The chair squeaks again. “Maybe I underestimated you.”
“I guarantee you did. But just so we’re on the same page going forward, because there will be a forward, I don’t want her money. I don’t want her things. I would destroy anyone that hurts her, including Nolan if I ever see that piece of shit again. I want nothing from Cam, only that she’s happy. Right now she’s not . . . and that’s your fault.”
He sighs, blowing out a breath.
“Call her,” I demand. “You can hate me all you want; I really don’t give a fuck. But she’s your sister and she needs you as much as she needs me. Fix this. Soon.”
I’m taken aback when he laughs. “You are not what I expected.”
“Imagine that.”
“I have a call coming in that I have to take, but this has been an eye-opening experience. Thanks for the call.”
“No problem.”
I slide the phone back on the table just as the doorbell rings. Taking the few steps from the table to the door, I can hear Ryder jabbering before I even get it open.
“Dom!” he shouts, giving me a high-five as he races by me. “Where’s Daddy?”
“The shower,” I laugh, watching him fly down the hallway. It’s then that I set my sights on her. “How are you?”
She doesn’t answer with words, just a long, leisurely kiss.
“That good, huh?” I say against her lips.
She giggles, pulling back. “I missed you last night.”
“I spent the night with two seventy-year-olds reminding me how much they were sweating every six-point-two seconds,” I groan. “It was not fun.”
“It sounds horrible.”
“So what are you doing today?” I ask, shutting the door.
She wrinkles her nose. “I have the charity event at Picante. Remember?”
“That’s right,” I say, although I didn’t remember it was tonight specifically. “Are you excited?”
“I’d be more excited if you would come with me.”
“I do make things fun.” Hearing her laugh behind me, I head into the kitchen. “How was Ryder last night?”
“Fun,” she says like it amazes her. “We colored pictures of lizards and it’s safe to say I still have my coloring skills.”
“Never know when you’ll need those,” I wink.
Her cheeks blush as she looks down. “I’ve been thinking about getting with Mom and seeing about putting something together for small business owners. Something that would help them spruce up their storefronts or something. I think it would be fun and could really help people out.”
“Really?”
She nods, still not looking at me. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
I lift her chin with my fingertip. “I think whatever you want to do is a good idea. And, yes, I think you need to do something that makes you happy. Besides me.”
“You make me happy.”
“I hope so.”
Our lips touch, sweetly at first, but as her hands scoot under the hem of my shirt and roam the ridges of my back, her lips part. I deepen the kiss, craving the taste of her.
Lifting her, I sit her on the counter. Her legs wrap around my waist. “If you won’t go with me tonight, will you at least stay with me after?”
“I want to say no just to get you going,” I say, kissing up the side of her neck, “but I can’t even pretend I don’t want you.”
“Is that a yes?” she moans.
“Uncle Dom,” Ryder says, coming from nowhere. “Are you kissing Cam?”
My head drops to Cam’s shoulder as I move my hips so he doesn’t see the outline of my cock in my shorts.
Cam giggles. “Ryder, if you were a superhero, you would totally be the invisible one.”
“We’re gonna put a bell on ya, kid,” I mutter.
Camilla swats at my shoulder as she jumps off the counter. “I need to go anyway. I have to run by the Farm and pick up my dress for tonight. They delivered it there rather than to my house for whatever reason.” She looks at me and cocks a brow. “Was that a yes?”
“You know it was.”
Blowing me a kiss, she heads to the door. “I’ll see you boys later. Behave.”
The door closes and Ryder looks at me. “She’s the best.”
“Yeah,” I smile. “She is, isn’t she?”
Camilla
“HELLO, CAMILLA.”
“Oh!” I say, my hand falling on my chest. “I didn’t see you, Rose. You scared me.”
The sweet lady smiles at me from behind the desk in the living room at the Farm. Her hair is piled in some chignon from decades gone by, her pearls shining in the late morning sunlight.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” she says.
“Oh, I know. I didn’t realize Barrett was back in town.”
“Yes,” Barrett’s personal secretary says. “We came in for the event this evening. Alison was not about to miss it.”
It makes me proud that my sister-in-law, the pregnant wife of the Governor, for heaven’s sake, supports my function to this degree. “She’s awesome.”
“I agree, Camilla. She’s made my job a whole lot easier.”
“I bet she has,” I laugh. “So where are they?”
“They took the golf cart down to the lake so Huxley can fish for a little bit. Alison didn’t feel like walking and Barrett wasn’t leaving her behind.”
“I didn’t see their car.”
“Troy took it to town to run a few errands and grab some lunch. Do you want something, dear? I could have him pick some up for you.”
“No, thank you though. I just came for my dress. Have you seen it today?”
“Yes, actually. It’s in the hall closet by the bathroom.”
“Thanks, Rose!” I meander through the Farm, not going straight to the closet but stopping in the living room first. It’s quiet, unlike most times I’m here.
The walls are sprinkled with pictures of us throughout the years. There are goofy pictures of Lincoln and Sienna at a car wash one summer and of me in my cheerleading outfit from high school. Those are mixed with images of Ford graduating from military school and Barrett taking the oath of office. It’s a wall of memories, one that makes me a little nostalgic.
We’ve spent so many hours, days, years here together celebrating good times and convening for the bad ones. Tears from joy and sadness have been shed, screams for wonderful announcements and terrible declarations have been heard by these walls. No matter what, we’ve done it together. As a family.
My heart twists in my chest, tears dotting my eyes, when I turn to see Graham and Lincoln watching me from the back porch. Turning away, I refuse to let Graham see me weak. But, in typical G fashion, he’s in the door and in front of me before I have a chance to flee.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, any traces of his recent venom gone.
“Nothing,” I sniffle. “I was just thinking about all the things we’ve done in this room. Ford’s wedding, Barrett’s election celebration. Our sixteenth birthday party.”