Chapter 16

Rory

Cammy was in physical therapy when I got there, but they allowed me to wait in her room until she got back. I wandered around trying to get comfortable, feel comfortable in this place. The bells over her door made me smile. It was like a piece of Dawn was here. I wondered if she would come with me if I asked.

My eyes caught on a photo album that hadn’t been here the last time. I flipped through it, and it was obvious from the scrapbooking it was my mother’s work. She must have been here recently. She had chronicled every year of Cammy’s life, a page per year. I touched the picture of me holding baby Camilia on the day they brought her home. I held her like she was going to break. Turning the pages, I went through to her wedding picture and then to the birth of my nephew. I wondered if anyone had told Kendrick that Cammy was out of her coma.

Before I could think better of it, I called my brother-in-law. It went to voice mail and I don't think I'd ever been so relieved. "Hey, Kendrick, it's Rory Parker." And that's where words failed me. What the hell do you say in this situation? I went for blunt truth. If I was lucky, my father had already told him. "Cammy is out of the coma. I wasn't sure if you knew. But she doesn't have full memories. Give me a call before you go and see her and I'll give you a heads up."

It occurred to me that I didn't even know if they were still married. I had assumed, but maybe he divorced her. Could he do that while she was in a coma? I sent an email to my lawyer posing the question. I hoped he hadn't, because custody would be an ugly nightmare. Spencer wasn't his by blood, but Kendrick was the only father he'd ever known. I hoped he wouldn't try to keep him from us. For all I knew, Kendrick had moved on in the last five years and wanted nothing to do with Cammy. He could even have a girlfriend or gotten remarried. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Then again, I was getting way too ahead of myself. Cammy had to be able to take care of herself first before she could be a wife and mother again. Still, the thought that Kendrick might be cheating on my sister made me want to chuck him out a window.

I should probably mind my own business. I had no idea what kind of marriage they had. I wanted to think that they found love. They could very well have an arrangement like Dawn's sister for all I knew. I paced around the room. I was overthinking this. My mother had current pictures of Spencer and she sent him gifts for his birthday and Christmas. They were a part of his life, if only on the sidelines instead of upfront and center. Kendrick spent holidays with his family, so I hadn't seen him or the baby in years.

Great. I was a shitty uncle too.

Cammy came back in with a nurse on either side of her. She looked exhausted, but calm.

"She's doing great," Brenda said, settling Cammy into the chaise longue by the window. "Did you want to join Camilia for lunch?"

"Sure," I said.

"I'll have the cafeteria staff send up an extra meal." Brenda tucked a cotton throw over Cammy's legs and poured her a glass of lemon and cucumber water before leaving us alone.

"Want to play cards, or are you too tired?"

Cammy turned her head toward me.

"I'm Rory, your brother."

She nodded slowly.

"You know who I am?" I grinned and stood up. "That's fantastic."

Cammy flinched back.

"Sorry. Sorry. I just got so excited." I quickly sat back down. "Has Mom been here lately?"

She just looked at me with a blank expression.

"Okay. I'm not going to rush it. I'm just happy that you know who I am."

We were interrupted by lunch. It was a bland chicken and rice with soupy peas. I watched her pick at it halfheartedly for a few minutes. Then I called a pizza shop and offered a hundred-dollar tip to anyone who would deliver ten cheese pizzas to the hospital. After they got here, it cheered Cammy up a bit. She had three pieces before zonking out on the chaise longue.

"Thank you so much for the treat," Brenda said as I was leaving.

"Maybe I'll make it a Saturday habit."

I gave her a little wave, feeling a little better about leaving Cammy in there while I went about my life. I don’t think I could be locked up in a place like that for five years and still keep my sanity. It ate at me that my sister could be trapped inside her own mind, banging at the windows trying to get out. I called around and spoke to her doctors. She had lesions on the brain, and some of her brain cells had been damaged or killed. Unfortunately, brain cells don’t grow back, but there was a chance that she could learn to work around that. There had to be some way to reach her. I bought a bunch of books on brain injuries, but I hadn’t had any time to read them. Well, that wasn’t true. I’d start to read them and find myself fighting back emotions I didn’t want to feel. Bottom line, I wasn’t a doctor. But I was her brother, and I would be there for her, even if the only thing I could do was order pizza.

I checked my messages. Kendrick hadn't called back.

I drove back to Haven, hoping to spend some time with Dawn, but then Hans called bitching about being kicked out of his lease and not getting his deposit back. It ended ugly and I directed him to my lawyer. It clearly said in his contract that any violations of the lease—and having illegal drugs on the premises was one of them—voided the agreement and the monies he paid in were forfeit.

"Give me a second chance," he had pleaded.

Not when my sister was confined to a hospital for the past five years. Sorry. Not Sorry.

"You'll regret this," Hans had threatened.

I doubted it. My only regret was the replacement store, the Italian shoe designer, was going to make me build another closet for loafers. I got involved with more business, even though it was a Saturday. It took my mind off how helpless I felt about Cammy’s condition. At least in this I could make a difference. The time spent was productive; the Greasy Spoon’s owner agreed to move his business to food trucks after I offered to supply him with three used food trucks in lieu of the cash incentive. I called in some of my staff to work overtime to get me the trucks by Monday. Then I had to coordinate the gutting of the little restaurant and hired contractors to build it to spec.

"Dad?" I called him after lining up the workmen. "I need a builder's permit for Monday."

"You get the Nolan girl to vamoose yet?"

"No, the Greasy Spoon."

"My heartburn owes you a debt of gratitude. I can get you the permit by Monday. Is this where the French restaurant is going?"

I checked my waiting list. "Depends on if they can get approval for their loan. Otherwise, it's going to be a modern American gourmet restaurant or a Colonial-themed restaurant complete with period costumes."

"Go with the modern one. The other one is too campy."

I liked the idea of the historical restaurant. It was more kid friendly than some fusion restaurant, but I was fine with any one of them. It wasn’t worth the argument to mention it to my father.

"What about the pizza place?"

"They're staying. We're going to expand the menu and the dining area."

"I suppose that's all right," my father grumbled. "So you're almost done."

"I told you I would be." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"What's going in the smut peddler's store?"

It took me a few minutes to realize he was talking about Dawn and not about Zeke, who sold his cigar and magazine store in order to open a gentlemen's club in Bridgeport. The magazines he had sold usually came in brown paper bags.

"I'm still working out the details." I wasn't sure yet what Dawn was willing to do and I didn't want to hear it from my father. "I saw Cammy today, and she knew who I was."

My father grunted. "Don't get your hopes up. We've seen this before."

I knew this time was different. I could feel it in my bones. "Have you spoken to Kendrick?"

"Not lately, why?"

Because of your grandson, I wanted to say that, but I bit my tongue. "I was wondering if anyone told him about Cammy."

"We don't want to get his hopes up. Kendrick has been through a lot."

So had Cammy. "Are they still married, or did Kendrick divorce her?"

"What? No. Of course, not. He's still her husband. I'm her guardian. I'd never sign the divorce papers. Besides, Kendrick likes being part of this family."

Well, that was one of us. "How much are you paying him?" I was only half joking, but in the awkward silence I realized I hadn't been far off. Time to change the subject. "I had to replace Landscapes with the Italian shoe store I was telling you about." I felt a little twinge of guilt. I hadn't even tried to find local artists to occupy that store like I had told Dawn I was going to.

"Maybe you can put something similar where Tantric Books is?"

That wasn't a bad idea. After all, Dawn had wanted me to go native. This could work. I was positive that the selectmen didn't have a problem with Dawn personally. They just didn't want the smutty merchandise tossed in their faces.

By the time I got everything sorted out for next week, I was comfortable on my yacht and didn't want to go out again. I called Dawn to see if she wanted to come over. Of course, she didn't answer her phone, so I texted her. She called back a few minutes later.

"Are you on your way?" I asked.

"No, I've got a busy day tomorrow and I was moving furniture all day. I'm beat."

She did sound like she was one step away from bed.

"How about I come over there?" I could probably rouse myself enough to get into the car.

"No," she said quickly, and I tamped down a pang of hurt. Why didn't she want me at her apartment? I wondered if she was living with a man. I tamped down the jealousy. There was no reason to think she was cheating on me. She could have just told me no if she didn’t want an exclusive relationship. Dawn wasn’t the type of person to lie or hide who she was. That was one of the things I loved about her.

My eyes went wide. That was just a turn of phrase, wasn’t it?

"The place is a mess. It's the maid's week off," she joked.

"I hear ya," I said, booting up my computer, pushing thoughts of love aside for lust. Lust I understood. Lust could be satiated. I didn’t know the first thing about love. "I guess I'll just have to make do with the video."

We wound up watching it together. Her on her computer and me on mine. It got hotter every time I watched it. It was even better when I could hear her come over the phone while I jerked off to it. Not as good as the real thing, but it would have to do. I couldn't get off the bed if they paid me.

"We should do another movie," I said sleepily.

"Why, is this one boring you?" Her voice was husky and satiated. I wished she was here in my arms.

"No, but I like the idea of filming you getting off. If I set up a tripod and camera on my yacht, would you let me film us having sex with those clamps you were talking about? I bet you'd look so beautiful coming on camera like that."

"I'm not saying no," she said, sultry and sexy. Then she yawned and ruined her femme fatale image. I thought it was adorable.

"I'll take a rain check. Good night, sweetheart. I miss you."

"See ya," she said, and then, as if it was an afterthought, added, "Miss you too. Why don't I sleep over tomorrow night so we could get an early start to go the city on Monday?"

"How did you find out?" I groaned. "It was supposed to be a surprise. Who was the big mouth? I bet it was Jeannine."

"Nope, but you should really ask me first before you try and get my friends to cover the store. If I had any energy to spare, I'd be pissed off at you."

"Actually, my secretary is going to work there and Jeannine and Millie are going to support her."

"I've never even met your secretary. Can't you see how high-handed that is?"

"I'm efficient. I see what I want and I make it happen. Anyway, you'll like Bridgette. She's on the ball. She'll do fine. Don't be pissed. I just wanted to take you out on a date."

"I appreciate that. And I can't wait. But next time ask me first. I don't like surprises."

"All right," I said. "Sweet dreams and I'll see you in the morning."