creaky today, but with the warm breeze, hot sun, and miles of sparkling blue ocean spanning in front of them, Cam realized how lucky he was to call this place home. “You know I’m trying to figure out my next steps.”
He’d spared his family as much of his problems as possible over the past six months. It was what came naturally to him as the oldest and the one who’d needed to step up for Nick and Lucy after their mom left.
He was supposed to be tough and strong, not weak and floundering. But that was exactly how he’d felt these past months, mourning the sport he loved and would never play again. Struggling to find a way to carry on.
“Everything you’ve done so far has been football,” Lucy said, sipping on her Diet. She looked happy to be out of the office. It reminded him of when they were teenagers and he used to take her out for burgers, mostly to get her to talk and keep tabs on her. “But this restaurant thing…it makes sense to me. You love food, you love being around people. I think it might be a good fit.”
He nodded his agreement, even though just talking about leaving football behind forever made him break out in a cold sweat. But Lucy seemed like she was in a good mood today and he didn’t want to spoil that with his own troubles. He hoped she’d be open to his idea for her. “You love good food too…”
Cam waited for his opening.
“You bet.” She took a warm roll from a basket and passed it to him. “And I’ll be happy to eat there all the time.” Lucy looked young and pretty, her dark hair piled on her head in a messy bun. It was hard to believe she was all grown up and a mom.
He wanted Lucy to be happy. To have a chance to live her dream. To do anything she wanted, to again become the adventurous soul he’d known her to be. To do anything but sit in the corner of that office entering charges all day, watching others pass by the big plate-glass window, living their lives. “I was sort of thinking of something more than that,” he said.
“What are you talking about?” She put down her butter knife.
“You always wanted to go to cooking school. So go, then come back and be my chef.”
Her mouth dropped open, and she looked genuinely startled for the second time that day. “You’re insane.”
He took her hand from the table. “Now’s your chance, Luce. Go. You’ll have a job waiting for you right here when you get back.”
Cam looked hopefully at his sister. But Lucy wasn’t meeting his eyes. And she wasn’t smiling.
“You’re angry,” he finally said. He’d thought this would be it. The magic bullet that would get her excited enough to jump back into her life. That was the other thing about Cammareris, besides pretending they were fine. They were as stubborn as they come.
“Bernie is just a baby,” he said, trying to make his case one more time. “By the time you’re done with school, she’ll be ready for school. It’s perfect timing.”
Her eyes flicked up. They looked a little watery. “Look, Cam, I love you. You’re the best big brother anyone could have. But you don’t have to take care of me anymore. In fact, the idea that you feel you have to is sort of insulting.”
Ouch. All right, then. How could he make her see? “Look, I’m reinventing myself. What’s wrong with including you in my plans? I want you with me at the helm. It’s win-win for both of us.”
“I know what you’re trying to do. Whenever there’s a crisis, you always jump in one hundred percent and start swimming. And handing out the lifeboats. But I’m different. I’m not you. And I’m not ready to go to cooking school. Bernie needs a mom around and I need family, for her sake. I can’t just go off to upstate New York by myself and start over.”
“I just want you to be happy,” Cam said. “It’s not the money, is it? You know I’ve got enough to send everyone in Seashell Harbor to cooking school.” In Paris, he added to himself.
Lucy pulled her hand away. “You can’t swoop in just like that and solve people’s problems.” She was killing him. Because he was a man of action. Every success he’d ever had was because he’d done anything and everything in his capability to make it happen. Her resistance to his help was endlessly frustrating.
“I love you,” Cam said. “You know that, right?”
She nodded, clamping her lips together to keep from crying. “I know that. But this is something I have to figure out for myself. Okay?”
Cam wondered if this was what being a parent was like, this kind of awful helplessness. The thing was, he knew his sister too well. She used to laugh out loud—a lot. And crack jokes. And be bawdy and rambunctious. She wasn’t just suffering from heartbreak over the idiot she’d dated for four years, who’d then left her when she was pregnant. Nor could he attribute her seriousness to the maturity that came with being a parent—at least, he didn’t think that was the case. She’d lost her confidence, her joie de vivre, her sparkle. Sparkle was a word he’d never admit to using but that was how he saw the problem. And he had no idea how to help her.