Chapter Thirty-Nine

Scarlett

I was the kid who woke the entire house up at three in the morning on Christmas. Today was moving day! It was more than just moving day. Today signified the beginning of my life with Cameron and Ella. There was so much hope for the future. It was as if I had been renewed and made whole again. When I had first moved to Nashville, I’d been a broken woman. Cameron had put me back together in record time and made me better than I had been before.

Cesar had given me the day off after I’d explained what had happened with Cameron and the band and what was going on in my personal life.

Tonight, we were hosting a housewarming party of sorts. Cameron had bought himself a shiny big barbecue that was now gleaming in the sunlight on the back patio.

I heard the door open and raced to greet him, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him.

“Wow. I hope you greet me like this every night I come home,” he said, laughing at my overenthusiastic greeting.

“I missed you.”

“I was gone for an hour,” he said dryly.

“I know, but we have so much to do.” The excitement was practically oozing from my veins. “Does Ella know yet?”

He shook his head. “Nope. It’ll be a surprise.”

“Good. I’ll grab my purse and we can go,” I said, dashing to the room to grab it.

“Do you have a list, or are we winging it?” he asked when I returned.

I shrugged. “I like to wing it.”

He shook his head. “It’s a good thing we’re taking my truck.”

“We have no patio furniture. We can’t expect everyone to sit on the grass.”

“Actually, we can.”

I shook my head. “No way! This is the first time our parents our going to meet. I want everyone to be comfortable and to be able to relax with a glass of wine. Sitting on the grass is not relaxing, especially for people of a certain age,” I said, smiling.

“Never let my mother hear you refer to her as of a certain age,” he warned.

I laughed. “I would never. My mother would kill me if she heard me say that. Anyway, we need meat and sides, and I want to get something special for Ella.”

He let out a long sigh. “I should have eaten a bigger breakfast. Thinking about this shopping trip is wearing me out.”

I shooed him away and went back to making a mental list of everything we would need to host our first backyard barbecue. I wanted everything to be perfect. I already knew my parents would love Judy and Jacob, but I wanted to show them how happy I was in Nashville. Things had certainly been rocky in the beginning. I needed them to know I was going to be okay.

The shopping took a while, but it was worth every hour spent.

“I think we’re good,” Cameron said, taking a step back to check out his handiwork on the patio.

We had purchased a large patio table with an umbrella and six chairs. I had insisted on buying a few extra lounge chairs as well. It was nearly winter, which meant we’d gotten really great deals on the outdoor furniture.

“It looks awesome! So inviting and comfortable,” I said, placing a couple candles in the center of the table.

“You ready?” he asked.

I was grinning like a fool. “I am. I’m so excited. She’s going to be happy, right?” I asked for what had to be the fourth time in the past hour.

“Yes. Now, let’s go before we’re late picking her up and we ruin everything.”

We climbed into his truck and headed to Ella’s school to pick her up. When she came out of the school and saw me, she burst into a full run that made me fear she would wipe out on the cement.

I squatted down, preparing for her little arms to wrap around my neck.

“Scarlett!” she screamed when she saw me.

“Hi, Ella,” I said, holding her close.

“Are you picking me up today?”

I motioned toward Cameron, who was leaning against his truck and smiling. “We both are. Are you ready to go home?” I asked her.

I helped her into the back seat of the truck and buckled her in like an expert. Cameron headed toward the house. It wasn’t long before Ella realized we weren’t taking her to her grandparents’ house.

“Where are we going, Daddy?”

“Home,” he replied.

Ella didn’t answer. When we pulled up in front of my house, she finally spoke. “This is Scarlett’s house.”

Cameron got out of the truck and opened the door to help her out. “This is our house together with Scarlett. We’re going to live here now.”

Ella’s eyes widened, and she started jumping up and down, hugging Cameron around the waist before coming to hug me.

“I get my room back?” she asked.

“Yep. And your dad bought you a few more toys,” I told her.

“I want to see!” she said and raced for the front door.

For the next thirty minutes, she took inventory of all the dolls, books, and toys in her room.

“I bought you a new party dress,” I said to Ella, carrying the pretty blue dress into the room.

“A party dress?”

“Yep. We’re having a celebration party tonight. My parents are coming, as are your grandparents, Uncle Noah, and my friend Hannah,” I told her. “Every girl needs a new party dress for a special occasion.”

Cameron stood behind me. Ella looked at him before turning her gaze back to the dress. “I can keep it, Daddy?”

He laughed. “Yes, you can keep it. From now on, you can keep whatever Scarlett buys.” He paused before adding, “Within reason.”

I laughed. He knew me too well.

“Okay, we need to get ready for our visitors. I’m going to set out the snack trays and get things together. Do you want to help me after you get dressed?” I asked her.

She jumped up and down, clearly a happy girl. “Yes!”

Hannah was the first to arrive and helped me set out the side dishes on the table while Cameron fired up his new grill.

“So?” she asked with a smile.

“So what?”

“How’s it going? I mean, you’re practically married with a family. That’s a huge change from just last week,” she whispered as we put together more dishes.

“I like it. I’m happy. I didn’t even know this was something I wanted. Words cannot express how excited I am for the future,” I told her, unable to stop smiling.

“Good. I’m very happy for you. I guess everything does happen for a reason. Isaac pushed you right into the very lovely arms of Cameron,” she said with a wink.

I nodded in agreement. Soon, everyone arrived, and I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see my parents chatting away with Cameron’s parents. I had known they would get along great. My parents had brought a case of wine to share with everyone. We opened one bottle and enjoyed it with the steaks Cameron had grilled to perfection.

I leaned over and whispered in Cameron’s ear. “It’s going really well, don’t you think?”

He smiled. “It is. You did a great job putting all this together at the last minute.”

When Judy offered to help clean up, I shushed her and told her absolutely not. We said our good-byes, with my mother promising to meet up with me tomorrow. They were staying at a hotel in the city for the weekend.

“Thank you for coming,” I said to Hannah as she was getting ready to leave.

Noah was standing at the door waiting for her. Apparently, she was going home with him for the night.

“I think it’s going to be my pleasure,” she said with a wink.

I laughed and sent her on her naughty way.

With everyone gone and Ella tucked into bed after a busy evening, Cameron and I headed back out to the patio to take advantage of our new lounge chairs and patio heater.

“That was fun,” he said into the night.

“It was. I can’t wait to host more gatherings. Maybe we can have a Christmas dinner here,” I said.

“That would be a lot of fun.”

We sat in silence, staring up at the stars and unwinding together.

“How mad was your boss about losing the band?” he asked.

“Not mad at all. They didn’t make a great impression. I don’t think Cesar would have signed them anyway. That Jerry guy was creepy. He put everyone in the office on edge. Tom was being polite and trying to help me by working with them at all. I’ll find another act to bring in,” I said, hoping my confidence was enough to make it happen.

“I think I might join the DEA,” he said out of the blue.

“Really?” I asked, surprised to hear him thinking about leaving the force.

He sighed. “I’ve been in a bit of a stale place for a while. I need something a little more exciting. I want to feel like I’m really making a difference.”

“I understand. Would you still be local, or would you have to move?” I asked, afraid to hear the answer.

He reached out and grabbed my hand. “I’ll be local. I may have to travel on occasion, but you’re not getting rid of me that easy.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Okay.”

“I’m glad you moved next door—and don’t get mad, but I’m glad Isaac was so terrible you had to run away from home,” he said with a chuckle.

I laughed. “I hate to say it, but I am too. I would have never thought about moving to a suburb in Nashville had my parents not forced the issue.”

“And then you made me your fake fiancé. I have to say, you scared the shit out of me with that one.”

I laughed again. “I’m sorry. I still have no idea what came over me that day when I said it. The idea popped in my head and fell out of my mouth before I had a chance to think about the consequences.”

“It’s okay. I’m glad you did. I’ll be your fake fiancé any day of the week. Speaking of Isaac, any word from him?”

“Nope. He’s moved on to his next victim, quite literally. I would like to think he has changed, but I know that’s not the case. I just hope the woman realizes when it’s time to get out. I hate that she’s going to go what I went through for so long,” I said on a sigh, truly feeling sad for the woman.

“You warned her. I’m sure her friends and family are going to see the signs and try to warn her as well. I see it almost every single day at work. These guys are manipulators. They are so good at what they do, their victims don’t see it. I’m glad you got out,” he said, squeezing my hand.

“Me too. Ready to go to bed?”

“You better believe I am. Unless…” He let the word hang there in the dark night.

I grinned. “Unless?” I said, getting up and lying on top of him in his chair. “My neighbor’s house burned down, so he won’t be watching, and the neighbor on the other side has got to be ninety.”

His arms wrapped around me before I moved my mouth to his. The cool night air washed over us, doing nothing to cool the fire that was burning between us. I let him take me right there on the back patio of our home together.