"You always got such a kick out of grabbing it before I could that I didn't have the heart to tell you. Jacks loves them too so I always order extra now anyway."
I shook my head. "All that unnecessary guilt over the years and you didn't even care!"
"Guilt?" he asked.
"I felt bad!"
"But not bad enough to stop?"
"Of course not! The cherries are the best part!" I replied defensively.
Brody laughed so hard he started coughing and had to take a few sips of tea before he finally got it under control. Then his expression grew serious. "Thank you." When he saw the look on my face, he explained, "You took my mind off everything that's going on today. It means a lot to me."
"Ice cream makes everything better," I stated.
"I don't think it was just the ice cream." Brody grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth. "I have to get back to the office. Thanks for having lunch with me."
We both got to our feet and I realized I really didn't want him to leave. Which was weird. I always enjoyed time to myself. Maybe it was strange, but I'd never liked someone in my space all the time. Except for Sierra. She was one of the few people who I could just be with, sitting in silence, each of us doing our own thing.
Brody had been another person until things changed between us my freshman year of high school.
"How late do you stay up?" he asked me.
Surprised by the random question, I answered, "Eleven or so. Why?"
"Can I call you after Jacks goes to bed?"
I leaned into him a little. "I don't know. My mom doesn't like it when I'm up late, talking to boys."
The corner of his mouth kicked up. "We'll be off the phone by midnight. I'm a lot older than you and I have to work in the morning."
"You're that old?" I gasped. "Ewwww."
He didn't say anything else, just gave me one of those light, sweet kisses right out of my adolescent daydreams.
And, truly, that said it all.
15
Jacks was happy to return to her father. I knew this because she came bouncing through the door of Crave the next afternoon, her dad in tow. And she immediately started talking a mile a minute about all the things her mom scheduled for her to do.
Unfortunately, it sounded like Monica arranged lessons, play dates, and activities but never remained there with Jacks.
I think Jacks had fun, but she did mention that she wished she'd spent more time with her mom. And I don't think she meant staying at her mother's house in Dallas, but just time with Monica.
Brody smiled and said all the right things, but I could tell he wasn't pleased with what he was hearing.
Once Jacks wound down and the flow of words stopped, I said, "Well, I know your dad really missed you." I leaned forward. "He came by yesterday and ate most of a huge Insane Brownie Fudge Sundae with me because he was so sad. I thought he was going to cry all over it."
Her eyes widened and she looked at her father. "Really?"
His eyes promised me retribution as soon as we were alone. Somehow, I didn't think I was going to hate it.
He broke our stare down because I couldn't tear my eyes from his and looked down at Jacks. "Yeah, baby. I missed you a lot."
There was a softness in his voice that hit me right in the gut. The way he spoke to her, the way he looked at her, everything about him revealed his love for her.
I wanted that for myself. My entire life, I'd seen my father look at my mother like that. And me. Even my brother.
I realized then that I didn't want just anyone to look at me like that. I wanted Brody to be that man.
Watching him watch his daughter—that was the moment I fell in love with Brody Murphy. True, deep, all-encompassing love. It was so much more than the adolescent adoration I'd had for him.
Jacks' laugh pierced the fog surrounding me. I blinked and realized that I'd missed whatever she'd said in reply to Brody's admission that he'd been sad while she was gone.
"You okay, Miss Cam?" Jacks asked me.
I smiled at her. "Yeah. I'm good. So did you bring your appetite for ice cream?"
"Yeah!"
They each ordered two scoops and carried them to a table. Things were too busy for me to go sit with them, but they had their heads together as they ate. Jacks looked happy to be home.
"I recognize that look," Sierra said as she sidled up to me.
"What look?"
She turned toward me. "You're in love with him."
"You can't tell that just by looking at someone."
"I can when that someone is you," she scoffed. "You look at him differently than you have any other guy before. You're...softer."
"Shut up," I muttered. "We haven't even had sex yet."
There was a choked sound behind me and I sighed. Kelly must have snuck up on us.
"What did I tell you about eavesdropping?" I asked her without turning around.
"That if I was going to do it, I had to be sneaky enough not to get caught," Kelly replied.
"Well, you're caught. Go clean something or take out the trash. The dirtier the job the better. It will teach you to be more careful next time."
Kelly had worked with me long enough to get used to my occasionally twisted sense of humor. She just laughed, rolled her eyes, and went back up to the counter to help three little girls who'd just come in with a woman that appeared as harassed as I usually felt when surrounded by three small people.
Running an ice cream shop, I spent a lot of time around kids. Most of them were fun, even when they were being a little naughty. But they're still exhausting, even when you like'em.
I moved to help her, but Jacks came to the end of the counter and called, "Miss Cam?"
I changed direction and stopped in front of her. "You don't have to call me 'miss', sweetie. I'm Cam."
"Daddy says I should always call adults 'miss', 'missus', or 'mister'."
"Normally, I would definitely agree with that, but since I've known your daddy since he wasn't much older than you, it makes me feel weird for you to call me 'Miss Cam'. How about I tell him I'd like you to call me Cam or Cameron and we'll see if he backs off a little?"
Jacks grinned at me. "Okay. I wanted to ask you if you'd come to dinner at our new house tomorrow night."
I glanced at Brody, who was watching us with a grin that matched Jacks' on his face. "Did you guys get all unpacked?" I asked.
Brody nodded. "The moving company did most of it on Sunday, but Jacks and I finished up last night."
I looked back to the little girl with a hopeful expression on her face and tried to smile. "I would love to, sweetie, but I don't know if I can. I took the weekend off work and I don't want to leave my employees or my partner in a bind."
"Go have dinner with them tomorrow night. You can take a long break," Sierra called.
I twisted around and made a face at her. "Thank you for the permission. I didn't realize you thought it was necessary."
She waved an ice cream scoop at me. "Don't sass me or you'll be grounded for a week, young lady."