Overcast, temps just above freezing. No sap. Worked on main lines, setting up the vacuum pump and scouring sap tanks with wet snow.
—Colton Abbott’s sugaring journal, February 24
Waking early on Saturday morning, Will Abbott took advantage of the opportunity to watch Cameron sleep. Since she was almost always awake before him, he rarely had the chance to study her in all her gorgeousness without her knowing he was looking.
He focused on the dark circles that had formed under her eyes as she worked long, grueling hours on the website for the store all the while helping Hannah with her plan to turn her home into a bed-and-breakfast for women who’d lost spouses to war. On top of all of that, Hannah had asked Cameron to be a bridesmaid in her wedding to Nolan later this summer.
Unable to resist touching her, Will stroked her fine blonde hair and let the silky strands slide through his fingers. In the weeks that she’d been living with him in his cabin in the woods, she’d also taken to life among the Abbotts like a bee to the sweetest of honey. She’d flitted from one family obligation to another until his parents and siblings were almost as in love with her as he was.
The bruised circles under her eyes told the true story though. She was wearing herself out. He hadn’t yet asked what she had planned for the weekend, but inevitably she would work for much of it.
She needed some time away from the computer, and he needed some time completely alone with her. The idea took root as he watched her sleep. He got out of bed slowly so he wouldn’t wake her. After letting the dogs out, he filled their bowls with food and then headed for the shower. By the time he was dressed, the dogs were scratching at the door to get in. He wrote Cameron a note to let her know he’d gone to do a quick errand but would be right back and left it on his pillow so she’d see it the minute she woke up.
Will whispered to the dogs to take care of Cameron and he’d be right back. Sensing they weren’t invited to join him, Trevor and Tanner went to the bedroom and got in bed with Cam.
He drove his truck into town and across the one-lane covered bridge that led to his parents’ home on Hells Peak Road. They still lived in the converted red barn in which they’d raised ten children, who loved to tell outsiders they’d been raised in a barn. His brother Landon liked to add that their upbringing explained their bad behavior. Except none of them were all that badly behaved. Their parents wouldn’t have stood for it then, and they certainly wouldn’t stand for it now that all ten of their children were adults.
Even Max, the youngest of them, was now officially an adult and had the first Abbott grandchild on the way. Months after hearing that Max and his girlfriend, Chloe, were expecting a baby together, Will was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that the youngest of them would be the first to become a parent.
They’d all expected Hannah to be the first parent as she’d married Caleb right after college. But they’d yet to have children when Caleb died six years later in Iraq. The rest of them were late bloomers in the marriage and family department. Since he’d met Cameron, Will had begun to think more about the next steps for them. As eager as he was to spend forever with her, they weren’t in any rush. Still, it was on his mind.
Will entered the mudroom at his parents’ house and was greeted by their yellow labs, George the third and Ringo the third, named for members of his father’s favorite band of all time.
His parents were exactly where he expected them to be at that hour—at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading the morning paper the way they had every morning for as long as Will could remember.
He bent to kiss his mother and stole a croissant out of a basket on the table.
“To what do we owe this unexpected honor?” Molly Abbott asked as she turned her cheek up to receive his kiss.
“What? A guy can’t come by to see his parents without a good reason?”
Lincoln looked over the half glasses that were perched on the end of his nose. “We haven’t seen much of you lately.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Busy,” Molly said with a chuckle. “Is that what you call it these days?”
“Happy,” Will said. “Is that better?”
“That’s lovely, and no one deserves it more.”
“I don’t mean to neglect you guys though.”
“You haven’t,” Molly said. “We’re teasing you.”
“If you’re happy,” Lincoln added, “we’re happy.”
That was the simple truth his parents had always lived by, and it was how he hoped to raise his own kids someday.
Molly got up to refill her mug and poured one for Will, putting the cream and sugar on the table in front of him. “So what brings you by, and where’s Cam this morning?”
“Thanks.” Will stirred cream into his coffee. “She’s sleeping in, but she’s why I’m here. I was thinking about taking her over to the lake for a couple of nights. She’s been working nonstop for weeks and could use a break.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” Lincoln said after a short pause. “I’ll get you the key.” He jumped up from the table and left the room, the dogs in hot pursuit. Where his father went, the dogs went, too.
Molly twisted her gray braid around her finger as she eyed him. “I’ve noticed Cam seems sort of worn out lately. I wondered if something else might be afoot.”
“Such as?”
Molly shrugged but sent him a devilish grin. “You should ask Max about how tired Chloe has been.”
Will felt like he’d been electrocuted as he stared at his mother. “Cameron isn’t pregnant, Mom.”
“And you’re sure of that?”
“Of course I am.” Of course he was. Despite his certainty, however, a bolt of panic shot through him.
“Then a few nights away ought to perk her right up.”
He downed the last of his coffee, surprised he could get it past the huge lump in his throat. “That’s the idea.”
Lincoln returned and held out the key to Will. “Have a nice time.”
“We will. Thanks.” He stood and put his mug in the sink. “I’d better get home and see if I can talk Cameron into a getaway.”
“Good luck, son,” Molly said.
“Are you taking the boys?” Lincoln asked of Will’s dogs.
“I figured I would. They love the lake.”
“Yes, they do. Have fun.”
“We might be a little late on Monday, but we’ll be there.”
“You should take Monday off. It’s been ages since you had a day off.”
“Not that long,” Will reminded him. “I had a week off when I helped Cameron move.”
“That doesn’t count,” Lincoln said. “That was work.”
Will would hardly consider a week alone with Cameron work, but he didn’t argue the point. “I’ll see what she wants to do. She may want to get back sooner rather than later.”
“Up to you.”
“I’ll see you. Have a good weekend.”
“You, too, honey,” Molly called after him.
Will headed for the door, eager to get back to Cam and make sure she was just tired and not something else. It couldn’t be that. Could it?
Lincoln returned to his seat at the table, picked up the paper and settled in to read, his mind racing with scenarios and hoping he’d done the right thing by letting Will go to the lake when Colton was already there.
“That’s it?” Molly asked. “You’re not going to say a word about what just happened here?”
Lincoln folded the corner of the paper down so he could see his lovely wife, who was, in fact, still very lovely nearly forty years after he met her and had the good sense to marry her. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Lincoln Abbott. I happen to know you gave the other set of keys to Colton.”
He did his best not to squirm under her intense glare. “And how do you know that?”
“I have my sources. So what’re you about?”
“It’s a big house. They won’t even see each other.”
Molly raised a brow to let him know she wasn’t buying his bullshit. She always could see right through him.
“I don’t see what the big deal is. Colton went fishing.”
“Is that what he told you?” Molly laughed. “And you believed him?”
What to say? If he admitted he didn’t believe him, he’d walk right into her trap. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Oh, Linc, you can fool some of the people some of the time, but not me. What’re you up to?”
“Nothing.”
“And when Will walks in there to find Colton with a woman, will you still say you weren’t up to anything?”
“That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.”
She shook her head. “You are too much. I hope your little scheme doesn’t blow up in your face.”
Her words were a jolt to his system. He hoped so, too.
Cameron was still asleep when Will returned to the cabin. He paced for half an hour, the dogs following him anxiously, sensing something was wrong. When he finally heard her stirring in the bedroom, he went into the room, intending to subtly work his way into the question he needed to ask her.
But seeing her sleep-rumpled and beautiful, subtlety flew out the window. “Are you pregnant?”
Her hazel eyes went wide, and her mouth opened and then closed.
“Cameron, answer me. Are you?”
“Not that I know of. Do you know something I don’t?”
“You’ve been so tired, and the dark circles, and you’re hungry all the time, and your breasts, they’re well, you know . . .”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me what my breasts are?”
If he wasn’t mistaken, she was enjoying his discomfort. “They’re . . . bigger and more sensitive.” He cleared his throat. “Lately.”
“Who put the idea I might be pregnant in your head?”
“My mom.”
“Your mother? What did she say?”
“I mentioned you’d been tired lately, and she said she’d noticed that, too. She asked if it was something more than overwork causing it.”
“So you totally freaked out and jumped to all kinds of conclusions?”
“Not totally. Only kind of.”
“Come here.” Smiling indulgently, she held out a hand to him. “You didn’t tell your mother about my breasts, did you?”
“Of course I didn’t.” He was so wound up he could barely function. However, any time Cameron held out her hand to him, he took it. This time was no exception.
She laughed at his discomfort and tugged him down next to her in bed.
“Sorry,” he muttered when he was curled up to her. “I let my imagination run wild.”
“Did you stop for one second to wonder how I could be pregnant when I’m on birth control?”
“Nothing is foolproof. Just ask Max about that.”
“I’m not pregnant, but after seeing you so freaked out, I’m a little concerned about what would happen if I were.”
“What does that mean?”
“It doesn’t seem like you’d be happy about it.”
“Are you serious? I’d love to see you pregnant with our baby. I can’t imagine anything that would please me more.”
She responded to that with the soft smile he’d come to love so much, especially when it was directed at him. “Then why the freak-out?”
He blew out a deep breath. “I guess it was more the idea that something like that could be going on with you, and I didn’t even notice. I was afraid I’d missed something important.”
“You haven’t missed anything. I promise.”
“But you are incredibly tired.”
“I won’t deny that.”
He cupped her breast and ran his thumb over the nipple that hardened under his caress. “And you’re more sensitive.”
“Probably PMS.”
“That I can’t do much about, but I’ve got an idea to deal with the exhaustion.”
“What’s that?”
He withdrew the key his father had given him from the front pocket of his shorts and held it up for her to see.
“What’ve you got there?”
“That, my love, is a key to the Abbott family lake house in Burlington.”
“Ahh, I’ve heard about this lake house of which you speak. Something about a wedding happening there later this summer . . .”
“I thought we might run away for a couple of days.”
She stared at the key as she contemplated his offer. “Would I be allowed to bring my laptop on this adventure?”
“I suppose I could permit that if you’re willing to put a time limit on how much you work. The goal is to rest and relax.”
“Three hours a day.”
“Two.”
“Three.”
“Two, and that’s my final offer.”
“Two and a half, and that’s my final offer.”
“Done. How soon can you be ready to go?”
“Twenty minutes if you make the coffee.”
One of the things he loved best about Cameron was that she was very much a girl, but she didn’t spend hours making herself look like one. She didn’t need to. “You’re on.” He started to get up, but she gave his hand a tug.
“Thanks for being worried about me and for making a plan to get me away from work.”
“It’s sort of a selfish plan, really.”
“How so?”
He kissed her, lingering over the sweet taste of her lips. “Since you’ve moved here, I’ve had to share you with my family. I’m ready to have you all to myself for a few days.”
She ran her fingers through his hair. “Have I been neglecting you?”
“Not at all. I love how much you love my family and vice versa. But I also love the idea of being completely alone at the lake for a few days.”
“I love that idea, too.”
“Then let’s get to it.”
“What about the boys?” she asked of the dogs.
“Coming with us, but don’t tell them until we’re ready to go, or they’ll go nuts.”
“Yay, a few days alone with my three favorite guys. What could be better than that?”
Drinking in the bright smile that made her eyes light up with joy, Will couldn’t think of a single thing better than that.