For the rest of the day, Cami was unusually quiet. We returned to the guest house, and when I told her to pack an overnight bag, she didn’t bat an eye. She just did it. Something was bothering her, but I wasn’t going to pressure her into talking, not until she was calm enough to talk without exploding into anger. As we drove to Palmer’s for one last dinner, I hoped that maybe she would open up.

When we arrived, Palmer greeted us with a concerned expression. He knew about Alicia Sorenson’s return. He wrapped Cami in a tight, lingering hug that ordinarily might have set off my inner caveman, but she needed her best friend more than she needed me to be an asshole. Cami walked past us and into the kitchen where she immediately took over. The kitchen was where she found comfort.

“She’s not okay,” Palmer said as we stood in the foyer.

“Nope.” We both watched as Tim Grayson walked into the kitchen and greeted Cami with a warm hug which she didn’t seem to reciprocate. She stood there stiffly until Tim’s arms fell away. Then she stared blankly at the countertop until Lucinda Grayson appeared, distracting her from the pain in her heart with dinner plans.

“Has she been like this all day?” Palmer asked, coming to stand beside me as we watched the two women examine a recipe.

I shook my head. “No. We had a pretty good morning after she calmed down. She’s been like this since we left the hospital.”

“Do you want me to try to talk to her tonight?”

“Sure. But don’t press her too hard, okay?”

When we walked into the kitchen, Cami’s attention was on Jackson. Her face and body were relaxed, and there was a smile on her face. Seeing her laid back and happy like that made me very happy too. She was taking the time to get to know him more by asking him about what he liked to eat. Because Jackson had been a foster kid, he hadn’t grown up enjoying fresh-baked goodies, and now they were one of his vices. I shook my head at their silly but endearing conversation as she tried to teach Jackson how to make brownies from scratch.

“But why can’t I just use the box?” Jackson griped, holding up a box of brownie mix. Cami took it from him and threw it in the trash.

“Jackson, do you want brownies or not?” she demanded.

“Yes,” he answered.

“And are they your favorite dessert?”

“Yes.”

“Then don’t eat that boxed shit ever again.” She efficiently gathered all of the ingredients and arranged them on the counter, then walked Jackson through each step of making the batter. It was sweet to watch her instruct and praise him whenever he did something correctly because he soaked up her encouragement. She wasn’t shy about taking his hand and showing him how to perform each step, and he seemed eager to learn everything she had to offer. As they poured the batter into two pans, she looked up and asked him with expectant eyes, “Wasn’t that fun?”

“Yes, but a box would have been quicker,” Jackson replied teasingly. I stepped in and held back my fiery beauty before she stabbed him with something sharp.

“Whoa there, tiger,” I said with a kiss to the side of her head. “I know those are fighting words to you, but he doesn’t know any better.”

Cami flicked her spatula, still full of gooey, chocolatey batter, in Jackson’s direction. He laughed as he swiped at splashes of batter on his face with a paper towel. “That’s what you get for eating box brownies.”

Seeing Cami start to come around and be present at the moment put me at ease, but it was short-lived. Once we sat down for dinner, she was back inside her head. I had no idea what kept her mind so occupied, but selfishly, I hoped that it wouldn’t distract from our last night together. I wanted all of her—body, heart, and mind—tonight.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I took it out to look at the caller. Oliver. He was returning my call from earlier. I quickly excused myself from the dinner table and stepped out onto the back deck.

“Hey, Ollie. Thanks for calling me back,” I greeted him.

“No problem. Glad I get the chance to talk to you before you deploy again.”

“This is it, my last tour. Next year, we’ll be producing wine together.”

“I’m looking forward to it, Garrett.” I could hear the smile in his voice, and I knew I was doing the right thing by finally agreeing to help run the winery.

“I need to ask you to do me a huge favor, Oliver.”

“Sure, Garrett. What is it?”

“I’m in love,” I said on an exhale of breath. “She’s it. She’s the one I’ve been waiting my entire life to find.”

“Whoa. Shouldn’t you be telling her this and not me?”

I chuckled lightly. “I’m planning on it.” I looked through the patio doors and watched as Cami methodically cleared the table. Her face was blank, and once again, I worried about leaving her to deal with all this alone. “If something should happen to me, I need you to contact her, Oliver. I need you to let her know because she’s my family just as much as you and Neil and Dad.”

“Absolutely, Garrett.”

“One last thing, Oliver. It’s pretty big.”

“What is it?”

“I need you to be her family.” For a moment, I hesitated to explain, but Oliver needed to know why I was making such an important request. “She’s about to lose her father. He has cancer, and the doctors are giving him a year, tops. And her mother … well, that’s complicated. I just want to know she will be taken care of. I couldn’t stand the thought of her being alone.”

“Of course, Garrett. I’ve never heard you this nervous about being deployed before.”

I ran a hand through my hair and looked out at the bay. “I’ll be honest with you, Ollie. I’ve got a lot to lose if shit goes south this time. But I’m going to fight like hell to make sure I come back in one piece.”

“Don’t be a hero, okay, Garrett? Just … just …” Oliver’s voice trailed off, but I knew what he meant. My dad always told us to keep our noses clean. That was what he wanted.

“I know, Ollie. Thank you. This means the world to me.” We talked for a while longer. For the first time, I wished that I was back in Healdsburg so that we could have this time together. All of that was going to change when I returned. After telling him I would email him Cami’s contact information when I returned to base, our phone call ended.

I leaned against the railing of Palmer’s deck, my arms stretched wide on either side, and I blew out a breath of air. Shit, I was so nervous about this deployment. There was more at stake this time, and that weighed heavy on my conscience. But I would do my job, serve my country, and when my time was up, I would return to the life I finally wanted to lead and to the woman I wanted to love forever.

I turned to head back inside at the exact moment Valerie and Alicia walked into the house. Fuck. Couldn’t a guy catch a break? What were they even doing at Palmer’s house? My eyes instantly went to Cami, who was in the kitchen washing dishes and hadn’t noticed their arrival yet. Palmer noticed me out on the deck and shot me a worried glance. This was not what Cami needed.

The moment I stepped inside, I had a choice to make. Distract Cami until they left or confront Valerie and Alicia and tell them to leave. Cami was blissfully unaware as she stood in front of the sink with her hands buried deep in soapy water. She looked so beautiful with her hair loose and wild, her curls cascading down her back. She wore a long, floral print dress with thin straps that left the smooth skin of her arms and shoulders bare, making my mouth water.

I walked up behind her, circled my hands around her waist, and buried my nose in her hair, inhaling her familiar jasmine scent. She stilled and leaned back against me, a content smile tugging at her lips. She hummed with approval as I lightly kissed her cheek.

“You’re amazing,” I breathed out. “And I don’t deserve you.”

Her smile grew wider. “What did I do to deserve such high praise?”

“You took the time to teach Jackson to bake. He hasn’t had a lot of those moments.”

“That’s so awful,” she murmured thoughtfully. “I hope he marries someone amazing who bakes for him all the time.”

“Me too,” I replied. It was hard not to give her my full attention when I had one eye trained on the doorway and one ear listening for raised voices. As long as I was in here with her, perhaps she wouldn’t know her mother had arrived.

The conversation in the hallway got louder, and I felt Cami stiffen as she picked out the sound of her mother’s voice. Her shoulders tensed as she turned her face toward the doorway.

“What the fuck?” she whispered as she pushed past me and walked slowly toward the foyer. There was no point in stopping her, so I grabbed her hand and followed.

“I just want to thank you for reaching out to me,” Alicia said breathlessly.

“You’re very welcome,” Tim said, placing a friendly hand on her shoulder.

The moment Cami stepped into the foyer, all eyes turned in her direction, and the conversation stopped. Jackson came up beside me and placed a hand on Cami’s shoulder, a silent signal that he had her back too.

“What are you doing here?” Cami asked coldly.

“I came to thank Tim for contacting me about Alex’s condition,” her mother replied simply.

Stone-faced and silent, Cami nodded stiffly before turning toward me. “I’m ready to go,” she said quietly.

“Okay,” I replied with a kiss to her temple.  

Tim stepped away from the group and, like only a father could, gently ushered Cami into the formal living room to sit down. “You’re dealing with a lot right now, but if you need someone to talk to or help you navigate all of this, Lucinda and I are here.” It was easy to miss the quick way Tim flicked his eyes over to Alicia, and it made me wonder if he was happy to see her return.

“Thank you,” she replied quietly.

Stepping forward, I reached out for Cami. “Come on, let’s go.” The fight from earlier was gone from her eyes. She wasn’t angry anymore; she was just hurt. I knew there had to be more to the story.

“Cami, I really need to speak with you,” Alicia insisted, moving toward us.

I stepped protectively between Cami and her mother, holding tightly to Cami’s hand. “You need to give her space,” I said firmly through clenched teeth.

I pulled her through the small crowd that had gathered and headed toward the front door. It didn’t matter that it would be a long while before I saw Palmer again or that tomorrow, Jackson and I were headed into unknown territory. All I cared about was protecting Cami.

“I’m not going to push you,” I told Cami once we were in the safety of my rental car. “But I think there’s more to the story that you need to tell me.”

“She left on my birthday,” Cami blurted. That was unexpected. “We were supposed to go to Seattle for the day while Valerie and Dad were at work. When I came downstairs that morning, she was waiting. Her bags were by the door.”

“Fuck,” I hissed, slamming my fist against the steering wheel. We were still sitting in Palmer’s driveway, and I wanted to march back in there and knock some sense into Alicia Sorenson.

“I stopped celebrating my birthday that year and haven’t celebrated it in seven years.” She paused for a moment before adding, “I guess it’s been eight years now. I just had a birthday.”

“When was your birthday?”

“It was the night of the Coldplay concert.”

“Are you kidding me? That was only a few days ago! Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I just told you; I don’t celebrate my birthday.”

“Well, we’re going to celebrate tonight then,” I told her with a wink as we left Palmer’s house.

We drove into Tacoma where I arranged for us to spend the night in a hotel. Tacoma didn’t have a lot to offer in terms of luxury hotels, so I picked the nicest hotel in the area. I tried not to think about the fact that Cami’s mother chose her birthday to leave. It didn’t sit well with me, and even though Cami no longer wanted to celebrate her birthday, I felt like her mother took away more than just their relationship. I thought about the concert and how Cami danced and twirled and sang and realized that we unknowingly celebrated her birthday.

One glance over at the beautiful woman with the sad eyes sitting in the passenger seat and I was committed to giving her the perfect birthday.