Jane was a good artist. Really good, Cameron decided as he watched her sketching the women sitting at the table. Her hand seemed to move effortlessly, holding a dark charcoal pencil, and the lines and shapes on the pad of paper seemed to appear by magic.
He didn’t know if asking her questions would make her mess up, so he remained quiet. Until the yellow-haired woman named Bea started asking him questions. One after the other. He did his best to answer, but it seemed the woman was intent on dragging out every childhood incident from him.
Finally, Jane set down her pencil and said, “Do you want to get some punch?”
“Love to,” Cameron said, moving back his chair and standing.
Jane rose too, which he was glad for. He’d come tonight to answer Mr. Morris’s challenge, yes, but to see Jane as well. It seemed he couldn’t see enough of her, and if he hadn’t come tonight, he’d just be thinking of her.
They walked together to a table against the wall that had a couple of pitchers of punch and a plate of cookies set out. He couldn’t help stealing glances at Jane. She looked pretty tonight. Well, she always looked pretty, but tonight she was wearing a sundress that flattered her. And there was a certain glow about her. Maybe it was because she was in her element of art again?
“Can we eat these if we don’t live here?” he asked when they reached the refreshment table.
“Sure,” Jane said. “There are several visitors here for game night, and the food is for everyone. I just thought you might want a break from my twenty-questions friend.”
Cameron chuckled. “How did you know?”
Jane gave him a mischievous smile. “You were tapping your foot quite rapidly.”
He lifted a brow. “You noticed that?”
Jane leaned over, nearly touching him as she grabbed a napkin, then handed it to him. “I noticed.”
Cameron couldn’t help following her movement and noticing how the curve of her neck led to her shoulder and the thin strap that held up her dress. For a moment their gazes locked. And he noticed how her thick lashes framed her inquisitive green eyes.
“You’re a great artist,” he said. “What types of art do you do?”
She shrugged. “Sketching and watercolor. But I haven’t done anything serious since high school.”
“Because of that whole tuition thing?”
“Yeah. That, and life.”
“You should take it up again.”
“You’re leaning,” Jane whispered.
“I am?” Cameron said, not moving from where he was apparently leaning toward her.
“Pete’s watching us,” she said, without breaking eye contact with him.
“Pete?”
“My dad’s friend who thinks he’s going to live until I’m old enough to move in here.”
“Ah,” Cameron said, grinning. “The guy with the red flannel shirt? He was giving me a serious once over when I talked to your dad.”
“That’s him,” Jane said.
“Hmm.” Cameron inhaled. Yep. She still smelled like summer blossoms. “I told your dad I’d play with him. Do you want to come?”
Her smile was regretful. “I’d better not. I seem to be the expert artist in the room, and duty calls.”
“Okay.” He knew his gaze was lingering... although he was no longer leaning. It was just that, even with spending four hours in the car with her, he still wanted to be with her. That was saying something, right?
She snatched a cookie and walked back to the art table.
Cameron poured a couple of cups of punch and carried them back to the card table. “Anyone want a drink?” he asked the men.
Mr. Morris looked up from his cards. “My daughter will kill me if I drink that punch. I’ll have water.”
“Great,” Cameron said, looking about the table. “What does everyone else want?” For the next couple of minutes, he filled drink choices. Then he took a seat next to Mr. Morris.
On the next hand of cards, he was dealt into the game. A few minutes into the game, Cameron had to admit that these men were keeping him on his toes. Pete and Mr. Morris were good players, and it was only by sheer luck that Cameron won the first round. He collected his butter mints and began to play the next game.
Someone started singing “Happy Birthday.” Cameron turned to see a staff member carrying a cake with a dozen or so burning candles. The staff member brought it to the card table and set it in front of Pete. Cameron joined in with the singing. He caught sight of Jane at her art table. She smiled at him, and Cameron had the urge to go sit by her again.
But he stayed in his seat as Pete clapped his hands along with the melody of his birthday song. When the song ended, Pete leaned forward and blew out the candles, in about three breaths. He sat back, triumphant, and everyone in the room laughed and clapped. Cameron included.
The staff whisked away the cake, and moments later everyone was served a slice of cake on a paper plate.
Mr. Morris frowned when his size was about half of everyone else’s. “Jane must have told the staff I could only have a little.”
“I’d give you mine, but it’s my birthday,” Pete piped up.
Cameron caught Jane looking over at her father, as if she was about to come over and make sure he didn’t eat more cake than he was supposed to. Cameron hid a smile. As soon as the cake was eaten, the card game resumed.
He didn’t know how much time had passed before a couple of staff members came to break up the evening.
“Ten o’clock, time to call it a night,” one stern-looking woman said, hovering next to Pete.
Pete looked up at the woman. “Ah, Sylvia, won’t you let us play until 10:30? Please?”
She gave him a smile but said, “We’ve already made an exception for 10:00 on Saturdays, and you know it, Pete.”
Pete moaned but set his cards down and gathered his winnings for the night, which included butterscotch candy, a package of Jelly Bellies, and a can of Sprite that had been in big demand over the evening.
Cameron stood to shake each of the men’s hands and then came to Mr. Morris. He helped the man stand and gave him his cane.
“Thank you, Mr. Vance,” he said.
“You can call me Cameron, sir,” Cameron said.
Mr. Morris’s gaze connected with Cameron’s, and the silence stretched between them. Had Cameron been too presumptuous? Rude?
“Call me Bill,” Mr. Morris finally said.
“Great,” Cameron said. This was a step in the right direction, right? Whatever step that was... he wasn’t sure, but he did know that he wanted to be on good terms with Jane’s dad.
The residents were hugging and kissing their friends and relatives goodbye, and Cameron walked with Bill Morris to the front doors, keeping an eye out for Jane. She was talking to a few of the ladies. Then she headed their way.
“How was it?” Jane asked, catching up with them.
“Your boyfriend’s a good player,” her dad said.
Jane’s face reddened. “Dad—”
“Don’t worry, he didn’t clean us all the way out,” her dad continued. “Pete was on top tonight, but next week I plan to have my A game again. Cameron is welcome to come back if he can take the heat.”
“Oh, I can take the heat,” Cameron said with a laugh. They followed a few people out of the front doors into the warm summer night.
He’d parked next to Bill’s truck, and as they approached the two vehicles, Bill said, “How long have you had your Audi?”
“About a year,” Cameron said. “I drove my first car into the ground, and my dad had an Audi for a long time. So maybe it was a nostalgic purchase.”
Bill grunted. And suddenly Cameron had an idea.
“Would you like to take it for a spin, Bill?”
Jane cut a glance to Cameron. Bill? she mouthed.
Cameron just smiled.
“I, uh, I’m not too steady with night driving,” Bill said.
“How about I drive you home, then?” Cameron offered. “You can get a feel for the car, and then maybe you can try it out sometime during daylight hours.”
When Bill said, “All right,” Cameron exhaled. He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath.
Cameron felt Jane’s incredulous gaze on him, but he acted as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He opened the passenger door for Bill, and once the man was settled, Cameron put the cane in the back seat. He shut the door, then looked across the hood where Jane was standing, staring at him.
“Meet you back at your place?” he said.
Jane only nodded.
“We might take a detour or two,” Cameron continued.
She opened her mouth but then closed it. Cameron climbed into his car and started it.
He made sure Jane had started up the truck fine before he pulled out of the parking lot.
“Have you always driven a truck, Bill?” Cameron asked as he turned onto a boulevard.
“When I was a kid, my parents had a Volkswagen bus they’d let me borrow for things like high school dances,” Bill said.
His tone had warmed up, Cameron noticed. Something had happened over the course of the evening that had enabled Bill Morris to relax around Cameron, and he was glad for whatever it was.
“I’ve seen some of those around—rebuilt and tricked out, of course,” Cameron said.
“I bought my truck brand new and paid it off in two years,” Bill said, glancing at him. “You could probably pay cash on the showroom floor.”
Cameron tried not to be offended. He was getting used to the bluntness of Bill Morris. “My dad worked hard his whole life to build up his manufacturing business. When I decided to go into business in college, he was pleased, but he always told me I’d still have to work for what I got. He wasn’t going to just hand me a job. Turns out, when I graduated, he did hand me a job.”
Bill raised his brows as if he knew this was coming.
But there was a twist. “My dad hired me as a full-time janitor.”
Bill chuckled, and Cameron found himself smiling.
“So you see, it was a bit of a Catch 22 working for my dad,” Cameron continued. “It was like I had to prove myself more than anyone else. But I stuck with it, and about eighteen months ago he made me the operations manager of two locations.”
“Good for you,” Bill said, surprising Cameron. “It sounds like you have a fine father.”
Cameron couldn’t agree more. “Thank you, sir.”
“I’ll tell you one thing, then you need to show me what this car can really do,” Bill said. “Where my daughter is concerned, I don’t take men coming around lightly. I’ll always be keeping an eye on things. Do you understand?”
“I understand.” Cameron pulled off the boulevard and drove about a mile until he came to a road that ran along a stretch of the old, deserted highway. “Ready?”
“Yep,” Bill said, gripping the armrest.
Cameron stepped on the accelerator and opened up the Audi.
Bill let out a whoop, and Cameron laughed. They dragged the stretch of road several times before Bill said, “Jane’s going to be upset if I’m not home soon.”
Cameron just nodded. “She’s probably the most responsible woman I know, besides my mom.”
“I told her I already had a wife, two actually, but nothing will stop her from henpecking me,” Bill said in an amused tone that clearly said he loved his daughter. “You know she’s been different since she started seeing you.”
Cameron didn’t correct Bill in the fact that he and Jane weren’t really seeing each other. “How so?” he asked, realizing he was very interested in this turn of the conversation.
“She’s been smiling more. Laughing more,” Bill said. “She’s been more patient with me.”
Cameron tamped down his own smile and tried not to let his ego grow too much.
“I told her not to move to Pine Valley for me,” Bill continued. “But she’s a stubborn woman and got it into her head that I needed to be watched over. I’ve been worried that she wouldn’t be happy or feel like she belongs here. But it seems she’s finally settling in.”
They drove back to Bill’s neighborhood, talking about how he used to go to Jane’s golf tournaments. “They weren’t easy to watch, you know. Had to rent a cart just to follow her team around. Jane hated it when I showed up. Said I had to be quiet and not cheer aloud.”
Cameron laughed.
When they pulled into the Morris driveway and saw Jane sitting on the front porch steps, Bill said, “What did I tell you?”
Cameron stopped the car. “You know she loves you.”
Bill didn’t hesitate. “I know.” He opened the car door, and Cameron hurried out so he could hand the man his cane.
Jane stood up from the step she was sitting on, and her dad called out, “I feel like a teenager with my mom waiting up for me.”
“Now you know how I felt,” she said in a teasing tone.
Cameron walked at Bill’s pace as they approached the porch. The porch light spilled its soft glow onto Jane.
“We need to check your blood sugar,” Jane said, moving aside so her dad could walk up the steps.
“I’m on my way to do that now,” her dad said in a grumpy tone. But he turned back and winked at Cameron. Cameron hid a grin.
Bill enjoyed his daughter fussing over him.
“Why don’t you and Cameron go out and do whatever young people do,” Bill continued. “I’m going to put my feet up and watch some television with Sparks.”
A bark sounded from inside the house as if Sparks had been listening—which he probably was.
Jane shot Cameron a glance as her dad went inside and greeted the dog.
“What did you do to my dad?” she asked. “He’s calling you Cameron and shooing me out of the house.”
Cameron slipped his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “We just burned a little rubber.”
Jane looked past him, squinting at the Audi. “What does that mean?”
Cameron raised his brows. “So, should we go get something to eat or maybe catch a film?”
She gazed at him for a moment. “Is this a date? Because that’s what people will think it is if they see us. Is that what you want them to think?”
Well, she was direct. Cameron smiled. Maybe she took after her parents a little bit. “It doesn’t have to be a date if you don’t want it to be. And for the record, I don’t care about what people say. I think I made that clear when I took you the benefit, knowing that everyone would ask about Crystal.”
Jane rubbed a hand against her neck and sighed. “All right. Just a minute. I need to make sure my dad’s blood sugar level is fine, and Sparks also needs his nightly medicine.”
Cameron was fighting another smile. “I’ll just wait out here. It’s a nice night.”
Jane narrowed her eyes but didn’t try to persuade him inside. He sat on the porch step while he waited. The neighborhood was quiet; apparently, everyone had settled in for the night. He thought about Jane’s question, and although he had no trouble answering, he hoped that he wasn’t moving too fast. He liked her, really liked her. And he didn’t want to mess it up.
“Okay, I’m ready,” Jane said as the door opened.
Cameron stood and turned. “Everything settled?”
“Yeah, thanks for waiting,” she said. “Where are we going?”
“Are you hungry?” he asked as they walked to his car. He opened the passenger door for her.
“I’m thinking you’re hungry,” she said, stepping around him and turning to face him.
They were standing rather close. Cameron allowed himself to slowly breathe in her scent. “I am. That cake was good, but not really a meal.”
“Agreed, but I had a cookie too,” she said. “So, why don’t you choose?”
Cameron didn’t have to debate the options. “Have you been to Rick’s BBQ?”
“My dad loves that place,” Jane said.
“Oh.” He paused. “Should we invite him along?”
When she didn’t answer right away, Cameron worried she was going to say yes. Instead, she leaned close and said in a quiet voice, as if she thought her dad could hear their conversation from inside the house. “No. I’ll bring him something home that he can eat tomorrow. Then he won’t be too upset when he finds out.”
“Deal.”
Jane slipped into the seat, and Cameron shut her door. As he walked around the front of the car, he felt exhilarated. Nervous too. He pretty much had Bill’s approval to take Jane out, and Cameron knew that her mom already approved. He didn’t know exactly why it mattered to him so much, but it did. Besides, his own parents seemed to like Jane. And... Crystal was out of his life for good.
Things were looking up.
They arrived at the BBQ place about twenty minutes later, laughing at the things Pete had said during the card game as well as the questions Bea had drilled Cameron with.
“You were a hit,” Jane said as Cameron parked the car.
He turned off the ignition, and the interior dome light came on. He looked over at Jane. Had she put on lip gloss when she’d gone into the house? “I think it was the other way around. Everyone seems to adore you.”
She smiled but shook her head, making her silver earrings sway. “They’re just happy for anyone to visit.”
Cameron scoffed. “That’s not true. I saw plenty of family and friends around, but everyone you talked to was happy to see you.”
The dome light flicked off, and her silver earrings caught the light from the lamp post in the parking lot.
“I can’t believe you came in the first place,” Jane said. “I know you said you’d come next week, but you really don’t have to.”
Cameron raised a hand to touch one of her earrings. She stilled but didn’t pull away. “What if I want to?” he asked.
Her voice sounded faint when she answered. “I just don’t want you to feel pressured or something.”
“I don’t.” He moved his fingers to touch the side of her neck. Her skin was warm and smooth, and he could swear the pulse in her neck was beating as fast as his own heart. “Jane, would you believe me if I told you I liked you?”
Her eyes fluttered shut for an instant. Then her gaze was on his. “Why?”
He hadn’t expected this question. But he knew why. “Because you’re lovely, both inside and out. Because I can be myself with you. Because you’re honest, yet mysterious.”
Her lips curved into a smile. And he couldn’t wait anymore. He slid his hand behind her neck and drew her toward him. She didn’t resist, and when her eyes shut again, he kissed her. Cherries. Her lip gloss was cherry flavored.