“Did you ever declare a major?”
“I did. I’m a Liberal Arts major.” She smiled sarcastically. “Surprising, huh?”
“Not really. You’ve always been really creative.” Cameron looked into his glass. “So, are you seeing anyone?”
Cree coughed. “Like dating?”
He hesitated. “Yeah, like dating.”
“Well, if I remember correctly, I am still a married woman. So, no.” She took a sip of her water before nervously responding. “You?”
That brought a wide grin to his face. Cameron reached across the table to touch her hand, thankfully, she didn’t pull away. “That husband of yours, he’s a lucky guy and no, I’m not.”
“I would have thought Delia would have been over the moon with us separating.” Cree held her breath.
“There was never anything between us before and there was nothing between us after you left. I haven’t dated anyone.” He wanted to tell her that his heart belonged to her since he was fifteen but thought it better to leave it unsaid for now.
All Cree could do was look down at her plate.
“So, discovered any new hobbies lately?”
Cree laughed. “Subtle aren’t you? Well, actually, yes. I’ve learned a few things about myself. I don’t like rollercoasters but I love rollerblading. I’m learning to swim because the beach is one of my favorite places to think, and I hate mysteries; movies and books. Oh…and I hate eggs.”
“You hate eggs? We used to eat omelets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
“I’m going to quote you here, “Eggs were cheap and filling”. I could never have another one in my lifetime and be fine with that.”
They laughed. “Got it. So, no eggs. Rollerblading…yes. Rollercoasters…no. Beach…definitely a yes. Maybe we could go together sometime.”
A waitress came over to their table. “I’m sorry we’re about to be closing in a few minutes. I can take the check when you’re ready.”
Cree sighed. “The time really did fly by and now we’re being put out. I guess that’s our cue.”
Time really did pass by quickly. Cameron was nowhere near ready to take Cree home, but then, he’d never been ready to let her go.
He paid the check and they left the restaurant.
The closer they drove back to the school parking lot, the quieter they became.
Cree attempted to sound light hearted. “So, how long are you going to be here before you head back to New York?”
Cameron stared straight ahead. He didn’t answer at first. He turned to her. “I’m not going back to New York.”
Her mouth almost fell open. “What? What happened to your residency? My god, I hope taking all of that time off for me didn’t cause you to lose it!”
He smiled at the concern in her eyes. “No. It was nothing like that. It’s just once I realized you weren’t coming back, there was nothing left for me in New York.”
The darkness had fallen and Cameron pulled up next to her car in the almost deserted parking lot.
Cree searched his eyes. “But,” she hesitated. “Presbyterian was so important to you.”
“Yeah. It was. But, it was never more important to me than you.” He paused. “It took some time but Mr. Thornton pulled some strings. So, I will be finishing my last year of residency at Jackson Hospital.” Delia felt bad about how she treated you, so she talked to her dad.
She was stunned.
While his voice held hints of joking, his eyes were serious and vulnerable. “Maybe…you’d let me take you out from time to time and give me a chance to make you fall in love with me again.”
Cree parted her lips to speak. She held back as if having second thoughts but then continued on. “Cameron, in my quest to find me, I never stopped loving you.”
She reached out and caressed his cheek. He closed his eyes and reveled in her touch. He then turned his head into her soft hands and kissed them.
“God, Cree. I’ve missed you so much. I just want to find a way for us to figure this out. I get that you don’t want to come back to New York, that’s why I came back here to Jackson. I don’t want to lose you.”
She couldn’t believe he’d given up Presbyterian for her. She whispered, “Cameron…you could never lose me,” Cree crawled closer to him.
Cree cradled his face in her hands while gazing into his eyes. She then slowly lowered her head and gently pressed her lips to his.
Her kisses quenched a thirst unlike anything else could. After not touching Cree for almost a year, Cameron was so eager that he had to force himself to calm down. He would let her set the pace. He didn’t want to rush or scare her. They would do everything at a speed that was comfortable for her.
Cree’s kisses became more urgent, more demanding. Cameron pulled away. “I don’t want to go too fast or rush you.”
“Cam, I’ve missed you like crazy. You’re not.” She swallowed. “I’m more than ready and I want to be with you.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Please take me home.”
The sparkle was back in his eyes. “I can do that.” Cameron started up his car. “We can pick your car up in the morning.”
Cree shook her head “no” then snuggled into the crook of his arm. “It’ll probably be more like tomorrow afternoon.”
Two years later….
Cree and Melody were laughing as they walked down the street of the business district in Henrickson. Each were carrying a can of paint.
“You know that David is going to have a fit that you’re carrying that can of paint?”
“I know. He is being ridiculous. I’m pregnant not an invalid. This paint weighs almost nothing.”
Cree was still in shock that Melody was pregnant. “He’s going to be a first-time dad. Of course, he’s a little nervous about it.” She exhaled. “Isn’t it amazing how far we’ve come over the last two years? You and David are married and are now going to have a baby.”
“I don’t know if amazing is the right word. Maybe miraculous is a better fit!” Melody laughed.
Cree couldn’t help but laugh as well. Lately, they’d been doing that a lot. “It’s good to finally feel like my life is full of possibilities and not just me, but Cameron too.” “I never had any doubt.”
Cree gave her a skeptical look. “Really? Not even that day you threatened to throw me in the shower?”
Melody shrugged. “Not even then. You just needed some time to get your stuff together and a good kick in the butt.” She smiled at Cree. “What are best friends for if we can do that for each other?”
Grateful, Cree responded, “If I didn’t thank you for it. Thank you. You know, although I’m a survivor, it helps to know that monster is going to be in prison a long time. He’ll be doing ten long years for what he did to me. When you add on all the time he received for the other four other sexual assaults, he’ll be an old man, if or when he ever gets out.”
“Good. I hope they do to him in prison what he did to you and the others.”
She smiled. “Yeah. Now, that that chapter of my life is closed, onward and upward
right
? Oh, I forgot to tell you. I got an email from Gwen the other day. You will never guess what happened.”
Melody smirked. “What? She’s pregnant too?”
Cree laughed. “Oh no. She said Robert’s going to have to have the babies if he wants any.”
Melody started to giggle. “Stop, stop. I’ll have to go pee again!”
Cree smiled. “Okay, okay. No. Guess who Delia has been secretly dating?’
“Who?”
“Freddie!”
“No.”
“Yes, and from what Gwen said, she’ wouldn’t be surprised if they got married.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“Since we’re catching up. Is Candice coming down for the grand opening?”
“Yeah. She said she wouldn’t miss it.”
Cree and Melody stopped in front of a storefront that had paper covering the windows. They pushed the door open and walked inside. The floors were covered in plastic. Cameron stood in a t-shirt and shorts on one ladder painting while David was on the other side of the large room in gray sweats and a black hoodie. Both men were speckled with paint.
The moment David noticed Melody carrying the can of paint, his eyes narrowed. “We only needed one can of paint, not two. Otherwise, Cameron and I would have gone to pick it up. You shouldn’t be carrying anything that heavy.”
Melody rolled her eyes. “I'm all right David.”
Cree casually took the can of paint from Melody just to keep the peace, and placed them both on the floor next to the other one that was already open. She looked up. “Hey, it’s coming along really nicely in here.”
Cameron huffed. “We would have already been finished if you hadn’t changed the color. I told you in the beginning salmon was an ugly color. It’s a fish. Not a paint.”
She looked sheepish. “I was trying to find a color that would suit both of our needs. I read somewhere that sick people feel better when they are surrounded by soothing colors. Salmon was one of the colors in the article.”
He shook his head. “So were about ten others.” He grinned down at Cree. “Tan. You can’t go wrong with tan.”
Melody started to giggle, then burst out into full-on laughter. Everyone turned to look at her as if she were crazy.
“Stop looking at me like that! It’s hormones.” She said, through her fit of giggles. “You remember that day we talked about this? I said that Cameron was going to open a practice here in Henrickson and you were going to be the office manager.”
Cree interrupted, “Oh yeah. And I said, you would sell your oils and candles and David was going to do building maintenance…”
Melody giggled again. “Two and half years later, here we are.
Cree put her hand up to her throat. “My god we did talk about this. It was a joke, of course, but it was almost spot on. Except, now it includes my dreams too.” Cree looked around the room. “Cameron’s practice will be on one side and my boutique will be on the other. I’ll finally be putting my degree to use” Cree grinned. “David we can’t afford you and your prices for maintenance right now.”
He smirked. “What free?”
“Hey! I told you a beer and pizza after we’re finished.” Cameron began to laugh.
David shook his head. “Great. Cameron’s been working me to death for slave wages.”
They were all laughing as the front door opened. The room quieted down.
“Hi, Cameron, Cree, David, Melody.” Annalise and Cameron’s dad stood at the threshold of the door, beaming and holding a big box.
Cree responded warmly, “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs.” The others welcomed them too.
Annalise looked around, “Where’s your grandfather? I thought he’d said he would be here.”
Cree smiled, “He was here earlier but had to rush off. He had a date with Violet.”
She was disappointed, “Well, I hate we missed him.”
Mr. Jacobs smirked, “We probably would have caught him if it didn’t take us so long to get here.”
Annalise ignored him.
Cameron climbed down from the ladder to greet his parents. Surprisingly, their reconciliation only grew stronger once he and Cree got back together. “What’s in the box?”
Annalise looked eagerly toward her husband. “Your mother and I wanted to do something nice for both of you as you set out to be entrepreneurs.” He handed the large box over to Cameron.
It was pretty heavy, so Cameron put it on the floor. He looked to Cree and asked, “Cree you want to open it?” She shook her head. “No. You can do it.”
Cameron shrugged as he removed the top off of the giant box wrapped in silver with a big red bow. Slowly, he pulled out an oversized mailbox that appeared to be a mini replica of their storefront.
Cree’s eyes grew large as she tentatively touched it. “Wow. That’s beautiful.”
Still giddy, Annalise spoke. “Now, open it. There’s something inside.”
Cree opened the little door, reached her hands inside and pulled out two envelopes. One was marked Cameron, and the other had her name on it.
They opened the envelopes at the same time.
His father spoke. “After talking to you two about it last week at dinner, we figured you could use it and that it would be a sound investment.”
Annalise couldn’t contain herself any longer. “You can’t open a boutique and make all those wonderful fashions without having the best equipment. And Cameron, how can you help all of your patients if you don’t have state of the art equipment too. All you both have to do is call the numbers at the bottom of those cards, order what you want, and set up delivery.”
Cree couldn’t believe it. She and Cameron had already talked about getting a loan for what Annalise and his father had just handed over to them. She shook her head. “This is just way too generous. We can’t accept this.”
Cameron agreed. “Mom and Dad, Cree is right. This is an incredibly generous gift, but we can’t…”
His father’s booming voice interrupted. “You can and you
will
. Annalise and I missed out on so much over the last eight years. This is something we can do and want to do for both of you. Plus, it’s not like we don’t get anything out of the deal.”
Cameron and Cree looked at one another and spoke in unison. “Like what?”
Annalise clapped her hands together. “That’s the best part! With a fashion designer in the family, maybe I can get a unique piece here or there. If we’re sick, maybe we can be seen right away instead of having to wait weeks for an appointment.”
“Mrs. Jacobs, my boutique is homewares, not fashion.”
Melody chimed in. “Although, she did an excellent job on my wedding dress.” She glared at Cree.
Cree looked to Cameron for thoughts. She gave him a look that said it’s alright with her. He turned to his parents as they anxiously awaited his response. He stared at them for a moment before walking over and hugging them at the same time it was a group hug of sorts. “Thank you.”
Mr. Jacobs looked to Cree, “Get over here girl. If we’re having a group hug, that must include you. You’re family.” With glassy eyes, Cree went over into the warmth of the Jacobs circle. Finally, everything was in its proper place.