Chapter 11
Cameron was conflicted as he sat at the small desk in his room. On the one hand, he could go back to New York and pick up where he left off - working with authors, building his business. Only now he didn’t have the financial concerns hanging over his head. He would be able to fund his business for a long time to come and write his own books if he wanted.
On the other hand, he could give up New York to stay in Whiskey Ridge and run the business alongside a woman he was falling for fast.
But there was the complication of Johnny now. And maybe they needed to be a family again. Maybe that was best for Lucas in the long run, although he couldn’t possibly see how.
He’d managed to put Susan off for the last couple of days as he thought about his situation, but he couldn’t hold off forever. Jed Millway would move on to another publisher if he didn’t do something soon.
He decided to do what he always did when he had a decision to make and he was in Whiskey Ridge - he took the golf cart to his favorite spot.
Cameron sat looking at the mountains in the distance and sighed. Whiskey Ridge was heaven on Earth to him. It fed his soul in a way no other place could or would.
He thought about what it would be like to sit there with his laptop, writing novels that truly made a difference in the world. And then he thought about the hectic nature of living in the city, and how his days were spent downing copious amounts of coffee and rushing between meetings.
“Hello, Cameron,” he heard from beside him. Shockingly, it was Hector. He climbed up into the golf cart and stared ahead.
“Hey.”
“Deep in thought?”
“Kind of,” Cameron said, reaching down and taking a sip from his insulated coffee mug.
“I remember this was your place to come as a kid,” Hector said, a warm smile spreading over his face.
“Yeah. I’ve always loved this spot.”
Hector cleared his throat. “You love her?”
“Who?” Cameron asked with a chuckle.
“Miss Piper.”
Cameron’s throat tightened. Hector always knew just how to cut to the chase.
“I… um…”
“You don’t have to answer,” Hector said smiling. “But if you hurt her, you will have to answer to me.”
With that, he jumped down from the golf cart and walked away, whistling a tune. Cameron shook his head and laughed before he plopped his forehead onto the steering wheel.
Piper stood at the front of the school and watched Lucas walk away. She was nervous for herself and nervous for him. What if he didn’t like it? What if the other kids bullied him or he hated his teachers?
For several minutes after the door shut, she stood there waiting for him to come running out with his arms open wide. But he didn’t.
She didn’t want to look like a crazy stalker or obsessed mother, so she finally started walking away. Still, she wanted to stay close just in case he needed her, so she decided to walk to the diner and have a cup of coffee.
“Good morning, Piper! You’re here bright and early,” Candy said with a big smile.
“Just dropped Lucas off for his first day of school,” she said.
“Oh, I see. That’s why you look so anxious. Well, don’t you worry. Whiskey Ridge Elementary is the best school in this area. He’ll do fine. Who’s his teacher?”
Piper sat down at her usual able. “Miss Colton.”
“Oh, wonderful! Miss Colton has been there for at least twenty years. She taught my son and daughter. Lucas will love her.”
Piper breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Thank you for saying that.”
“I’ll grab your coffee. Breakfast?”
“No, thanks. Just the coffee.”
She pulled a file folder out of her purse and started working on some numbers for the rose business, but her mind was focused on Lucas and the impending deadline of her partnership with Cameron. She still had no idea what he was going to decide to do about his share, and she was afraid to ask for fear that he would think she was pushing him.
They’d kissed a few times, but that had stopped since Johnny had shown up on the scene. He was like a big wet blanket than snuffed out the joy in her life.
“Hello,” she heard Johnny say from in front of her. How had he slipped into her booth without her noticing?
“What, Johnny?” She didn’t even bother looking up as that might have given the erroneous impression that she wanted him to continue engaging with her.
“Is that any way to greet your son’s father?”
“Would you rather I slapped you or stabbed you with this butter knife then?” She gave him a smirk and looked back down.
“I thought we were getting along?” he said, leaning back in the booth.
She looked up. “We’re getting along in front of our son. When he’s not around, I consider you to be like a fungus that I can’t get rid of.”
“Come on, Pipes… Piper. Sorry.” She gave him a look of warning. “I think we both know what’s happening here.” Suddenly, he reached across the table and captured one of her hands between his two large hands and held it. She tried to pull back, but couldn’t.
“Let go of my hand.”
“Just hear me out, okay?” he continued holding her hand. She didn’t want to make a scene, so she relented and gave him a look of boredom. “I think Lucas would be so much better off if his parents…”
“Oh, dear God…”
“Got back together…”
She finally yanked her hand away and wiped it on the leg of her jeans. “Are you freaking kidding me right now?”
“No. I’m not kidding. Piper, we were in love once…”
“We were kids. And you were, and still are, an idiot. And right now, you’re seriously pushing your luck with me.”
She slid out of the booth with her file and purse and walked out the door.
Cameron leaned against the brick wall on the other side of the diner. His heart was thumping out of his chest, and he thought for a moment he might throw up.
He’d just wanted to check on her to make sure she was okay after dropping off Lucas at school for his first day. The brown paper bag with her favorite blueberry muffins from the bakery dangled in his hand and eventually dropped onto the pavement.
The vision of her holding Johnny’s hand across the table in the diner was forever etched in his mind. He’d seen them accidentally, of course, but the sight of him touching her and her allowing it was enough to help him make his decision.
He was going back to New York.
“Cameron, I don’t understand. I thought you and Piper were getting along?”
“We were. I mean, we are. Look, this is purely a business decision. What are my options?” he asked Mr. Dylan.
“Well, your six weeks is up in a couple of days. You can either sell your share to Piper or someone else. Or you can stay and run the place. Or you can go back to New York and hire someone to stand in your place at the orchard for the time being.”
“I’ll take that last option.”
“You know this isn’t what your grandmother intended, right?” Mr. Dylan asked.
“Well, apparently my grandmother isn’t always right,” Cameron said before he stood and walked toward the door. “Oh, and this is between you and me. You are to tell no one, including Piper, until I’ve had a chance to talk to her.”
Mr. Dylan nodded.
Piper felt like she needed to take a shower after Johnny held her hand. He was up to something, she just knew it. She had no idea what it was, but she intended to find out.
As she walked around the square trying to clear her mind, she noticed Johnny’s truck was still there in front of the diner. He should’ve left long ago. She peeked in the window, but he wasn’t inside.
She thought she heard his voice around the corner of the building, so she stood just out sight, shielded by a magnolia tree and listened. He was on the phone.
“I know, baby. I’m working on it. I really freaked her out today, so I think she’ll cave soon. I love you too. I’ll be home to get you soon…”
What on Earth? Who was he talking to? And what was she going to cave about?
“I think at least a hundred grand. She wants me out of her life and the kid’s life…”
“The kid”? Lucas was his name!
“I’ll ramp it up… lay it on even thicker,” he said, laughing. “By the time I’m done, she’ll definitely want to fork over some of that newfound cash. If I have to, I’ll threaten to get full custody of the kid.”
Piper couldn’t breathe. She leaned over and struggled to get a good breath in. By the time she composed herself, Johnny’s truck was speeding down the road, his huge tires screeching around the corner.
She ran to her car and immediately started toward Mr. Dylan’s office.
Mr. Dylan took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. It looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“So this guy’s trouble,” he said as more of a statement than a question.
“Yes. And now I know his angle. He wants money. So how do I give him what he wants and get him out of our lives?”
Mr. Dylan laughed. “Piper, you can’t just give him money. First of all, that’s letting him win…”
“I don’t care if he wins! I just want to protect my son!”
“I understand, Piper. But it can also be seen as you paying him off, and how will that look to Lucas one day?”
She had to admit he was right. “So what can we do?”
“Leave it to me. Let me do a little digging on this Johnny Avery guy.”
“Okay,” she said. “But please hurry.”
Cameron packed the last of his items into his small suitcase and zipped it up. He was leaving in half an hour, and he still hadn’t told Piper.
It had been two days since he’d seen her holding Johnny’s hand, and the image just kept replaying in his mind. How had he been so blind? There was no way he could compete with her first love and the father of her son, no matter what a creep he was.
Now there was only one thing left to do - tell Piper. He didn’t know why he was having such a hard time doing that. He had managed to avoid her for two days now, even though she’d left him a couple of notes on his door asking if they could talk.
He knew what she wanted to talk about. She wanted to let him down easy, explain that she wanted to be with her son’s father again. In fact, he’d created the conversation in his own head. First, she’d tell him that she was in love with Johnny again and then ask him to be nice to him since he’d be living at the orchard too. The thought made him sick to his stomach.
He made his way downstairs with his suitcase in hand and started toward the front door. He would put his suitcase in his car first and then find Piper before heading to the airport.
But then he heard her voice on the front porch. The door was cracked and he could see her sitting with her mother talking.
“I’ve missed him so much, Mom. His touch… his kiss…”
Ugh. She was telling her mother about how she’d missed Johnny all these years. He had to get out of here.
“And I love him.”
“Are you sure?” Nancy asked.
“I’m sure. I never thought I could. I mean, we haven’t always gotten along…”
“Have you told him how you feel?” she asked.
“Not yet. I wanted to be sure…”
“Excuse me, ladies,” Cameron said as he opened the door and interrupted their conversation like a bull in a china shop. He had to get out of here before his head exploded.
Piper looked shocked to see him standing there, the color draining from her face. Of course she was shocked - he had just busted her talking about her undying love for jerk face.
“Cameron… I…” she stammered.
“I’ll leave you two to talk,” Nancy said, making the quickest escape he’d ever seen in his life.
He stood there stone-faced looking down at her. God, she was beautiful. He was going to miss looking at her. Touching her. Kissing her. His heart literally ached in his chest.
“Cameron… Wait, is that your suitcase? Where are you going?”
He steeled himself to just say the words even if he didn’t mean most of them. Suddenly he found himself wishing he’d taken those free acting classes in his office building because they’d come in handy about right now.
“Piper, this situation isn’t going to work for me. I’m going back to New York. To my business. My flight leaves this afternoon.”
Her eyes filled with tears immediately, which he didn’t understand given her circumstances. His decision would make it easy for her to move Johnny in - a thought that pained him immensely.
“But, I don’t understand. Why are you leaving so quickly? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m signing a big author. His name is Jed Millway. We have a meeting in the morning, and I need to be there. I’ve spoken to Mr. Dylan, and he will find a replacement to handle my workload here. You can email the monthly financials to me, and I’ll send reports back to you.”
“You had time to talk to Mr. Dylan and not to me?” Her voice was full of pain. “What happened, Cameron? I thought…”
“You thought wrong,” he said, cutting her off. “Look, this place is like a vacation for me. I could never give up my business to stay here full-time. I need to get home, but as I promised before, I will make sure my workload is covered.”
He turned and walked toward his car, but Piper ran after him and grabbed his sleeve.
“So that’s it? You’re just leaving… me?” she said, tears streaming down her beautiful face.
He turned to face her. “Don’t worry. You have your son. And your mother. And Johnny.”
A look of shock clouded her face, and then confusion. For a split second, he wondered if he might be wrong about her and Johnny, but then the doubt faded again when the image of her sitting across the table holding his hand appeared.
“Fine!” she said, turning to walk back toward the house. She faced him one last time and shot back some parting words. “I’m used to this, after all. Men leaving me. Men who can’t commit. Men who have no backbone and no heart. I thought you were different, but apparently I was dead wrong.”
He slid into the seat of his car and watched her walk up the steps and slam the huge front door with such force that he wondered if the house could withstand it.
And then the regret set in, but it was too late. His decision was made.